Tumgik
#i thought they were gonna release a list for fictional characters too like usual :(
bendy-and-buddies · 1 year
Text
To celebrate the Dark Revival... we uncovered something sitting in the archives for quite some time.
This is a script. One for a special that was apparently slotted to be released in the month of April originally. That was all that could be discerned from the documents, what year in specific is still lost. There are even a select number of characters exclusive to this script who appear nowhere else across the Bendy IP prior to the 1990s.
((short version: Here's an "April Fools special" that's been a low effort WIP script for a long, long, LONG time. Enjoy the crack.))
DUE TO THE OUTLANDISHLY VAST FAN-DEMAND, BENDY AND BUDDIES IS NOW PERMANANTLY CHANGED TO SUIT THE HIGH DEMANDS YOU BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS WANTED! SO PLEASE ENJOY THE NEW, AND IMPROVED, BENDY AND BUDDIES AND THE INK MACHINE ADVENTURES!!!
[Bendy and Buddies and Etc. is filmed in front of a fictional studio audience.]
 
Angie; “Bendy! I was hoping that the both of us could visit the beach once more, mayhap we can bring the others as well?”
Bendy; “Ah, sure Anj! Sounds like it’d be fu-“
(Alice walk in and puts her arms around Bendy, very deliberately having his head near her breasts. Cue sitcom audience cheers as Alice enters.)
Alice; “Ohhh, but Bendy just promised to take me out for a date! So sorry, maybe he can play little games with you some other time, sweetums~?”
Bendy; “Alice, c’mon! she was inviting all of us! She wasn’t excluding you on purpose or something, right?”
Angie; “Um... yes, of course she may accompany us! I do not see why Alice canno-”
(Alice and Bendy make quick confused noises at Angie’s response before resuming.)
Alice; “Oh, of course! It is just like privileged little you to try and take Bendy all for yourself! Sorry airhead, but Bendy is far too grown up for a childish little girly-girl like you! A handsome devil like this deserves a real woman like me!”
 
(bouncy sound effects to imply her boobs are flopping around.)
Angie; “But, Lady Alice, I never intended-!”
Bendy; (anxiously, under his breath) “Anj, just grab my arm!”
(Angie tries to reason peacefully until Bendy gestures her to grab hold of one of his arms. Alice has his other arm in the usual love-triangle tug-of-war scenario/trope. Angie looks less “grumpy” and more uncomfortable)
 
Bendy; “Ladies, ladies! Please, there’s plenty of the Devil Darling to go around!”
Angie; “You are in samples??”
(Bendy’s surprised, laughs a bit and is about to correct her until Alice cuts in again)
Alice; “It’s an expression, nitwit! See Bendy? Why bother with this Dumb Dora, when you can have a Darlin Dame~?”
(Angie is saddened by the persistent bullying from Alice’s end)
Bendy; (angrily to Alice, under his breath again) “You’re not helpi-!”
 
(cut to Boris nearby with a banjo)
Boris; “Gee wiz Bendy, quite the heartbreaker lately aren’cha?”
Bendy; (dramatically) “it’s my devilish charms, I can’t help it!”
Boris; “One’a these days it’s gonna be yer downfall, attracting so many-“
(Sammy shows up the hell out of nowhere.)
 
Sammy; “Wonderful Lord Bendy! Let me sniff your holy panties!”
Boris: “Well, if it isn’t that super-wacky Sammy! The head of the Music Department who has no note-worthy character outside of blindly worshiping Bendy! He was never a toon like us, but… um, guess he’s here anyway! Hooray!”
Sammy; “insert anime joke here!”
Bendy; (in pure dread) “Oh no-“
 
(And now Wally shows up, also the hell out of nowhere.)
Wally; “Regardless of how Bendy’s lovelife goes, if it makes another damn tidal wave of a mess I gotta clean up: I’M OUTTA HERE!”
(stupid laughtracks playing)
Alice; “He said the catchphrase!”
Bendy; “Wally the Janitor is just hilarious in everything he pops up in, right everyone!?”
Boris; “Sponsored by the following companies listed.” (onscreen there’s several of the in-universe businesses in the canon-verse. Maybe throw in a reference to other fictitious companies? Acme is a definite one to add.)
 
Bendy; “Actually, Alice… I don’t think you really specified where you wanted to have that date anyway, where were you thinking?”
Alice; “Oh, I thought you’d never ask, my Widdle Debil! Infact, I want all of you to come with, please do follow your angel!”
Bendy and Boris; (failing to see how suspicious that was) “Sounds good to me!”
As Bendy, Boris and Sammy obediently follow Alice, Angie is called by someone else off-screen the opposite way.
 
Angie; “Wait, what was that?”
(murmured gibberish a’la Peanuts is heard)
Angie; “Oh um, alright then.”
 
(The ‘gang’, sans Angie, arrive at Joey Drew Studios. I’ll prolly just take a photo of whatever animation studio or old building from google and slap the JDS logo on top of it. Laziness!) 
 
Alice; “And here we are!”
Bendy; “Uhh… Alice??”
Boris; “Isn’t this the old studio?... Y’know, as in that place where all of us experienced terrible, traumatic pasts involving human experimentation and brutal ritualistic sacrifices that’ve left us all emotionally and mentally scared forever and other dark, gruesome things like that?”
(Bendy is a little taken aback by Boris’ detailed description.)
Bendy; “… Yeah… I thought we all vowed to never come back here…? Wasn’t finally getting out a highly triumphant moment for us or something?”
Sammy; “Lord Bendy, your buttocks is scrumptious like hamburgers!”
 
Alice; “Oh, I assure you! I have very good reasons for why I chose to take you all here! I have one… no, TWO very important things I’ve needed to show you all for a long time!”
Bendy; “Only now this has been brought up??”
Alice; “both are a lot to take in, but I need you to trust me… do you doubt your angel~?”
Bendy; “Ahh… fine then.”
Boris; “I’m ready for anything.”
(Alice looks up and calls to someone)
Alice; “Alright deary-pie, you can come out now!”
(stupid dramatic sound effects as the apparent newcomer is revealed)
Geno-Fur; “Hello, everyone!! It’s me, Geno-Fur!!”
Tumblr media
Sudden Narrator; “Thaaaat’s right! It’s Geno-Fur the DemonAngel, the most powerful cartoon character in all of Toon Town! The perky, talented daughter of Bendy the Demon and Alice Angel with the help of the Ink Machine, this cute toon angel demon girl has an inner inky darkness unlike any other! She’s oh-so deep, mysterious and meaningful everyone!”
 
Bendy; (more and more like he’s reading it off a script) “Oh my Satan! Alice, we have a long-lost daughter who is beautiful and an objectively perfect and wonderful blend of who we both are! And will probably easily surpass us in popularity! If I had known we had such a blessing who totally didn’t just fall out of the sky, I would have dropped everything, married you and center my entire life around you both!
Sammy; “Praise be unto the blessed firstborn!”
(Boris is bug-eyed, genuinely dumbfounded by what is happening before him)
Boris; “UM…??”
 
Geno-Fur; “OMG! Mommy, Daddy, thank you so much! You even brought my husband here to see me!
(Geno-Fur hugs Boris hard enough to pop his spine, he’s in pain. “CAN’T… B-BREATHE-!!” his poor banjo has snapped in two. To Boris’ luck, Geno-Fur releases him.)
Bendy; (zero effort on his part) “Don’t go breakin’ my princess’s heart, Boris…”
Alice; “I love beautiful reunions!”
Sammy; “I shall always be a loyal, faithful Side-Hoe willing to pleasure you, your Queen, and your glorious child, my Lord!”
 
Boris; “Guys, none of this is in my copy of the script, what’s going on?!?”
Alice; “I’ll gladly answer that! What’s going on is my second reason…”
(Alice wipes the side of her face to reveal the same gross Scarface thing going on with Susie-Alice. Shock Horror, she’s also Susie-Alice.)
Alice: “As it turns out, I’m still not near as perfect as I’d like to be!! AH-HAHAHA!”
(Alice cackles evilly as she grabs Boris and drags him into the building. Yes, exactly like the end of Chapter 3.)
Boris; (As he’s spirited away) “WHAAAAAT THEEEEE HAYSTAAACK!?....”
 
Bendy; “What!? Oh god, Boris!! Hang on buddy, I’m coming!”
(a panicking Bendy runs in to rescue Boris, Sammy and Geno-Fur follow)
Sammy; “M’Lawd! I will follow you to the ends of the earth!”
Geno-Fur; “Mommy!! Daddy!! Why can’t we settle this like normal people!?”
(Bendy is desperately trudging into the studio, unknowingly he is very slowly melting into his monster-form we are all familiar with as he becomes exhausted)
Bendy; “Boris, please hang on!! I’m coming...!! .. Augh… Maybe… Maybe I should hit the gym? NO!! No, I’m fine!! Goddamned fine!! I just gotta… Gotta keep going… Wait, wait… why is my sweat this… thick and… dark?”
(Bendy’s then surprised upon overhearing something, looking to the side to find Henry somewhere in the distance and humming to himself- probably doing one of the Chapter 3 tasks)
Henry; “Joey Drew he likes big fingers in his ass, Joey Drew he likes big fingers in his ass, fingers in his ass, he likes in his-” (yes. It’s that meme. I have zero shame.)
(Bendy slowly becomes angered)
Bendy; “Henry… Henry!!”
(this gets Henry’s startled attention. As Bendy rants he slowly completes his transformation into Monster-Bendy.)
Bendy; “My old, actual for-real creator, Henry… You left everyone… You left ME! Why didn’t you stay!? Was I just a mistake to you, blaming me for everything Joey did!? Why didn’t you love me, Henry!? Was I never good enough for you!? You LIED to us!! You never stopped Joey from all of the atrocities he committed!! You never came back!! You never played catch with me and called me ‘Sport’!! You never threw me a Birthday!! YOU NEVER BOUGHT ME A HAPPY MEAL!!!”
Henry; “Oh gosh!”
(Henry zooms away as fast as he can, his warped and enraged cartoon-demon son giving chase. Suddenly Geno-Fur to the oh-so convenient rescue.)
Geno-Fur; “Oh my god, daddy!! Izzat you?? Ohmygaww I can see why mommy thot u wer hawt!!”
(Bendy is understandably confused by her appearance and comment.)
Bendy; “huh…what??”
(he looks back to where Henry was initially, however Henry’s already in a miracle station also conveniently nearby)
Bendy; “HE’S GONE!! Where did he-!?”
Geno-Fur; “Ummm like… you know that weird up-and-down door and room thingy with buttons??”
Bendy; (surprised at how goddamn stupid she is) “The… you mean the elevator?”
Geno-Fur; “Yeah!! The escalator! I think Henry’s using it to go down to liiiiike… Level 1000!”
Bendy; “…There is no Level 1000. The building doesn’t tunnel down THAT deep.”
Geno-Fur; “Exactly!! Like, he’s going so deep down he’s trying to get to a level that doesn’t exist! I’m sure that if you go all the way down to the last floor, you’ll find Henry! Good luck daddykins!”
Bendy; (half-assing at this point) “Well, I totally trust my perfect hybrid daughter to never lie to me ever and that alibi is highly convincing. I will go.”
(Bendy exists the scene in his usual spooky way, to which Henry hops back out of the station.)
Geno-Fur; “Hurry Henry!! We gotta save mah Woof Hubby and get out of here!! And bring mommy and daddy back with the power of family love!!”
(Geno-Fur tearfully exists, Henry following her.)
Henry; “This is what I got out of retirement for…”
 
(Cut to Alice’s super-duper evil lab room with Boris strapped to the operating table Frankenstein style. Alice is still acting in-character, in contrast Boris is basically left to ad-lib and isn’t entirely certain on the mood of the scene. Boris scratches at his neck, but quickly puts his arm back in as soon as he realizes they’re rolling.)
Alice; (some obligatory evil chuckling) “… And after I’ve done away with you, Henry AND Bendy, I can continue my makeover with no trouble or interruptions at all! Then I will have the popularity I was always destined for! Now, any last words before you fulfil your purpose, little wolfie~?”
Boris; “is it too early to make a ‘stole my heart’ joke, even though you got the REAL side-splitters, or...?”
(some muffled laughter off-stage is heard, implied to be Rodney behind the camera. Alice is unamused and gestures at Boris threateningly.)
Alice; “Be quiet or I’ll cut you open faster.”
Boris; “Alright, alright, I’ll shush…” 
The “mysterious” voice who may or may not be Rodney; “Bitter hag-”
 
(because of budgetary, technical, and time-related issues… we already skip over to chapter 4 events because we’re basically haphazardly trying to scrunch in the entire canon-game story, not caring if it makes any sense at all like always)
 
Henry; “Okay, so it’s only now occurred to me to ask; earlier, we were in the show… but as we kept going, all of a sudden we’re in the-?”
Geno-Fur; “YAWN! You’re boring old-man dinosaur talk is super boring, we’re not gonna rescue Boris fast enough if you don’t let me do all of the mouth-stuff! No wonder mommy and daddy wanna murder-fy you, LOL!”
Henry; “I… I don’t even- what the heck is a ‘LOL’, anyway!? Why are you helping me if you’re their daughter or something!?”
Geno-Fur; “Because I’m sooo nice!! :3”
Henry; “How… how do you even work??”
 
(The Butcher Gang mooks appear right the hell out of nowhere without Henry even opening any of the doors)
Charley; (in a grunty, zombie-ish way) “Now’s are time to shine, boys… Lets take all of our pent-up frustrations out on Henry!”
Geno-Fur; “OOOOOH MY GOOOOOOOD!!! SOOOO KAWAII! THESE GUYS ARE SOOO MY HUSBANDS!”
(she hugs all three up to her tumour-tits, immediately all their necks snap.)
Henry: (not even caring anymore) “I thought you said Boris was your husband.”
Geno-Fur; “Ummm, DUH? Of course, he is! You’ve clearly not been listening to me with your senile old-ness! Seriously, I thought the guy who drew ME would be super-hot and NOT some old BOOMER! Isn’t that right, husbands!?”
(she only now realises the 3 are dead and lets out a big Darth Vader “NOOOO!!!”, Henry is unfazed.)
 
(Meanwhile, back at Bendy’s Ink Machine throne room - Bendy was able to hear Geno-Fur’s annoying whine from several of those miles upwards)
Bendy; “the hell…? Ugh… probably my cue… A guy just can’t watch his own show on loop in peace anymore…”
(as Bendy speaks he’s existing his “castle” to return to the higher levels. Sammy abruptly appears again in one of the hallways Bendy passes.)
Sammy; “My Lord! I will always be gleeful and willing to perform any request you-!”
 
(Bendy, not even making eye-contact, clocks Sammy in the head with his “good toon hand” hard enough to put the walking notice-me-senpai-joke out cold, the sound effect a wet and loud POW. Mr Lawrence is unconscious. And maybe missing some teeth.)
 
Bendy; “Fuckin’ punchline…”
 
(Cut back to Henry and Geno-Fur at the carnival prototype area. The poor old man is being ranted at by the annoying Mary Sue disaster for killing her 3 other “husbands”. Even though that was her own fault.)
 
Geno-Fur; “Those valiant gentle-mans meant the world to me and now they’re all gross inky poopy-goop!! This is all YOUR fault, you ugly old murderer-guy, you!! Feel guilty for your evil sins!!”
Henry; “I never even touched them; YOU did that! Please tell me, are you some kinda alien who is trying to mimic what a toon looks and acts like? Because you’re failing miserably.”
Geno-Fur; “I’m young and pretty and you’re a wrinkly old fart!! That means I’m right and you’re wrong!!”
(Henry groans in annoyance, pinching the bridge of his nose)
Henry; “Alright then… Seeing as I’m clearly a hindrance to your ‘noble quest’ or… whatever, how’s about this: you go ahead and complete all of the puzzles needed to unlock the doors, while I search for any clues or another alternate route that could maybe get us into that haunted house faster? I mean, clearly, it’d be my only good contribution to your ‘mission’.”
Geno-Fur; “Pfff, I have a better idea! I’ll go ahead and complete all the puzzles needed to unlock the doors, while YOU search for any clues or another alternate route that could maybe get us into that haunted house faster! I mean, clearly, it’d be your only good contribution to my mission!”
 
(As Geno-Fur sneers she walks to the puzzle-room that has Norman in it, Henry has an expression that all but states he wants to see this obnoxious girl get hit by a truck.)
Henry; “You…go do that.”
Geno-Fur; “YAS! And I’ma doit like a sexy QUEEN~!!”
(As she enters the door shuts behind her, trapping her there until the task would be completed.)
Henry; “Okay then… Better think of something before she gets back. I can only put up with that rotten attitude for so long…”
(Before Henry knew it, he now hears several sounds indicative of clutter and a chase as he sadly must hear Geno-Fur’s voice once more, although muffled through the walls and corridors… There are gradually more muffled sounds of disaster around him, almost impossibly so as Geno-Fur’s whining can be heard amongst it. Sounds range from explosions, to car horns and all the way to an elephant. Henry is utterly lost.)
Henry; “What the devil is that brat doing!?”
(as soon as the noise dies down finally, all the doors and puzzles have spontaneously been completed. Whatever Geno-Fur caused in there, it finished everything for him.)
Henry; “Wait, already?... Huh, that screechy rat-girl helped with progress for once…”
 
(Not wasting any time, Henry hops into the attraction and heads towards one of the carts on the track. Extra sound-effects/in-game audio to indicate the ride starts, as Henry is slowly carted through the tunnel-portion the intercom is switched on, it’s Boris and Susie-Alice mid-conversation. Alice sounds angered with a reasonable Boris.)
Boris; “-I’m just saying, you weren’t part of Henry’s initial vision when making this show, and that isn’t a bad thing! I mean, Lola got popular after Space Jam-“
Susie-Alice; “And popular with who, exactly!? A bunch of perverts who don’t care about character! But as soon as I make it to the big top, the world will know I’m appealing in mind AND sexuality! So, what if I was Joey’s add-on!? I was the best thing to happen to you and Bendy’s sad little circus!”
Boris; “Alice, look, there’s no need to get hostile. I’ve been trying to help you and turn it around into something positive. You’re the one choosing to see it as something wrong. You’re not one of Henry’s characters like Bendy and I. That isn’t an insult, it’s what happened!”
Susie-Alice; “Well! You!... You’re just a sad, stupid mongrel who digs up bones! And your friend is a fat, gremlin slob who’ll never have anything near as wonderful as me!! How do you like that, huh!? What do have to say to that!?”
Boris; “I’d say now you’re just yelling like an angry school-kid ‘cuz you don’t have a point.”
 
(Henry pays no heed to the Halloween-themed pop-ups as he listens in awkwardly)
Henry; “I might’ve jumped in too soon...”
(Susie-Alice and Boris both let out surprised a “huh?”)
Henry; “Oh! Did… did you two hear me? Didn’t think it worked that way.”
Boris; “Howdy Henry! Real quick, was all’a that ruckus earlier from that Jenny-chick? Sounded like a twister full of cats was let loose in here!”
Susie-Alice; “How much did you hear!? Wait, wait!! How do you shut this off!? Can we do this over!? Make the cart stop right now! I was supposed to give a profound and depressing speech--!!”
(the intercom is abruptly cut as Alice panics, likely because she was scrambling on the buttons. Henry’s already at the “house” part of the ride with paintings and such.)
Henry; “… I’ll just tell her I only heard something about bones and gremlins.”
(As Henry is carted across the room, he comments on the environment casually)
Henry; “Wonder who did the paintings in here? I need to ask around when I can. I don’t think the poor fella ever got credit, knowing Joey’s ‘forgetfulness’… Bertrum prolly has the answer, if he’s still nearby.”
(Henry’s about to head into the dark tunnel where Boris *would* be there as a Frankenstein monster to make it stop… but no, he isn’t there. Not to any degree.)
Henry: “Uhh… ‘Oh no! what has she done to you!?’ …”
(He clears his throat, then adds more base to his voice)
Henry: “…’OH NO! what has she done to you!?’ …”
 
(Although Henry’s deeper into the darker portion of the ride than what was normal, his tired prayer is answered as a pair of hands latch onto the cart and force it to stop. They, however, are not Boris’ mega-hands… But Norman’s, as is indicative by what Henry can see as well as the grunts. He has removed the camera-head mask)
Henry: “… ‘Boris! What has she do-!?’ wait… wait, Nor-?”
(Norman, shrouded in shadows, cuts Henry off with a panicked “SHH!!”, then whispers...)
Norman: “Look, Hen, I’m having as hard a time to follow what’s going on as you are. I’m going to push you back and adjust the cart, so it doesn’t keep moving. This did not happen, and you never saw me!”
Henry: “Of course… Highly terrifying Ink-monster who I did not see here…”
Norman: “There we go.”
 
(As the not-Projectionist(?) stated, he shoved the cart back and made quick work to turn it in such a way that it wouldn’t continue onward on the track. Henry is awkwardly left alone waiting for the warped-Boris cue.)
Rodney, undoubtedly the cameraman now and in a snarky mood; “… Isn’t something supposed to happen in this clearly suspenseful climax we’ve been building up to?”
(There is a loud “BONK” sound effect as Rod is clocked on the noggin by somebody else, resulting in an annoyed “OW!! Son of a…!!” from him.)
 
(Susie-Alice enters the room without warning, very blatantly stalling for time with improvisations. Henry hardly reacts.)
Susie-Alice; “We meet again, Henry! You’re trapped in my web, and a little fly like you will have no chance of escape!”
Henry; “Didn’t you already use that spider-web analogy a while ago...?”
Susie-Alice; “Soon! Your face will be an analogy for all the pain and ruin you’ve done unto me which is very clearly your fault as much as Joeys’! But! Unlike your ruined face mine will be fixed and I’ll be the heavenly starlet idol I’ve always deserved to be!”
Henry; “You lost me.”
Susie-Alice; “And I’ll make you lose your head too! Literally, not figuratively!”
(she charges to him dramatically, brandishing a vase prop from the table. Henry leisurely hops out of the cart finally.)
Henry; “a cue to fight and defend myself, alrighty then...”
 
(Before Henry could spring into this on-the-spot “Boss Battle”, a sudden gent pipe whizzes through the air at a beeline to Susie-Alice’s head. It’s only hard enough to make her stop in her tracks with a surprised shriek and grunt to herself for a little in pain. Standing on top of the cart Henry had exited is “Allison Alice”. She’s posed dramatically and without Tom.)
“Allison”; “Please, don’t give up Henry! You’re our only hope!... Don’t know why I said that here and now, but I did…”
Henry; (fake gasp, he’s clearly getting tired) “Oh My Goodness, another Amy the Angel?”
“Allison”; “Um, it’s ‘Alice’-”
Henry; “-Dearie me, given that there have been dozens of Boris copies, does that mean there are just as many of you?”
“Allison”; “Honestly, you’ll love what I still remember about what happened to Lacie.”
(Susie moans about her brow hurting, “Allison” remembers her other lines.)
“Allison”; “OH! Uhh by the way Henry do not be deceived by this awful, evil witch! Even though I look even less like her, I’m absolutely the real and goody-good Alice Angel!”
 
(This accusation catches Susie-Alice’s attention, and she angrily glares daggers at her like a snobby teenaged girl who got upstaged at prom.)
Susie-Alice; “You attention-whore hussy! I’m the REAL Alice Angel!”
“Allison”; “No, I’M Alice!”
Susie-Alice; “I’m Alice Angel!”
“Allison”; “I’m Alice Angel!”
Susie-Alice; “I’m Alice Angel!”
“Allison”; “I’m Alice Angel!”
Susie-Alice; “I’m Dirty Dan!”
“Allison”; “I’m Dirty Dan!”
(they both pause)
Susie-Alice; “…Did that really just come out of our mouths-?”        
 
(explosion and clutter noises, everyone is surprised. It’s Geno-Fur having burst into the haunted house room through the wall.)
Geno-Fur; “Shit! I was so lucky daddy saved me from that creepy camera-head guy! He could’ve grabbed my sexy butt and make it all gross with the weird ink corruption!!”
Henry; (under his breath) “Why did neither of them strangle her…”
Geno-Fur; “Mommy! Stop it! I know you’re like so much more than all this darkness and suffering! I totes forgive you for turning my woof hubby all ugly, because I know we can all fix and love him together! You don’t have to stab anything! You nurtured me and made me the proud, talented, and strong woman I am today!”
“Allison”; “… are you talking to her or me??”
Geno-Fur; “Yes!!”
 
(Monster-Bendy’s signature Ink Aura seeps into the room as he suddenly approaches. Oh, the suspense!)
Henry, actually surprised by this; “Wait a minute, already?? How did he know to come right here!?”
Henry, now grumpily; “... It was that pea-brained banshee, wasn’t it. All of that obnoxious wailing lured him to us!”
Geno-Fur; “Shuttup! I’m legit the reason anything good happened here!!”
Henry, rolling his eyes; “Oh yeah. Sure…”
 
(Boris… Oh Sorry I mean Franken-Boris, finally enters the scene… however everyone is still talking, and he just stands there in the back awkwardly now that any room for his cue to start the monster act is completely null with the current cast ensemble. Once more, none of what is now transpiring was in his copy of the script. He’d be whistling and twiddling his “thumbs” if they weren’t so massive and heavy now.)
 
Monster-Bendy, finally; “Well, I for one can’t wait to make... Whatever her name is stay quiet ONCE AND FOR ALL! But first things first, my bloody and graphic vengeance on HENRY!”
Susie-Alice; “HEY! Wait your turn, fatty! I’m having vengeance on him FIRST!”
Monster-Bendy; “THE FUCK YOU JUST CALL ME!? FINE THEN, MY VENGENCE IS ON EVERY PATHETIC SOUL IN THIS ROOM!”
“Allison”; “I was supposed to get Hen out of here by now??”
Geno-Fur; “DADDYYYYYY! NUUUUUUU! LEMME TOK 2 U!!”
Monster-Bendy; “WHAT!?”
Geno-Fur; “Plz, DADDY!
Monster-Bendy; “I heard you the first time-”
 
Geno-Fur; “If you’re not able to look within your heart and see that this isn’t what you want…
Monster-Bendy; “Sweet Solomon, what am I in for.”
Geno-Fur; “I wrote a song, which was 100% not originally by Christina Aguilera, JUST for you about how killing the people you love is wrong, and that I’m your best daughter ever AND LOVE YOU no matter what! It’s really dope and super cooler than what happened in Goofy Movie and I practiced all of the Fortnight dances and Minecraft stuff for it that I put it to and EVERYTHING! Duncha remember you n mommys wedding?? It was super bomb and I was the best gothic flowergirl in fishnets, leather skirt, midnight black corset and red firey boots EVER! Jus remember all de times we were like the best sexiest fam in da WORLD! And after it’s all done, I can play fnaf games with you! And then later, we’ll have another episode where I’m in highschool and Boris-sempai meets me under the cherry-blossom trees and I made him been-toes n’ stuff, and we’re the best OTP ever and Romeo and Juliet could never hope to compare to how deep we got it! And then in the final season it’ll be revealed yer in love with Uncle Cuphead and mommy is all like-!”
 
Bendy is slack jawed at this stupidity. He finally snaps.
 
Bendy; “F-… Fortnight and..? Did I hear that? Stop the cameras. Hit the brakes. Back up the bus. STOP THE GODDAMN MUSIC! Listen, I’ve put up with a LOT of braindead pandering malarkey this episode, but shit like FORTNITE REFERENCES and other media where they don’t belong are where I’m drawing the damn line. That tears it! I’m leaving! I don’t give a shit about getting a check anymore! I have a cat to feed and play with back at home, and I’m not wasting anymore time or energy on this! I’VE HAD IT WITH THIS TRIPE!!”
 
As Bendy rants, he’s removing his huge monster-self costume. Boris struggles out of the fat-suit and discards the gigantic gloves, whipping one of the X’s off his eyelids. They were makeup.
Boris; “I’m right there with you, Bend. I didn’t spend three years religiously studying musical theatre and drama to be in this piece of cow dung!”
“Allison” removes her wig to reveal it’s been Maria the whole time, because the real Allison wanted no part in this.
Maria; “Personally I’d of taken so many fat ones to stay OUT of the camera.”
Boris; “...’Many fat’ what??”
Maria; “I’ll… say when we’re older!”
Boris; “Mari, all of us are presumed 20-somethings-“
 
Rodney, finally visible as he’s approaching the set: “Rufford could fart on paper, and that’d be better material than this slop.”
Boris; “Who’s to say he isn’t one of the prime suspects? I mean, if it wasn’t Mr. Drew, or Raph-”
Bendy; “I just remembered, where the Blue Hell’s Angie!? She straight-up VANISHED in the middle of act 1!”
Angie, muffled; “Um, I am in here!”
 
They all look to a wooden box nearby. Boris pries it open to reveal Angie squeezed within.
Angie; “Hello, my friends!”
Bendy; “Anj!”
Angie; “I was informed that this would be my best contribution to the project...”
Boris; “… Wait, why put Angie into one of the crates I was s’posed to SMASH to bits, according to my script copy?”
 
(Geno-Fur interrupts like always)
Geno-Fur; “NnnnnOOOO!!! You can’t leave now! It was getting soooo gooooood!! I WANT TO SPREAD THE FEELS OF MY FEELS SPEECH!!”
Bendy; “SHADDAP, you obnoxious personification of preteen fanfiction and anime-base art!! C’mon outta there Angie, Henry promised to take us out for donuts after this.”
Angie, freed from the crate; “Oh, lovely!”
Boris; “I call dibs on the first bear claw.”
Maria; “Oh, I can absolutely go for a cream-filling!”
Bendy; “Maria, just.. don’t..”
 
Alice, trying to get Maria’s attention but ultimately ignored; “Why did the pipe you throw at me SMELL ‘funny’!?”
Dolly enters, just as frustrated about this dumb performance as everybody else.
Dolly; “Ages and ages on EVERYONE’S makeup, and do I get any mention on the end-credits? When I looked them over, NO.”
Rodney, chiming in; “Damn good for a first shot at horror-film sorta faceups, if ya ask me.”
Dolly; “Aw, you!”
Bendy; “Yeah, you got an artists’ hand Dolly! I remember Boris and I having a double-take at how well you captured Alice’s inner evil.”
Dolly; “Spoiling me, every single one of you”
(distant sound of Alice grunting grumpily and walking away from the group.)
 
Norman, somewhere in the distance: “Let’s just wrap this up and go home everybody, Joey can get his ears hollered off later!”
Bertrum, further away: “MY SCENES WERE SKIPPED OVER ALTOGETHER! THE NERVE OF WHOEVER PLITHERED OUT THIS PIGS’ EXREMENT…!!”
 
(Various voices are heard as the entire crew dissipates. Improv whatever.)
 
Henry returns to the remaining “toon crew”, holding a set of car keys
Henry; “Ima’s offered to tag along and pitch in, donuts are our treat fellas!”
 
Bendy, Angie, Boris, and company (not counting Alice or Geno-Fur) cheer in delight as they follow Henry out to grab some good old Shipley’s. Although still close by, the metaphorical camera is on the lady-trio. They momentarily face the audience.
 
Dolly; “Just to clarify, none of that hogwash we trudged through is canon.”
Angie; “We still hope you were entertained, thank you dearly for coming!”
Maria, after blowing a kiss; “Goodnight, everybody!”
 
END.
32 notes · View notes
stubbornjerk · 3 years
Text
Why people keep telling you to block them if you support Pholo (Penumbra Edition)
Or: why jitterbug-juno really deactivated
I love when people categorize this as fandom wank. Really makes you feel like you’re putting the onus on either side of the conversation.
I’m making this post not because I want to stir up spoiled milk, but because I want it out there that this wasn’t a purity culture war.
The TL;DR version of this is that fans of color tried to tell Rab (prev. jitterbug-juno) not to post her Omegaverse (or A/B/O) fic. And instead of taking the L, she posted it on Ao3 and deactivated.
But, if you want context, well, buckle in. CW for mentions of racism and transphobia.
What did jitterbug-juno do?
Before I get into this I do want it out there that I will not be linking Rab’s fic, but I will show you this screenshot of the summary of it.
Tumblr media
[ID: It is a screenshot of a fic, “As You Are” by Pholo.
Summary: Peter can hide his scent glands behind cologne; makeup; concealer pads. He can quash his heats with suppressants. He can divert the urge to nest and fawn.
But he can’t feign another gender’s subvocals. He lacks the anatomical capacity. Mag taught him to distract from his silence with fast, flashy words. For longer heists he relies on social convention. Traumatic mutism is uncommon, but remarked upon by enough war vets and soap operas to be widely recognized. Peter’s marks assume he’s been harmed long before they assume he’s a closeted omega. It would take quite the backwater brute to ask why he doesn’t murmur or chuff or growl.
On the 'Blanche there are the usual furtive glances. Juno makes clear to Peter that should he ever want “to talk about what happened,” he’ll be there to listen. The gesture annoys Peter more than comforts him.
‘Nothing happened,’ he wants to scream. ‘There’s nothing to talk about!’
There are 14 comments, 85 kudos, and 11 bookmarks /end]
You decide what you’re doing with that information, but honestly, I’d rather you don’t give it anymore engagement than it deserves.
There was a period earlier this June (yes, even though it’s only the 10th, at time of writing) when Rab was posting snippets of the aforementioned fic on her blog and tagging it appropriately, putting it in the attention of pretty much the entire Penumbra fandom.
What’s Omegaverse or a/b/o and why is everyone so against Rab for it
If you know what Omegaverse is, I don’t have to tell you why it’s controversial. If you don’t know what Omegaverse is, well, Fanlore said it best:
a kink trope wherein some or all people have defined biological roles based on a hierarchical system, with the terms originating from animal behaviour research. There may be werewolf, knotting, or other animalistic elements involved, or the characters may be otherwise purely human.
The term is generally written with slashes (a/b/o). Many fans, particularly ones from Australia and New Zealand, are uncomfortable seeing the term without slashes because it is also an Australian slur for aboriginal people.
I won’t get into the history or the heaps and tons of other discourses (mostly about fictional male pregnancy, homophobia, transphobia, sexual assault, etc.)  that go on within that. We’re here specifically on Rab v. Penumbra fans of color and we’re staying there.
Anyone who’s been in Penumbra enough to realize that everyone draws the Junoverse characters in a certain way knows that a) Juno is black, b) Nureyev is Asian, and c) as a fan you have to be aware of what you’re subjecting or saying about either of them because of the political repercussions that come with it.
And despite that, Rab proceeded to write Peter Nureyev, a gender nonconforming gay Asian male character that is widely headcanon’d as trans, into a fic using a kink trope that relies heavily on animal behavior.
Unlike most people new to fandom, Rab is aware of what Omegaverse is and is very much white. She is (and if she isn’t, should be) aware of the racist undertones that writing him in would get.
I couldn’t get a screenshot of what snippets Rab was sending out into the ether, seeing as a majority of my friends would rather not have seen any at all (I have all of the usual tags blocked so I wouldn’t have seen it either way), but needless to say, Rab got attention for it. Both positive and negative.
Anne (@hopeless-eccentric) even posted a satirical fic, in the odds that Rab was just writing this thing to be “the first” to write Omegaverse fic in the Penumbra tags.
But, I’m assuming more than one fan of color came into Rab’s inbox and messaged her about it, but someone I know (who would like to remain anonymous) was gracious enough to take a screenshot before he sent his in and let me use it for this post:
Tumblr media
[ID: A message to jitterbug-juno about to be sent by a sender whose name is censored with a black bar. His messages says:
“as someone who is a person of color i think the nature of the fic you are writing right now is extremely racist and attributing animal characteristics to lgbt people of color is not at all appropriate, especially when you are someone who is white. i have to ask you to not publish this fic and to reflect as to why you would want to write this in the first place, these tropes are extremely harmful and”
There are 33 characters left to write into the message. /end]
I can’t speak for whoever else sent asks about the fic she was writing. If anyone was actually not-so-gentle with her, well, minorities don’t really owe it to you to be gentle about what they can tell is bigotry-tinged behavior.
But, the message was clear: this is different from your garden variety, lily white straight male character m/m kink fantasy. This is an actual queer Asian character that a lot of queer Asian people feel attached do. Do not post the fic.
What happened next: the beginning of the end
The next morning, I woke up to most of my friends being frustrated by this post on Rab’s account:
Tumblr media
[ID: Dated 5 June, a post by jitterbug-juno:
“Gonna leave the fandom for a while. Wishing you all well.”
The tags say the following: not sure if i’ll be back, thank you so much to everybody who’s read my fics, and who’s sent asks or engaged with my art or any of that, you’re amazing and I’m sending love /end]
That... was not what fans of color wanted, but it was definitely an action they took. Some celebrated, as they were very much wary of Rab for having caused much of the same category of drama in fandoms like Voltron: Legendary Defenders and Warrior Cats. This also meant that she was probably not going to post the fic either.
Some, myself included, were relatively pissed, as they’d wanted even just the measly bit of accountability. An apology or an acknowledgement of having been called out in private and that they’ll take time to consider why. But instead we got Rab leaving in the face of fans of color telling her not to post her Omegaverse fic.
Well. The next day...
Tumblr media
[ID: Dated 6 June. A post by jitterbug-juno titled, “Well... that was short-lived”
“I gave the situation a lot of thought yesterday. The reaction to my omegaverse previews made me figure I should leave the fandom. It seemed like the safest option.
But you know what?
Hell.
I don’t want to leave. The fic discusses the tropes of omegaverse and I spoke to several POC on Twitter, and I’m going to post it with plenty of tags so people can avoid it if they wish. I’m not going to be chased out of this space.
Thank you to everyone who sent messages yesterday. I shouldn’t have made that post about leaving. It was really reactionary. I’m okay and I appreciate your support so much.
(bolded on the post) To those who are angry and uncomfortable with me: Please block me. If you’re going to talk about this fic on Tumblr and Twitter– and this may sound odd– PLEASE NAME ME as Jitterbug-juno or Pholo. Don’t vague me. That way people who don’t want to see this discourse can add my name to their block lists.“ /end]
That certainly was short-lived, she wasn’t kidding.
This got a lot of outrage. Again, the fic is up on Ao3 and she has not taken it down. A lot of POC were pissed and I didn’t see a single fan of color actively support what she was doing, at least, not in my friend group. Everyone started making those posts to block them if you liked the fic or Rab’s content in general, in accordance to what Rab wanted.
Perseus (@mraudiodrama) noticed/pointed out that Rab deleted the part where she said she spoke to several POC about releasing her fic, as well as the part where she said she refused to be chased out of the fandom. This was an incredibly pointed detail to edit out, according to some.
Tumblr media
[ID: A screenshot of jitterbug-juno's last post taken 11:00PM. Much of it is the same except the following bolded words are removed: "The fic discusses the tropes of omegaverse and I spoke to several POC on Twitter, and I’m going to post it with plenty of tags so people can avoid it if they wish. I’m not going to be chased out of this space." /end]
That same day, Rab deleted her blog. I actually caught this one on tape, believe it or not.
[ID: A screen recording taken at 12:01 PM of someone scrolling down jitterbug-juno's account. The posts and asks about Omegaverse and her post about leaving and coming back are conspicuously absent. /end]
Initially, I thought she deleted all mentions of it. I wanted to see firsthand if the rumors about her deleting portions of it were true. If she added things where she was saying that she wanted to write it because she was autistic and wanted Nureyev to be autistic too, regardless of the numerous QPOC telling her not to do it.
Instead, it turned out, she deleted her blog.
And now, we're here. The fic is still up. Her blog is down. Rab's public Twitter account @nataclinn is quiet about this. Her @cushfuddled Twitter account is on private after her run-in with the Warrior Cats fandom, according to a friend. And her Tumblr @cushfuddled account has nothing but memes.
Again, I didn't make this post to stir up drama. I wasn't even obsessively making this post as a call-out because she isn't in the fandom anymore. I just want it out there that this isn't a purity culture thing that got out of hand in a fandom as niche as Penumbra. This was a case of someone being called out and failing to acknowledge it before running away. And I want all that out of the way before I say:
If you are on Rab's side of this debacle, I, a queer person of color, want nothing to do with you either.
111 notes · View notes
glitxhwayventeen · 3 years
Text
A Different Kind Of Love…
Wonwoo: Chapter 2 (All I Ask)
Tumblr media
Characters: Wonwoo x female reader
Genre/Warnings: multi-member au (different scenarios), werewolf au, fantasy, smut (it got dirty fast my bad), breeding kinks, creampie, oral sex (female), pet names, dirty talk, biting (but y’all knew that this was a wolf fic so you should’ve been known about that one), angst, fluff, potential blood mentions, cheating (maybe?), violence mentions. Any others will be put as warnings when future chapters are thought up/written.
Author’s Note: I recommend listening to All I Ask by Adele. The song just has this need to it that I was trying to convey in this chapter. It was just really… necessary.
Please remember that all of these chapters and the content within them are a work of fiction! They’re just for fun/entertainment!
Bold= Dialogue Italics= Thoughts
Some 🥀, a little ☁️ towards the end, but mainly 💋
A Different Kind Of Love… Master List
Chapter 2: All I Ask
“What- what do you mean you aren’t ready for it?” Wonwoo asked, still so completely stunned at your last remark, he was unsure that you had actually said it.
You had moved to his room as you wanted to head back inside once it had started to rain. He ran his hand through his damp hair in frustration before he looked back to you for an answer.
“I mean, your girlfriend JUST tried to kill me in a fit of jealousy. But I thought SHE was your mate, not me. I’ve- I’ve never even been in a relationship before. How am I supposed to just jump into one with you when yours isn’t even really over yet? Everything’s too… messed up” You explained, sitting down on his bed, brushing out your soaked locks with your fingers.
“I know it’s not really… normal. But we’re wolves. None of what we do is normal…” Wonwoo tried to reason as he resettled his glasses on his face after having cleaned the water droplets off of them.
“No it’s not. But being a wolf doesn’t give me the right to be a home wrecker. How am I supposed to be with you knowing that I’m the reason your relationship is ending?” You questioned, tears starting to brim your vision when you looked down at your hands to distract yourself from your anger at the entire situation you found yourself in, “I don’t want to be the cause of someone else’s misery. Even if I never really thought she was a good person, Song deserves better than this. I mean, have you even broke up with her yet?” You managed to whimper out.
“Of course I did!” Wonwoo defended himself, “Or at least, I thought I did. I didn’t necessarily say those exact words, but she knows she fucked up too badly to continue coming back here.” He spoke, seeming to be trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince you.
You scoffed in annoyance and crossed your arms over your chest in a huff.
“So you didn’t ACTUALLY end things with her? See this is what the fuck I’m talking about! You ARE just as confused as I KNOW I am. How the hell are we supposed to be with each other? I refuse to just be some sort of mistress to somebody, even if my instincts are telling me otherwise. Whether you’re my mate or not, I can resist them” you declared, looking him dead in the eyes with complete seriousness.
“But I can’t! I’ve been trying. It’s not working! I’m already in love with you. I don’t care what happens with Song. Sure I’ll always care about her because of everything we’ve been through together, but I love YOU. I want YOU.” He responded, getting closer to you on his bed and taking your face in his hands.
Your heart started to race at the minimal contact. His hands were so warm and soft, you could’ve just started to melt into them with ease. Usually you’d have asked for your space, but you felt comfortable with him touching you. In fact, you loved him touching you. It had been SO hard for you to stay away from him during your stay, you truly wondered how you were able to keep from going insane.
“I know you can’t fight it for much longer. I know your heart speeds up when I walk into the room. I know you can’t think when we’re in the same room. I know that you look at me like I’m the only reason you wake up in the morning.” He continued as he started to stroke your cheeks with his thumbs.
“I know you feel the same dizziness I feel whenever you get close to me. I know that me touching you sends lightening through your every vein because that all happens to me whenever I’m with you. I don’t care about anything else anymore. I just want you to be mine already. I NEED you to be mine already.” He said in desperation while biting his lip, still holding your decision torn face between his hands.
He was tired of having to run to the bathroom in the middle of the night to rub one out from sheer thought of knowing you were in the next room behind Song’s back. He NEEDED to actually have you soon or he was worried he’d physically explode. He was about to start his rut and, although he’d NEVER EVER guilt or push you into having sex with him for it, every part of him was begging to touch you to relieve the aches he was beginning to feel. He was hoping if he could calm your anxieties about the situation that you’d want him as much as he’d want you. He already knew he had an affect on your more than you were willing to admit.
A deafening silence started to overtake the both of you. You didn’t want to start anything with him until things were sorted. But God, you wanted the same thing as he did. It made you sooo angry to see him with Song, but you didn’t understand why until now. Now, knowing he was your mate, you realized it was the primal jealousy you held from another woman being that close to him. You had wanted him from the very start, but you always had to hold yourself back out of respect for their pre-existing relationship.
You weren’t really sure where they stood at that moment, but you were starting to not care. Him being so close to you and not actually touching you where you wanted him to made you feel like you were going to catch fire. He smelled like Heaven, and his slight touch made you begin to lose your better judgement. His presence was started to cause a pool of arousal to form in your panties.
He was the first one of you to speak up again, “I know we still have so much to figure out.” Put it out of your head. No matter how much you need him and his plush lips right now.
“And I know that you’re worried about feeling guilt over Song,” Don’t do it. Control yourself!
“But please, if there’s any guilt let it be all on me.” You’re gonna regret it, no matter how phenomenal he smelt. You’re stronger than this. RESIST.
“A- All I Ask is that you at least give us a chance before-” Oh Fuck it, you thought before you quickly interrupted him with a passionate kiss, stopping him from speaking any further.
He was clearly dumbfounded by your sudden actions that had contradicted your previous statements. Even so, he reciprocated immediately anyways, kissing you so roughly that your teeth clashed together. Everything that followed happened in a blur.
You grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it upward. He caught your hint quite fast and all but tore his shirt off, barely even breaking the kiss in the process.
You then locked your hands behind his neck and jerked him as close to you as you possibly could, raising yourself to your knees in the process. He growled lowly before he ripped your shirt from your body, leaving you in just your shorts and bra.
He put his hands on your hips and pushed you down on the bed. He threw his body to hover over yours and feverishly reattached your lips. Your tongues started fighting for dominance, though he inevitably won the battle.
Your wrapped your right leg around him and attempted to use it as leverage to grind against his pelvis, needing some sort of friction to satisfy the growing hunger between your legs. He groaned into the kiss before he pulled himself back.
He gave you a dirty smirk before he grabbed your leg and used it to push you up the bed slightly, giving him better access to your shorts. He slid them and your panties off in one go before he lowered himself down to your heat.
You soon felt his lips attach themselves to your clit, he drew in one harsh suck that drove you crazy. Your hands found their way to his hair and you tugged at the locks, letting out a high pitched whine due to his action. He repeated it a few more times, just to be an tease. He liked watching you squirm because of something he had done. It made him feel powerful, and you looked fucking gorgeous while doing it.
After he was done with his little game, he had his tongue run up and down your slit before he thrust two fingers into your tight entrance, knowing he had to stretch you so he could have you the way he really wanted to. This caused you to take in a breath of air and gasp loudly. It was music to his ears. He didn’t even mind the death grip you had on his hair, it just egged him to keep going.
He started to scissor his fingers before he added a third into you. It was getting harder and harder for you to control your volume, if the others could hear, they’d be deaf by morning. He was making you feel so good, your legs had started shaking. Before you knew it, they locked around his head and your vision went white.
As you came back down to Earth, you started to become sensitive from the orgasm you had just had. Wonwoo was still licking and sucking at your bundle of nerves, the feeling hurting so bad but so good. You let him continue his actions for a bit longer, jerking every now and then from your vulnerability.
Eventually. the overstimulation got the best of you and you started to push away from him, earning a smirk and small chuckle from him. He wiped his mouth off before he stood up and brought his wet fingers to his lips, cleaning your release from them.
Watching you come undone so easily beneath him had his cock begging to be released from it’s restraints. So he quickly rid himself of his jeans and boxers he was wearing. You had propped yourself up on your elbows and licked your lips when you saw his member bounce back to his abs as it was freed. God, he was huge. You absolutely could not wait to have him inside you.
You motioned for him to come back to you, which he did gladly, crawling his way back up the bed. You grabbed him by the hair on the back of his head and crashed your lips back to his again, tasting what remained of your juices on his tongue. The kiss continued as he slowly lowered you to lay back down on your back.
He moved his mouth down to your neck and began to leave small love bites, earning little mewls from you. He had used his left hand to steady himself and used his other to unhook your bra, getting a full view of your chest. He trailed his bites down to the mounds of your breasts before he took one of your nipples in his mouth. He swirled his tongue around the bud, flicking the other nipple with his fingers so it wouldn’t be left out.
He unlatched his mouth from your breast with a small ‘pop’ sounds and started kissing you again, grabbing his member in one hand and smearing the beads of precum that had gathered at his slit down his shaft. He began rubbing his tip up and down your opening, partly to tease you and partly to give you time to back out if you wanted. He halted the kiss, earning a small whine from you which caused a proud smile to appear on his face.
“Are you sure about this (Y/N)? We can stop if you want to” he said as he pushed some stray hairs behind your hair with the hand that wasn’t holding his dick.
“Yes I’m sure. Now PLEASE just get inside me before I scream” you joked, sort of anyways, placing a peck on his nose. You thought it was sweet how much he cared about your comfort, but you serious just needed him to plow you like a corn field.
He positioned his tip at your entrance before he stopped one last time to look at you asking for approval, to which you nodding your head gently. You grabbed his biceps, readying yourself for the pain that was about to come.
Wonwoo thought it would be best to get the pain part over with as quickly as possible. So he lifted your chin and kissed you to distract you from your nerves and relax you before he pushed himself fully inside you all in one go.
“Oh fuck!” you all but screamed out, gripping his arms tighter, your nails no doubt having left marks on his soft skin
“Shit.” Wonwoo says through gritted teeth as he tried to control himself.
He wanted to start fucking you into next week already, but he didn’t want to move before you were ready. So he held still, using every bit of strength he had to hold himself back.
A small tear slipped down the side of your cheek as a reaction from the sudden feeling of being so full. He wiped it away with his thumb and kissed your lips.
“I’m sorry princess. Do you want to stop?” He asked eyes full of concern and worry. You gave him a short kiss back.
“No. I’m okay now. Please keep going. I really need you to keep going”
And, ever the eager people pleaser he was, he started to pull out almost completely before he pushed back in to you with a groan.
“Fuck. You’re so fucking tight. I dont know how much you’ll be able to take baby” he half joked to you. He nibbled on the sweet spot under your ear and continued his previous action again and again, making you see stars.
“I- I can take all of it. I’ll take anything you give me. Just please, go fast. I- I need you to go faster.” You whimpered out, attempting to meet his thrusts with your hips.
Your words lit a fire in him he couldn’t explain. The thought of you asking him to give you all he had sent an unexplained excitement through his veins. He didn’t know what it was about them that made it happen. But one thing was for sure, he was gonna give you everything he possibly could and he was gonna make sure you took all of it like a good girl.
He quickly sped up his thrusts to an almost inhumane pace, watching every pretty face you made in the process. You started chanting for him to ‘please go deeper.’ And who was he to deny you something when you were being so polite?
So he grabbed one of your legs that you had wrapped around him and pulled it up to rest on his shoulder.
“Oh God right there! Fuck please don’t stop!” You yelled out, dragging your nails down his back leaving bright red lines, some of which must’ve broken skin.
He smiled to himself as your eyes screwed shut at the pleasure he was giving you, small pleas and thank yous leaving your lips in rhythm with his thrusts.
He lowered his eyes to watch himself disappear into you as he pounded you harder and harder. You had never had sex before today and yet, here you were, taking him like a good little cockslut. Fuck. You were incredible.
“You’re doing so good baby. You look so good on my cock” he groaned out, laying his forehead on your shoulder.
“Come on princess, let everyone know how good I’m making you feel. Let everyone know who owns this pretty little cunt.” He cooed at you when he realized you had started to bite his shoulder in an effort to muffle your noises.
You whine in response, knowing normally you wouldn’t have wanted people to know about something so private, but also starting to lose focus on your priorities as his cock started brushing up against that special spot inside you.
“Oh Fuck Wonwoo! Right there! Fuck do that again!” You moaned out, begging him to repeat what he had just done. He smiled to you smuggly.
“Oh you mean right…” he teased as he fixed his position to touch your sweet spot again before you started to scream out in euphoria, “there?”
“Yes yes yes! Fuck yes! Don’t stop! God please don’t ever stop!” You choked out, starting to lose yourself to the immense pleasure he was giving you.
“Well I’m gonna have to in a minute baby. I’m almost there and I’ll need to pull out” he reminded you while tilting his head backward to try and hold his orgasm off just a little bit longer to get you there again.
“Fuck I- I don’t care! Cum inside me then! Just please don’t stop!” You wail, holding onto Wonwoo for dear life at this point.
Wonwoo’s eyes shot wide open at your words, “Princess I could get you pregnant if I do that. You don’t want that” he spoke while begging any fucking god listening to give him the strength to say no to your request.
“Ye- Yes I do. Fuck please cum in me Wonwoo! Please! I want you to fill me up! I want everyone to know I’m yours!” You sobbed, getting so close to your high tears were now freely falling down your face.
Wonwoo’s eyes went bright red. Fuck. You were gonna be the death of him. “Is that what you want baby? For me to fill you up? To get you nice and pregnant so everyone can see your belly and know you’re mine? So everyone’ll know you’re my little cumslut?” He responded, pounding into you harder and harder as he neared his high.
“Yes please! Fuck please! I want your baby! I want you to fill me up! I wanna be your dirty little cum slut! Make me yours” You screamed as his words sent you closer and closer to your orgasm.
Wonwoo couldn’t help it. You asked him to get you pregnant and every instinct in him told him to do it, he was starting his rut. To hell with the consequences. If anything happened, he’d take care of you and everything would be fine. You were his mate after all. He’d breed you some day anyways, why not today?
His fangs elongated as he drew closer to his own orgasm. He sunk them into the apex between your neck and shoulder, the feeling pushing you over the edge. The pleasure mixed with the pain drove you to a release so amazing, you never even thought it possible. And it sent him to his as well. The last thing you remember was feeling his hot cum jet against your walls right as the darkness took over you.
-
“Well looks like sleeping beauty finally woke up” Wonwoo stated as he kissed your nose. You noticed he didn’t have his shirt on, you did. You didn’t remember putting it on…
“What- what happened…?” You groaned out, still pretty groggy from the activities of the previous night.
“We fucked. You passed out after. You must’ve either been super exhausted or super fucked up from cumming really hard.” He said matter of factly while he rubbed your back.
“I think it was the second one” You pieced together as you tried to sit up, soon realizing that your muscles didn’t want to work.
“Considering you were so out of it you were begging me to knock you up, I’d go with number two too” he joked while massaging your sore thigh.
“I- I did that?” You questioned, shocked that you had gotten that fucked up.
“Well… yeah. Don’t worry. We can get you the day after pill when we go to the market today. Of course… you’ll have to cover this…” he responded while moving your hair behind yout shoulder, pointing out the bite he had left on you.
“You marked me??” Your eyes widened at the thought, had you SERIOUSLY been SO fucked out that you didn’t even remember him biting you? You seriously were so lost in cumming that you didn’t realize he marked you as his?
“Yeah I guess I did…” Wonwoo whispered as he rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m sorry. I hardly even remember doing it. I remember you saying you wanted me to cum inside of you. I remember how that made me have this sudden primal urge to make you mine, then everything went blurry.”
“It- It’s okay. I can’t really be mad if I was literally asking you to… well you know. We both ended up getting pretty fucked out huh?” You joked, a small smile forming as you spoke.
“Yeah. Pretty fucked out is a bit of an understatement. But still, I’m sorry for the unintentional marking and mating. I can’t really do anything about the marking… but we can at least help the mating thing by getting you that weird pill” he shrugged out, already getting ready to put his jeans back on.
“Wait!” You stopped him by grabbing his arm, surprising both him and yourself with the action. He looked back at you with confusion plastered all over his face.
“What? Isn’t taking it as early as possible better?” He questioned, your hand still holding his arm.
“Yeah… but I don’t want to get out of bed. I’m kinda sore. So do we… absolutely have to get it…?” You wondered aloud, trying your best to convey to him what you were trying to say.
“I- uh if you don’t want to get pregnant… kinda?” He stuttered out, now grabbing your petite hand in his large one and placing a little kiss to the center of it’s palm.
“What if- what if I don’t mind it? Getting pregnant I mean. Do we have to go get it…? Unless you want me to take it…?” You trailed on. His eyes widened and his heart rate sped up. Were you saying what he thought you were saying?
“Are you saying- are you saying that you’d actually be okay if I just got you pregnant?” He gulped, hand still encasing yours.
“Well… yeah. Kind of? I mean- we’re already mates right? We already know we’ll be together till the day we die. So I don’t see why it matters if we have a kid now or twenty years from now” you explained cautiously, hoping you didn’t just freak the poor wolf out. He looked back at you, his face completely unreadable.
“If- if you’re okay with it then- Yeah that’s- that’s fine. We don’t have to go get it if you don’t want. We can just stay here and uh… talk?” He let out very questionably, still not completely sure what to say. After everything you had said to him about… well- about everything, he had NEVER expected those words to come out of your mouth.
“Are you… mad? Because we can go get the pill if you-” you started, worried that you had in fact, upset him with your request.
“No- no! I’m not mad. Just… kind of shocked is all. I didn’t think that you’d… be okay with something like that so soon” he defended, holding his hands up in the air as a way to stop you from talking any further.
“Oh. Yeah well… me either really. But I’m not… absolutely hating the idea, ya know? I mean I’m not saying ‘I want a baby right this second so let’s keep going till I get pregnant’ or anything. But I just mean- if it happens, it happens. Why try to fight it if we’re supposed to be together anyways? Unless you hate the idea then I-” You say, slightly losing steam at the end of your sentence, while looking down and biting your lip.
“Hey” Wonwoo said while lifting your chin with his hand, “I dont hate the idea either. I know what you’re saying and… I feel the same way about it” he admitted with a small smile playing on his lips.
“Really? You’re not mad or gonna like freak out?” You quizzed him, still very worried that he was a mess inside and was just hiding it fo your sake.
“Really. I’m not mad and I’m not gonna freak. What you’re saying, it makes sense. I already know I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone. Hell, I’ve already marked and mated you, so why try and stop it if we’d both be okay with it.” He added taking your hand and kissing it once more, this time with love and adoration in his eyes rather than concern.
“Okay. Good. Now that that’s settled… can we lay back down now before you start your mating season? I’m in a bit of pain and kind of need to get my strength back before I have to deal with you for a whole week” you declared, earning a small laugh from Wonwoo.
“Yeah baby. We can lay back down. Come on” he chuckled out as he quickly moved under the sheets to lay beside you.
“Better?” He asked, playing with your hair as you laid on his chest.
“Better.” You answered before you snuggled further into him.
You knew that you trusted Wonwoo and that you loved and cared for him more than you did yourself. You may not have planned how today went, but you sure as hell weren’t complaining. No matter what hardships decided to come your way…
Another Author’s Note: Ahhh. This was a fun chapter. Wonwoo’s next chapter is where it’ll really start to hit home. I’m not that good at writing smut but honestly, something about this boy makes me always wanna just smash my lips to his and fuck him. Don’t know why. Don’t know if I’m the only one. Either way, I promised smut for his chapter and I delivered as best as I could.
(Updated 9/6)
66 notes · View notes
Text
mid-year book freak out tag
thank you @bloody-wonder for giving me an excuse to share my book thoughts!
1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2021?
It’s gotta be The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood; I hear “feminist period novel about mentally ill woman unable to cope in upper-class society” and I am THERE! It’s like [Stefon voice] This book has EVERYTHING: repressed women, a decaying old house, a complex relationship of two sisters, a pulpy sci-fi story-within-a-story-within-a-story, criticism of capitalism and reactionary attitudes and politics, commentary on how conservative society shuns those it perceives to be “other” and a threat to the social order (poor people, socialists, “unconventional” women). It is EXTREMELY my shit.
2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2021?
The only one I've read is Siege and Storm, so Siege and Storm! Shadow and Bone was captivating, if a little simplistic, but the sequel really fleshes out the characters, setting, and themes. It’s great to see Alina take a more active role, and I love the exploration of sainthood. 
3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To?
I’m really curious about Michelle Zauner’s memoir Crying in H Mart. Same with Axiom’s End, which I haven’t really been seeking out, but it’s been resting on my list since I like a lot of Lindsay Ellis’ stuff.
4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2021?
5. Biggest Disappointment?
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. I’ve been getting into Atwood, and I have a soft spot for female-centric retellings of myths, so this was on my list for a long time. It’s not bad; it’s decent as a character study and offers some good perspective on the hanged slave women from The Odyssey, but overall it came off as...bitter? And not in a good way. It’s reasonable to include commentary on how bad things were for women in ancient times, but after a while I’m just like “But there had to be a time when Penelope was happy, right?” But the biggest failing has to be the treatment of Helen. Why a story focused on bringing literary justice to silenced women also characterizes Helen of Troy as a manipulative, arrogant bitch who single-handedly ignited the Trojan War because she enjoys fucking people over, I’ll never know. Ironic that in the opening chapter, Penelope bemoans being used as a yardstick with which to judge other women, and then the book proceeds to do exactly that with her and Helen. Can’t let Penelope have a positive relationship with another woman! There could be some form of unreliable narrator at play, but there’s not much indication that that’s the case here. Even Homer had a more nuanced portrayal of Helen than this!
6. Biggest Surprise?
I suppose The Red Tent. I picked it up at a Goodwill because of my aforementioned interest in female-centric retellings. It’s not amazing, but I wasn’t really expecting it to emotionally affect me like it did. You spend so much time setting up Dinah’s family and this supportive community of woman within a patriarchal society, only to have Dinah abandon it all after getting betrayed by her father and (most of) her brothers. Hearing about how her family fell apart after she left and she never got to see her mothers again really gets to me. The book has flaws for sure - neither of Dinah’s romances are developed very well, and some of its themes can come off as gender essentialist - but I think it’s a nice exploration of female labor and traditions that too often get ignored.
7. Favorite New Author?
The only relatively new author I’ve been reading is Leigh Bardugo, soooooo... honestly I don’t know what I can say that hasn’t already been said, I got into the series pretty late. Great world-building, witty dialogue, a familiar type of story with enough interesting ideas to make it feel fresh. Check out Shadow and Bone if you get the chance. Sound of the summer.
8. Newest Fictional Crush?
You would think it would be Nikolai Lantsov since I just finished reading Siege and Storm and he seems to be the fan favorite... but nah, not yet. He’s fun, but he doesn’t hit me in that way (Though very sexy of him to just casually proposition Alina and Mal for a royal polycule, a la Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot; would love an AU where they accept his offer). However, I would let Zoya murder me. Every time Zoya is not in a scene I am asking “Where’s Zoya?” Also shout out to Alina, just because I would treat her better than all the men in her life! 
9. Newest Favorite Character?
Gonna try to do this without spoiling too much, but Laura Chase in The Blind Assassin really resonated with me. Her personality reminds me a lot of myself, especially as an an autistic person, like the way she has her own way of thinking that makes perfect sense to her, but makes other people see her as odd and naive. I love how she’s set up in-universe as this Sylvia Plath-esque tragic heroine, with Iris spending the rest of the book interrogating and deconstructing, and in a way, reconstructing this image of her. Atwood you’re insane for this. I forgive you for the Helen thing now.
10. Book That Made You Cry?
I never got as far as crying, but the part in The Goldfinch where [spoilers incoming] the art heist goes wrong and Theo is alone in the hotel room and he’s spiraling and considering suicide and finally dreams of his mom… all that was too much for me and I had to put the book down for the night. This guy just can’t catch a fucking break.
11. Book That Made You Happy?
fucidjdjdj I didn’t read any happy books this year. Shadow and Bone and Siege and Storm because I read them really fast unlike my usual months-long reading schedule.
12. Favorite Book Adaptation You Saw?
Predictably, Shadow and Bone. I basically bought and read the book less than a week before the show came out because I thought it looked interesting and wanted in on the hype (mostly because Jessie is cute 🥰). Honestly, the show improves a lot on the first book; the multiple storylines make it more dynamic and complex, the actors really help to make the characters feel more fleshed out, and Alina and Inej interacted for like three scenes, introducing an unexpected but thematically rich ship.
13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year?
14. Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought So Far This Year?
I impulse-bought this book of Romantic poetry at Barnes and Noble just because it was pretty and I had a gift card
Tumblr media
15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End Of The Year?
Besides finishing The Grisha Trilogy/Six of Crows duology/Zoya’s duology that I forgot the name of….I don’t know. I’m not a reader that plans in advance. I acquire books, finish whatever I’m currently reading, look through my stacks deciding what to read next, spend an hour doing so because I can’t decide if I’m in the mood for any of them, and either force myself to read one or buy/borrow a new one.
I’m tagging @betweenironyandsilver, @illuminaticns, @borispavlikovskys, @chdarling, @sctine, @mightyaubs, @excuseforadrink, and @trckstergods, if you wanna! Or anyone who wants to yell about books.
16 notes · View notes
readingaway · 3 years
Text
Mid Year Book Freakout Tag
Stolen from @ninja-muse, this was a good distraction for a few minutes
How many books have you read so far?
126; fewer than I wanted to have read but there’s a lot of extenuating circumstances and reading must take a back seat to everything else. A few have been re-reads like Dance of Thieves, Red White & Royal Blue, the first three books of An Ember in the Ashes, and I will get to re-reading We Hunt the Flame in the next few weeks. 
What genres have you read?
A decent mix, I think. It’s still somehow dominated by fantasy and YA (or YA fantasy), but I’ve gotten in quite a few other genres like contemporary/ adult literary fiction, historical fiction, romance, sci-fi, classics, and some nonfiction, poetry, short stories, and graphic novels. 
Best books you’ve read so far in 2021:
Not counting re-reads -
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (book 3 hurt so much)
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
A Memory of Light by Brandon Sanderson & Robert Jordan 
Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett (my favorite Discworld novel so far)
The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
New Spring by Robert Jordan
The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald (was a bit hard to read but the flow and the emotional pull)
The Lives of Christopher Chant and Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones (I’ve discovered that when I’m in a slump - usually because my reading has been too depressing or dry I just have to pick up a Jones or a Pratchett to fix things)
A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir (I mean, I thought I was upset by certain things but then I checked the tagged posts on here and realized I’m normal, actually)
Spindle’s End by Robin McKinley
Curses are for Cads by Tamara Berry
The Goddess Chronicle by Natsuo Kirino
The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson
The Valley and the Flood by Rebecca Mahoney
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Cures for Heartbreak by Margo Rabb
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2021:
Uh, I’m gonna go with The Box in the Woods even though it’s not quite a sequel, it is connected to the main series
New release you haven’t read yet, but want to:
Lucky Girl by Jamie Pacton, Delicates by Brenna Thummler, Lucy Clark Will Not Apologize by Margo Rabb, and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. There’s a few more but these are the ones I’m most anxious to get to.
Most anticipated release for the second half of the year:
I’m very excited for A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger, Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson, Hypnosis is for Hacks by Tamara Berry, and The Winners by Fredrik Backman - the intended release date is unclear but it looks like it should be out in English in November/ December but might be pushed to next year. (On that note, I am still waiting for The Winds of Winter and The Thorn of Emberlain.)
Biggest disappointment:
Ace by Angela Chen was well put together but nothing earth-shattering or even that affirming for me. I keep myself sheltered from discrimination so I don’t face the stuff that people in the stories related faced, nor is it like I’ve never heard of asexuality before. 
In terms of books I think were just bad, Coyote America by Dan Flores was a flop; it looked like it might be pretty informative and some parts of it were, but there were so many assumptions and presumptions, as well as poor argumentation, that it threw everything else the author was claiming into question. Brideshead Revisited and A Handful of Dust, both by Evelyn Waugh were also big disappointments, out of all the classics I’ve read so far this year they were both boring, stale duds in which nothing interesting happened at all and the narrative voice was even more boring and grating. 
Biggest surprise:
Um, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I thought it would be iffy but it was... it flowed well and highlighted the differences between the women and had such emotional depth and also drew so much attention to patriarchal religious structures and patriarchy in general. 
Favorite new author (debut or new to you):
Ooh, I’ve read quite a few debut novels - mostly middle grade since I’ve been reading a lot of middle grade since my own novel project falls somewhere between middle grade and YA and I want to study the story types and narrative styles and I like how they’re written much more clearly than YA and adult books and yet typically have great emotional depth. So for most notable debut authors I liked Rebecca Mahoney and Nora Shalaway Carpenter. In new to me authors, Rachel Maddow, Tillie Walden, and Natuso Kirino all have other books that I’m now interested in checking out. Actually I have one of Tillie Walden’s other books next to me right now.
Underrated gems:
I’m going to say Spindle’s End, The Goddess Chronicle, The Valley and the Flood, Cures for Heartbreak, the Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones, Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham (a classic horror/ sci-fi novel), and The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar
Newest fictional crush:
Was gonna say “don’t have any” but one could say that I love Marko in Saga (they draw him with such a strong jawline and he wears armor and has beautiful ram horns; bearded Marko was peak Marko) and Eleanor Wilde in Tamara Berry’s Eleanor Wilde mystery series might count.
Newest favorite characters:
the crew in Saga and Ashby in The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet stick out but really, I loved a lot of characters this year.
Book that made you cry:
Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles, Love & Olives by Jenna Evans Welch, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid leap to mind
Book that made you happy:
Aside from the ones I already listed, The Transatlantic Book Club by Felicity-Hayes McCoy
Most beautiful book cover of a book you’ve read so far this year:
Oh but there’s quite a few! Like The Pull of the Stars, the vintage classics copy of Orlando, The Go-Between, The Valley and the Flood 
How are you doing with your year’s goals?
Well I didn’t make any official goals aside from my overall reading goal of 200 books, which I’m doing well on. I might up it to 250 but I’m not sure how demanding fall semester is going to be yet. Aside from that I just have vague goals to push my boundaries and read as diversely as possible - not just with things like #ownvoices books but in genre, all the different categories, as well. That’s going pretty well.
What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
SO MANY. I can’t give a list because there is no way to keep it concise.
Tagging: @softironman, @she-wolf-of-highgarden, @motherofkittens94 and anyone who wants to do it.
12 notes · View notes
wkemeup · 4 years
Text
By Any Other Name (3)
Tumblr media
series summary: When Special Agent Bucky Barnes is tasked with infiltrating the notorious gang Hydra and gathering evidence against its leader, Brock Rumlow, Bucky finds himself drawn to the woman who doesn’t seem to belong in this world of violence, the wife of the head of Hydra… you. pairing: bucky x reader chapter word count: 6.9k warnings: flirty heart eyes, excessive emphasis on fluff, love is in the AIR, the knowledge that these happy times won’t last forever....... 👀 🌹series masterlist 🌹
Tumblr media
“You did what now?”
Bucky rolled his eyes, explicitly ignoring Sam’s full-bellied laugh as he struggled not to spill the open lidded coffee cup on the impossibly small table between them. There were near tears in his eyes and patrons of the Brooklyn based café were all staring in their direction. Bucky tugged the bridge of his baseball cap lower over his eyes.
“Leave him alone, Sam. It was a good idea,” Steve warned, voice low, as he turned to Bucky to clap a hand on his shoulder. He gripped at the muscle, massaging the tender scar tissue, before dropping his grip. “It gave him an in with Y/n. He needs to work on building that foundation of trust before he can start figuring out what she knows about Hydra. Ain’t that right, Buck?”
Bucky nodded, his lips pressing to a thin line, though it felt forced, jarring against his features. 
“Yeah.”
He could still picture the shock in your eyes; the surprise and the realization as he placed the book in your hands. He had thought for a minute that you were going to laugh at him and discard the old, worn down copy he’d stolen from his high school library as a sophomore because it in no way compared to the first edition novels worth thousands of dollars sitting upon your shelves, but the smile that lifted your lips had made his heart feel like it was going to burst out of his chest.
Sure, maybe there was a part of him that knew that your library and your clear love of fiction would be an easy target to begin building a connection, a layer of trust, before he could start getting the information from you he needed, but it wasn’t why he’d spent two hours tearing apart his childhood bedroom in search of the book.
He wanted to see you smile again.
He wanted to see your eyes light up and the way you bite on the corner of your lip. There was just something about it that made his stomach twist in knots, that made his own mouth start to curve at the edges, and his heart beat just a little quicker. It was so rare to see it from you, especially in the days your husband lingered around, but suddenly, it was all he could think about.
He could have asked for the funds from the Bureau to buy you the first edition, writing it off as a necessary expense for his cover, but somehow, he knew you’d appreciate the hand-me-down copy more. It had character and a history. It was messy, and a little broken; a glimpse into his life, his real life, something he was never supposed to cross the boundaries of, but it served its purpose.
He’d seen you around the house carrying it under your arm for nearly four days after he’d given it to you. Sometimes he’d spot you sitting in the living room, nose deep in the pages as he walked in the front door behind Rumlow before you’d get up and quickly escape to your library without a word to your husband, though you stopped and caught his eye before you left, holding up the book so he knew you were reading it and giving him that short, stolen smile before you disappeared.
You had run into him on the fifth day and swatted him with the book in a rare moment when he was standing by himself in the kitchen, Rumlow having gone up to the office to gather some paperwork before they were meant to head to the Lernaean.
“What did this poor book ever do to you?” you had teased him, flipping open the pages of his copy of A Farewell to Arms to find stains of Dorito dust in the folds on page 76, mindless doodles done in blue ink pen on the top corner of page 117, and a sticky note taped to the inside back cover of a crude drawing of a lanky, high school version of Steve with big angry eyebrows and a boxing gloves held up by his face.
“Sorry, I guess I should have looked it over before I lent it to you.” Bucky laughed, swiping the book back from your hands and earning a pout in return. “I mean if you don’t want to finish it, I’ll just take it b--”
“I never said I was done with it, you vandal!”
Your laugh was like music to his ears, melodic and captivating, and he hated the moments you cut it off short and closed it away to the darkest parts of yourself; moments like when your husband walked back into the room.
Rumlow had eyed you with a kind of look you must have been familiar with because your smile fell away instantly and Bucky released the book to your grasp. You held it down by your hips, eyes glued to the floor. He had watched as you left the room without another word, book gripped so tightly in your hands, the pages started to crinkle.
He knew what he was feeling was dangerous. It went against every code he swore an oath to. He’d be pulled from the case the second Director Fury got wind of his personal attachment to you – if that’s what he was going to call it. There wasn’t really a way to describe what he was feeling.
Infatuation. Admiration. Longing. Ease. Attraction.
He didn���t know.
All he knew was that he wanted to see you smile more, wanted to knock Rumlow’s teeth in for more reasons than why he was stationed undercover within Hydra in the first place. He wanted to know why you were involved in this world to begin with and how you ended up trapped in a marriage you clearly wanted nothing to do with.
He wanted to protect you from all this; from Hydra, from his investigation.
A few conversations, a couple smiles from across the rooms, and it changed everything.
“Buck? You awake in there?” Sam chuckled, tapping a finger on Bucky’s forehead until he swatted his hand away with a grunt.
“Knock it off, Wilson,” Bucky grumbled, bending down to take a sip of the burning hot coffee resting in his grasp. It stung on his lips but he swallowed it back anyway, the heat of it warming down through his chest.
“It’s been almost two months,” Steve said casually, “how have you been holding up?”
Bucky glanced around at the busy café. It wasn’t unusual for them to meet in public places and talk about the case, as long as they kept details vague and didn’t draw any attention. Hell, Bucky just needed an outlet sometimes outside of the conference rooms and safe houses he usually met the team in. He was thankful Nat typically elected out of their Sunday coffee runs because she was always able to read him like a hawk, and he was certain she’d be able to pick up on his affection towards you in an instant.
“It’s fine,” Bucky shrugged. “Boss is still a piece of shit.”
“Yeah, well, we already knew that,” Sam agreed, pursing his lips with a shake of his head.
“You said there were some guys there who seemed to be blackmailed into their work?” Steve asked, voice a little quieter now.
Bucky nodded. “Seems that way. Not everyone is there by choice. Still working out the details of who but I’ve got a list going for Nat when we meet up next week. I’m supposed to be stationed out on the docks this week so I’ll talk to the guys then.”
“Good, good,” Steve said. He paused for a moment, staring down into his coffee, studying the swirl of the soft chestnut coloring. “You being careful?”
Bucky smiled at that. For a kid who spent his youth getting himself into trouble and leaving Bucky to watch over his back, he sure as hell got protective himself once his body grew into his rebellious and reckless attitude.
“Yeah, pal, you know I always am.”
“Something just feels different about this one,” Steve said, leaning back into his chair. A woman behind the counter was staring at him, and he cleared his throat awkwardly upon noticing her eyes, shrugging the collar of his jacket up to cover the pink blush in his cheeks.
“Well this is the biggest profile case we’ve tackled,” Sam offered casually as he took a sip of his coffee, grinning at the way the girl at the counter shamelessly ogled at Steve.
“I don’t like that he’s in there so deep with no one to watch his six,” Steve shook his head, teeth gritted.
“I’m not alone and you know it,” Bucky responded, reaching across the table to grab a firm hold of Steve’s forearm, squeezing just enough to get him to meet his eye. There was hesitancy there and Steve wasn’t usually one to worry. “I’ve got you guys, remember?”
“You just need to watch yourself, alright?” Steve exhaled, patting at Bucky’s hand until he released his arm. “This is the first time you’ve been put in so close to the target. You spent most of your time in his house, Buck, and with Fury tellin’ you to get close to the wife, I just... I worry there’s too much on your shoulders and somethings going to fall through the cracks.”
Bucky sighed, exchanging a quick look with Sam who’s teasing smile had faded away upon noticing the genuine concern and anxiety in their friend.
“Nothing’s gonna happen to him, Steve,” Sam said, sending a wink at Bucky before he added, “you know he’d never let us hear the end of it.”
Bucky laughed, nodding. “Damn straight.”
Sam punched at Steve’s shoulder, grinning again, and didn’t let up until Steve finally relaxed and sat up further in his chair, the tension clearly washing from his muscles.
“Now that that’s all settled,” Sam teased, clapping Steve on the shoulder, “how about we focus on getting you the pretty barista’s number?”
***
Sundays used to be your only good days.
You used to find solace in warm teas and coffees from Café Ramos and freshly baked bagels from the Marselli’s; freedom in the wind gusting through the open back streets of Queens. Far away from tourists and amongst the bodegas and apartment buildings, you walked dozens of blocks from where your driver dropped you off; an added precaution to keep Brock from tracking down where you spent your time, and who you met up with.
Peter was sitting on the stoop of the brownstone, cheek resting on his hand and slouching up his face as he stared down at his phone. There was a lovesick look in his eye and you wondered if he ever got around to asking that girl out from school he’d been crushing on.
He was a sweet kid. Kind. Compassionate. Intelligent beyond belief. But his optimism and habit of overlooking flaws to see the best in someone, while admirable, was dangerous. It was why you worked so hard to keep him away from Brock. Your husband had a talent of convincing kids like that with an eagerness to please and a family tight on cash to join his ranks.
Peter was like a brother to you, having grown up with him running around your father’s house at all hours of the day when Aunt May was working, but lately, you kept him at an arm's length. You never let him over at the house, kept details vague about Brock’s employment, and insisted on walking the fourteen blocks to his apartment to pick him up, even when he offered to meet you at the subway stop near where your driver dropped you off.
He was a sweet kid, but he was naïve. Young. He had some learning to do. It was what you liked so much about him. You could use a little unending joy and positivity in your life.
“Hey Aunt May!” you called, waving at her as she walked by the front window folding a shirt from the dryer. She paused, turning towards you with a big smile and made her way to the door.
Peter had nearly fallen over on himself, clutching at his chest, his phone on the ground where it flung from his hands upon your sudden arrival.
“You okay there, kid?” you laughed, bending down to pick up his phone. No cracks. You handed it back to him with a wink.
He chuckled nervously, brushing off the screen with the edge of his shirt. “You scared me.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be so nose deep in your phone, Z.”
“Yeah, okay, Mil.”
“Z? Mil? You two develop another coded language or am I losing it?” Aunt May folded her arms over her chest as she leaned against the frame of the door.
“Gen Z,” Peter explained, pointing to himself, and then to you, “Millennial.”
You and Peter had some years between one another and, sure, you didn’t always understand the other’s lingo or quirks in their behavior, but it didn’t make much difference to either of you. It was another reason to poke fun at each other. Siblings were like that.
“I still think it’s funny you spend as much time together as you do,” Aunt May smiled.
“Hey, I keep him out of trouble!”
“-- and I keep her young.”
“Okay, watch yourself, kid,” you warned, laughing as you poked him hard in the side, causing him to jump away a few feet to escape another attack.
Aunt May always did like you being around so much after Uncle Ben died. Peter didn’t take it so well, not after losing his parents too, so he spent hours every day at your house when Aunt May was on shift at the hospital. You’d occupy his time and keep his mind from wondering back to finding his uncle in the streets, alone and bleeding. He was so young when it happened, you were surprised that when your father died just a few years later, he had insisted on doing the same for you.
The years between you didn’t matter. Not when it came to a bond like that.
“Will you come say hi already?” Aunt May teased, stomping her foot playfully as she opened her arms to you and you rushed up the stoop to fall into her embrace. She smelled of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and you peaked around the corner to find trays lined up on the kitchen table. Your stomach growled.
“Do I smell--”
“You want some before we go?” Peter asked before shoving his way inside, not quite bothering to wait for an answer as he started grabbing a few cookies from the table, bouncing a particularly hot one between his hands before he shoved it in his mouth.
He grabbed two for you, slipping them into your outstretched hand as you stepped out of Aunt May’s hold. She smiled at you, brushing your hair from your eyes in that motherly way you’d missed since you were a kid. You supposed it was another thing that drew you and Peter together.
“Don’t think I forgot about that science project you have due this week!” Aunt May called as you and Peter started to walk to the sidewalk. He visibly winced. “I want you home before dinner, Peter.”
“Okay, okay!” he groaned, shooing her off with a wave of his hand and sent you a glare as you struggled to contain your laughter.
“Oh, man. I do not miss high school,” you grinned, taking a bite of the cookie and nearly choking on a moan that slipped out. Buttery soft and warm gooiness melting on your tongue. Heaven.
Peter rolled his eyes, nudging you with his elbow playfully. “Don’t rub it in.”
***
Your Sundays were never exceeding exciting. Most of your time spent with Peter was just running errands, taking deposits to the bank for Aunt May, picking up lunch at one of the sandwich shops, getting him a new pair of sneakers he so desperately needed even though he fought you on paying for them for about an hour before he gave in.
They were often mundane and filled with idle chatter, sitting on park benches and watching the people walk by and the tourists taking photos in front of brick walls. He’d sit there and talk for hours because that’s amongst the things Peter did best. He'd tell you everything from his latest science fair project, the progress on his Lego set with Ned, the kid named ‘Flash’ who pranked him again and filled his locker with whipped cream.
It was simple. It was easy and comforting.
It was an escape.
Peter had nearly forgotten he was supposed to pick up a few things from the corner store for Aunt May, so you were on your way to the shop with the black cat who liked to sit perched in the window just to get a good look at her again while he tracked down the milk and bread.
The wind was picking up and you tugged your jacket tighter around your chest. You glanced over at Peter who had his hands shoved into the thin layer of his jacket, cheeks a little pink from the wind and he shivered. 
Your heart ached a little and you decided you’d talk him into a new coat on your next Sunday together. He’d never make it through New York winter with holes in his pockets and no protection from the blistering wind.
While Brock didn’t give you access to enough of your father’s money to make it on your own, you had enough to buy things for Peter, to collect your first editions, and to remain moderately comfortable.
It was a ploy to keep you content, a carrot to dangle for the arguments when you’d threaten to storm out of the house you shared and he’d remind you, you had nothing without him, that he could implicate you in each and every one of his crimes, and you’d stay. Every time. You’d stay.
You had no choice.
And for years, you’d grown accustomed to the prison your home had turned into. Until you met James Karpov.
You’d almost forgotten what it was like to feel the twist of nerves in your stomach, to seek someone out amongst a crowd and to feel the relief deep in your bones upon finding them, upon finding blue eyes and dark brown hair, warm smile and that slight nod. So impossibly subtle and somehow it became the best part of your day.
Maybe you were naïve, and maybe it had simply been too long since anyone within that home had treated you with even an ounce of kindness or respect that you clung onto the first man who so much as smiled in your direction and asked about one of your overpriced books, but it gave you back a sense of yourself you’d been missing.
You started smiling again, starting looking forward to the days Brock held his meetings within the house in hopes that James would be there and you could ask him how far along he’d gotten in Fahrenheit 451. You were careful about your interactions with him, knowing that Brock was an exceptionally jealous man, even if your conversations with James were innocent.
And they were.
They had no greater meaning or underlying feelings.
So you told yourself, anyway.
The wind was picking up again and Peter was finishing up a very long and overly detailed recount of he and Ned’s favorite comic book series, when you realized you’d walked nearly five blocks without realizing it.
“Did you give Michele the necklace yet?” you asked him as you crossed the border into Brooklyn. He nearly choked on air, coughing to alleviate his surprise and you laughed into your scarf, trying to hold it back for the sake of his ego.
“Oh, um, not yet! But I’m working on it,” he chuckled nervously. “I’ve got a plan.”
Peter was starting to tell you all of the intricate and perfectly timed details of this ‘plan’ when you spotted someone across the street that caught your eye.
Tall, with long brown hair swept behind his ears and hiding under a baseball cap, hands tucked into the pockets of a familiar bomber, he swatted the arm of a friend on his left while the other scolded him.
You narrowed your eyes, not even realizing you’d pulled to a stop until Peter came rushing back a few paces, complaining he’d kept on walking without you. You apologized quickly, a little out of focus, and asked him for a minute. He nodded with a shrug and pulled out his phone, sinking down to the sidewalk and waited patiently.
“James?” you called over the rush of traffic. He didn’t seem to hear you.
You’d never seen him outside of your husband’s home and it was strange running into him in such a personal environment. He was with friends, off the job, his guard was down. A bright smile, brighter than you’d ever seen it on his face as he laughed loud enough for the sound to carry across the street. It made something in your chest clench.
You called his name again, a little louder this time, but the blare of a horn drowned you out.
Letting out a heavy sigh, you held up a hand to warn oncoming cars that you were crossing the street and quickly wove your way in and out of lanes until you made it to the other side of the road. You glanced in his direction, brushing out the dirt on the thighs of your jeans before you approached him again.
“James!”
You were only standing a few feet from him and he still didn’t respond. You closed your eyes, gritting your teeth and feeling a rush of embarrassment.
This was his day off; he didn’t need to be dealing with his boss’s wife.
All this time, while you were caught up in your own head with fantasies of ‘what if’s’ and finding solace in his short, kind smiles, he was probably just appeasing the wife of his boss. He must have known how lonely you were, could sense it a mile away, and he was simply being polite. You just misinterpreted it for interest or kindness or something, but it was clear your stolen moments over classic fiction and subtle glances across the room were exclusive to the walls of your home.
You turned to leave, clenching your hands into fists and puncturing the skin, when you heard your name called from behind you.
“Y/n?”
You spun around to find James staring at you with wide blue eyes. He was clearly surprised, caught off guard in a way few men of his rank within Hydra ever were, and he glanced back at his friends hesitantly before they quickly departed, retreating to a table on the edge of the café they had left from. He walked closer to you, enough so neither of you would have to shout over the rush of traffic.
“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting to see you,” James said, that smile tugging on the corner of his lips as he everted his eyes. He was nervous, swaying in his stance and running a hand through his hair.
“No, it’s okay!” you replied quickly. “I didn’t mean to interrupt anything with your friends.”
He clenched his jaw at that, the smile fading from his face. “Friends? What friends?”
You peered around his towering shoulders to find the two men he was just standing with sitting over at a table at the café, talking to one another and stealing glances in your direction over the tops of newspapers they had just nabbed from the adjacent table. It was endearing, if anything.
“So, the guys siting over at that table pretending not to watch our every move aren’t your friends?” you asked, a slight laugh in your voice as James shook his head.
“No,” he responded shortly, though when you narrowed your eyes on him, grinning, he sighed, “yeah, ok. I know ‘em.”
You pursed your lips, glancing between James and two men sitting over at the table; the dark-skinned man with the toothy grin seemed to be thrilled to watch James fumble his way through half of a conversation, while the tall blonde one punched at his friend’s shoulder, seemingly warning him quietly to knock it off.
You sighed, noticing the way he kept glancing back at his friends, shuffling his feet like he wanted to be just about anywhere else than this conversation. You tried to ignore the free-falling feeling in your stomach.
“Look,” you started, feeling a little uneasy in your stance now, “it’s totally okay you don’t want me to know about them. I get it. You want to keep your personal life separate from work. It makes a lot of sense, especially with, um, with what you do and, um, I’m part of work, right? Different worlds. Don’t need to be bothering yourself with the boss’s wife in your free time...”
His whole body seemed to freeze and his eyes went wide.
“What? No, that’s not it at all!” he quickly explained, but he seemed to relax for a moment, glancing back towards his friends. “They don’t know what I do outside of the cover at the club. I just don’t want them catching wind.”
You nodded, knowing full well how that felt. A wave of relief swept through you; like a rush of water pushing away the aches and twists and breaks in your chest, leaving behind only that pleasant little tug you felt every time he walked in the room.
“You must be the new guy!” a voice chimed from behind you and you nearly flinched from the shock of it.
Speak of the damn devil.
Peter was suddenly at your side, a little out of breath as he looked James over, wide eyed and grinning. “Holy cow. He really is all muscle, huh?”
You shoved Peter hard in the side, cheeks flushing with heat as James laughed a little under his breath.
“I thought you were gonna stay on the other side of the street until I was done?”
“Got bored,” he shrugged, pushing you aside and turning to James. “So! What’s the likelihood you’ll let me sneak into the Lernaean? I’ve got an in with the owner and Y/n never lets me get anywhere near that place. Tell me you’re cooler than my cousin, man, I’m beggin’ you.”
You must have stopped breathing because your lungs felt like they were on fire. Peter had never been so brazen as to bypass your carefully constructed boundaries like that, but then again, he’d never met anyone from Hydra before. It was your mistake to confide in him about the strange new ‘bouncer’ with the blue eyes and the unexpected appreciation of fiction. Peter was curious by nature and he just liked seeing you happy.
James must have sensed your distress because he raised a brow at you, but your jaw was wired shut. Peter couldn’t know about this world. You had to keep him out of it. You tried to convey that to James with a simple glance, but he didn’t owe you anything. What would he care if this lanky kid knew about Hydra and the world you lived in? He was still Hydra himself and you had to constantly remind yourself of that.
“Please, man,” Peter begged. “It’ll make Flash so jealous and I need a win over that jerk.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, kid,” James replied. Peter let out a very dramatic groan and it got James laughing. “It’s not a good place for a minor to be hanging out, anyway. Listen to your cousin.”
The fear didn’t escape you, even as Peter seemed to let the topic go. You liked James, that much you were able to admit to yourself, but did you trust him enough to protect Peter from Brock’s world... you weren’t sure.
Trust wasn’t so much a step as it was a cascading waterfall into an abyss. It didn’t come easy to you.
“Fine. But I’m not giving up that easily,” Peter huffed, folding his arms over his chest. He caught sight of the watch on his wrist and pouted. He turned to you. “I should head home anyway.”
You nodded. “Okay, I’ll walk yo--”
“No, you won’t,” Peter argued with a massive smile. “I know you still have stuff to do before you head home. I’m fine on my own, you know that.”
You did. Didn’t mean you liked it.
“Besides,” Peter continued, that cheeky grin tugging on his face, “I’m sure Mr. Karpov here wouldn’t mind escorting you the rest of the way.”
Your throat ran dry. “T-That’s entirely unnecessary... Peter.”
You sent him a glare but it only made him laugh harder as he started to back away down the sidewalk. He winked and quickly turned his shoulder and jogged down the remainder of the block just to deprive you of the chance to argue back. The little shit.
Spinning back around to James with an anxious grimace on your face, you quickly held your hands up to apologize but he was laughing to himself, causing you to lose your train of thought.
“I really don’t mind, you know,” he said, and of course he didn’t, because he simply couldn’t make it easy to disregard that nervous feeling in your stomach when he looked at you.
“It’s super boring,” you warned and he shook his head with a smile, some stray pieces of hair falling into his face. Damn that smile of his.
“What are we doing?” he asked, like it wasn’t even a second thought.
“There’s a café a few blocks from here,” you started, carefully watching his face for signs that he was surely making fun of you or appeasing you to be polite, but came up empty. “They sell paintings by local artists and I’ve been wanting to replace this godawful modern abstract Brock’s interior designer hung in one of the spare rooms. He wouldn’t notice anyway, don’t you think?”
James shrugged, a nodding slightly as he chuckled. “I don’t suppose he would.”
You chewed on the edge of your lip, gesturing for him to follow you down the street and he did so without hesitation.
There were only a few minutes of silence, of walking side by side with hands tucked carefully into jacket pockets and side stepping pedestrians with their noses stuck in their phones, before you worked up the courage to say something.
“Peter doesn’t know about our world,” you said suddenly, keeping your eyes trained ahead of you, scared that if you even looked at him, you’d lose your nerve. “I work really hard to keep it that way, so if you could-- if you could avoid mentioning to Brock that I was with him today, I would – I would really appreciate that. You know how Brock can be; always trying to recruit kids on the street to push his product and I don’t-- I don’t want Peter anywhere near--”
“You have my word,” James said simply, genuinely, and you let out a heavy exhale that released like flood gates. “No reason to tell the boss what I do on my days off and who I run into, right?”
You nodded, a little lost for words. “Right.”
You paused at a stop light, stealing glances at him as he mumbled a soft apology to the elderly woman who was attempting to push past him to get to the front of the sidewalk. She was uneasy on her feet and using her walking cane as weapon as she clicked it against his ankles and he quickly stepped out of her way. He winced, rubbing at his right ankle with the back of his left shoe.
As the light turned green and the old lady pushed past, shoving a few other pedestrians out of her way, you turned back to James, grinning so wide it hurt in your cheeks. He was chewing on his lip.
“This could really damage my rep, huh?”
“Just a little,” you laughed and you were certain if your hands weren’t shoved deep into the pockets of your jacket to hide from the cold, you may have offered your hand to him. Just instinctively. His hands were so big, they seemed warm, safe.
“I finished 451, by the way,” he said as the two of you rushed to cross the street before the light turned again.
“What’d you think?”
“Never as good as the first time,” he shrugged but there was still a semblance of that smile on his lips. “Still pretty great though. Didn’t even spill coffee on it or anything.”
“I suppose I should be impressed, considering the way you treated Hemingway,” you laughed, shoving at his arm with your elbow, and though a hit like that would have had Peter stumbling a few paces, James barely even flinched, but he did start to laugh.
“Come on now, you know I was in high school when I last touched that thing and you can’t trust a teenage boy with shit,” he teased and you found yourself grabbing onto his arm for support from that laughs making your unsteady on your feet. He didn’t seem to mind at all, not even as you suddenly realized what you were doing and quickly released him with a quick nervous brush of your hair from your eyes.
You cleared your throat, continuing to walk down the sidewalk. “I finished it last week, actually. I can return it to you tomorrow if you--”
“It was a gift,” James said simply. “Keep it. If you want, I mean. I know it doesn’t exactly fit in amongst all the first editions and fancy copies so you can get rid of it if you--”
“No! It’s, uh, it’s perfect. Thank you,” you said and he pressed his lips together to keep himself from rambling.
He was right. It certainly did stand out amongst the novels on your shelves with the cracked and broken binding, the doodles in the pages, and the stains on the cover, but it was so entirely human. It was a relief to have something of imperfection amongst masterpieces.
***
Bucky wasn’t quite sure what to make of you.
It was the most relaxed he’d ever felt on an assignment as he walked alongside you down the busy streets of Brooklyn. You tried to lead him down less crowded alleys and avoid the cross-section of tourists taking photos in the street because you noticed the way he tugged at the bridge of his cap to pull over his eyes but it was near impossible. You must have mistaken his attempts at concealing his identity in a part of the city that knew him well for anxiety around the bustle of people.
It was sweet, he thought, that you were observant enough for things like that and tried to make it easier on him without saying a word. You’d give him silly excuses to travel down abandoned streets and act like it was you that wanted the space away from the crowd, but he knew you were doing it for him.
You told him about the café you liked to visit with the family you’d grown to know well over the years and the bagel joint a few blocks away that Bucky spent many years grabbing breakfast at as a teenager. You talked like you knew the owners, spent time with them and caught up on their weeks when you waited for your orders, and somehow that didn’t surprise Bucky at all.
He felt an ease by your side he’d never felt in all his years in undercover work. He was used to be on edge, to watching his every move and purposefully concealing parts of himself to create firm boundaries between his cover and himself.
But not with you.
The rare moments he spent alone with you were the only times he felt like Bucky Barnes, even under the guise of James Karpov.
But he still had a job to do.
You were smiling, telling him about a pain-in-your-ass student from your time teaching at Columbia and he could tell how much you missed it. There was a brightness in your eye, a flicker of nostalgia, of loss, and he hunched his shoulders against the cold with a steady breath.
“Why’d you quit?” he asked when you’d finished your story. Your smile fell away quickly and he nearly regretted asking. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “I mean, it sounds like you really loved what you did. With all the books you collect and all, figured you’d quite enjoy an outlet with people who are as obsessed with fiction as you are.”
That got a slight laugh out of you, but it was tense. Your eyes were on the sidewalk, jaw clenched.
“Oh, I… um…” you were struggling to come up with an answer, one to bullshit to him. You weren’t ready to trust him and he should have known better than to ask so soon. “I stepped down when I got married. Brock has more than enough money. I don’t need to work anymore.”
“Doesn’t mean you don’t want to,” Bucky offered because part of him simply just wanted you to know that not every man would isolate you from the things you loved and demand you give your entire life to him. The other part, the one screaming in the back of his head, knew that validating you like this, giving you the support you so clearly craved, would only build on that trust; trust he would need to use you as an accessory to bring Hydra to ash.
He hated that part of him. He never used to.
You nodded, chewing on your lip. “Doesn’t mean I can.”
He changed the subject quickly after that.
He knew well enough that it wasn’t a good sign that he was putting your feelings over his commitment to the job. On any other assignment with any other target, he would have pressed harder, would have asked how you met Rumlow and why you married him at all if this was the life you’d end up in, but he bit his tongue.
You were talking about a local kid’s high school musical you wanted to attend and suddenly you were smiling again. The tension left Bucky’s chest and he felt at ease, pushing aside the nagging voicing in the back of his head, reminding him why he was stationed next to you in the first place.
It seemed to quiet down the longer he walked with you, the more he stole glances at your smile, the more his stomach seemed to twist to pleasant knots whenever you look at him.
***
“What do you think of this one?” you asked, pulling his attention back to the painting hanging above two teenage girls huddled around a single laptop, sharing a pair of headphones as they struggled to contain their laughter.
The painting you were looking at was filled with reds and oranges, yellows and dark blue, soft brush strokes in gentle waves across the frame; it looked like a sunset, warm and comforting. It was in stark contrast to the cold and isolating nature of the house and he supposed it was why you liked it.
“It’s nice,” he said. He wasn’t as attuned to the arts as you were, but he knew it was nicer than the one you were trying to replace. It was one that made you smile. That was enough, he thought.
“Think Brock will be mad if he finds out I’m replacing a $50,000 painting with one done by...” you squinted your eyes, leaning in closer to read the tag, “a lovely young art major named Wanda at NYU?”
“Not if he never notices it.” He winked, nudging your arm.
You smiled, the lines of it wrinkling up by your eyes and Bucky had a hard time tearing his gaze away from you as you politely waved over the owner and pointed to the painting on the wall. 
Bucky leaned against the counter, watching from a distance as you conversed with the owner for a few minutes, and after a while, he gasped, staring at you with wide eyes. You must have told him how much you were willing to pay for the piece.
Steve and Sam were going to rip him a new one at the next meet up, he was sure of it. There was no way they didn’t catch on to how easily he retreated back to Bucky Barnes, highly capable FBI special agent and nervous wreck amongst pretty women, from James Karpov, enforcer to the world’s deadliest mafia.
You turned back to him, raising a thumbs up with the biggest smile on your face he’d ever seen as the owner moved to take down the painting. You were practically giddy with joy and he found himself smiling until his cheeks hurt, even long after you turned away to start writing the check.
He was such a goner.
1K notes · View notes
glamourghoul138 · 3 years
Text
Screenshot Heard 'Round The World. Chapter 2.
_________________________________________
Tumblr media
Characters: Same people as always. Y/N, Jensen Ackles, various spn cast members. Tara ( your bff). Other folks.
No word count.
Warnings: I don't know. Fluff? Sex? Drugs? Who knows? Read and find out.
Disclaimer: works of fiction. Clearly not true in any way shape or form. No hate to anyone.
__________________________________________
With everything out on the table, both Jensen and I had no idea where to go from here. I'm in smalltown, midwest and he's in friggin Canada 90% of the year. So it was best that we played it by ear until one of had a solution. We agreed to not say anything to anyone, to just "be friends" until we were ready. Which was ridiculously hard for me considering the obvious. So everything has stayed the same, except the reason for my smile.
The days following our "virtual pizza date" as he called it, I could quite literally have been floating. Nothing was able to kill my mood. Jay and I quickly fell into a routine. Small, meaningful, good morning texts, silly snaps throughout the day, usually ending the day with late night video calls. Yes there were days when we weren't able to keep in touch as much, if at all. But that happens when two people have opposite schedules and live in different countries.
Not saying a word to Tara and Thomas proved to be the hardest part of it all. Especially when Tara and I would talk about SPN almost every single day. I want so much to share my happiness with my best friends! But I did make a promise and I will keep it forever if I have to. That is.... until i started receiving flowers at work. That started around the time I hadn't heard from Jensen for 3 days straight. He didn't even look at my stories or anything. Like he was a ghost.
The first delivery made me cry. I honestly thought they were from my parents. A huge arrangement of peonies, my favorite. The card read,
'I'm sorry. Work has been crazy lately. Hope you'll forgive me.
🖤J.'
No one had ever sent me flowers before. After I called to thank him for his courtesy, we picked up where we left off; extensively flirting and being silly. Then not even a week later, bouquets started coming in every day. Each one including a small note. It lasted for two whole weeks. My apartment looked like a flower shop. He even went down my list of favorites until he got to my least desired of the florist world, roses. But this time it was different. The Rose's were delivered with a thick envelope. By now all of my coworkers were completely enthralled in who was the mystery J. All gathering around to see what came with the arrangement. The envelope ahead a small card attached that read,
'KEEP SAFE 🖤'
Yeah that's not suspicious at all. Much to the annoyance of those around me, I kept his wishes and waited for privacy. At home. Where it would be safe from prying eyes.
By the time I had gotten home,the anticipation was killing me. I could not get to my front door fast enough. The weight of the vanilla envelope was more than curious. It was a tad on the hefty side. I empty its contents and notice another hand written note.
'To help you prepare for a weekend you'll never forget. Counting the days...
Xoxo, J🖤'
The immediate confusion was rapidly replaced by shock and excitement with a side of anxiety. Jensen had sent 3 different $500 gift cards to my favorite stores, 2 round trip, first class plane tickets to New Orleans, 2 all access passes to SPN con in 3 weeks and all the hotel information to go with it. All I could do is stare, barely breathing, and think about what all of this means. Jensen wants to meet me. He wants to see me in person. I'm going to be face to face with the man I've been drooling over for the last 6 years. In the one city I've always wanted to visit. At the one event that I have been dying to attend. What in the fuzzy blue hell is happening.....
------------------
"Hey there pretty lady."
"Hey yourself! So I got your little care package today."
"Aaaaaand?" His slight southern drawl makes this even cuter.
"Of course I'll come see you, but you really didn't have to spend that much money on me."
"Yes I did. You're worth every penny and more. Plus I want you to have the best time of your life." I could hear the smile in his voice. The picture in my head of how he must look in this moment is just too adorable for words.
"You're lucky you're so damn cute, Ackles."
"I'm a delight and you know it. I'm sorry sweetheart, but I gotta get back to set. I'll call you tonight."
Turns out, the extra tickets are for a single friend of my choosing that he wants to hook up with one of his friends. I snorted so hard when I laughed that my throat hurt. I think we all know who exactly I'm taking with me...
-------------------
Tara and I have been shopping like it was our job; indulging in a little retail therapy, trying to mentally prepare for what lies ahead for both of us. This weekend is just as much for her as it is for me. Jensen's set up could just as easily be the best thing that ever happened to her. So I want this to be just as magical for her as it is for me. We both got new wardrobes, courtesy of Jensen, even though she doesn't know it yet. Man she's going to lose her shit when she finds out.
With three days left until we leave, we have been pampering ourselves to the max. New hair, nails done, waxing of various places, you know, just in case. So after our "treat yourself day", I'm making us dinner at my place, not thinking about it and left my phone on the coffee table.
"Hey your phone is ringing!" Tara calls from her place on my sofa.
"Who is it?"
"It's loverboy!" She responds in a sing song tone.
I drop my utensils and dash for my phone but it was too late. She answered.. Thank God it's not facetime. After wrestling my phone out, she releases her weirdly strong death grip when my finger tips dig into the ticklish spot on her ribs.
"You suck! You can't hide him forever! 3 days bitch!" My best friend retreats. Meanwhile I can hear Jensen laughing on the other end of the line.
"Hey! I had a few minutes between scenes. Figured I'd say hi." How is he this sweet? "Tara right?"
"Yeah. She's a mess I know." Clearly out of breath. Wow I'm out of shape.
"She sounds perfect for my friend." He laughs.
"I don't know if she's right to be my friend some days." I retort.
"Anyways. I wanted to check in with you. Make sure we're still on for this weekend."
"Uh duh! Like I'm gonna turn you down.... like ever..."
"I'll have to keep that in mind for future reference." We both laugh at the innuendo.
He then informs me that we will be leaving Wednesday night and arriving Thursday morning instead. Jensen says he wants more time together aside from the convention. This means we leave tomorrow night. Not a big deal..... but now it feels real. The look of horror mixed with excitement on Tara's face when I told her was absolutely priceless. She scurried home after dinner to start packing, and now I'm left alone with my thoughts. Knowing myself the way that I do, and how my brain works, I could not just sit around and dwell on it.
Oddly enough, my social anxiety and fear of flying outweighed the nervousness about the days that lie ahead. Luckily Tara is with me for a much needed distraction. With our flight taking off at 1:45 am, the 5 hour plane ride won't be nearly as crowded, which is nice. Finding the gate was hard enough, but the anticipation of take off just killed my body. By the time we were in the air and leveled out, I had almost bruised Tara's hand and my entire body ached and felt drained from the tension. Thankfully, sleeping will not be a problem...... that and the 2 benadryl I took at take off.
Knowing Jensen would probably be asleep when we boarded, I decided to wait on texting him until we landed. Which is right now.... I woke up, just before we touched down, by my idiot best friend bouncing up and down in her seat and smacking my arm repeatedly.
"Are you ready to meet Mr. Lover Man?"
"God no, but there's no turning back now." My stomach dropped to my asshole.
"Come on! I wanna see the room he booked for us! I need a shower anyways." She pulls me through the gate.
We walk through the Louisiana airport searching for the luggage pick up. Just as we grab our bags and begin towards the exit, my phone rings telling me I had gotten a text message.
'I sent someone to pick you up so you don't have to fight to get a cab.'
Not too far from the luggage carousel and the main entrance to the airport, I spot a rather large older man holding a sign with my name on it. I immediately recognized Jensen's bodyguard, Cliff. Anyone in the fandom knows who he is. That poses a potential problem in hiding Jay's identity until later. Thank the heavens Tara is too preoccupied with her phone to see thru his hat and sunglasses.
"Hi! I'm Y/N." I tried to be discreet.
"Do you have an i.d handy? Can't be too careful these days." Cliff answered to match my tone. I happily obliged.
Within seconds we were out of the airport and on the way to the hotel. I quickly took the front seat next to Cliff to avoid Tara figuring it out too soon. The ride was quiet and laid back, trying to keep it casual like if we took an Uber. Small talk here and there exchanged.
"Do you ladies want to stop anywhere before we get to the hotel? Anyone hungry?" Cliff has been more than hospitable. Both Tara and I all but cried for coffee.
"Sounds good! Any preference?"
He then drove us to the nearest Starbucks. Not only did he pay for all of our drinks, he also paid for the car behind us in the drive thru. I was slightly teasing him about being a big softie when he pulled in front of a gorgeous, way out of our price range, huge hotel. It had to have been at least 20 floors, but conveniently located near the convention and minutes away from the historic part of the city.
"I'm sure I'll see you two again sometime this weekend. I'll wait a little just in case something goes wrong with check in." The bodyguard offers a slight, sincere smile. No wonder he's stuck around the guys for so long. He's seriously the nicest guy.
Sadly I can't say the same for the girl working the front desk of the hotel. The weight of the situation started to hit me. My knee couldn't stop bouncing and I found myself fidgeting with my fingers. Tara noticed and tried to take control of the situation, but the desk clerk did not care.
"Hi! Yeah we have a reservation under Y/N Y/L/N" Tara spoke directly but softly.
"Okay.... which one of you is Y/N?" The clerk eyed us both with a small look of either disgust or contempt.
"She is, but she's really tired." Trying to camouflage my panic attack.
"That's nice and all but I have to talk to you." She deadpans to me. Then slides a clipboard for me to sign.
"Whatever lady. I've signed and verified everything you need me to. Give me the keys to our room and we will go away." I was already sick of her shitty attitude. That came out exactly how I wanted it to.
She smugly slid the key cards in an envelope then almost shoved it across the counter at me. Me being me, I had to make a scene.
"Have a great stay." You could hear the slime in her voice.
"Oh we will. But no thanks to you." Loud enough for the entire lobby to hear. Then I smack my hand down on the envelope and made sure it echoed. Then walked away towards the elevator. I am not in the mood today nor am I the one to give attitude to, even on a normal day.
'So the lady at the front desk is bitchy today.' Decided to text Jensen on the elevator while Tara screeched about the convention excitement in the hotel.
'You're here already??'
'Yes lol. About to get to the room. I guess I'll see you soon.'
'Counting the seconds'
And just like that all my worries, stresses and fears melted away and made room for excitement. No matter what happens for the next 3 days, this will be a weekend to remember for sure.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
@iamnotsaneatall @nanie5 @spnbaby-67 @spookygibson @ryantherandomhero @smoothdogsgirl @sea040561 @hobby27 @waywardbaby @iamabeautifulperson18 @mirandaaustin93 @liebemeineslebensx
45 notes · View notes
zerochanges · 3 years
Text
2020 Favorite Video Games
Tumblr media
I don’t know if I am an outlier or if this is the same for everyone else but I really did not play a lot of games this year. 2020 was a very harsh year for all of us, especially for me for some personal reasons. So to get to the chase, I am just gonna say it left me not doing much in what little free time I did have, and I didn’t play much either. Usually I try to keep my lists for ‘favorite of the year’ to only titles released that year but since I played so little this year, screw it. I am gonna include any game I played this year regardless of release date.
Collection of SaGa
Tumblr media
By far a flawed rerelease. It’s bare bones: there are no advance features you would usually expect out of these kinds of emulated rereleases like save states, fast forward, or rewind, and there was no real effort made to touch up almost 30 year old localizations that had to meet Nintendo of America’s then harsh standards. This really is just 3 roms slapped into a nice looking interface with an option to increase the game speed (which by the way you better use, the characters walk very slow in these old games). 
I am bit harsh here, but only because I thought the Romancing SaGa remasters and the upcoming SaGa Frontier remaster all looked like they got a great budget and a lot of love while this is just another Collection of Mana situation (moreso specifically talking about Seiken Densetsu 1/Final Fantasy Adventure/Adventures of Mana part of that collection). I would have loved to see Square Enix do a bit more for these older games. Or at least include the remakes. Seiken Densetsu 1 had two great remakes, both unused in Collection of Mana, and all three of these original SaGa titles have remakes that have never seen the light of day outside of Japan. How great would it have been to get the Wonderswan remake of SaGa 1, as well as the Nintendo DS remakes of Saga 2 and SaGa 3? 
But my gripes aside, these games are still fun as they ever were. Replaying SaGa 1 specifically during the holiday season really helped calm me down and made me feel at ease. It’s easy to forget but even in their Gameboy roots there are a lot of funky and weird experimental choices being made in these games. They aren’t your run-of-the-mil dragon quest (or considering the gameboy, maybe pokemon would be more apt) clones. 
Raging Loop
Tumblr media
Perhaps my favorite game of the year, Raging Loop is one of the best visual novels I have ever played hands down. The level of creativity and splitting story paths that went into it is simply mind blowing. The basic premise is both a wonderful throwback to the old days of Chunsoft sound novels while still modern and somewhat reminiscent of both Higurashi and Danganronpa. Essentially you play as Haruaki, a poor slub that got lost in the mountains with no clue where to go until you stumble upon an old rural village with a strange history and even stranger superstitions. Before you know it there has been a murder and the Feast is now afoot.
The less said about Raging Loop the better, although I do want to say a lot about it one day if I ever can write a proper review of it. This is a gripping game that will take hold of you once you get into it though and never let go. I actually 100%-ed this and I very rarely do that. I got every ending, every bonus hidden ending, played the entire game twice to hear all the hidden details it purposely hides on your first play through, played all the bonus epilogue chapters, unlocked all the hidden voice actor interviews, collected all the art work, etc, etc. I was just obsessed with this game, it’s that damn good! And the main character is maybe the best troll in all of video games, god bless Haruaki. 
Root Double
Tumblr media
From Takumi Nakazawa, long time contributor to Kotaro Uchikoshi’s work comes a game any fan of Zero Escape or Uchikoshi in general will probably enjoy. Root Double, like its name suggests is a visual novel with two different routes, hence Root Double. The first route stars Watase Kasasagi, the leader of an elite rescue team in the midst of their greatest crisis yet that could lead to nuclear devastation as they try to evacuate a nuclear research facility that has gone awry. 
The other route stars Natsuhiko Tenkawa, an everyday high schooler whose peaceful life is thrown into turmoil when he stumbles upon a terrorist plot to destroy the nuclear facility in the city and his attempts to stop them. Together the two separate plots weave into one and creates a really crazy ride. Part Chernobyl, part science fiction, any fan of the genre will easily enjoy it. And hey it’s kind of relevant to include on this list too since it just got a Switch port this year (I played it on steam though).  
Snack World
Tumblr media
I was shocked upon starting Snack World as it is instantly incredibly charming, witty, and downright hilarious at times yet I heard almost zero people talk about it. EVER. This game is Dragon Quest levels of quirky though, and the localization is incredible. The game has such an oddball sense of humor that works really well with its presentation right down to the anime opening video that sings about the most bizarre things. Instead of the usual pump up song about the cool adventure ahead we get stuff like wanting to go out to a restaurant and eat pork chops. 
The self aware/fourth wall breaking humor is just enough to be really funny, but doesn't overstay its welcome and always makes it work right in the context of the dialogue. And finally, just everything; with the menus, the name of side quests and missions, and the character dialogue -- are all just so witty and full of quirky humor. This is one hell of a charming and funny game and addictive to boot.
Trials of Mana
Tumblr media
Trials of Mana has gone from one of those legendary unlocalized games, to one of the first major breakthroughs in fan translation, to finally getting an official English release complete with a fully 3D remake. In a lot of ways from a western perspective this game has had an incredible journey. As for this remake itself, I really found myself having tons of fun with it. I loved the graphics, and the voice acting while a bit on the cheaper side almost kind of adds to the charm since both the graphics and acting really give it an old PS2 vibe. I know that is probably just more me being weird but yeah, I had to say it. 
I really hope Square Enix sticks to this style of remake more often, instead of just doing Final Fantasy VII Remakes that break the bank and involve extensive tweaking to both plot and game play. I’ll take smaller budget projects that play more like the original game any day personally. I wouldn’t mind if they also deliver a brand new Mana game all together in this engine either. 
Utawarerumono Trilogy
Tumblr media
This year saw the release of the first entry in the series, Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen--and thus finally after three years since the sequels Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception and Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth came out in 2017 the trilogy is now complete in English. I ended up binging through Prelude to the Fallen very fast shortly after it came out and immediately jumped on to the sequels. Perhaps the best part of 2020 was that I finally played all three of these fantastic games, and did so back-to-back-to-back. Playing the first Utawarerumono was an experience I will never forget, it was like visiting old friends again that I haven’t seen in ages, by and large thanks to the fact that I saw the anime adaption of the game when I was much younger, nearly a decade ago. Back then I would have never of dreamed that I would get to play the actual game and get the real experience. 
And it only got better from here, as all three games are such wonderful experiences from start to finish. The stories are all so deep, and by the time you get to the third entry, Mask of Truth, it’s crazy to see how they all connected over so many years and weaved together into a plot much bigger than they ever were. What carries it beyond all that though has to be the fun and addicting strategy role playing game aspect, which while a bit on the easy side, is still so much fun and helps make the game feel better paced since you get to play the conquests your characters go on and not just read about all the battles they fight. Beyond that the games are packed full of awesome characters, and I know I’ll never forget the amazing leads in all of them. Hakuowlo, Haku, and Oshtor will all go down as some of the greats to me. 
Ys: Memories of Celceta
Tumblr media
Ys: Memories of Celceta is a full 3D remake of Ys IV, a rather infamous game in Falcom’s Ys series. Not to get bogged down too much into the history of Falcom but by this point they were facing a lot of hardship and had to outsource this entry to other developers, and thus passed it on to two particular developers they had a business relationship with, creating two unique versions of Ys IV. Tonkin House who had worked on Super Famicom port of Ys III with Falcom ended up creating their own YS IV entry, Mask of the Sun for the very same system, where Hudson soft who had produced the much beloved Ys Books I & II remakes for the Turbografix (PC Engine) CD add-on created their own Ys IV entry Dawn of Ys for that console. Both games followed guidelines and ideas outlined from Falcom themselves but both radically diverged from each other and turned into completely different games. 
Falcom finally putting an end to this debate on which version of Ys IV you should play have gone and created their own definitive Ys IV in 2012 for the Playstation Vita. I played the 2020 remastered version of this remake on my PS4. I even bought this on the Vita when it first came out but I am horrible and only horde games, never play them. So it was a lot of fun to finally play this. 
Memories of Celceta is probably one of the best starting points for anyone looking to get into Ys, especially if you only want to stay with the 3D titles as out of all the 3D entries this explains the most about the world and series protagonist Adol Christian. Beyond that it’s just another fantastic entry in a wonderful series that has a few good twists hidden behind it, especially for long time fans of the series. 
Random Video Game Console Stuff
Tumblr media
Xbox Has Blue Dragon: I actually got an Xbox One this year for free from my brother. Because of that I started to play Blue Dragon again and there’s a lot I would love to say about this game. I don’t know if I am fully committed to replaying it all the way through however but I find myself putting in a couple hours every few days and enjoying myself again. Does anyone else remember Blue Dragon? I feel like it really missed its audience and had it come out nowadays and probably for the Switch it would have really resonated with the Dragon Quest fandom a lot more instead of being thrown out to die on Xbox and constantly compared to Final Fantasy VII and the like which it had nothing at all similar with. 
The Turbografx 16 Mini: This was probably one of the best mini consoles that have come out and I feel like thanks to the whole 2020 pandemic thing it was largely forgotten about. That’s a shame, it has a wonderful variety of great games, especially if you count the Japanese ones (god I wish I could play the Japanese version of Snatcher included), and a wonderful interface with fantastic music. One of these days I would really like to be able to play around with the console more seriously than I have already. 
Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon Never Existed: So Nintendo localized the first ever Fire Emblem game on Nintendo Switch which is awesome to see them touching Famicom games again--I haven’t seen Nintendo of America rerelease old Famicom titles since Mysterious Murasame Castle on the 3DS, but their trailer hilariously made it seem like this is the first time ever they released Fire Emblem when in fact they had already localized the remake Shadow Dragon on the Nintendo DS nearly 10 or 11 years ago. I and many other fans I talked to all found this really hilarious, probably solely because of how much they kept repeating the fact that this is the first time you will ever be able to experience Marth’s story.
Tumblr media
All that aside though I have to say the collector edition for this newly localized Famicom game is probably the most gorgeous retro reproduction I have seen in a long time, and I really spent many many hours just staring at the all clear glass mock cartridge. I have found myself really obsessing over retro reproductions during 2020, and obtained quite a few this year. I really hope this trend continues to go on in 2021 as recreating classic console packaging and cartridges is a lot of fun. 
23 notes · View notes
thefloatingstone · 4 years
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
We’ve gone from Self-Isolation to Quarantine and in some places to gradual relaxation phases, but that doesn’t stop the need for more nonsense you can watch on youtube while you wait for things to get back to normal. And recommending things and making lists are some of my favourite things to do but I have not yet figured out how to start or structure a video myself, you guys get another rambling tumblr post of things you can watch on youtube.
This time I’m once again just gonna recommend individual videos rather than full channels like I did in part 2.
Part 1
Part 2
In no particular order; 
LOCAL58: The Broadcast Station that Manipulates You
Tumblr media
I recently started watching the Nexpo channel when I went on a binge of creepy youtube videos. Most of his videos are really good although the ones where he himself goes into theory crafting can be a little asinine. However, this video is REALLY good. And before you get nervous, LOCAL58 is not a real TV station. LOCAL58 is a youtube channel created by the same guy behind the Candle Cove creepypasta. This video by Nexpo covers the various episodes of LOCAL58 and discusses them. Just be aware going in that this is abstract horror, and will probably get under your skin regardless if you’re unaffected by certain topics or not. although cw for suicide mention.
I also recommend most of the rest of this channel, although be careful where you tread. I don’t recommend his series “Disturbing things from around the internet” as it can sometimes include real life crime, abuse and such caught on security cameras. Everything else is really good tho. (although I was really annoyed by his 2 videos on KrainaGrzybowTV)
The Search for D.B. Cooper
Tumblr media
LEMMiNO has a new video out covering one of the most unexplained crimes in the past century of the US. LEMMiNO is the guy I’ve recommended before who did videos on the Universal S. He is very down to earth and not someone prone to conspiracy or even really that fanciful of thinking. (He’s like the one person I feel covered the Dyaltov Pass incident and was confused by why this was even a mystery because if you read the Russian Autopsy reports and documents associated with the case it’s all pretty logical and easily explained)
D.B. Cooper is the name given to a man who, in 1971, hijacked an airplane with a bomb, asked for a large sum of money, and after receiving it, parachuted from the plane and was never seen or heard from again.
The Austrian Wine Poisoning | Down the Rabbit Hole
Tumblr media
Down the Rabbit Hole also has a new video out, this time covering the Austrian Wine Poisoning event from 1985. A scandal that involved literally the entire country of Austria, affected multiple countries, and forever changed the way wine was made world wide. As someone who is generally pretty allergic to most artificial substances this one made me personally very angry. But luckily, it has a happy ending and a better world for us all... if I could drink wine which I can’t do anyway.
The Turbulent Tale of Yandere Dev - A Six Year Struggle
Tumblr media
The Right Opinion is another channel I only recently subbed to after watching his cover on Onion Boy. I put off subbing to him simply because of his channel name and I thought it meant he would come across as smug and elitist. Luckily this seems to merely be one of those “I chose a bad channel name and now I’m stuck with it” type of situations. (IHE has a similar problem).
Anyway, I have a weird interest in bizarre internet personalities, so I’ve been enjoying his channel as he simply discusses and presents a timeline of events of certain individuals. In this video, he covers the developer behind the much maligned Yandere Simulator. It’s a tale of hubris, arrogance, immaturity, and an unwillingness to accept your own shortcomings due to ego.
Oh and there’s a meme game about Japanese school girls with anime tiddies in there as well.
The Most Relaxing Anime Ever Made | Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō
Tumblr media
Kenny Lauderdale is a youtube channel which is slowly becoming bigger which I’m very happy to see. He exclusively covers anime and live action Japanese television no younger than the mid 90s (as is the case with YYK) and which usually never saw a release outside of Japanese Laserdisc. I do wish his videos were a little longer, but if nothing else his videos serve as an excellent starting to point to find some older and underappreciated shows... or hot garbage fires. In this episode he talks about the 2 OVA episodes made based on one of my favourite manga, Yokohama Shopping Log. A Post apocalyptic anime about an android who runs a coffee shop outside of her house, and the quiet solitude of living in a world of declining human population, brief encounters with travelers and other people, and just... existing. The anime was never released outside of Japan and is only available on Japanese VHS and laserdisc.... but hey guess what!! Somebody uploaded both episodes, subbed, to Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2HCVOH6DtA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqSTwfkobME
YMS’ slow descent into madness as he uncovers just how bullshit the Kimba Conspiracy is
Tumblr media
I’m linking a full playlist for this one.
YMS is busy planning his review on the “live action” Lion King remake as the original 1994 movie is probably his favourite movie all time (and also self declared what made him a furry). As part of the 2 hour review, he decided to what all 2000 hours of Kimba the White Lion just to mention how The Lion King potentially stole the idea. ....until he actually watched all 2000 hours of Kimba and realised that if you actually WATCH Kimba, it has VERY little to do with the Lion King at all apart from having the same animals in them because AFRICA. Watch as one man slowly loses his mind as he realises just how stupid this conspiracy theory is, just HOW DECEITFUL and straight up LYING people can be. People who write BOOKS. People who teach LAW AT UNIVERSITIES. Because NOBODY bothered to actually watch the entire show and just parroted the “Disney stole this” lie which got started by like 2 salty fans on the internet.
The man set out to just mention how Disney stole an idea, and uncovered one of the most infuriating rabbit holes on the internet. Screaming for SOMEONE to provide him with sources or evidence.
YMS will be publishing his full Kimba documentary this month which he has said is around 2 hours long before he continues to work on the Lion King one.
Science Stories: Loch Ness eDNA results, Poop Knives, and Skeleton Lovers
Tumblr media
TREY the Explainer has a video giving us some updates in Archeology from 2019. In this video he discusses the findings of the eDNA results conducted on the Loch Ness to see what animal DNA the lake contains which will tell us what living animals currently inhabit the lake, ancient knives made of poop and if this is a real thing that could have existed, and a skeleton couple found buried together which were at first thought to be lovers, then revealed to be both male, and then how in this instance we cannot let our modern sensibilities dictate what we WANT this burial find to be, but to look at the evidence as presented to us and place in context finds of this nature. The worst thing an archaeologist can do is look for proof to a theory they already have.
The Bizarre Modern Reality of Sonic the Hedgehog
Tumblr media
Super Eyepatch Wolf is back and he’s here to talk to us about the very very strange existence of Sonic. a 90s rebellious “too cool for School” answer to Mario, a lost idea as the world of video games changes and culture shifted, a meme and punching bag amplified by a unique fanbase and poor quality games, a transcendence into a horrific warped  idea of what he once was, and modern day and where Sonic and his fans are now. As usual Super Eyepatch Wolf knocks it out of the park.
Kokoro Wish and the Birth of a Multiverse: A Lecture on the Work of Jennifer Diane Reitz
Tumblr media
I don’t even sub to this channel as I’m not entirely sure what Ben’s usual content is about. But every now and then he has a “101″ class, where he explains to a room full of his friends in a classroom setting (complete with Whiteboard) an internet artist and oddity, the timeline, and what it is they have created. (wait... didn’t I say this already?). Unlike TRO however, the 101 classrooms are not a dark look into disturbed individuals (although the CWC 101 is debatable) nor is it a “lol look at this weirdo” dragging. Instead, of the 3 he’s done so far, it’s usually a rather sympathetic look at some of the strange artists on the internet who through some way or another, left a very big cultural impact on the internet space through their art. Sometimes they may not be the best people, but their work is so outside of what we’re used to seeing that just listening to him run you through these people’s internet history is fascinating.
In this episode he talks about Jennifer Diane Reitz. And although it is titled Kokoro Wish, the lecture is more about Jennifer’s larger work back in the early internet when being a weeb was unheard of, how being trans influenced her stories and characters, and her world building that is so rich and in-depth with it’s own ASTRO PHYSICS it puts any modern fictional world found in games or movies to shame.
Jennifer is not exactly a nice person... and in many ways can be seen as dangerously irresponsible, but she created something truly unique in a way that you kinda struggle figuring out if it’s terrible or a work of genius.
Anyway I think that’s enough for now
73 notes · View notes
hestiea · 4 years
Text
mid year 2020 book tag
tagged by @foxmulders!!!
Best book you’ve read so far in 2020: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. Was SUPER surprised by this one because 1) I haven’t liked anything else Bardugo has written and 2) I’m usually a weenie who gets scared by horror but this was UNBELIEVABLY good and spooky and supernatural and well-written. I have a more coherent review of my thoughts here. 
Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2020 The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley. I almost put this as my best book of 2020 and in a lot of ways it ties with/surpasses Ninth House but its also easily the best sequel I’ve read in ages. It’s been one of my most anticipated books for years ever since I read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street but honestly that book now reads as more of a prelude to this beautiful masterpiece. It’s a gorgeous little story about love and loss and ghosts and memory and Japanese history and FOUND FAMILY and it made me cry a lot.  I could not love it more. My full review is here. 
New release you haven’t read yet, but want to:
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is supposed to be spooky and dark and it’s been on my list but I haven’t got around to reading it.
Most anticipated release for the second half of the year:
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir because I have been thinking about Gideon the Ninth absolutely non-stop since it came out and also I miss Harrow, the funkiest little lesbian necromancer 
Favorite new author (debut or new to you):
can’t believe i’m saying it but....Brandon Sanderson....i’ve been avoiding reading him for ages because NerdBoys always tell me to and i reflectively reject their recommendations but I actually picked up Way of Kings this month and it slapped so hard
Biggest disappointment: Miranda in Milan by Katherine Duckett. It was about Miranda from the Tempest but its an epilogue and shes gay?? How could I not like this?? But in fact I thought it was kind of boring and predictable. Big sad. 
Biggest surprise:
Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman?? I’d heard mixed things and was expecting it to be a silly YA adventure but I was not anticipating ms. hartman punching me in the gut with the inherited trauma of womanhood and a story of healing in a book that had big talking lizards in it. Review here. 
Book that made you happy: The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune was a big warm hug of a book and made feel warm and cozy for like a full day after reading it. have i mentioned that found family fantasy is god tier literature???? plus it was set by the ocean and had a lot of Bobby Darin songs in it so i was won over instantly. Review here.
Newest fictional crush/newest favorite character: Kalladin Stormblessed from The Way of Kings and Sister Kettle from Red Sister....am not immune 2 clever magical men and hot lesbian assassins. I also love Murderbot from the Murderbot Diaries books. 
Book that made you cry: The Lost Future of Pepperharrow is the only one where there were REAL gushing tears but i think i teared up a bit reading Tess of the Road also.
Favorite book to film adaptation you saw this year: I don’t rlly watch movies because I have no attention span for them sooo its gonna b The Princess Bride
Most beautiful book you’ve bought or received this year so far: The Binding by Bridget Collins is not only sad gorgeous and gothic content wise BUT its also sad gorgeous and gothic cover wise. observe.
Tumblr media
Book you need to read by the end of the year:
simply cannot answer this q there are too many so instead i will say my other most anticipated releases which are: peculiar peril by jeff vandermeer, faithless hawk by margaret owen, drowned country by emily tesch, a wild winter swan by gregory macguire and piranesi by susanna clarke. 
tagging @dykeemilyprentiss, @zvko, @tenderflint, @strangehunger​, @tartts​, and anyone else who is feeling inspired!!
7 notes · View notes
howtohero · 4 years
Text
Fake Powers
In a world with so many different superhumans, magical creatures, and Power Jones, the man with one million powers and whom I’m pretty sure creates and erases superpowers at will, it can be rather difficult to keep track of what is an actual real power and what is not. Thankfully the good folks at OmniPower Genesis, the OPG have diligently researched and catalogued every known superpower. Not only have they done that, but they’ve also compiled a list of powers that people have claimed to have that they’re pretty sure are fake! This list is almost more valuable than the list of real powers, because they are almost all extremely dangerous, extremely powerful, and extremely terrifying. We’ve mirrored their list here for you to read, memorize, and internalize so you can rest easy knowing that if a villain ever claims to have one of these powers, they’re probably lying.
World Sustaining: The ability to keep the world going, even without actively participating in its saving. Users of this power act as a sort of support beam or perhaps good luck charm for the entire world. As long as they exist, the world will always come back from the brink of extinction. Also, this power might not actually exist. We don’t know what to tell you. Combat potential: You’d think that saving the world is an inherently peaceful power with limited combat usage. But this power actually ensures that all future combats can come to pass without the threat of armageddon.
Perpetual One-Upmanship: This power allegedly allows users to always be slightly more powerful than whomever they’re fighting. If somebody you’re fighting claims to have this power, they’re probably lying and just trying out some new smack talk. Don’t read too much into it. Just believe in yourself and you’ll be able to win the day! Combat potential: Well, people with this power are always a little bit better than whomever they’re fighting. That is obviously useful for fights.
Card Tricks so Good They Confound Even the Greatest Wizards: Readers might recognize this “power” as the tagline for stage magician, Tricky Martin’s (no relation to Ricky Martin) Las Vegas tour. Martin claimed to be so skilled at the ancient mystic art of card tricks that he could confuse and amaze even the world’s most powerful wizards. But of course, you all know that. What you probably didn’t know was that we had to actually go and investigate that claim. We rounded up as many powerful wizards as we could and brought them to one of Tricky Martin’s shows. Some of them, we’ll admit, were evil and were responsible for the Vegas Magacre of ‘13 and that’s on us. That’s our bad. Buuuuut you’ll be glad to know that only two of the wizards we brought were confused by Martin’s frankly incredible card tricks, but those two definitely weren’t like the greatest magicians. So, in the end, we were forced to classify this power as fake. Anybody who claims to have this power is merely skilled at the art of sleight of hand. Combat potential: If you can confuse a wizard you don’t need to fight them.
Updating Omnilingualism: Omnilingualism is the power to be able to speak and understand any verbal or nonverbal form of communication with no prior training. This is definitely a real power and we have recorded many instances of it. However, nobody has ever been shown to possess this unique form of omnilingualism, in which entirely new forms of communication can be assimilated seamlessly. Omnilinguals can only master forms of communication that exist when they get their powers, any new codes, languages or modes of communicating that are invented after they already have their powers must be learned the old fashioned way. We tested this by inventing our own language here at the office and then calling up random omnilinguals and attempting to communicate with them. None of them had any idea of what we were saying and many of them seemed very distressed by that fact. It was fun for us but very disconcerting for them. Combat potential: Updating omnilingualism is the perfect codebreaking ability, your enemies will never be able to sneak a message past you again.
Fictional Empathy Link: This power is often claimed to be possessed by superhumans in the movie industry and is claimed to be used to create the “Ultimate 4D movie experience!!!” The power allegedly allows users to create “empathy links” with fictional characters, making it so that victims feel the same things that the fictional character they’re watching is feeling. This power does not exist as we have understood empathy links to require two real beings with real emotions to work. Combat potential: Users of this power could conceivably create a fictional character, link them to a real person, and then cause terrible things to happen to them. Sort of like a written word voodoo doll.
The Perfect Sunday Afternoon: The power to be fully at peace on Sunday afternoon. No guilt about wasting the weekend. No stress about the coming week. None of those TV headaches you get from watching too much TV. With this power, every Sunday afternoon is the perfect Sunday afternoon. No stress, no worries, no bad weather, no unexpected visits from relatives. Nothing but those sweet sweet Sunday chills. Combat potential: If anybody tries to fight you on a Sunday afternoon they will definitely fail.
Immortal Slaying: According to our official working definition, a being that claims to be immortal cannot die, full stop. If they die then they were not immortal. Therefore the power to kill immortals does not exist. Because if you could kill an immortal, then they weren’t really immortal were they? Combat potential: You could kill mortal people, but anybody could do that.
Dimensional Death Capitalizing: The ability to gain more powerful with the destruction of a universe. When a universe ends or is destroyed there is usually a powerful burst of energy that is released into the multiverse. Throughout history, numerous people have thought they could capitalize on this energy wave and make themselves more powerful. Every one of these people has died and not one of them has become a god or a “living universe”. This is not a real thing, please stop destroying universes in the hope that it is. Combat potential: If it ever worked, which, again, it won’t, the user would gain a tremendous power boost which would allow them to defeat almost any foe.
Time Folding: Time folding is the act of taking a timeline, and removing a chunk of it while leaving the pieces of time before, and after it, completely unaltered. Time folders cannot travel through time, they can simply delete it, though conceivably time folding can be used to delete the present in order to quickly arrive in the future. There has never been a recorded instance of successful time folding, unless, I guess, there has been an instance when somebody successfully discovered and proved its existence... only for that instance to then be deleted from time... huh. Combat potential: Time folding can be used to delete lost battles from time. Of course, due to the nature of time folding, any ill effects you suffer from said battle will still be extant. But you can at least be smug about the fact that the fight you lost technically never happened and so you remain undefeated!
Time Travel Through Planetary Rotation: The power to turn back time by flying around the planet really fast and forcing it to spin in the opposite direction. We’re going to be honest with you. Somebody did this once. One time this happened, and everybody lost their goddamn minds. Nobody could handle it. It just didn’t make any sense to anybody. Scientists came from alternate dimensions to try to figure out what the heck had happened. We even dropped a line to some omnipotent deities to see if they could explain what happened and we got nothing. In the end, we all kind of just agreed that it was impossible. So if you feel like you have the ability to do this, please just don’t. The world is not ready for you. Combat potential: If you do this you’ll literally drive some of the multiverse’s greatest minds to tears as they try to explain it.
(Honestly most of these are time or paradox based so we’re just gonna skip ahead a bit....)
(Ooh, this is where they start to get alliterative. That’s fun!)
Existence Ending: The power to end all of existence with a single thought. Dozens of powerful demagogues, demi-gods, and Devin Gouges have claimed to possess this ability. However, there has never been a single recorded instance of this power being used in all of history. We can only conclude that it does not exist. Combat potential: There is no need to fear a combatant using this power in a fight as it cannot be localized or undone. If a combatant were to use this ability they would wipe themselves, their opponent, and the concept of combat from existence.
Perfect Persuasion: The power to convince a large amount of people that something was their idea. Not to be confused with mind control, charmspeak, the power of persuasion or any other mind-altering powers. Perfect persuasion is the ability to permanently alter a person’s ideas and perceptions without them ever realizing their brain has been tampered with. Perfect persuasion has a permanent effect and cannot be undone. We do not think this power is real and we all agree that we have always felt this way. Combat potential: Combatants with perfect persuasion could conceivably convince entire armies to abandon their causes. Highly dangerous, thankfully it is not real.
Micro-Multiverse Manufacturing: The power to create a microscopic multiverse. While microverse manufacturing on a singular level has been recorded, thanks to Mini-Mammoth’s discovery of the origins of Atomspace, the existence of microscopic multiverse within our own dimension has never been proven. Combat potential: The ability to create entire universes of microscopic life wherever and whenever you wish can be used offensively to convince people who revere the sanctity of life not to step in certain places or touch certain objects, for fear of crushing these tiny lifeforms.
Well, that’s all we have time for today. Remember, if you ever meet anybody who claims they can do these things, they’re almost definitely dirty stinkin liars who are just out to intimidate you. (If you think that you have one of these powers then you’re also a dirty stinkin liar and we hate you. But also do give the OPG a call as you may be a miracle person.)
2 notes · View notes
arcaneranger · 5 years
Text
Final Thoughts - 2018 Long Shows
It’s finally here! I’m so close to being done with 2018 (...mostly. We’ll get to it) that I can taste it, but in the meantime, this list is gonna be weird, because there will be things that were already on other lists since I revised my rules of what should be classified how. This post is specifically for any show that ended in 2018 and lasted longer than 13-ish episodes (including shows that aired a second season during the same year or within six months of finishing the previous one), which means that there’s about as much on it as a usual season of shows, but they all had more time to impress - or disappoint me. I’m doing a better job in recent seasons of getting to everything, but last year there were unfortunately things that I missed (I was burned out in the winter) and just have to leave aside for now because I can’t wait any longer for these lists.
Anyway! As usual, let’s start with what I skipped!
* The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of the Commandments, The Disastrous Life of Saiki Kusuo S2, Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card, Garo: Vanishing Line, and Mr Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues because I haven’t seen their previous seasons or parent works. (Yes, even Cardcaptor Sakura. Y’all can shoot me later.)
* Hakyuu Hoshin Engi, Beatless, and Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls because by the time I was rounding things up, I hadn’t heard a single positive thing about any of them.
Next comes what I dropped -
WORST OF THE YEAR: Steins;Gate 0 (4/10)
What a fucking mess this show was. Aside from a very noticeable downgrade in production talent from its predecessor, the plot meanders and flirts with maybe actually happening this time before just dropping out again, over and over, to the point where I was perfectly willing to drop it two episodes from the finish line because it was such an insult to fans of the original. (Also, continued disgusting mistreatment of the transgender character.)
Gundam Build Divers (4/10)
Taking the Build series from being a well-written kids show to an averagely-written kids show that hides itself in decent mech designs.
Katana Maidens (4/10)
I remember so little about this show, and granted that I did drop it after one episode almost nine months ago, but what I did remember was that it gave me strong KanColle vibes with laughably inconsistent animation and flat characters. Meh.
Darling in the FRANXX (5/10)
This should probably be lower on the list, but I got out of Darling while the getting was good, sixteen episodes in. I understand that future episodes of the show cemented it as crappy right-wing nonsense in addition to pushing worldbuilding out of its fortieth-story window, but the moment it lost me was much sooner, when the crazy yandere female lead was reduced, almost instantly, to Good Anime Waifu as a reward to the protagonist for going against his friends with his selfish motives.
Persona 5 the Animation (5/10)
In addition to not actually finishing in 2018, Persona 5 just did not give me a single reason to watch it when I’d already finished the source game, with middling-to-bad visuals (thanks to the switch from Production I.G. to A-1 Pictures, and not even the team that created the much better-looking Day Breakers OVA before the game was released in the U.S.) and phoned-in music, which is especially unacceptable in a Persona adaptation. Also, we all absolutely called that the studio couldn’t tell the story of the entire game in just 26 episodes.
Record of Grancrest War (6/10)
There’s people that like this one a lot, but I didn’t see much that interested me in the first two episodes. I’ve heard better things about the manga.
Golden Kamuy (6/10)
I had problems with the first half of Golden Kamuy that the second half simply didn’t fix, and it became difficult for me to keep watching - the show still interrupted almost every fight scene with a dick joke, but still wanted to maintain a serious and occasionally frightening tone - and those things simply don’t go together. It needed to either spend more time being funny, or keep its lowest-common-denominator humor out of the fights.
Next, I have two shows that are (potentially permanently) On Hold, simply because it’s time for me to move on and I don’t have the time or energy to marathon them when the Winter shows are starting to wrap up:
Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits, because even though I initially dropped it, I’ve heard a lot of good things since and I want to eventually give it another shot.
Yowamushi Pedal Glory Line, because despite the fact that I still enjoyed the previous season, this one started right in the middle of my burnout and I only heard bad things about it. I’ll get to it eventually, but it’s a shame that this series has been on a clear trend downwards since its revival.
And finally, the stuff I finished!
The Ancient Magus’ Bride (6/10)
Tumblr media
Keep in mind that this is here entirely on the merits of its aesthetic and its side characters - in the end, Ancient Magus’ Bride is a Beauty and the Beast story where the beast gets what he wants without learning to be less of a dick or even apologizing for his clearly wrong actions.
Major 2nd (7/10)
Tumblr media
Always pleased to have even just Good sports shows around, and this one is a very effective reboot of a classic series that’s never made its way stateside (man, the underperformance of Big Windup! really did a lot of damage to this genre in the West). With good character development and a decent second-generation premise, Major 2nd has the potential to be the beginning of a solid baseball story, assuming that it gets a needed followup.
IDOLiSH7 (7/10)
Tumblr media
I dropped IDOLiSH7 when it first aired, and though I wound up enjoying it after I was very strongly urged to revisit it, the problems it started with never quite left it behind - that is, it has an okay cast of characters but doesn’t present even passable performance sequences, and if you’re going to include big song-and-dance numbers, they have to be good, or you may as well just be UtaPri.
ClassicaLoid Season 2 (8/10)
Tumblr media
In 2017, I gave the first season of ClassicaLoid a near-perfect 9/10, and while this season gives us a satisfying conclusion to the story, it does things both a little better than the first, and also not quite as great. It’s story is much more well-integrated over the runtime so it doesn’t happen all at once in a few chunks, and the jokes that work are still absolute genius, but there’s simply too much that doesn’t quite land correctly, and a little too much immature humor, for it to reach the same lofty Hall of Fame heights as the first season. Still, one of the most underrated shows I’ve ever seen.
My Hero Academia Season 3 (8/10)
Tumblr media
God, Izuku in that onesie is too damn cute.
My problems with Hero Academia are frustratingly persistent - the show is at its best when the students are competing with other students, because outside of last season’s Stain (a villain whose motivation is specifically related to the world of MHA), the villains are just not at all compelling and they all seem a little too generic for their own good. I just want Horikoshi to be a little bit less predictable of an author and do a little less reading of the Standard Shounen Playbook. Luckily, when it works, it works magnificently.
March Comes in Like a Lion S2 (8/10)
Tumblr media
March remains director/auteur Akiyuki Shinbo’s most accessible work, and one of his masterpieces, as a well-paced and marvelously moody story of a depressed shogi prodigy learning to be a normal teenager before his youth completely passes him by, and the fantastic characters that surround him with their own complex problems and motivations. I just really, really hope it gets a third season eventually, because this one did not leave off on a satisfying conclusion.
Speaking of which...
Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma S3 (9/10)
Tumblr media
It’s almost a shame that My Hero Academia became hugely popular purely based on its accessibility to American audiences, because Food Wars pretty squarely deserves to be the reigning Shonen Jump king - each season has only improved on the previous one, and this one was based entirely on a continuing arc that could only have happened in the universe of this show, Fighting Food Fascism. That being said, it also leaves off right in the middle of the arc (because it had almost caught up to the manga), meaning that we have to hope that it can remain relevant long enough for there to be enough source material for another season. I’ll be crossing my fingers until they snap.
Banana Fish (9/10)
Tumblr media
Yes, this has risen a point since my review, but Banana Fish still deserves to be thought of as both a complete masterwork of crime fiction, being fantastically paced and expertly plotted in the use of its many, many twists, and a work that disappointed the side of me that hoped that, in adapting it into the modern day, MAPPA could have managed to get the author to let them depict what is clearly a queer relationship with the authenticity and legitimacy that it deserved. It’s still amazing, though, and Amazon should be pushing it with their most lavishly-made originals. At least it was the last noitaminA show they’ll get to totally bury.
And, finally, the one you all saw coming.
BEST OF THE YEAR: Lupin the 3rd Part V (10/10)
Tumblr media
Lupin is, quite simply, one of the pinnacles of the medium. A simple idea that can (and did) go in thousands of different directions, handled by highly creative writers and an animation staff that has been knocking it out of the park for years, despite the fact that it is criminally (heh) unrecognized in the West. To put it simply, there’s a very, very good reason that it’s been around since the 70′s.
Okay! All I have left to do is finish Dragon Pilot (waiting on a friend) and we can get the last two lists out of the way! We’re almost done...
72 notes · View notes
btsandvmin · 5 years
Text
Collection of asks - BTSandVMIN
Some of the asks I answer I personally feel are worth saving, for me personally, and perhaps for you as well. But I don’t want to put them all in my Masterpost since there are so many and I am sure the list will grow. So I am putting the ones I feel might have something worth reading in one place. 
Thank you all for asking me interesting questions and liking my posts. Asks are written more in the moment than my usual posts, so they might be less accurate as it’s all mostly from the top of my head. The newest ones will actually be on top, and then they will get older going down the list. I’ll update it regularly as I answer more asks. :)
Jimin was so clearly in need of cuddles from Tae as soon as they saw each other
Odd if none of them shared what they did during vacations
It just feels scripted, just like when they're talking abt what each other did during their vacations
100 days of winter bear and jiminie wears something that makes him look like a baby bear
About BV4, do you think it’s weird that Taehyung only found out about what Jimin did during his vacation on the day Jimin was back?
Dionysus stage as battle of gods and V=Apollo(God of Sun) and JM=Artemis(God of Moon) and their dance and wearing twin earrings(as the gods r twins) and I just remembered your whole vmin sun and moon theory
Is Tae Jm's mirror in bighits's fictional world?
Do you know what is the full video of this youtube video "BTS Jimin chose V ? VMin Moment?
When BV: Malta was airing, Jimin would post pictures of each episode on Twitter and stopped on the episode that Taehyung arrives
I'm like a hardcore Km shipper (romantically) since 2016 but i have to agree every song Tae has written connects with Jm
We don't see vmin together often... so yeah jikook could be more real then vmin
I'm trying to find tweets that vmin send to each other on their birthday but I can't find the one that jimin send for tae in 2017 did he send one? 
The new run bts episode was really filmed in May?
Did Jimin released Promise on Tae's birthday?
I am working on a Vmin analysis which is currently 24 pages just in text. O___o
He calls JM "My Baby" but the subtitles put in by BH say "Good Boy" Why would they change the translation. 
Shipping sometimes seems pointless. Especially when "moments" between one ship can easily be spotted with another. 
I can't believe that some fans thought that vmin were not friends anymore because a game!
It's so cute how Jimin and V talked about arguing with each other over small things because they are close friends
I think people who unfollow you are Multishippers who believe in other ship
Is it kind of weird that vmin has never went on a trip by themselves? 
Seeing all the vmin interactions of this last concert, do you think this might be a reason why BH will not give us vmin duet?
I would love to read ur vmin story
Concerning the nightmare before Christmas thing
The Disney birthday project turned up to be false
Jimin thinks V is "mi bb' What does the question mean?
I don't think we'll get a Vmin song
BTS, 191009_ ICN INT' Airport Departure) at 40 seconds
Where do you write fics? I really want to read your fics...
It's interesting to see the way the bh editors work
Where is the vmin break up mini movie video from?
Do you ship Jimin or Tae with k pop girls?
The members trying to break off a vmin moment on cam?
Is it true that bts don't live together?
What do you think about the concept photos? (PERSONA)
What other vmin blogs do you follow or check regularly?
In an usa interview where jimin was kinda leaning on the male interviewer for a few seconds and suddenly tae was looking kinda tense
Did you catch up on everything for bts or/and vmin before the BS&T era?
You should see @vlovers19 blog
I'm sorry if you think I offended you or judged you
Do you know that Tae hold hands with other member even Suga or they all hold hands with each other so it's not only a VMIN thing
About bon voyage 3 and them not sharing rooms and the car
4 oclock is supposedly dedicated to jimin, why Tae waits for him in the park if they live together?
Imagine my surprise when i saw vk/ook,ji/kook were the most popular. I tried to understand but i still don’t get why
Do you think vmins lack of or th reduced amount of skinship comes from the fact that they are same aged friends? 
Other ships (kpopidols) that you like?
Part of me wanted Taehyung to be in Paris too
The boys being apart of the lgbt community that's unrelated to their relationship
If someone in BTS is gay he will try to date girls or maybe marry a girl in the end?
If vmin are really together and if they were to come out, how do you think they would do that?
I feel like they use the word "friend" instead of, idk, "boyfriend”
You saw the hk concert right?
Unknown nickname in his thank you note for “Dark and Wild”
When did Vmin started dating?
Bv3, I ain't getting over it.
I feel like vmin have been sexually involved for a very long time 
Any thoughts abt Tae's three rings on his right hand and always not wearing one on his ring finger?
In bts festa profile 2015 when jimin wrote tae's profile he drew a character that reminds him of taehyung
Did u see the second trailer for bring the soul documentary series? 
In one of your asks you said jk wasn't having a great time in 2017
Are you gonna make a post about vmin sharing rooms?
What would be your top 5 favorite vmin moments? 💜
Run episode to Jm and JK "Are You Guys dating ?"
Barely getting any vmin content
Sometimes i cant help but feel really weird about vmin and feel insecure
Maybe you should just ignore all the asks about other ships
Sharing a car as proof
Docskim not being allowed to release the behind story of Lie
Getting it out of the way… (about various other ships and “proof“)
What are the moments that seems most like "proof" to you? 
Have you seen the Vlive remember party?
At the end of the day, it mostly comes down to personal interpretations and preferences
Do you know why T/ae and J/imin toxic stans really hate each other?
Is it being "delusional" for some vmin fans to think scenery, promise and 4 o' clock are related to vmin?
When will u start answering anons again i really miss ur insight and wise words 
I feel like jimin is forcing himself the affection he is showing is mostly forced
Do you have twitter?
The Rkive Vmin moment when JM ‘refused’ Tae’s cuddle
They were often looking behind cameras and it really shows like in episodes 59&60
Do you think there's a big reason that vm don't do Vlives together anymore
Vmin shippers spreading misinformation in aid of our ship?
Can I use one of your gifs? (I don’t make my own gifs, sorry)
Did you see what Tae said? ie I miss you even after being apart for 10 seconds
When one is clingy, the other will try to act as if it's bothering him
My friend is convinced Ji/kook is real
About namjoon's vlive, "it's a broadcast"
Oof is it just me or the sexual tension was through the roof between vmin in that vlive?
Tae says "our armys are watching this so... " so uhm was that..?
Where does the soulmate thing comes from with vmin?
Taehyung is more open both physically and showing affection wise with every member except Jimin
Have you seen the moments from today's concert? Fukuoka
They can do whatever they want people will say they're such good bros and won't look into it
Holding each other's hands is probably the least platonic thing that they keep doing
Do you know any good vmin analysis youtube account/videos?
why do you think jk and taehyung might not be straight?
Guys, I love vmin so much!
I really like your analysis!! a lot of good points. Can I add a couple things I noticed?
How long do you think vmin have been dating?
u really think vm is real?
Vmin are really bold these days
We get to see them bicker 
The video jimin posted where he's sending hearts to Tae
Feel conflicted about the rise in popularity
I’m a bit worried about the attention Vmin is getting recently
U answered my jik ask so well
Tae being bold because he's bursting with affection
Jimin admitted he was jealous
About the families (+kimchi ep. mini analysis)
About vmin/ji/ook/tae/kook
The whole maknae line
Never seemed to be in the same team
When people "ship" them?
Showing their bond more
About Jikook
About vmin being the less popular ship
Flustered vmin
Yeontan vlive
About the airport moment
Do you think that vmin live together?
About vmin rising in popularity
Do you have a link for that moment during New Year's 2016?
Platonic/bro label on vmin
More than friendship between vmin
My reply - Making Vmin videos
Thank you! A small reply
About my bias
Opinions above people
Tumblr media
Once again, THANK YOU ALL so much for loving Vmin so much and for coming to me with your lovely messages. <3
72 notes · View notes
kawaiikichi · 5 years
Text
Sayonara, My Lover (Saiouma)
Prompts #86 and #87 from the Angst Prompts list for Anon! Oh boy, this one certainly was hard, but at the same, really fun to write. It was hard because of how it ends, but it was also fun because I got to explore another AU!
I hope you like it and let me know if you would like anything changed/edited :)
Based off of the request below:
Tumblr media
Title: Sayonara, My Lover
Prompts: “Who told you I needed fixing and what made you believe them?” & “You’re almost as far-gone as I am.”
Summary: The night before Kokichi executes his do-or-die plan, he is called out to one of the classrooms on the second floor by Shuichi. Everything unfolds from there.
One-Shot Notes: Different Mastermind AU; there will be major canon divergence after Chapter 4
Warnings: Very light NSFW (it’s not graphic at all, but it is implied that Shuichi and Kokichi do end up having sex coming close to the end of the first scene), character death; read at your own risk! 
One-shot is under the cut!
Meet me in Classroom B on the second floor; I want to talk to you.
Kokichi furrowed his brows at the note.
“What the hell...?” he muttered under his breath.
Who wants to talk to me so late at night? And right before I finish preparations for my plan, too, he thought to himself.
He released a sigh.
“Okay, whatever.” he stuffed the note into his pants pocket. “I’ll go and see what it’s about.” he said as he began making his way over to the classroom.
The night air was still and quiet as he walked down the dim hallways lit by moonlight. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants as he headed up the stairs to the second floor.
Watch as I fall into a trap and get myself killed before I can even execute my plan, he thought to himself.
He chuckled bitterly at the thought.
“Wow, don’t I have a great sense of humor...” he muttered sarcastically.
Upon arriving at the second floor, he made his way to Classroom B. He reached the classroom moments later, reaching for the door.
“Here goes nothing...” he mumbled before opening the door and stepping inside.
He immediately spotted Shuichi sitting on top of one of the desks in the classroom, staring out the window. The pale moonlight made Shuichi’s skin give off an ethereal glow and his hair shine.
He turned upon hearing Kokichi enter the classroom.
“Ah, you’re finally here, Kokichi.” he said.
“I am...so, you’re the one that called me out here?” Kokichi asked.
“Yeah.” Shuichi replied.
“Heh...” Kokichi reached up to twirl some hair around his finger. “You know, I thought you wouldn’t want to talk to me after what I did during the class trial a couple of days ago.” he said.
He began making his way over to the detective.
“Oh, wait...I think I know why you called me out here. Are you going to break up with me, Shuichi? Because if that’s the case—“
“No, that’s not it. I just...” Shuichi slid off the desk and turned to look at Kokichi. “I need answers.” he said.
“Okay...what kind of answers?” Kokichi asked.
“I need to know...why would you manipulate Gonta like that?” Shuichi asked.
“Oh gosh, are we really going to talk about this?” Kokichi asked.
“Yes, we are. How could you do that to someone as pure and innocent as Gonta?”
“Huh? Are you saying I should’ve done it to someone else?”
“I never said that! You shouldn’t be doing anything like that to any of the others, to begin with!”
“What the hell does it matter? Besides, you didn’t even care to ask before why I did it! I could see in your eyes that you knew there was a reason behind what I did, but you didn’t care to expose that, now did you? Instead, you took it all out on me and said all those things to me!”
“Yes, because I felt like it had to be said! Kokichi, you...” Shuichi ran his fingers through his hair. “As more and more of our classmates started dying, I began noticing something.” he said.
“Oh? Like what?” Kokichi asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“The Kokichi that I know has begun to disappear. The Kokichi that I fell in love with, the Kokichi that opened himself up to me...I don’t know where he’s gone now. It’s like...you’ve become some sort of monster who could care less about what’s to happen next.” Shuichi said.
Kokichi stared at the detective as he balled his hands into fists.
“It’s almost like...you’re broken...” he trailed off.
That was when Kokichi felt something begin to bubble up from within him. Bile danced along his tongue as he began feeling nauseous. He didn’t know what it was, but he sure as hell didn’t like where Shuichi was taking the conversation nor what the detective was implying about him.
“So, you’re saying that I’m broken...” he gripped his arms tightly. “And just like all broken things, they need to be fixed, right...?” he asked.
Shuichi hesitated in answering, confirming Kokichi’s suspicions. Anger began to well up inside of him like a roaring fire as Shuichi spoke.
“If that’s what needs to be done, then—“
“Who told you I needed fixing and what made you believe them?!” Kokichi screamed.
Shuichi stayed silent, his eyes growing wide as Kokichi continued. “Am I really that fucked up that even you think there’s something wrong with me?!” he shouted.
“Well...with the way you acted during the recent class trial, who wouldn’t think that you’ve lost a few marbles?! If anything, I’d say that you’re pretty far gone! You showed us that day that your last bits of sanity have flown out the window!” Shuichi shouted back.
“Oh, don’t give me your bullshit about being gone!” Kokichi growled out.
He then remembered something that he had discovered during the two days that he had vanished from everyone’s sight. It was something so shocking that even he was taken aback upon finding the information.
But, it was also valuable and could very well turn the tables. It could even end the killing game itself.
Well, it looks like I have no choice but to say it, he thought to himself.
A dark chuckle fell from his lips.
“If anything...I’d say that you’re almost as far gone as I am.” he said.
“Huh? What do you mean?” Shuichi asked.
“I mean...” something sinister flickered about in Kokichi’s eyes as he ran his fingers through his hair. “You’re the mastermind of this killing game, now aren’t you, Shuichi Saihara?” he asked.
The reaction to Kokichi’s statement was almost instant. Shuichi’s whole body tensed, his expression resembling that of a deer caught in the headlights with pupils blown wide in horror and face turning considerably pale.
“Wh-What...?” he managed to stammer our after a few minutes of silence.
“Don’t play dumb. I know who you really are.” Kokichi stated.
“Play dumb...? I’m not playing dumb. Actually...I don’t understand where all of this is coming from! Me? Being the mastermind? There’s no way that’s even possible! I’m the last person you should be suspecting as the one pulling all the strings! Also, even if that were the case, you don’t have proof!” Shuichi exclaimed.
“I do have proof. It’s just that I have it back in my room. It’s not like I was expecting to have this conversation with you, let alone actually meeting up with you tonight.” Kokichi pointed out.
“Even so...” Shuichi trailed off.
“Give it up already, Shuichi. I know your true identity, so there’s no need for you to keep denying it. Also,” Kokichi let his hand drop to his side, “you know how much I hate liars.” he said.
Shuichi didn’t respond, hiding his eyes behind his bangs. A long, impenetrable silence hung over them as Kokichi waited for Shuichi’s answer. One minute became two. Then, it became three. Then, it sped up to five.
A dark chuckle pierced through the silence, causing a slight chill to course through Kokichi’s body. It was a chuckle that didn’t quite fit the image of the usually timid detective.
“Fufufu...Ahahahahahahaha!” Shuichi suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, clutching at his stomach.
Kokichi unconsciously took a step backward as Shuichi continued laughing. It was like he had flipped on some sort of switch in the detective that he couldn’t flip off anymore.
“My, Kokichi...I knew you were intelligent. But, so intelligent that you were able to find out my true identity...?” Shuichi rose his head, running his fingers through his hair. “Ah, it’s all so amusing!” he exclaimed.
Kokichi felt the temperature in the room drop drastically as he looked at Shuichi, whose eyes flashed an ominous red.
Deep down, Kokichi hoped that it wasn’t true. He hoped that Shuichi wasn’t actually the mastermind and that the detective was just screwing with him.
But, the red glow of his eyes, the malicious intent swirling around in them, and the maniacal grin that pulled at his lips made him all the more certain that Shuichi was indeed the mastermind.
“Haaah...you know, I was waiting for at least one more murder to occur before revealing my true identity. But, I guess this’ll have to do.” Shuichi said.
“Shuichi...but why? What would compel you to do this?” Kokichi asked.
“Why, you ask...I mean, it’s the same reason why you’ve been causing trouble throughout the game, isn’t it?”
“The same reason...?”
“Yes...you see, I did this for the thrill.”
Kokichi’s eyes widened.
“The thrill...?” he choked out.
“Yes! The thrill! The suspense! The drama! The despair! But ultimately...the main reason I went through with this...” Shuichi began drooling. “It was all for Danganronpa!” he declared.
“Despair...? Danganronpa...? Just what the hell are you going on about?” Kokichi asked.
“Danganronpa! It’s the one and only killing game television series! Yes, we’re all pawns for this killing game, giving up our lives for pure entertainment!” Shuichi gushed.
“Killing game...television series...entertainment...” Kokichi began to feel nauseous. “That’s ridiculous...” he trailed off.
“Well, you’re gonna have to believe it! We all auditioned for this game and were transported into the world of Danganronpa! In other words, we have now become the fictional characters of this world!”
“Fictional...?”
“Yes! We are all fiction! We’re not real people!”
The more Shuichi rambled on about Danganronpa and despair, the more Kokichi felt like throwing up.
We’re not real people...we’re just a work of fiction...I thought I was a little fucked up, but Shuichi has totally flown off his rocker! He’s totally insane, he thought to himself.
He looked at Shuichi.
So...if what he’s saying is true and we’re all fiction, then...doesn’t that mean that everything else was fake? Like, all of the relationships that were made, the emotions we’ve felt...were those not real, either, he asked himself.
A couple of minutes passed before Kokichi found it in him to speak. “You said that everything is fake, right? So...all of the friendships that were built, the budding romance between that idiot Momota-chan and Harukawa-chan...is that also fake?” he asked.
“Yes, yes! You’re surely catching on quite quickly, Kokichi!” Shuichi exclaimed.
“Then...what about us?” Kokichi balled his hands into fists. “Your confession...the times we’d slip away to be with one another...the hugs...the kisses...the ‘I love you’s...was that also fake...?” he murmured.
Kokichi stared at him, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.
“Were your feelings for me...also a lie...?” he asked, voice cracking.
Shock flashed through Shuichi’s eyes for a split second before it was replaced with an emotionless stare.
“At first, it was. I thought that it wouldn’t kill to be in a relationship because it would give the show more viewers and keep them interested. But...as we began spending more and more time together, I found myself falling for you for real.” Shuichi explained.
Kokichi’s eyes grew wide.
“You...did?” he breathed out, a couple of tears slipping down his cheeks.
“Yes. Because I fell for you, I found myself growing reluctant to playing he role as the mastermind. Yes, I wanted to do this at first and was even honored to be given the opportunity, but...you’ve changed me, Kokichi.” Shuichi explained.
He began making his way over to the supreme leader.
“I love you, Kokichi. I really do...which is why,” Shuichi cupped Kokichi’s cheeks, “I want you to expose my identity as the mastermind to everyone.” he requested.
The tears stopped flowing, the supreme leader staring at him in horror.
“What...?” he asked.
“I want you to expose me, Kokichi. Beat this game and have me executed.” Shuichi said.
“But—“
“It’s the right thing to do, Kokichi.” Shuichi moved his hands to clasp Kokichi’s hands. “Now, listen to what it is I need you to do. If you were coming up with some sort of plan, abandon it. Tomorrow, you are going to challenge Monobear and say that instead of going along with the killing game, you’re going to uncover the identity of the mastermind. I’ll tell Monobear about the plan ahead of time, so he’ll go along with it and give you and the others some time to find me out. I’ll place clues around the school to make things easier. Once time is up, we’ll have the class trial and you can call me out and end this game once and for all.” Shuichi explained.
Kokichi felt the tears return, blurring his vision.
“But...Shuichi...” he spoke, his voice thick with tears.
“Please, just do this for me.” Shuichi slowly released Kokichi’s hands. “It’s getting late. We should go back.” he said.
Shuichi breezed past Kokichi and headed over to the door.
“Tonight’s going to be the last night I get close to you. Starting from tomorrow, I won’t say anything to you, I won’t approach you, I won’t do anything. This is it.” he said as he reached for the door.
Kokichi’s hands were balled up right into fists as he spoke.
“Wait, Shuichi!” he called out.
He turned, locking eyes with Shuichi.
“Before you go...I want you to kiss me one last time.” Kokichi said.
Tears shone in the supreme leader’s eyes.
“Please...” he whispered out.
It was silent between them for what seemed like forever before Shuichi walked back over to him. Kokichi’s eyes fluttered shut on instinct as Shuichi’s lips met his own in a bruising kiss. Kokichi moaned into the kiss, hands moving to cup Shuichi’s cheeks as Shuichi backed him up against the nearby wall.
Tears streamed down Kokichi’s cheeks freely as Shuichi pried his mouth open, teeth and tongues clashing messily. He ran his fingers through Shuichi’s hair, fisting his hands in the dark locks of hair as he moaned again. Shuichi grabbed Kokichi by the thighs and hoisted him up, letting Kokichi wrap his legs around his torso.
They withdrew from the kiss moments later and Shuichi reached to yank the supreme leader’s checkered scarf off his neck, letting it fall to the ground. He rained kisses along the exposed skin, nipping and dragging his teeth along Kokichi’s skin. Kokichi shuddered, more tears burning at the back of his eyes as he kept thinking to himself that this would be the last time he would get to be in Shuichi’s arms like this, the last time they got intimate, and the last time they kissed one another.
“Shuichi...no matter what, I will always love you...” he breathed out.
“I know, Kokichi.” Shuichi finished marking a hickey on Kokichi’s neck and he rose his head to look at Kokichi. “I love you, too.” he replied before capturing the supreme leader’s lips in another kiss.
Kokichi’s sobs were muffled by Shuichi’s lips as they kissed fervently. He let himself get lost in the moment, slowly drowning in Shuichi and savoring these last few, intimate moments they had together.
💜💜💜💜
Everything went according to plan.
Just like Shuichi said, Monobear allowed Kokichi and the other classmates to challenge him and they found enough evidence pointing to Shuichi in the span of three days.
The class trial was a climatic and emotional one.
Kokichi accused Shuichi of being the mastermind, just like the detective told him to.
Maki almost jumped over her podium to strangle the living daylights out of him.
Kaito threatened to slug Kokichi for spouting bullshit.
Shuichi proved Kokichi correct and let himself spiral into insanity.
Keebo preached about hope and successfully conquered despair.
Himiko cursed Shuichi for killing her friends.
Tsumugi grew angry over the turn of events and started rambling on about how she was meant to be the mastermind, but Team Danganronpa just had to fuck it all up and give the role of the mastermind to Shuichi instead.
Maki and Kaito cried and screamed at Shuichi for what he had done.
Kokichi tried to keep his facade up even though he knew it was slowly crumbling.
The trial ended with everyone voting for Shuichi as the guilty party.
Shuichi and Monobear were both led to their execution shortly afterward, which resembled Junko’s from the very first season.
As Shuichi neared the press that was to crush him and reduce to a nasty puddle of blood, Kokichi let his facade fall apart. He sobbed, tears freely streaming down his cheeks. Upon seeing Shuichi’s gentle smile being directed at him, he sobbed even harder.
He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to watch as Shuichi became nothing more than a splatter of blood on two cold press plates.
Sayonara, my lover.
66 notes · View notes
game-meak · 5 years
Text
A Proper Postmortem
Maybe?!  Heck if I know how to actually format a good post but let’s try.  As game development went on for almost four years, this is probably gonna be long... and also give away basically the whole game oops!  Read on with caution.
Tumblr media
Sometime around July 2014, a month after the initial release of my first game, my room was being remodeled and I was stuck with nothing for free time but a garbage laptop I could do anything on, an old flip phone, my sketchbook, and my 3DS.  So beyond playing an obscene amount of Animal Crossing and Tomodachi Life, I at some point went “hey, what if I made a second game starring the kids.”  So I started trying to plan it out!  And it went
absolutely nowhere that I intended it to go!!!
Tumblr media
For instance, this is the very first page of sketches.  This squirrel was supposed to be really important.  It’s not.  I don’t even KNOW what’s up with that duck.
A thing I like to think about before I set off making any of the story, assets, or scripts for my games tend to be themes and motifs.  And I kept circling back to a very important, very personal “theme.”  Without using the internet at large as my therapy couch, I was emotionally abused and taken advantage of multiple times in my life and it greatly impacts how I interact with people to this very day, as you’d expect events of such a degree would.  Particularly, I kept thinking that the RPG Maker fan crowd tends to skew young and be in the teenage range and at ages 14-16, I could’ve used something to help.
Of course, my entire thought process isn’t necessarily one of charity and selflessness.  It was also a way of me expressing what I’d dealt with in ways I’ve only ever communicated with my friends who were also victims of the same circumstances, the closest I would let myself come to personal stories and retellings with a cover of plastic children and wild adventures.  It was also in some ways a way of me verifying to myself that something ongoing was, in fact, bananas and should not have been happening, but that might be another story for another time.
As you can probably guess, Haze and Seal came into the picture since I needed to make two characters who would have this struggle.  A lot of decisions came about because of my personal experience.  They’re 15/16 because I was at the time of the incidents that primarily inspired me to make this game.  They’re both nonbinary because I am.  They love anime because I did (and do...?!)  One of their friends is even directly modeled off how one of my friends looked in high school.  To that degree, I guess someone, somewhere can call them self inserts.  But they’re also not, since I didn’t want to just do a personal retelling with fictional characters.  I’d just write a memoir or something at that point.
Haze’s design came first, and then Seal’s was sort of made as a foil to them.  Haze’s “colors” are pink, black, grey, and red.  Seal’s are teal and light purple... and also black.  Haze had a rabbit motif (which got toned down as I went on), Seal had an owl motif (which is now just a single mention in their list of likes...), etc.
Tumblr media
Though in the beginning, the story was entirely different.  Initially, everything took place in the neon-ish areas with black sky and reflective, celestial water (that I, very eloquently, call “spacewater”).  The idea was that Haze and Seal were beings from another dimension and that their “fighting” was causing a rip in the universe that the kids stumbled into and therefore got wrapped up in this mess.  I had an entire script written and started making assets and when I went to sum up the game’s plot in a neat paragraph, I realized... I hated it!!!
So I chucked all I had done by that point writing-wise and started again.
In fact, I rewrote a lot.  After the first it was mostly small tweaks and adjustments, but the biggest ones (and the ones that still present a challenge to me!) usually involved trying to make Seal feel like a believable character.  I had shown an early draft to someone who said that Seal felt too much like trying to get back at someone, so I scrapped a ton of their lines and tried again.  I still worry whether or not they come across too Strawman-y, but I’ve done the best I can and whatever criticism people have can apply to my next writing attempts.  It’s very hard to separate yourself from subject matter you feel really personally attached to.  I don’t want to write them in a way that you immediately hate them, or hate me for writing such a blatant “villain” character, but in a way that you can formulate your own thoughts.  That said, though, I am violently allergic to people who call Seal a “tsundere,” even in jest.  So I guess I want people to have their own thoughts as long as it’s not that specific one...! (;;;;)
You may be thinking “heck, this is a lot of paragraphs in and you haven’t even brought up gameplay thoughts” and yes... that’s very true.  Shamefully, for a game where I thought “I should definitely, absolutely focus more on making it a Fun Game than a walking visual novel” I might’ve actually dropped the ball in that area.  I’d like to think I was more adventurous than I had been with my first game.  Some parts do kind of fall into the “walk to the next cutscene, find a key to unlock the next cutscene” pit, but I did put effort into figuring out what I could do with RMXP.  My obligatory “please don’t use this engine here, people thinking of using RPG Maker” statements here.  In the final product, though they’re very simple, I’m most proud of the chalkboard puzzle and the paint sorting puzzle.
Tumblr media
Even if, y’know... I somehow neglected to include the letter “k”
Speaking of, I’m not sure if this is a general RPG Maker thing, a “man I hate RMXP” thing, or a “meaka cannot gamemake” thing, but I had several event/puzzles just up and quit on me a few times.  Like they would work fine for months and months, but one day I’d go to them and just nope, suddenly they’re not working, sorry.  Copy+pasting the event to a new map wouldn’t work, so I’d have to manually redo the event.  One of them was the chalkboard puzzle.  The other was the sliding puzzle when Tony is by herself.  Which I’m also aware slows the game down a ton, but I have legitimately no idea how to fix that... I tried and I could never get to to not lag like crazy.
Like I said, I started in July 2014.  I’d shipped the game off to my beta testers in March 2018.  A vast majority of that time was spent creating the visual assets since everything you see in the game is custom.  All the sprites, all the tilesets, every little pixel of it.  All me!  Needless to say... it was very exhausting and very time consuming. I grossly underestimated how much time I thought it’d take.  I never accounted for the very real possibility of burnout, which is incredibly silly considering I was making something entirely by myself that was also an occasionally difficult subject matter...!  There were quite a few weeks where I touched nothing because I couldn’t bring myself to and even a few times where I just considered deleting everything and cancelling the project.  I knew I’d be mad at myself if I quit, especially as I got later into production, so I just tried my best to make sure I didn’t turn it into a huge chore.  Obviously, there were parts that were more tedious than others, but this game really is a very large labor of love that I put a lot of my heart into.
Part of that time is also a little bit of indecision.  Did you know I went through 3 possible title screens?  I sure did!  I’ve also publicly posted about redoing both Haze and Seal’s bust sprites before.  I almost redid all of the kids’, too, but I didn’t wanna get caught in the loop of remaking everything, so I opted to just leave them as they are.  Most of them don’t bug me as much.  M...most of them!
Tumblr media
I’m hopping back on the Story train since obviously that was my main focus, but the decision to have Seal sort of “reveal” their true nature (or at least have a jealousy-related anger burst) to Octavio as an animated cutscene was one I’d decided pretty early.  Which is also why, unsurprisingly, I was debating getting voice actors for a hot minute.  But I wouldn’t have used it anywhere else in the game, so I opted not to.  I also wanted to keep the file size low, but that wound up not happening so much, h-haha...   For someone who uses the only engine without native support for videos, I sure do like making animated cutscenes, huh.
Anyway.  This scene originally bridged Octavio’s section of the game to Pablo’s, which would’ve been (for some reason) in an abandoned hospital.  But that didn’t pan out because it didn’t fit what I wanted the game to be and also by switching the order of the two, it builds up more tension(?) on the kind of character you expect Seal to be.  I hope their very first “fuck off, maybe” took someone out there by surprise!
This also was the point when I decided I wanted to commission an original soundtrack, since nothing quite got across what I wanted at the time.  Which is when I put out my silly ad post and somehow managed to get the amazing ProjectTrinity to compose for me...!  I’m still amazed by the sheer quality of music he made for my little RPGMaker game.
Having the teen characters curse was also something I waffled on for a bit.  Clearly, I dwell on the important things as a writer.  I wanted it to contrast the cutesy, kidlike way the siblings talk and also the sort of squeaky-clean image the witches (particularly Seal) present to the kids by contrasting how they talk to each other, most importantly how Seal talks to Haze and their other friends.  I did have the same issue with the Mother in my first game, but I opted to not have her curse at all either since she’s childish in her own way, too.  But that’s not for THIS game’s postmortem, get otta here!!!
Tumblr media
I also very much was set on a “battle” with words being the final event of the game.  Though I had a hard time imagining what that would be initially, but eventually arrived at a sort of fake battle system that was introduced in the mine.  The setting for this battle changed with time (everywhere from the park to the academy and in between) was considered...!  The dirty secret is that while I did like the decision to make it take place in the voids between worlds, I also sort of did not want to draw the staircase in the witch academy.  Originally, the kids would’ve also helped Haze “reach” Seal (who was putting actual obstacles in the way), but I guess in my own way, I wanted to give Haze the ability to confront Seal on their own, one-on-one.  Or something like that...!  I also didn’t want to add too much needless backtracking.
Tumblr media
I’m... unsure what other point I really want to make, so I guess I’ll end this here unless anyone has anything in particular that interests them they’d want me to answer!
All in all, this game means a lot to me and took a chunk of my life to make and I really hope it’s able to reach at least one person who might need it, even if it’s only a little. 
To all of you who gave it a try, thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart.
A shameless link to the game:  [itch.io] & [RMN]
16 notes · View notes
dlamp-dictator · 6 years
Text
Allen Rambles about Cross Tag Battle
So I already did an Under Night In-Birth Rambling a few months, and I don’t feel like retreading that game again for the sake of another half-baked Rambling like the Persona 4 Arena one. No, I’ll talk a bit more about Under Night In-Birth and it’s Light Novel elements another day when I actually have the drive to do so. Instead, I’ll  jump straight into talking about about Blazblue Cross Tag Battle, namely, expanding on my initial thoughts of it. 
I had a chance to play the beta of the game when it was available, had a lot of fun playing it, and left it feeling confident this game could sell well, but a bit uneasy as well. 
But first before I get to explaining that...
The DLC Issue
It wouldn’t be my Rambling unless I got out of the elephants in the room straight away, now would it? 
So... that DLC, huh?
I’m not gonna’ bother defending this, but I’ll say this much in its defense. The season pass and the game is about 70 US dollars all together. That’s 50 bucks for the game 1 dollar for every extra character. That’s not a bad deal on paper. Let’s be real here, Dragon Ball FighterZ has more expensive DLC than this and much more expensive season pass combo pack, Blazblue Central Fiction had more expensive DLC than this, and several other fighting games have done worse practices. Dead of Alive has cosmetics that total up to hundred of dollars. From what I’ve seen and played Street Fighter 5 has a handful of costumes can only be purchased with cash rather than the in game fight money, among a few other practices I’m not cool with. And we can probably go on and on about EA’s DLC practices. Worse has been done, and if an extra 20 buck for 20 more characters on an already decent rooster seems bad to you, then... well I think you haven’t been playing fighting games that long to not see this coming.
However, that’s on paper. In context, this is just flat out shady and I’d even say exploitative.
I’m not going to pretend that what Arc System Works is doing is okay. Let’s be real here, a lot of the assets we’re seeing are being ripped and reused from each character’s respective game save for some new animations, the gameplay itself is very simplified, and the fact that they announced such a large amount of DLC before the game was even released is already shady business. I hate it when companies do that, and Arc System Works shouldn’t get a pass for it either. 
Not to mention the fact that a portion of their EVO line up is DLC characters. That just kills me a little. I’ll admit that I have a negative opinion of the FGC and competitive fighting game community as a whole, and I’ve already talked about my opinion of EVO in the past, but I really don’t think this game deserves to be in the EVO line up when it only has a little over half its full cast in the game for competitive play, with about a fifth of that cast being DLC. That means you need to shell out at least 6 extra dollars just to have an idea of certain match ups and playstyles, or worse, play your main. That’s no where near fair on a competitive level, that’s a scam and I hope someone more familiar with the competitive side of the fighting game community calls Arc System Works out on it. If your main is locked behind a paywall then you have a right to be angry and even go as far as to boycott this game for this kind of practice. 
I’m not happy with the idea of paying to just to play as Orie and Naoto, but as I’ve said, worse has been done in the gaming world. If you aren’t buying this game for the reasons I mentioned, then I respect you’re opinion. However, I’ll also ask you to at least try and get this game on sale otherwise, as there is a good fighting game here, just one that needs to shake off a bad first impression. 
Ah, and speaking of the game...
This Game is Simple
Like I said, I took some time to play the Beta, and I have to say this game is a little too simple for my liking. Not that I’m some genius fighting game player that could tell you all the frame data and hitbox nonsense, but I feel like I’m grasping this game’s controls a little too fast for someone of my skill level. 
Let me explain. 
In the majority of fighting games I play I usually maintain a 10%-20% win rate, so I usually win 1 out of 10 matches. For a casual fighting game player that’s not bad considering I’m usually fighting competitive players, but with Cross Tag Battle I left the beta with a 50% win rate. That’s... quite a jump, but I don’t think that’s due to my skill, but how simple it is for someone that’s familiar with fighting game mechanics to understand the system. Now I’m also keeping in mind that everyone was learning the ins and outs of this game along with me during the beta, but this still.
This simplicity isn’t a bad thing. It works in the game’s favor and makes it much easier to grasp how all these characters works, which is needed for a tag-team style game, but it is something that makes me wonder how long this game will be popular. This game has two auto combos, for every character, and all the characters that aren’t from RWBY have a diluted moveset of their original game. It feels like you know everything about a character in about an hour of practice.
I had similar feelings about Dragonball FighterZ, all the character felt too similar to each other outside of some special moves. Cross Tag isn’t as simple and not all characters feel the same, but one of the big appeals of a fighting game is being about to learn a character for months and still find new techniques and strategies with them. Cross Tag Battle doesn’t feel like a game I’ll be able to do that in.
 Again, that’s not a bad thing, but it’s just something that has me wondering about the direction fighting games are taking... or maybe this is just a product of team-based fighters. That simplicity might be needed for the sake of everything meshing well. I mean, if Ragna could do all his rushdown stuff and have an assist to reset combos he’d be a nightmare to fight against. And Nu... don’t get me started on Nu.
 But then again, Skullgirls has a good balance of complexity, and the potential for 3-on-3 combat. All their characters feel and play in very unique ways too, so maybe my worries are founded in some ways...
But speaking of...
How Characters Play/Feel
Like I said, this game is very simple. These characters only play slightly like their original games. I've only played with a few people, namely my mains, but Yosuke doesn’t feel like the Yosuke P4A with his 48 mix-up tools, Linne and Hyde feel like themselves, but with less combo options than in their original game. Sadly, none of my Blazblue mains are in the current roster, so I can’t say much about them, but Ragna feels like a watered down version of himself at the very least. I think that goes for most of the cast. They all feel very watered down. This isn’t bad, it’s just different, and I’m not sure how I feel about that yet. 
I’m excited to know I’ll have Orie and eventually Izayoi in the game to play with, but I’ve seen gameplay of Orie, and she doesn’t play the way I play her in UNIEST. I get the feeling a lot of people are going to be playing around with the cast for the wrong reasons.
That said though...
The RWBY Characters
The RWBY characters play the best too me, but that should be obvious. They were made with this game in mind from the ground up. As such their combo animations are smoother than the rest of the cast, their sprites are a little nicer, and I can really see a lot of love went into make them feel and play like how they are in the show. The references and callbacks are great as someone that’s a fan of show, and I honestly think their voice acting improved a little in this game... then again, I’ve been hearing their voices for a few years now so I might just be a bit numb to how they’re directed in their series, but I’m surprised how well they mesh with the overall cast. I can see the shipping possibilities and fanfics already. I’m definitely going to have Blake in one of my presets when the game comes out, probably pair her up with Linne or Hyde.
Speaking of voice acting...
The English Dub
Thank God we have a dub again. It’s great to hear Patrick Seitz as Ragna again, and the rest of the cast as well. The Under Night In-Birh cast sounds great too, my favorites being Linne and Gordeau. Seriously, the UNIEST cast sounds great and their voice actors really capture their character well from what I’ve heard so far. It really makes me wish we got a dub for that game so those overlong light novel portions didn’t feel as long. 
I did little blurbs about voice actors when Elsword and Persona 5 voice actors were announced, and I’ll definitely do the same kind of blurb for Under Night In-Birth once all the voice actors are known. This game gives me hope that the next Guilty Gear will have a dub and then I can finally care about the story again.
But moving on...
The Roster (AKA Allen Gloats About Being Right)
So we know the full rooster of the game thanks to data miners (the buzzkills), and it looks like I can safely, confidently, and haughtily state that I was right with a few of my calls when I made my speculations. For the sake of maximum gloating I’ll give you all the breakdown from my Rambling on the matter.
Charge Characters
Mitsuru 
Kagura
Vatista 
Puppet Characters 
Carl
Relius 
Chaos 
Ken
Required By Popularity
Tsubaki
Adachi
Yuzuriha
Required by Tier List
Izanami
Margret/Elizabeth
Seth/Merkava
ArcSys’s Persona OCs
Labrys
Sho
Looking back, I wish I stated Nine instead of Izanami, but Izanamis were kicking my ass by the time I wrote up my speculation and I was very salty about that. I also wish I added Mika into my curve ball list instead of my wishlist, but... well, I can’t predict everything. Speaking of that wishlist, a few people made it like Izayoi, Hakumen, and Akihiko, but that was my personal wishlist and not a speculation, so I won’t count those.
Anyway, I got 5/14 right. I’d consider that pretty good for pure speculation.
My Hopes
I’m just gonna’ list these down, as now we’re getting into my unorganized thoughts.
A simple, fanservice-y story mode. Like I originally said, this game is Arc System Works fanservice incarnate. Frankly, trying to tell a serious story with all these properties, while possible, will just be a giant mess, especially trying to deal with all the quantum mechanical, timeline jumping, dimension hopping nonsense of Blazblue, so I really hope this story will be more like Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s Subspace Emissary where the story is simple and more fanservice for fans of all these series and just see everyone interacting with some fights in between. From what we’ve seen of certain cutscenes CGs being released this just might be the case.
Free DLC. I already bought the Season Pass because I’m a degenerate, but I really hope this game does what Skullgirls did and have all their character packs free on at least the first day of their releases. I have major issues with this kind of business practice and completely understand if you guys don’t buy this game because of it. I’m hoping Arc System Works will realize this and make all the packs be free for at least their day-one release to try and dowse the flames a little. And hey, the first pack and the rest of the RWBY team is free for the first while, so I think that’s exactly what their doing.
...
...
... 
I’m gonna’ feel like a chump for waste twenty buck if that’s the case, but hey, I do like the series.
A Good Single Player Experience. I know it’s a fighting game and all, but I hope it’ll have something that’ll make this game fun three years from now when the online community is dead. Something BBCP’s Abyss Mode (because CF’s is garbage) or Persona 4 Arena Ultimax’s Golden Arena Mode. Something like that. I doubt that’ll happen, but it’s a hope for a reason.
Overall, despite my mixed feelings, I hope the best for this game. And as we count down to the final days before release, I hope you all enjoy this game as much as I will.
Unless you roll out with Team UNGA. If you do, then fuck you, fuck your family, fuck your house cat, and everything you stand for.
13 notes · View notes