#its fun to watch her oppose him and he have to be like 'ok i guess i have to push this' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

p1nkwitch · 7 months

Note

Here me out. 10 for that prompt list and Lonelyeyes.

Sorry it took me this long! Between lonelyeyes week and having to finish the good omens au, i was busy. Anyhow!! Here you go i had a fun writting this.

10. “you died and left me on the hook for a hereditary marriage contract”

Peter was furious, he read the paper in his hand, over and over again, till eventually he crumpled it in his hands and put it inside his pocket. He quickly put on his coat and went to the Magnus Institute at a quick pace.

The letter had been clear, there was no line that he could use to escape, no loophole. He even called his uncle on the way there, wanting to check just in case, but Nathaniel merely let out a sigh and told him it was in fact a clause that Mordechai had signed up with Jonah Magnus many years ago. It just so happened that no other head of the institute had any need to call upon it till now. James Wright instilled his right to it and now Peter was seemingly stuck. Cursing loudly he hangs up on his uncle telling him to keep it cool.

When he finally arrives at the building, he takes no time at all to make his way to the office of the new head of the place. Elias Bouchard.

Peter had liked James, in fact he had fancied him quite a bit, before his death, the two of them had a bit of a relationship. Which was fine by him, Peter came and went to the sea and back to land to spend some time with James whom he held fond feelings for. Quite…romantic in kind in all honesty.

He flushes just thinking about it. Unfortunately they were still working for opposing forces, therefore they were very prone to fights, so in his last trip, they got into a big one. Things were said. Peter left to simmer on his feelings for the next ten months, expecting to get back to James with a cool head. Unfortunately by the time he did come back he was informed the man was dead and he missed the funeral as well.

It really just…well it shook him quite badly, enough that he refused to go to the institute at all to meet the new head of the place. Telling Nathaniel he was done with it and to find someone else.

That of course didn't seem to work for long, because now he got this stupid bloody letter!

Peter grumbles but he struggles to remember where the office is, he tends to get lost easily in the stupid building and the sensation of being watched made him feel sick, enough that it distracted him too much to properly know his location. Eventually he finds someone from staff who points him to the right direction and so he finds himself in front of James' office.

Rosie tries to stop him but he starts to use the lonely when she picks up her phone and tells him after a few seconds that Elias shall see him. He quickly enters and closes the door behind him.

The man in front of him was sitting behind his desk with a set of glasses that were slightly sliding off his nose, they were red rimmed, which contrasted a lot with his dark gray suit.

“Ah, Mr. Lukas I was not expecting you today, what can I do for you sir?”

He almost deflates. Elias was at most a couple of years younger than Peter, maybe barely hitting his thirties. He was shorter than him, which he noticed when the man stood up and pointed to the seat in front of him. The feeling of being seen was present so at least the man knew what he was or James picked someone with promise for the spot.

Thinking of James makes his head hurt for a very specific reason.

“What you can do is get rid of this” He takes the crumpled paper from his pocket and slams it on the desk, sliding it towards Elias who picks it up and reads it. His eyebrows raise till eventually he looks up at him with a blank expression.

“This is a bit of a surprise to be honest, but unfortunately…i can't do anything about it. I legally cannot undo the contract”

Peter chest burns.

“You cannot expect me to think its ok for James to pawn me off to you! We aren't in the 18 or early 19 century. We don't arrange arranged marriages anymore!”

Elias makes a sort of motion with his hand. “Maybe not here but its technically not-”

Peter glares at him. “I'm not going to marry you because James lost his mind before he died” He doesn't like looking people in the eyes, it's horrendous, instead Peter stares at the spot between their eyes. This is why he notices how Elias' expression turns pinched and his mouth turns slightly downwards at his outburst.

“Mr.Wright was under all his faculties before his untimely demise Mr.Lukas. A heart attack is a heart attack, not a reason to question his sanity. Albeit its quite the shock that he thought about this. He did mention you to me, as he was training me. I presumed you two were close from the way he spoke of you…very hm, yes fond”

Peter shivers and steps back feeling that horrible sensation of eyes raking over his skin, of being known.

“Knock it off. He did not-”

But Elias nods and walks around the desk to stand in front of him.

“He did, I was very curious about what sort of person he would talk so fondly of, you know? Ah it was a pity when i found out you were quitting your place as the representative of your family, i wanted to meet you. Albeit of course also not under this circumstances”

Peter feels a mix between shame and…and he is not sure. Especially as Elias' hands landed on his coat's lapel, he was fixing up his lapels and letting his hands linger for a bit. Making his skin crawl and his face burn. Elias is handsome. He will give him that, he also has sharp eyes, the same color as James too, a very cool shade of gray.

Still-!

“Listen, I'm not the sort of person you get to know, that's not how I work, but even less so…I don't do arranged marriages! Why would James even think this is a good idea to begin with at all?!” Elias tilts his head and says he doesn't know.

“But it's not such a bad thing isn't it?”

Peter gapes at him.

“What?”

Elias smirks at him, his lip slightly lifting upwards, it was both very nice on his face but also very insufferable.

“Take it as an opportunity, besides i talked to Nathaniel on the phone and he was mentioning something about you perhaps soon having to find a wife, since you were now no longer doing business with the Institute” Peter didn't know-

His face burns in shame about this little bastard knowing so much about him and yet Peter had nothing on him. “He wouldn't-”

A tap on the chest makes him look down at Elias. What a…handsome devil.

“But he would, now as I said, you can call this a blessing in disguise. Arranged as it is, we can make this work. You still travel, and leave for most of the year as you Lukas tend to do. I'm busy and I don't have time to dwell too much in relationships, they all bring me headaches. So…a transaction if you may. A marriage in name but its more of a…collaboration if you will?”

Swallowing a bit he asks carefully what that would entail. Elias smirk gets more wicked and there is something on the way he does it that just tickles the back of his brain. There is something so very…familiar in the motion.

“Well, for one, I do not like your replacement, I can tell you that right now. Conrad is a prick” Peter can't help but snort and smile just a bit, a hint really.

“Yes, that tracks”

Elias' eyes flutter and Peter has to look elsewhere, he is handsome, so what? Peter is still placed in a binding contract between entities and a marriage that he never asked for.

“Still what else? I want to win something out of this whole farce”

Elias walks around him like a predator measuring up with their prey, it makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

“Well, I only want some time to talk, perhaps dinner if you may. It is a marriage, perhaps not conventional or legal yet, but one made by our predecessors and bound by our entities. Quite the thing isn't it? As for you, well, what is more lonely than this? A marriage with no love?”

It is true, but that's not…

What fuels his loneliness is not the complete lack of something, but an absence. Peter is lonely because there is something to miss. An empty relationship as miserable of an affair as that is, doesn't feed his patron at all, because its not making him lonely, just miserable. Fun for a watcher not for Forsaken.

“I'm afraid you are going to need something else to sell it out to me, Mr.Bouchard. That's not how it works for me”

“Oh? And how is that then? Aren't you sad about what happened to Mr. Wright? Isn't it lonely enough to be married to someone else than the person you actually…cared about?” He was sure he was going to say love, in that case Peter would have just sent Elias to the lonely. Clenching his fists he tells him through clenched teeth to watch it.

Elias' eyes narrow and his expression turns wicked.

“Why? Isn't it the truth? Mr.Wright was fond of you but i'm sure he got over it quickly when you left him”

Peter stares and then grabs him by the tie, gripping it tightly as Elias smiles at him. “Grinning little freak, shut up”

“Perhaps that was what did it, you wore down his heart” Peter face twitches and Elias eyes seem to drink it all in.

“I am going to get rid of this little contract, after all who cares if you are dead right?”

The beholder laughs and grips his wrist tightly with a hand as he leans so close to his face Peter has to step back, yet Elias follows.

“Do that, and I will shove so many memories of other people's lives and their thoughts about you that you will turn into a blubbering mess Peter dear, don't test me. Im being kind darling”

The niggling sensation on the back of his brain intensifies, the tone, the posture, the bossiness.

The eyes.

“Well, its a good thing i dont give a shit about James, he was a douchebag and he had a horrible sense of fashion too, you on the other hand have a nicer look” Elias face turns outraged for a second too long, his eyebrows twitching in consternation. Peter grips him by the jaw. “What the fuck James?!”

His expression turns blank and then resigned before going to be amused. “I suppose I gave my hand away too early, huh? Hello Peter” Oh he is going to kill him for sure. “Oh sod off, you won't”

“Stop messing with my head!”

“Stop making it so easy darling. Put some more effort into shielding those thoughts. Now, about that marriage-”

Peter headbuts him. “You fuck-” Elias is grabbing his forehead, his expression turned into that of outrage. “What is your blood problem-”

“My problem?! You died and left me on the hook for a hereditary marriage contract!!! What the hell is wrong with you! What- How are you alive, what is this? What the bloody hell is going on!”

Things devolve for a while, mostly into Elias explaining while looking sour that he was in fact Jonah Magnus, that he swaps bodies, that he changed his and when Peter did not come to meet his new body he had to find a way to drag him back. He was going to wait till there was a founding party, but Nathaniel did in fact talk about making Peter find a wife soon and Elias…

Oh Elias was possessive. Peter could see it in the way he described his plan and the way he grabbed onto him as they sat on the small loveseat in his office. The way his hands touched him and his lips curved up in smirks that had him flush.

“So I invoked the right to pass you along, honestly Mordechai and I were really drunk when we made that clause back then. Neither of us were actually thinking clearly, it was a wild weekend. What can I say? When you mix your vices and bring in your friends..”

“Ugh, can we not- I dont want to know how you fucked my grandfather. That's just gross”

“Pity”

He glares as a warning so Elias lifts his hands in surrender.

“So…”

Peter holds his face in defeat. “I'm not marrying you. Not now”

There is a long pause, Peter knows what his words mean, the implications. Elias probably can see it too, is likely smirking like the Cheshire cat.

“Now?”

“Just- just shut up would you? Just…” Peter doesn't want to marry, not now, not like this, let alone not when he is processing a lot of information that he is trying to be cool with in such a short amount of time. “Let me think”

“Be my guest”

Like this he just tries to sort his thoughts and what he found out and eventually he reckons, the best course of action is to keep going as they were. For now at least. “I'm going to continue to work, and drop by to…talk about business”

Elias' expression is guarded, Peter rubs his own jaw deep in thought, the cons about this whole thing are growing, are exponential, this whole thing is wrong and will have dire consequences for him.

Yet the pros….

Well Peter was a gambler at heart. What's life without a bit of spice? Without a bit of a spark to make things interesting? Elias, James, Jonah or whatever he wants to call himself is his spark of chaos. Painful as it is to admit it.

“Dinner? Your place or mine”

He can see the momentary surprise at the acceptance. Soon it flickers into smugness, but Peter brushes it off.

“Oh? Is that so-”

“Well yes, I haven't gone out with Elias Bouchard yet, perhaps i don't like him, perhaps you are…boring, or perhaps you are interesting enough to keep around. Maybe to even stay over at my flat”

Elias' face is wild. “Maybe i find you boring instead”

Yet Peter shakes his head in fond exasperation. “If you did, you wouldn't have basically trapped both of us into an arranged marriage under the suspicion that I would soon find a wife. So, dinner this friday? Your treat this time since you basically almost made my blood pressure burst”

The chuckle is a mockery, but it suits Elias and its…he has a lovely voice. Charming and low and makes something twist on his gut.

“I can live with that. For now we can be engaged, that at least will keep your family off your back, isn't that great?”

Lord.

“You are so horrible” Elias' hand touches his cheek.

“I am and yet here you are?”

Here is indeed. Peter tilts his head to brush his lips against his palm, he can see pink on his cheeks for the first time and he really is starting to like the idea of figuring Elias out. He seems more expressive than James. With a hum he leans downwards and kisses him.

Its different but also familiar. He feels arms wrap around his neck and when the kiss deepens a bit too much, Peter retreats and starts to drift into the lonely to meditate a bit about this whole thing.

“Asshole”

Peter laughs this time at the pout on Elias' lips when he begins to slip away from his grasp. “Pot and kettle you utter insane bastard. I'm going to try and process the whole 200 year old dandy thing, now, see you on friday Mr.Bouchard”

Peter is almost gone when he hears him say goodbye.

“-Mr.Lukas, its a pleasure to meet my new fiance”

Peter's face burns all of a sudden as Elias gets the last word in before laughing at him.

Horrible man!

Yet…it does serve him well.

Enough that in a few years he will propose to him properly this time, with rings and a silly post it note to seal the deal. Curse him for being charming and a bastard, he is weak to such things.

#lonelyeyes #peter lukas #elias bouchard #tma #the magnus archives #flurby gets an ask #jonah magnus #myficf #flurby fic #writting prompt #Elias is a scheming possesive bastard #gaslight gatekeep girlboss that lonely man for your own good #Peter is so tired of this bullshit but also he is into it

28 notes · View notes

suffarustuffaru · 7 months

Note

Not meaning to throw any shade at Rem, but I hate how her character ended up being restricted to only loving Subaru. It became her personality and her reason to exist

Meanwhile my man Otto has layers and fun dynamics with everyone WHILE also being codependent and hopelessly in love to Subaru (in my point of view)

I hope that now Tappei will be able to balance Rem's character and give her another personality trait besides her love for Subaru

ok so if anyone else is seeing this, this is referring to a poll i made a few days ago pitting rem and otto against each other bc theyre both the resident codependent subaru devotees and they do parallel/contrast each other a bit 👍

but yeah anon… not to affect the poll results or anything wkdndnd but i agree a lot with you!! i have mixed feelings on rem bc i do love her a lot—im halfway through her and ram’s prequel novel and im enjoying it a lot, and also i liked her the moment i watched season 1 of the anime for the first time. shes an intriguing character with a well written backstory and her own set of flaws and traits. but i think the big thing is her and ottos relationships with subaru, while subaru is first place in both of their hearts and subaru comes first before anyone else at this point, rem and ottos flavors of Dependency are different?

like with rem, i think its the point that her whole being ends up revolving around subaru. not that otto isnt like that either, of course, but otto has Way More of a life outside of subaru. otto has a whole group of people from the emilia camp to marone and his family that he cares about other than subaru, and on top of that, ottos job in the emilia camp is to communicate with others both within and outside of his camp. then theres his dp, which is also dependent and ABOUT communication. when it comes to rem and otto, theres absolutely no competing on this, otto is the one with more of. a Life. not that rem doesnt have other people she cares about and other people she talks with and other people she likes (and also rem was unfortunately Gluttonyed), but the top two closest people in her life were always ram then subaru. otto got lucky with his loving family, bc rems Entire Life has molded her into being dependent on others. shes told by her family that the only reason shes alive is bc ram saved her. ram is the only person who loves her. she envies ram and then she feels so guilty after her village is destroyed and rams horn is gone (especially when rem is initially. kind of Glad that rams horn is gone). so rem places her worth on serving the people she loves—ram and subaru. rem has spent her WHOLE LIFE like this. remsuba as a relationship has its ups and downs but arc 3 rem is, while sweet and well meaning, shes not the healthiest. remsuba isnt the healthiest. and then arc 7-8 comes in and yeah while rems pov of subaru and the whole situation is Understandable from what little she knows, yeah its not the healthiest either (and also i dont forgive her for being mean about natsumi wkfndnd).

not that ottosuba is the Healthiest given they seem like theyre going to become. a bit Toxic in arc 8 if they keep being stubborn, but the big difference is in how otto and rem devote themselves. bc rems problem (in arc 3) is that she enables subaru a little too much. i mean sloth if exists for a reason, she ran away with subaru and RAM AND EVERYONE ELSE DIED. ottos problem is that hes 1. obsessed with opposing subaru and 2. not straightforward with his feelings the way arc 3 rem is. bc at least pre gluttony rem is gonna straightforwardly be like “id do anything for you” and “i love you” etc etc. like yeah ottos like “youre my friend!!” but hes also gonna complain nonstop about subaru to his face and say shit like “ill leave at the first sight of danger!!” RIGHT AFTER RISKING HIS LIFE FOR SUBARU. and also even then arc 8 rems siding with subaru on louis so shes enabling him in that respect too (even though arc 8 rem is different from arc 3 rem of course). ergo, rem is the one who wants to support subaru Unconditionally. even if its not what youd consider the right decision. otto tries to help subaru get what he wants, but if otto doesnt agree he starts getting aggressive. rem makes herself pliable and into a bit of a doormat for subaru, otto starts getting out the pitchforks and tries to control things bc he thinks his way his best for subaru in the end. that, and while subaru does go first in ottos heart, hes STILL loyal to the entire emilia camp as a whole (minus roswaal). thats why he wanted to leave vollachia, he wanted to save the ENTIRE emilia camp.

but like you said anon—while the point is that rem ends up centering her whole life around subaru, i feel that tappei handles otto (who has SIMILAR PLOT BEATS) with far more nuance. like while otto will literally do anything else besides actually say “i love you” or “id do anything for you”, his arc is more straightforward and consistent than rems. again, rem got gluttonyed and a bunch of different stuff have happened with her so of course her arc has been more Dramatic in its changes, but with otto he grows and changes but at the same time he doesnt change At All. his arc 8 self is doing stuff hes been capable of this whole time, vollachia and subaru just bring out his more hidden traits. the narrative is just way more consistent with emphasizing that while otto thinks hes in the right, hes also Wrong in a lot of ways. his mindset rn is Not Healthy and i feel that the narrative shows that more with him than it does rem a lot. like the writing literally goes out of its way to shit on otto a bit for being a little messed up in the head, while you have to read more into rems plot and then some audiences just completely miss the point of her character. that and—yeah, rems reasons are all very understandable, but i feel that tappei romanticizes her a bit too much. all you have to do is look at sloth if bc sloth if seems a Bit too fluffy to me despite the absolute Dark Backdrop. like yeah. subaru rbds back to arc 3 at the end. but i feel like sloth if just sweeps a lot of the dark underbelly under the rug. ottosuba as a dynamic to me just feels more Equal than remsuba does, which is probably a bit strange HAH bc ottosuba as a dynamic is based on Conflict (especially when you remember ottosuba across the ifs too) and their power dynamics in arc 8 are likely going to get crazy at some point.

plus its like—the way the whole louis situation has been handled made me think that tappei wouldnt even bother examining the Problems with louis and subaru + rems relationships with louis, but luckily arc 8 has been getting into that more. so like i dont completely trust tappei with female characters (he has a habit of. fumbling the bag a bit with them sometimes, imo. he gets out such great complex main female characters then he starts messing up with their writing like halfway through). but like you anon, i hope that rem gets far more character development. the poor girl has spent her whole life basing her worth on others….

and well. again, i think the difference in how the writing treats otto vs rem is probably also bc ottos a boy and rems a girl. so of course otto consistently gets a bit more nuance, and of course certain parts of the audience just see rem and think “waifu who would do anything for you” rather than “this is a traumatized girl who means well but has poor boundaries and Codependency Issues”, and some people see otto and think “he doesnt love subaru that much lol” and sweep his own codependency and Issues under the rug. and then you look at the narrative and, like you said anon, otto is allowed to have fun dynamics with everyone while still being Fixated on subaru. rem hasnt had much of a chance in that category yet.

#rezero #rem #otto suwen #ask #arc 7-8 spoilers #also i think its def up to personal preference with whether you prefer rem or otto in the end. definitely #bc like ottosubas more flexible as a relationship. theyre platonic in canon of course but ottos love is so Intense that you can easily read #into it if you so choose. and even then theres no denying that its very intimate and intense from ottos pov anyway.#remsubas more explicitly romantic and also you know. a bit influenced by gender roles if only bc its a straight ship and ottosuba are of #course the same sex.#and also of course rem and otto have different plots different arcs etc etc. course theyre handled differently #just yeah i feel like tappei still treats them differently for. Reasons. and theyre definitely percieved differently for. Reasons.#everyday i die inside bc rems character is often flattened to just be about Subaru while ottos whole thing with subaru is half forgotten #about by some english fandom ppl??? like r u fr rn 😭😭😭 theyre both more complex than they seem!! pls!!

20 notes · View notes

nonstandardrepertoire · 8 months

Text

so we finished watching season 2 of Picard last night, and just. whew, friends, what? a truly baffling array of choices. things i simply cannot get over:

the commitment to doing every Single joke from The Voyage Home while simultaneously Strenuously Avoiding doing anything campy or goofy

like, the reason TVH works is that the main cast are all just Buffoons — Kirk does not know how money works, Spock is dressed as a jogger in a bathrobe, Scottie tries to talk into a computer mouse, and it is all GREAT. in Picard S2, it's like, they say they don't know much about this period in history, but they all seem to click into place fairly seamlessly. in general watching this new era of Trek, it feels like the writers have simply forgotten the pleasure of a good silly camp romp, and constantly referencing one of the best silliest campiest romps in the canon is uh, not helping

the climax of the season revolves around?? Q's character development??? Q???? QUEUE?????? baffling

in general what was even Q's plan here. is he . . . trying to sabotage the Europa mission or not? why is All Of This necessary for Picard to forgive himself, if that's Q's real goal? just like generally this framing does not make sense to me and so resting the entire season on it is. a choice, i guess

also when have we ever been asked to care about Q's interiority before, when have we ever been asked to be On His Side as opposed to whatever human he's fucking with

how are we relating to canon here. h o w. there are some Real deep cuts, but then also some like, fairly prominent episodes that are just?? ignored???

like, ok:

Guinan and Picard have a fairly significant adventure together in 1800s San Francisco (in “Time’s Arrow”). it is canon then that she doesn't know Picard yet. this is an incident she will remember for 500+ years and reference on board the Enterprise D. but in this season of Picard, she appears not to know him at all and to once more be meeting him for the first time. these two first meetings are . . . difficult to reconcile

but we are apparently doubling down on “Wesley Crusher was just the super specialest boy and he managed to transcend the limits of physical reality because of his big special brain”

we are apparently pretending that Robert Picard just . . . doesn't exist? isn't around for Jean-Luc's childhood? this isn't really technically a continuity error but Robert and Jean-Luc's relationship felt real and specific and grounded in the particulars of their two characters whereas Yvette just feels like generic sexist “ooooooh his mother was ~crazy~” schlock, and losing the former for the latter is uh. not an improvement

we're doubling down on Gary Seven, tho! Gary fucking Seven!!!!! remember that beloved character from an episode that was definitely a good idea??? why

actually, specifically, tho: it feels like this is a continuation of Star Trek’s reluctance/inability to grapple with the less savory parts of Gene Roddenberry as a human being, particularly his misogyny. to stick only to the example at hand, he made the “Assignment: Earth” filming experience so miserable for Teri Garr (by, for example, relentlessly shortening the length of her skirt, even over the objections of the costume designer) that Garr has absolutely refused to talk about Star Trek in subsequent interviews. i was obviously not on set, but the vibe i get is extremely that filming that episode would clearly and unambiguously been a hostile workplace environment by contemporary standards of sexual harassment. so i, personally, have a hard time being like “ah yes, ‘Assignment: Earth’, what a fun bit of forgotten canon to incorporate wholesale into our new series without grappling with the specifics of its creation in any way!”. the vibes are just . . . rancid

anyway, moving on from continuity gripes,

it feels like a real missed opportunity to have not cast David Duchovny as the FBI agent. this is really not the showrunners’ fault, but i’m in a hating sort of mood, so i’m going to take off points anyway

“Dark Page” was not a great idea in 1993 and it isn’t any better now

circling back to “covering the hits without any understanding of what made them good”, Raffi’s encounter in a camp of unhoused people feels like a nod to “Past Tense” without any willingness to actually . . . engage with what “Past Tense” was saying. for all that i have some issues with some of its narrative choices, “Past Tense” devotes significant, sustained screen time to characters that society has decided to discard and is relentless in hammering home the message that “this is not just and it cannot be reformed into justness”. here, Raffi stumbles across an encampment, someone immediately tries to mug her at gun point, she beats him up, she shares a rueful quip about “gosh, wild that such a prosperous society can’t be assed to take care of people”, and then we just move on and never mention this again. like, we get Words saying that Homelessness Bad, but what we are shown is “unhoused people are scary and dangerous and it’s ok for our heroes to beat them up”

(i actually think that In General there is a lot of wasted potential with Raffi, altho mostly the fault here lies in season 1. “very competent Starfleet officer who is also dealing with paranoid delusions and falling apart at the seams about it” is an interesting premise for a Star Trek character if done well! and then S1 is just like “oh, nope, actually, she was right about everything, there was a massive, bizarre conspiracy that did exactly what she thought they did, she's fine and correct and everyone who ever doubted her is an ass”)

(i also think that the “love always ends in grief” sequence from Discovery S4, for all of that season’s considerable messiness, is a much tighter and more powerful expression of that theme than the wandering, haphazard approach to it here. i think these shows are meant to be watched in concert, but the back-to-back seldom does Picard any favors)

we continue to lean into Human Exceptionalism and i continue to roll around on the floor going “ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” about it

more elaborate thoughts on that go in my “if i were making Enterprise” post, tho

THAT SAID

on the topic of exceptionalism, i hate the FUCK out of the bit in Crusher’s recruitment speech where he’s like “do you want to be ordinary, or do you want your life to have purpose and meaning?” as tho???? ordinary lives????? cannot have purpose and meaning???????????? look me in the eyes, writers. no, no, look me Directly in the eyes: fuck you, fuck that, i am doing cartoon violence to you. the mindset that only extraordinary lives are worth living is toxic bullshit that distorts so much of our mental, political, and artistic landscape. ordinary lives can have so much meaning and purpose, they can be so very beautiful and rich. ordinary lives can be very good to live. i think Star Trek, in general, focuses too much on elites as The Only People Who Really Matter, but to elevate that to the level of explicit text is just. fucking devastating. unspeakably bleak. absolute philosophical train wreck of a season finale, on a par with Discovery’s “a Starfleet admiral actively and deliberately planned and tried to carry out a genocide and faced zero career repercussions for it that we can see”. clown car nonsense

in conclusion: i have drunk the haterade, g-d this season sucked, i can’t wait to make April 13 “Jurati eating car batteries day” and take it away from the Homestucks

#let's take a walk thru these here stars #did i have a Picard tag? i feel like i can't possibly have #thinky thoughts #Star Trek: Picard #Picard S2 #unabashed hatery #i promise we can stop doing Wrath of Khan again now i promise i promise i promise #also like #i don't even want to get into the "why did we have to just sit thru an entire fucking fascist rally #or the implication that uh. fascist Earth would be really successful at fighting the Borg actually #IN GENERAL i think our fiction is Way too ready to paint fascists as Very Competent At War #they are not #i don't know how many people know this but there was a small little tiff called World War II #and the fascists did not win it #because fascists are incompetent and fascism is inherently unstable as an ideology #Umberto Eco said that fascists are condemned to lose wars because they are incapable of realistically assessing the strength of their enemi #and he was RIGHT #obviously that should be “enemies” but APPARENLY my tags are too long #whatever #anyway #rants #sigmastolen #i feel like you will appreciate this even if you don't watch Picard

15 notes · View notes

celestie0 · 22 days

Note

I've been dying laughing at other people suggestions about the date at the beach!

I can also imagine Satoru playing beach volleyball with the reader and letting her win. Or play with the frat boys, and be extremely aggressive. Another thing I like to think is that Satoru and the reader would like to collect shells on the beach, and Gojo would help and watch over her.

The headcannon of Satoru being afraid of big dogs is hilarious! Imagine a six-foot-tall man scared of his girlfriend's dog. Like, whenever he goes to her house, he makes sure the dog is locked in another room or outside.

Yes, I am a lover of studying history. Especially if it's classical antiquity and medieval history! I think it's interesting and cute that you have this type of memories and relationship with museums, because a lot of people don't like it.

I like to imagine that the reader and Satoru are appreciating a beautiful Greek statue and the reader begins to explain the canon of polykleitos (law of proportion in which the size of Greek statues are equivalent to seven heads), and Satoru without understanding what hell she's saying. Or he would compare her face or body to the statue. That would be very romantic!

I even considered writing a fanfic with Gojo x Reader, about history, but I don't know if people would want to read it…

I think that's it, Bye~

(Sorry if I wrote something odd, but english is not my first language.)

HIIII my love and yea same i was dying laughing too is2g you all know gojo so well bc the headcanons are TOO perfect 🤣🤣

OMG gojo wld be soooo competitive in beach volleyball 😭 but as soon as they switch teams n she’s on the opposing side, he lets her win 🤣😪🥴😖🥰 AWW I LOVE COLLECTING SEASHELLS THATS SO CUTE def reader’s idea

and i knowww right omg just this 6’3 man that runs up a tree when he sees a big dog pls. ok but thats me tho fr (minus the being six foot part)

AWW i love thattt also the fun fact ab the greek statues is so interestng ty sharing <33 him comparing her to ART 😩 i imagine gojo’s the type of guy to be accidentally romantic lmfaoaooa

OH HONEY IF U WROTE THAT I’d READ IT PLS TAG MEEE!! that sounds like such a cute idea plus you know a lot about history so it would be a joy to read from you!! i always think its cool when authors know a lot ab the source material they’re writing about :”)

thanks uuu my dear for the ask n omg your english is wonderful <33 hope u have a lovely day!!

#crying thinking ab satoru being a super competitive person but then letting his gf win to make her happy #kickoff #asks

6 notes · View notes

0pin0n-custard · 2 years

Text

Harley Quinn Season 3 Episode 2 and DC’s Refusal to Address Harm

**TW Discussion of Sexual Assault, Victim Blaming, Mental Health Issues, and Suicide**

Please note that I am writing this as a survivor of rape, and as someone who suffers from PTSD and dissociation

Hearing that Nightwing was making an appearing in Harley Quinn really got me excited. I wanted to see how they’d depict him and what they’d do with his character.

Overall, my feelings are mixed. And it’s all because of one line.

Yep. The “I let Vigilante kill Blockbuster” line that had “I let Tarantula kill Blockbuster” in the closed captions.

I could get on my soapbox for hours about Nightwing 93 and its absolutely abhorrent handling of rape. Devin Grayson did a fucking horrible job, and her victim blaming commentary did nothing to help her cause. She’s since addressed this, but I personally can’t bring myself to forgive her for the genuine harm she caused.

As an aside, please don’t go harass her. That isn’t ok. You don’t have to like her; just don’t harass her.

Back on topic, DC handled Nightwing’s rape by pretending that it never happened. Nightwing 93 isn’t in print and the assault was never addressed in the comics again.

So you can imagine my genuine shock when the I was watching Harley Quinn (with subtitles on because auditory processing is a bitch) and I heard/saw that line drop.

I want to make one thing very clear. I’m not opposed to DC acknowledging its fuck-ups. They made Dick’s rape canon, so it’s better to address it and handle it in a proper, respectful manner than to just shove it away and hope no one remembers.

But the way that it was handled in the show frustrated me for two reasons.

1. The lack of acknowledgment (again)

Yep. DC really fucked up in that regard. No surprise there.

The people behind Harley Quinn all collectively decided that mentioning Nightwing 93 was a good idea.

And I agree! Harley Quinn has plenty of moments where they address serious subject matter (like… ya know.. how the Joker treated Harley.) They managed to pull that off in a way that kept the humor, set the stage for the show, but also remained respectful towards survivors of domestic violence. It’s a perfect platform for the long-ignored assault to be processed.

But then they pulled a Devin Grayson (although to a significantly less harmful degree) by simply not acknowledging it.

Dick wasn’t upset because of what Tarantula did. He was upset that he let Blockbuster die. Just like in the comics.

And to make matters worse, somewhere along the line, someone had the bright idea that “hey maybe we shouldn’t mention Tarantula because of what happened.” And the voice line got changed to “Vigilante.”

This doesn’t work for a variety of reasons. Nightwing 93 is infamous in the fandom. You mention Blockbuster’s death, and fans are gonna know exactly what event is being referred to. You can’t just bring it up and change the name around. We all know what happened, and, to me, it feels like the show erased Nightwing’s trauma (again.)

Not to mention, the subtitle wasn’t changed. So… that was kinda a dead giveaway.

Either the creators realized midway through development that mentioning Tarantula would be a bit ~controversial~, had Nightwing’s VA do a quick redo, and then forgot to change the CC, or the DC higher ups weren’t too happy that Tarantula was brought up, told the Harley Quinn team to change it, and they did but also kept the CC the same. Idk which.

Not to mention, the fact that it was changed somewhere along the line means that DC recognized that Dick had been raped in Nightwing 93, and made the deliberate decision to silence him once again.

Either way, DC fucked up the soup by sticking their toe in it, then trying to pretend like they didn’t.

2. Dick Grayson’s Characterization

Harley Quinn is a dark comedy. It pokes fun at its cast all the time. Dick being dramatic and trying too hard to be like Batman is a really funny concept; I like how the show ran with it. Dick being overly confident and fucking up the chess? Honestly, pretty damn hilarious and a good in-character caricature.

It’s his subsequent breakdown that I take issue with.

Because despite someone’s best efforts, Tarantula was mentioned. And as I said before, almost every DC fan knows what Tarantula did to Nightwing.

The moment that the Blockbuster incident was brought up, Harley Quinn’s version of Nightwing became a survivor of sexual assault. You can’t separate the two incidents; trust me- DC has tried.

And so, Dick’s breakdown in the escape room gained a new, darker context. Dick’s emotional instability wasn’t just due to his allowance for Blockbuster’s death; it was also because he’d recently been raped.

Dick’s suicidal behavior wasn’t just him being overly-dramatic. And that scene became significantly less humorous with the added context of Nightwing 93.

The resolution felt really half-baked as well. Even putting the rape aside, Dick was still really traumatized by what happened with Blockbuster. His fear over his family’s reactions wasn’t addressed. The ending felt rushed and, to a degree, unsatisfactory.

I know that some of you might be saying that I’m looking too deep into this, and that it’s just a TV show. But to me, it’s not.

I have wanted DC to actually address Nightwing 93 for years. Dick Grayson has been the victim of several instances of abuse, assault, and rape. The character has endured so much trauma, and yet DC ignores it; they allowed it to happen, but they refuse to give him the time of day to actually address it.

I can’t tell you how many comments I’ve seen made by fanboys about how “lucky” Nightwing was for being raped by Tarantula and Mirage. About how his relationship with Liu wasn’t statutory rape. Etc. etc.

It’s fucking disgusting, and DC is partially to blame. By continuously making Nightwing the victim of sexual assault, and then never addressing it as such, they are sending out a very harmful message.

By never acknowledging the trauma, they’re implying that it wasn’t trauma. By ignoring the rape, they’re leaving the door open for assholes to say that it wasn’t rape to begin with.

This has real world consequences.

Male survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, abuse, rape, etc. are constantly invalidated and ignored by society. (Non-male victims are ignored and invalidated as well; I’m just specifically discussing male victims right now.)

Boys are called lucky if their female teacher rapes them. Men are called weak if a woman rapes them. Men are emasculated if another man rapes them.

Even “safe” spaces aren’t safe for them. Most survivor resources use female-only language, thus making many men and gender non-conforming people feel unwelcome. I’ve experienced this IRL.

By never addressing the harm they caused, DC has allowed Dick Grayson to become a symbol of a silenced victim, never allowed to share his story or process his trauma.

But despite all of that, many survivors, myself included, have found comfort in Dick Grayson.

*just a warning for some trauma dumping from my own life, but it’s relevant to the topic at hand i promise*

In 2020, I moved to a new state (I live in the U.S.) I was all alone; my entire support system was over 500 miles away. Only a few weeks after I moved into my new apartment, I was sexually assaulted only a block away.

When I called my mom, she blamed me and took the time to shame me for being on testosterone. My (now ex) boyfriend blamed me and refused to visit me. My friends were only able to offer surface-level support. I was completely alone.

When I say that Nightwing saved my life, I genuinely mean it. For years by that point I’d been processing my trauma and life in general through the lenses of media and fanfiction. Reading fanfictions that actually addressed and expanded upon Nightwing 93 became my primary coping skill. I can’t thank the fanfic authors enough tbh. I projected myself onto Dick Grayson. I, a man who survived sexual assault and dissociation only to be invalidated, saw myself in that fictional character. He was more a hero in my eyes than ever before. Nightwing got me through that shit. Fanfictions that actually addressed and handled Nightwing’s trauma got me through that shit. Was that entirely healthy? No. But I didn’t have many options at that point. They kept me alive. That’s all that matters.

*ok trauma dumping is over sorry about that.*

I wish Harley Quinn had been different. I wish that the show had been the one to finally give Dick a voice in DC. I wish that it hadn’t censored out Tarantula’s name. I wish it had handled it like it handled Harley’s trauma. I wish it had given me and other survivors representation.

I wish that it hadn’t subsequently turned Dick into a suicide joke.

Approximately 33% of women who are victims of sexual assault contemplate suicide. 13% of them attempt it.

I’d give you a statistic based on male victims or a non-gendered sample, but such a study hasn’t been published. (At least, not based on 20 minutes of searching both google and academic articles.)

I understand and fully embrace that Harley Quinn is a dark comedy. It makes dark jokes, and a lot of them get a laugh out of me. But given the context of.. everything, that scene just felt in poor taste. Especially since his suicidal behavior wasn’t addressed again.

Thankfully, Harley Quinn isn’t over yet. I’m really hoping that DC will actually explore Dick’s trauma and give him a respectful, kind, long-overdue resolution to Nightwing 93.

But based on DC’s past and current behavior, I’m not getting my hopes up.

And please know, this whole rant is not me saying that Harley Quinn is a bad show or that the creative team is like Devin Grayson or that they need to be cancelled or anything like that. Not at all. I’m still going to continue watching and enjoying the show. I think it’s really good, and I love what it’s doing for Gotham characters. I blame the DC higher-ups wayyyyy more than I would ever blame the Harley Quinn team.

I just wanted to put my thoughts and frustrations out into the universe, because I’m very tired of survivors (regardless of gender) being silenced, ignored, and mocked.

#tw rap3 #tw sui ideation #tw sui implied #dc comics #dc #harley quinn #batfamily #batfam #gotham #poison ivy #dick grayson #batman #bruce wayne #nightwing #nightwing 93 #dc i will never forgive you #devin grayson #i hate her so much

144 notes · View notes

hanarchy · 8 months

Text

was tagged by @bungeejumpings to do this and i called in sick to work today so here we goooo

list your top 10 biases and then answer the questions under the cut. try not to look at the questions before making the list

(now i apologize in advance, i dont know that much about most of these people it’s just vibes, i tried not to have more than one person from a group)

1. han jisung

2. lee know

3. momo

4. shuhua

5. solar

6. jooyeon

7. seulgi

8. key

9. kazuha

10. ningning

1. Between 7 and 5, who did you bias first?

oh solar for sure. i didnt really get rv for like a year after i started listening to kpop, but now theyre on track to be one of my most listened to artists 🙈

2. Between 2 and 6, who are you more attached to?

ok this one’s not hard. i am here for skz first always, i cant seem to get away from them. though i am very fond of my little xdinary guys too.

3. If you were to spend the day with either 3 or 1, who would you choose and what would you do?

well i mean i gotta be honest with u i don’t think i’d vibe super well with momo. i love her but we have just diametrically opposed vibes. so jisung, and we’d maybe go to a cafe and chat (i have the feeling he is the kind of young man who will meet me and immediately have a desire to tell me his life story, which happens to me often lol) and then we could go for a walk, pick up some food and plan to watch anime but end up on youtube. he can show me the random shit he watches and i can show him mine and we would both walk away with a random new interest in an almost extinct bug species or the events of a specific day during the fall of the roman republic.

4. What is your favorite physical feature about 9?

shes only 19 so like. don’t misinterpret this but. abs.

5. What is your favorite part of 6's personality?

IDK!!!! he just seems like a sweet boy? and his voice is sooooo amazing.

6. If you were to tell 8 anything you wanted, what would you tell them?

i would ask him to tell me all the gossip he knows. ok no.

mostly i’d tell him that he has made an incredible career, that his artistic vision is so clear and unique and that his perspective is so valuable in kpop and i admire his perseverance and the strength he gives his fans. (i dont know enough about him to be funny abt this so i went sincere)

7. Between 1 and 2, whose closet would you raid?

oh its jisung. he has more fun stuff. though they do share enough and are boring men enough for it not to matter that much.

8. What is a style that you want to see 3 try?

oh i really don’t know. i feel like she embodies that twice cute/sexy/elegant intersection sooo well, the only thing i’d want is to see her personality come through more in their creative concepts.

9. Between 5 and 4, who are you closer to in height?

i was gonna say mamamoo short as hell so probably shuhua but actually it seems she’s short too. so if its official (company mandated) height it’s solar, if it’s real height shuhua. of course that is assuming cube does not lie like rbw.

10. Between 10 and 9, whose music do you like the best?

thats rough too bc i dont listen to many songs from either group. just a few of each. i’m gonna say lesserafim.

#so messy fjfjjdjwjdjdkd #hehe thank u tay this was fun

2 notes · View notes

suenitos · 11 months

Text

its rlly interesting hearing everyones canon events for what got them here the diversity in peoples reactions to dream or dnf or dteam and parasocialism etc is actually breathtaking. anyway here's mine (with most of the journey as a bonus) that no one asked for. WARNING IT'S LONG:

i was more of a slow burn in that i first became aware of who the hell dream (i think george too?) was during summer 2020 when the maia thing was happening (i think it was trending or something and EVERYONE knew her from prom dress so i was like hey i know her!), though i dont remember all of the details i just remember thinking "ok!" then closing the twitter app. didn't pay it any mind.

later i started to get dteam content on my tiktok fyp from compilations and thought why the hell not and started to watch them on youtube. i found the mc tag video and was HOOKED with the solo dnf challenge videos. fell out of it for a while because online school then came back officially on november 16 when unus annus ended and lmanberg exploded and i needed something else to obsess over to cope with isolation. i dont quite remember when quackity came into the equation but he was THE reason i got into cdnf (and lore too i guess) because he gave us the only pov of the dethronement and that was the first lore stream i watched live. i remember recognizing him from the raids and discords got talent videos and got more into him and dteam at the same time especially as 5/5 became a thing (so you can see why i was hurt really bad when april happened lol)

another part of it was heat waves.. i was pretty opposed to it at first because after dan howell's coming out i thought rpf was inherently invasive to content creators. and to be fair there was a lot of freaknasty shit written about phan that made them uncomfortable! but since i have no morals i caved and read it anyway under the justification that everyone kept saying this is really good characterization and writing so why not! (up until chapter 3 was released at this time) i finally decided to register for an ao3 account along with thousands of other people (before the waiting list got really long lol) and read it and well. here we are

the parasocial drontroversy was happening around this time too and i sort of talked about it but that indirectly caused me to lurk for the entirety of 2021 mostly on tiktok and twitter and twitch (i knowwww. it was pretty bad). part of that too was because of the drontoversies so i avoided engaging directly until i knew for sure that dream wasn't the evilest man ever. i was really cautious about him because i had this assumption of his character (white cis het (lol) man raised republican) but after seeing his growth and learning a bit about him i grew out of my initial timidity and embraced the stan label (in secret). i was also a big youtube viewer too i loved the animations people made and still do! a xanyleaves manhunt animation also convinced me to watch manhunt and dteam (any object show fans here lol?) i got sick of doing that and not dumping everything in my brain somewhere my irls wouldn't see so i lurked here for a while and officially joined in january 2022. it was pretty fun! but then after a while you could tell the wheels were falling off the wagon!

i left for probably a month following the drituation drop (still lurking for updates etc) but then decided to come back with a different account because 1. i decided for myself that it was ultimately a nothing burger after seeking out evidence when i was ready 2. i was sick of using that blog as a sideblog and this is all i blog about anyway 3. i was lonely :( i missed the few mutuals i had and seeing life on the dash. i also just wanted to help build something healthier from before. i think the christmas streams were the first time i felt READY and sure to actively come back and my time here here has been really wonderful for the most part. this is MY toxic radioactive echo chamber dumpster and i love being a bacteria living in it.

#tldr; slow burn. timid pet that doesnt trust people gets exposure therapy over time. i was always gonna end up here anyway no matter the #avenue i took LOL #only read if youre curious about my convoluted lore haha

3 notes · View notes

watarulesbian · 11 months

Text

my ideal wataru center event

dont like she/her wataru? dont read!

OK. SO.

wataru loooves movies. wataru frequents a movie rental shop, which isnt doing so well in terms of buisness. shes like the only frequent customer. this is of course due to the rise of streaming services, which wataru is quite opposed to, as a movie conissuer (expecially older movies).

the unbloomed is wataru walking out of the movie rental place, happy because shes got an idea for helping keep the shop open! she holds a bag of movies, and says hi to anzu, who wasnt going to stop by the rental shop, but wataru wants to introduce her to the owners so they go in together.

wataru is like "if a movie or tv show is exclusive to streaming services, which many are nowdays, theyre liable to just disappear one day. and disappearing is a fun trick, but not for movies!! movies shouldnt disappear - people put hard work into them, time, money, skill, and most of all, passion!"

anzu is like I Agree Wataru. and anzu rents a movie from her childhood that she hasnt been able to find on any streaming sites. wataru has a far off look on her face when anzu tells her this,

and then we are with fine, and wataru is talking with them about raising awareness about the decline of movie rental shops and the problem of streaming services getting rid of tv shows and movies, virtually erasing them and making it hard to find so many titles... its clear wataru is quite passionate about this, and eichi is all for it too.

fine visit the movie rental shop together, and wataru reveals she went here nearly every week when she was little, even when she didnt have any money to spend she loved looking through all the movies, helping others pick out what to rent, talking to the staff, and it brings her great nostalgia to think about. those were the good old days, before streaming services dominated the movie and tv world.

fine rent a couple movies, some from their childhoods and some theyve never watched before, and then they have a big watchparty with popcorn and snacks (eichis unbloomed he has an enormous pretzel 🥨 and for tori and yuzurus 3 stars unbloomed they have candy 🍬 and popcorn🍿)

watarus movie is one she recalls being her favorite as a kid, but it actually lowkey sucks. the plot makes no sense and parts of the set that shouldnt be visible are visible, a character that she loved as a kid seems really mean now, and no one is laughing at the jokes - because they just arent funny.

toris movie is spy kids. classic! we all loved spy kids!

yuzuru had specifically asked for the newest movie they had, and that was a boring and manufactured very long superhero movie that felt more like pumped out content for money than a work of cinematic art, which wataru was quick to point out.

eichi picked american psycho, to yuzurus dismay, and eichi is like Just jokingggg me and wataru are going to watch it together later tho. I Got Kimetsu No Yaiba Mugen Train!!!!!! and everyones like Yayyy!!!!

later, yuzuru and tori went back to their room, and eichi is taking about how his favorite show is the one wataru starred in as a child. it was mainly a magic show, but wataru also went to different places arround the world and met people who did a variety of impressive things and tried them out. acrobatics, sculpting, baking, soccer, go karting, even drag in one episode, wataru certainly did a lot! she also collected a new mask in nearly every episode. it started when wataru was arround six or seven, and ended when she started middle school.

wataru says she tries to only think about the fun parts of doing that show, but there was a lot of turmoil behind the scenes, and often she didnt want to do it at all. was she mistreated? well, probably. but we are all mistreated as children, no? wataru takes solace in the fact that eichi loved her show, and it brought smiles to him and many other children. theres nothing anyone can do to go back in time and fix child watarus life, so wataru doesnt dwell on it.

fine has been working on their new song, and they were going to do a simple mv, but wataru is like Lets Put More Amazing Into This!!! and it develops into a super flashy carnival themed video with a totally banger song, starring lots of birds, and fine, going arround and winning every carnival game and making carnival snacks for one another. it ends with everyone on a ferris wheel, joyous and united!

also eichi gives the movie rental shop a shit ton of money LOL problem solved

the outfits are like. rainbow and metallic and wataru has her hair in double braids tied with ribbons and everyone else has some sort of fun hat Ok Byeeeee i might remove the tags lol

#wataru hibiki #hibiki wataru

2 notes · View notes

partyinthemysterymachine · 1 year

Note

Bro tell me more abt Snow on Mt. Silver it sounds cool and yes ik I can go read it myself and all but I think it'd be more fun coming from you

TURNS HEAD AROUND LIKE OWL

oh. oh u sure. u sure wanna open That Box then LEMME JUST

TAKES A DEEP BREATH

OK SO

the way the creepypasta goes (from my memory) is generally how it always do: Haunted Cartridge, sorta. Hacked.

a girl and her little brother love pokemon games, they also dig the hacked shit. brother was playing a hacked version (or smth, gameshark’d) of Gold when he suddenly flipped out, had to be admitted to the hospital For Sudden Onset Of Crazies, and was blaming the game. girl’s like Huh and boots up the alleged Crazy-Baker 9000 Simulator (Pokemon Edition) and finds what’s now known as Easter Egg Snow On Mt Silver

oh yeah that’s like. the official title. its full title is Easter Egg - Snow on Mt. Silver.

protag character trainer Gold - named Blake in this save file - is on Mt Silver, a snowy mountaintop where Trainer Red (the same from Pokemon Red) absconded to to train his pokemon in isolation after becoming champion.

Red’s been AFK for years at this point, talking to exactly no one, just fucked right off. i haven’t played Gold so idk if this is post-game content (i think it is) but you can go to Mt Silver and battle Red normally.

however, with this hacked game, you open up to being on Mt Silver and the screen is just swathed in static snow. (haha get it?) it’s hard to see anything in there, but you have a full team of pokemon, starting with a Typhlosion (fire). if you try to turn back into the cave entrance behind you, Blake will make comments like “it’s too late now” “i can’t go back” “it’s too late to go back”, and so you can’t leave.

you have a Pidgeot and try to use Fly, but you can’t fly out of that weather. only one way to go, and it’s up. so you guide Blake up the mountain but damn it’s slow moving; and i mean, you’re in snow, so.. it makes sense, right? and it gets slower and slower to move him, but as you’re climbing, Blake stops, and you get a notification that: “I’m cold.”

then you keep walking. then a notification that Meganium has died. what the fuck??? open up the party, and sure enough— him ded. it’s got a red X on it even the sprite’s all fucked up ten ways to sunday, even the cry’s all distorted!! well shit. might as well check on Blake's sprite too huh in his trainer ID?? .. hm well. looks kinda pale but. sorta ok i guess. normal.

as you advance, you get another notification. Pidgeot has died. Lucia has died. all one after the other until it’s just Typhlosion left and you’ve gone into the next cave at the top. it’s a long hallway, no snow, but it leads you to a platform. now from what I understand, that’s where you generally meet Red to battle him in the normal game, but here, there’s a pokeball. go and touch it :)

oh no it’s Celebi! —fucked up Celebi!! mfer’s gotten George Foreman grilled on one side, man it looks rough. but it doesn’t even let you battle, it doles out Perish Song (a Move that faints both the user and opposing pokemon in 3 turns) and there’s a horrific AOL dial-up bastard child noise singing the perish eardrums song of her people. Blake faints but doesn’t get a lfit off the mountain, instead he reappears in a dark dark room in a dark dark hall (haha see what i did there) and checking his trainer ID card..

.. dude lookin fukt the fukt UUUUPPPPP. he’s missing one leg, missing an arm (on the other side), missing an eye, black tears, the whole of him either ghost white or tinted blue. our mans Jack Dawson back in pokeblack (wrong this is gold. pokemon black is a different pokepasta before actual pokemon black. long story) (but also depending on the fan version of the game your lil sprite on screen will also be missing a leg and arm so u can just watch his cute little fat self hobble up the hall it’s great)

as you guide him up he’ll pause and say “It’s so cold” “Mother…..” “It feels so cold” “I can’t go on” every now and then and get slower and slower and slower, the hall darker and darker, then there’s an exit at the top (again, depending on fan game, it’s either pure white or flashing)

DAYUM IT’S WHITE AF OUT HEERREEE you’re in the Void. just walk it’s fine. oh look it’s Red. as per usual Red greets you with an exuberant monologue (“…”) and a battle starts.

every single one of Red’s party is one of the same sort of fucked up looking dead sprites you see in YOUR party. you only have Typhlosion left and he’s got 6 health. every single one of Red’s pokemon uses struggle, which does 1 damage to you, and murderized the user (“Venusaur has died!”) all Red has to say about it is “………..” like a true fuckin salt-lickin’ champ, vagueing Blake to the very end here i salute you big guy, and basically you just go through his entire team until….

FREAKACHUUUU BABBAAEEEYYYYY

so freakachu uses Pain Split which well. evenly splits the damage dealt, which ultimately kills Typhlosion as well as Freakachu and ends the battle. when Red comes back onto the screen, he too has lost an arm, leg, his whole-ass jaw, and got some gut removal surgery going as well.

it goes back to your two sprites. Red finally pipes up and says, “It’s over.” and then the screen says “ USED DESTINY BOND!” and once again we are treated to aaaaaAAAÁAEEUUAAÄAGZZZĖEEEEEAAAEAEEEEAZZAAEEEEEæaAÃEEEEGGeeeęeeeeEEÉÈË to take home wiht us and the screen goes black.

c’est fini. the girl takes the game and the gameshark and just pitches the mfer. checks the gameboy to make sure it’s not all just fucked up, relieved when pikachu is still a lil preppy mfer in a different game she has, happy-trauma-cries about it.

that winter, however, the snow fell thick.

aannndd THAT’S the gist of Easter Egg - Snow on Mt. Silver!! you can ofc read the entire thing and there are fan games out there (links n stuff at end) but now about fnf lullaby. FNF = Friday Night Funkin’, which is a rhythm game; a lullaby comes from the pokepasta Hypno’s Lullaby, a rhyme based off the official pokedex entry for Hypno that’s uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

well the pokemon company had fun with it at least and released an actual shirt about it

now i’m not going to get into fnf lullaby (and fnf lullaby v2) other than say that fnf lullaby is a whole mod for fnf based off of pokepastas. there was a song in the first version of the mod called Monochrome (that people just LOVE playing because the mechanics are SO fun and easy :) ) that was based off ANOTHER pokepasta for Gold (trainer name Ethan), that got a Snow on Mt Silver mod for a minute there.

but then lullaby v2 had a full ass song for mt silver called Frostbite.

but. god i’m so good at staying on track lmao. idk. there’s something special about snow on mt silver. i have my own ideas about it, but this has gotten wildly long as it is, so perhaps later LOL but until then, here are some links <3

ORIGINAL POKEPASTA

fangame 1 (ORIGINAL) (SEIZURE + VOLUME WARNING)

fangame 2 (recent) (SEIZURE + VOLUME WARNING)

fnf lullaby Frostbite

fnf lullaby Frostbite fanmade animation + song (SEIZURE WARNING)

fnf lullaby Monochrome, Mt Silver Edition

THX FOR UR INTEREST AND QUESTION AND I HOPE U ENJOYED THAT AND ALL THIS CHEERS ILUUUU XOXOXOXO

#ches writes #pokepasta #snow on mt silver #easter egg snow on mt silver #fnf lullaby #mt silver #creepypasta #KISSING U

5 notes · View notes

pillowfriends · 2 months

Text

TSR new reader thoughts: chapters 16-20

Chapter 16: Leavetakings

Faile and Perrin are both being stupid but I blame Perrin more. no one in this series has a teaspoon of emotional intelligence.

oh shit, speaking of - Lan is angry angry. :0 does he really want to leave Moiraine for Nynaeve?? sir I am watching you. that entire scene was hilarious though - Lan violently making out with Nynaeve, Elayne watching avidly, Lan being all poetic.

You have made a place in my heart where I thought there was no room for anything else. You have made flowers grow where I cultivated dust and stones. Remember this, on this journey you insist on making. If you die, I will not survive you long.

like hello??? ok Shakespeare.

Chapter 17: Deceptions

most of my reactions to this chapter are spoilery and will be below the cut at the end of this post. I like how Thom thinks he could ever have the upper hand with Moiraine. keep dreaming bitch, she's been playing daes dae'mar since the womb.

I'm so repulsed by people calling Min "little girl." ew. also pour one out for Siuan, she might actually have the hardest job in the entire world. not only does she have to deal with 5000 global crises at the same time, the Tower politics are enough to make anyone crazy.

RIP Sahra

Chapter 18: Into the Ways

Perrin and Faile's dynamic is kind of hilarious rn. "I will not leave him. Not even if he is yet too stubborn and foolish to ask a simple favor. Should that be the case, he may still follow me like a lost puppy. I promise to scratch his ears and take care of him." The only way I'm getting through the casual sexism in these books is by laughing about it.

Loial is such a good bro. nothing else to say about this chapter.

Chapter 19: The Wavedancer

so much worldbuilding in this chapter it hurt my head, both about Tear and about the Sea Folk (not even bothering to spell the other name bc I keep getting it wrong). so many prophecies!! it's very cool.

I love Elayne's meltdown seeing a woman's boobs. certified bisexual moment. also love Elayne and Nynaeve's relationship, it feels very "sisters who antagonize the shit out of each other but love each other deeply" to me.

Chapter 20: Winds Rising

Thom is annoying me but whatever. I guess he's on the boat now, sure, fine. I think his relationship dynamic with Elayne/the dramatic irony of her not knowing is kind of dumb and not fun to read.

Elayne boob meltdown part 2, you love to see it. also seeing the Sea Folk channeling was cool.

there's a quote I was going to include in this post, Elayne thinking/talking about Moiraine and Rand's fate, but it's making me too crazy and I think it needs to be its own post. I'll link it here later.

< last | next >

SPOILER THOUGHTS FOR FUTURE BOOKS BELOW

okayyyy so... I learned pretty early on that Thom and Moiraine end up in a romantic relationship. my sapphic Moiraine-loving self was not very pleased about this, and I really hate to say it, but like... I can kind of see it. I like how Thom has a network of informants and is sneaky about getting information and pulling strings, just like Moiraine is.

also Moiraine going in for the leg touch/Healing? bold move and I respect it. I assume she was being a little flirty to destabilize him, and it worked, so good for her.

I guess, TLDR, I'm not entirely opposed and I could see their relationship being set up in a sort of satisfactory way. it's not as random as I thought at first.

#wheel of time #the shadow rising #i'm not tagging the characters in this one there are too many

1 note · View note

eyndr-stories · 2 years

Text

Chester and the Jesters (FNAF SB fanfic) C5 - A friendly game of minigolf

In Summary:

The new tech sure does seem a little strange. Chester (at least, that's what their name tag says) doesn't seem as concerned as they should be about the high turnover rate here at Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizza-Plex, or the numerous rumors about what happens to people who take the night shift. And to make matters worse, there seems to be some kind of criminal on the loose! The cops say they think the criminal is hiding out in the woods somewhere near the pizza-plex. Stress is high at the plex these days, but Chester is stoic as ever. Say, come to think of it, no one can seem to remember where Chester's application went or who they interviewed with. Their employee file is misplaced or missing just like everything else in this place. But the new tech does a good job completing their tasks, and has their own badge and everything, so of course they must belong here. It's not like someone would sneak into the plex and go this far out of their way to impersonate a low level technician. Right??

Things To Know (always read responsibly!):

Biggest warnings are for blood, death, knives, murder, the police, violence, also the OC is at one point hit by lightning. All fun stuff

About 70,000 words in total, 9 chapters, so roughly like. 7,500 words per chapter

This is an OC story, not a reader insert or a self insert! But if you want to imagine otherwise be my guest lol

Angst, fluff

OC x Sun & Moon, there's romance but zero spice

Occasional swearing

Heavy focus on Sun and Moon but most of the rest of the gang is there too :)

Afton doesn't exist, sorry peepaw, Vanessa is here but she's very chill. She's a kickass gamer girl lmao

Moon does an attempted murder but its fine. He's just a lil guy ok

OC uses they/them and also sign language most of the time

Impersonation, lying. There's also manipulation. Yall I wasn't kidding about the angst

There's also a lot of focus on how they're all robots, very cool robots with feelings lol

That's all I can think of, as always please lmk if I should add anything!

Ao3 Link: Right here!

Start reading here: Chapter 1

Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

C5 - A friendly game of minigolf

Luckily for Chester, Vanessa was far too occupied ranting to them about videogame speed-run strategies to notice how slowly they were working or how intently they watched her work. Chester might be slow, but they were struggling a lot less with their tasks than they had been. Things like wiring and running diagnostics were starting to make sense, and when things didn't make sense, they could usually puzzle out a solution given enough time.

Vanessa and Chester had just finished replacing a broken coin slot on one of the arcade cabinets (talking about the games in the arcade had quickly steered into favorite video games, of which Vanessa had quite a few) when they decided it was time for a break.

"You'd think with how much of it there is around here I'd hate pizza by now, but I still crave it almost as much as Chica," Vanessa said. "You wanna go in on a pie with me?"

"Sure, that sounds good." Chester called the elevator. They looked back at the arcade as they waited, watching a group of kids going absolutely feral on the arcade's connecting dance floor. The DJ, an enormous animatronic perched atop a stage, waved at Chester and Vanessa as they left the arcade. They both waved back.

"The DJ is a really nice guy. Have you talked to him yet?" Vanessa asked. She pushed the button for the main floor, and the elevator made its decent towards the food court, energetic pop music coming in through an overhead speaker.

"I haven't. I thought he couldn't talk? He doesn't have a voice box, just music files and speakers." Chester recalled DJMM's extensive diagrams.

"He uses sign language, like you." Vanessa made the sign for 'sign language', moving her pointer fingers in opposing circles. "Between the two of you, I'm getting lots of practice!"

Chester smiled at that. The elevator doors opened, and the two made quick work of acquiring lunch. The glamrocks were putting on a show for the lunchtime crowd. Chester and Vanessa passed a gaggle of kids loudly singing along on their hasty retreat from the commotion.

The breakroom was blissfully quiet compared to the rest of the building. Chester's headaches were getting less frequent, but they still relished the reprieve from the cacophony of noise.

The two sat at Chester's usual corner table. There were only two other employees in the break room, neither of them people Chester recognized. Chester happily dug into their cheap and extra cheesy mall food quality pizza with Vanessa.

"Have those cops outside asked you any questions yet? They're sooo annoying. They nearly made me late for my shift this morning." Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"I guess I've gotten lucky," Chester signed slowly, staring at their slice of pizza.

Vanessa went on. "They apparently wanted to search the building, but they can't get a warrant. I asked a few questions myself, though. Get this- they haven't given up on the steak-out yet because the criminal they're after is wanted for murder. They lost the crook somewhere in the woods behind the plex, so they think the crook is hiding out there somewhere. Like, hiding in a tree fort or in a cave with some bears. One of my friends is super bummed cause they've got all the hiking trails closed off. But isn't that crazy?? There might be a murderer out there, right behind where we work." Vanessa wiggled her fingers at Chester. "Ooooh spooky!"

Chester swallowed uncomfortably, nearly choking on their pizza. "Yeah. Crazy." They set the slice down, suddenly loosing their appetite. "Do the ghosts have any gossip to report?"

Vanessa eagerly accepted the topic change, much to Chester's relief. "They do!! From what I hear, Lance got a boyfriend! He came to pick Lance up one night at the end of his shift. I'm told there was a very sweet kiss upon a cheek."

"Good for him," Chester signed. "I think mister Baxter is a decent guy, if he's found someone then I'm glad for him."

Vanessa nodded her agreement. "I wish I could find a special lady. I've been told I come on kinda strong." She sighed and picked at a burnt piece of pizza crust for a moment. "How about you? Got anyone special in your life?"

Chester shook their head. "Besides the difficulties of finding someone who's actually alright with me being ace, I'm far too busy these days. I don't exactly get out much."

"Oh yeah, I couldn't imagine working the night shift all the time like you do, and picking up extra day shifts on top of that! But hey, if you ever feel up to it, maybe sometime we can wingman each other? Hit the town, have some fun at the very least?" Vanessa's eyebrows bounced enticingly as she poked Chester's shoulder.

"That does sound like fun…" Genuinely, Chester would have loved to hang out with Vanessa outside of work. It had been so long since they'd done that sort of thing. It'd been a long time since they'd had a friend. But… this wasn't real. Even if they could leave the plex, Chester wasn't at all who they were pretending to be. Vanessa didn't even know their real name. "I'm sorry, like I said I'm just really busy these days."

"That's alright. If you ever need a break, offer still stands." Vanessa smiled.

Chester and Vanessa went their separate ways once their break was over. Chester didn't have long to mull over the lonely sort of despair they'd brought upon themself before they ran into Rosa.

"Hey, there you are. You done with your break?" Rosa asked. She shifted a thermos from one hand to another so she could pull out her faz-phone. "I need you to take a task for me. Its animatronic repair, but it's a simple one, shouldn't be too much trouble. Lance is off today so I'm covering a few of his duties."

Chester couldn't come up with a good enough excuse to turn the task down. They'd managed to get by so far by cherry picking tasks they could manage, tasks that weren't as horribly consequential as repairing one of the animatronics. If they messed up something like that… Not only would they be at risk of someone figuring out they didn't actually belong here, but there was a chance they'd hurt the bot in question.

"Thanks a million, Chester. You're a life saver. Keep up the good work, kid." Rosa pat Chester's shoulder and took a long swig from her thermos as she carried on past them.

Chester looked down at their phone. They had a new high priority task. With no small amount of dread, Chester dragged their feet down to the access tunnels, making their way to parts and service. They struggled to remember everything they'd read about the animatronics, everything they'd studied and learned about wiring and welding.

Despite their attempts to prolong their arrival at parts and service, Chester found that they'd arrived all too soon. They could have sworn they'd intentionally taken the long way around, but they never could get the hang of these hallways.

The star of the whole plex, the bear mascot himself stood waiting for Chester by the enormous cylindrical machine at the room's center. Just their luck. Freddy Fazbear gave Chester a little wave as they entered the room. Chester noted his other arm hung a little awkwardly at his side.

"Hello… I take it Miss Garcia could not make it?" Freddy asked.

"She says she's covering some things for mister Baxter," Chester explained. They pulled up the task details. Rosa's descriptions were extremely brief, compared to Lance's long winded explanations. "Your right elbow joint seems to have been damaged?"

"That is right. I took a step too close to Chica during our last performance, and… well, Chica gets really into her guitar playing at times," Freddy explained.

"I see." Chester eyed the cylindrical machine. They approached the computer hooked up to it, powering it on and squinting at the complicated command menu. They quickly scanned through the options, finding only a few they understood. One of the commands was 'Run Diagnostic Scan'. Chester selected this. A prompt came up asking for Chester's technician code. They'd memorized their code by now, and plugged it in. Another prompt came up, alerting Chester that there was no animatronic to scan. They looked up at Freddy. "Would you mind stepping inside the cylinder?"

"Of course, superstar." Freddy made his way into the cylinder, walking slowly. He had to duck a little to be sure he didn't bonk his top hat on the top of the doorway. He eyed the cold metal table and the dangling machinery above. "Do you want me to… Do I have to be on the table for this repair?"

Chester paused. They had no idea if it was protocol or something to have the animatronic strapped to the table for repairs. But if Freddy had asked, maybe it wasn't? The scan seemed to be running just fine regardless. Chester eyed the table. They noted Freddy was eying the table as well, his metal brows pinched together in worry.

"No, we should be fine," Chester signed.

"Ah, good." Freddy's expression relaxed. "I find the table rather uncomfortable."

Chester could imagine, though they wondered how an animatronic would even mind the hard surface. The bots had pressure sensors, and proximity sensors, but no way to tell the difference between textures.

When the scan finished, Chester's faz-phone lit up with a very short list of replacement parts, and where to find them. Lucky for them, the joint and socket they needed were here in the room, on one of the shelves. Chester picked these up, comparing barcodes on the shelves to the codes on their phone. Thankfully, the plastic bin of spare joins seemed to have been stored away correctly. They probably had Lance to thank for that, what with how much time he spent down here in the access tunnels.

Chester spotted a power generator against the wall, right by the bin of joints. Chester noted the generator in their head for later. They weren't sure how they'd get it all the way up to the daycare, but they figured they could puzzle that out when they came to it.

Parts in hand, Chester stepped into the cylinder with Freddy. They set the parts on the unoccupied table.

"Can I see your arm, please?" Chester asked.

Freddy held out his damaged limb to them, even angling it so they could get at the screws holding the metal panels in place. Chester took in a deep breath and got to work removing the panel concealing the elbow joint.

Once the panel was off, Chester stared at the joint for a long moment. They realized with a start that they actually knew what they were looking at. They could picture Freddy's diagram in their head, they knew what the joint was meant to look like, they knew how it connected to the sockets, they knew how the sockets were bolted in place. None of the wiring had been damaged, but even if it had, Chester realized that they knew how the wiring connected as well. With a sense of cautious relief, they took out their tools and got to work disconnecting the top socket.

"Here, if you could place your arm over the table, I'll stand on the other side. That way the arm won't just fall once I've got the socket off," Chester signed.

Freddy complied. He watched Chester work as they dismantled the joint, leaving his upper arm connected to the lower half by a bundle of wires. Chester got to work connecting the new joint together.

"This doesn't… hurt, does it? Your arm being like this?" Chester asked.

"Not at all, superstar. I do appreciate how gentle you are," Freddy said. "None of the wires are damaged, right? Wire reconnection is far more uncomfortable."

"You're in luck, the wiring is fine," Chester assured.

"Oh, good!"

Chester glanced up at Freddy. He seemed far more relaxed now than he had earlier. His expression was set into a neutral smile and he was standing straight, though he was bent slightly over the table. Chester wondered briefly if it was strange for him to be in parts and service, where he was surrounded by storage shelves full of, essentially, replacement body parts.

Chester's curiosity pressed at the edges of their brain, questions bouncing around like the worlds worst game of ping pong. "Pardon me if this is rude or upsetting to ask, but… what is pain like for you?"

"I do not experience it very often. Sometimes the way my programming runs feels… disagreeable. Forgive me, it is not easy for me to describe. I have been told pain for humans often depends on what is causing the pain. I believe that much is true for me as well. Some circumstances are manageable or mitigatable. Wiring, for instance, is more manageable, however uncomfortable. Running power through a new wire is uncomfortable at first, it feels very tight, like squeezing through the head of a needle. It only lasts a moment. Other times…" Freddy paused to collect his thoughts. Chester could hear a small whirring fan kick on in Freddy's head. "Other times there is nothing to be done, the discomfort does not pass easily, and it can be very overwhelming. This usually only occurs when I disagree with a line of code and try to keep it from running, or when I encounter system errors. I have never experienced a headache before, but I imagine the sensation closely resembles a very bad migraine."

"I see." Chester nodded slowly, mulling over this information carefully in their brain. "If I ever cause you pain or discomfort, please let me know and I'll try to fix it."

Freddy smiled. "Thank you, that is very kind of you. I will let you know."

Chester finished connecting the new joint in no time. They had Freddy try it out before screwing the panel back in place.

"You've done a fantastic job, superstar! Thank you." Freddy pat Chester's shoulder, beaming down at them happily.

"No problem, just… doing my job." Chester forced a small smile.

Freddy had a birthday party to get to, and so he waved goodbye before making his way out of parts and service. Chester disposed of the damaged parts and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. They'd actually done it. It hadn't even been difficult. Still, with any luck, they wouldn't have to do another animatronic repair task for a good long while.

~~~

"Hey Sun!" Chester called out verbally, since their hands were full. They heaved the bulky metal monstrosity in past the daycare doors. They kicked their shoes off as they made it inside. "I finally found a generator!! And I think it shouldn't be too hard to hook it up to the lights!"

"OH?!" Sun came bounding up. "Oh, oh dear. Oh. Please don't… ah. Can I carry this for you??" Sun's hands were fluttering around the generator's frame. His gaze was fixed on the wheels, where they were catching and pulling at the padded floor and starting to leave marks.

"If you don't mind," Chester signed, stepping back. Not only was it extremely heavy, but the generator's shitty little wheels were proving to be a huge pain to maneuver over the cushioned floor anyways.

Sun eagerly grabbed the generator by the bottom edges. He straightened without so much as a fraction of hesitance, like he was lifting a box of feathers. He turned and walked off at normal pace with it, leaving a stunned Chester rooted to the spot.

"Are you coming? I don't think I can hook this up by myself," Sun called, realizing Chester wasn't behind him.

"Right!" Chester shook it off and hurried after Sun. "You're really cool, you know that?"

Sun's faceplate spun happily. "Why thank you, friend! What brought this on?" Sun maneuvered the generator, balancing it against his hip and holding it one handed as he tapped the code into the panel and opened the door to the spiral staircase.

"Jeez," Chester breathed. They followed Sun through the door, closing it behind them. "You're carrying that generator like its nothing. The thing weighs twice as much as I do."

Sun looked down at the generator, pausing halfway up the stairs. He suddenly feigned straining with it, lowering it and hunkering over it, arms rattling. He took a massive exaggerated step. "ARGHHH! HRGHHHH! GRAHHHHH!" He continued like this the rest of the way up the steps. When he got to the top, he set the generator down and threw himself over it dramatically. "PHEW!!!" He wiped imaginary sweat from his brow, then looked at Chester. "How was that?"

Chester was too busy laughing to reply. They gripped the railing on the stairs tightly, feeling a little light headed. They got their giggling under control. "That was much better, thank you."

Sun pushed the generator into the room, parking it by the wall with the electrical box. Chester got out a screwdriver and began removing the back panel of the electrical box.

"How long do you think it'll take?" Sun asked, peering over Chester's shoulder as they set the panel aside and got to work.

"No more than a few minutes, I think. I did some reading, it shouldn't be too much trouble. Right now I'm installing the interlock kit to the panel. Then I need to install the power inlet box, then start wiring the connections. Then I just install the circuit breaker and put the panel back on," Chester recited the steps they'd learned.

"Mmhmm. Yes, yes." Sun nodded along. "Very good. Yes."

Chester smiled. "Do you want to help?"

"Sure!!" Sun bounced up and down.

"You can hold these little panel screws for me, if you like," Chester offered, sweeping the little collection of screws off the rim of the electrical box, where they'd been perched precariously. They held the handful out to Sun.

"On it, boss!" Sun very carefully cupped the screws in his hands. He stared at them dutifully, making sure they didn't run off anywhere.

Chester was making good progress. They glanced back at Sun, who was still staring down at the screws. Chester smiled at him. Sun noticed the attention and tilted his faceplate up to Chester.

"What's that smile for?" Sun's faceplate tilted a few degrees in curiosity.

"Oh, nothing. You're just cute is all," Chester said.

"Cute??" Sun jolted.

Chester froze, embarrassment shooting through them. Did I seriously just said that-?! "I mean-!" Chester jerked their hands away to sign. They weren't looking, their hand pulling or hitting something, they couldn't tell. The electrical shock was more than a little distracting.

Chester yelped and fell back on their ass. All at once they could see trees, rain, the shape of the plex from the top of the hill, its neon sign glowing through the haze. Chester blinked, shaking off the images and the shock. Their heart was pounding uncomfortably.

For a moment, Chester panicked as their vision didn't seem to want to come back to them. They blinked rapidly, the dread setting in for only a moment before realization calmed them- the lights had just gone out. Chester's eyes were adjusting, they could see the electrical box in front of them and the shape of the generator next to them.

"Sun?" Chester called out. They felt along the ground behind them, where Sun had been. Their hand met a collection of tiny screws scattered on the ground. The dread came back.

Was Sun freaking out about the lights? Where was he?? Chester fumbled along their belt until they found the flashlight they were now glad they'd taken from the employee stock room. They clicked it on, wincing at the sudden sharp white light. They swept the beam across the room. The room was empty, though Chester noted the curtain had been thrown open. They hurried out onto the balcony and peered down at the daycare below. They swept the beam over the ball pit, but everything was still.

"Sun?! Where are you??" Chester took the stairs down, planning to scour the daycare and make sure Sun was alright. They took two steps beyond the door before freezing to the spot.

Red eyes were fixed on them from the other end of the daycare.

"You." Chester stared wide eyed at the animatronic, cast in shadows beyond the reach of their flashlight. This was the same animatronic they'd met on their first night shift, the one who'd given them a concussion before promptly and totally vanishing. Chester stood stock still, waiting for the animatronic to move.

The animatronic did move, but they turned away from Chester. They turned back to the wall they were standing next to, frantically tapping away at something there. Chester risked a few steps closer, holding their beam higher. The animatronic seemed to be tapping at a light switch. Chester panicked for a moment as a thought occurred to them- what if they'd just short circuited the whole building??

Chester went to the nearest window, then breathed a sigh of relief. They could see low neon lighting in the waiting area outside from a sign on a wall, and from an ATM machine by the check in desk. So they'd just knocked out the daycare's lights, then. Chester turned from the window, focusing on the task at hand. The animatronic hadn't attacked them or threatened to detain them, so he still remembered Chester's employee profile. Either that or he wasn't currently in security mode. Whatever the case, Chester still needed to find Sun.

"Sun! Where'd you go?" Chester called out, struggling to project. They swept their light back and forth over play structures and stacks of toys. They paused, noticing the red eyed animatronic watching them. They breathed, trying to reign in their apprehension. They signed with one hand, flashlight in the other. "Did you see where Sun went?"

The animatronics' eyes shifted in the dark. It took a second for Chester to realize, but the bot had tilted his head, much like how Sun tilted his faceplate when he was confused or curious.

Chester was having a hard time not feeling unnerved with the way the bot was just staring at them. "…You're not gonna bash my skull in again, are you?" They tried a light laugh.

The red eyes lowered. Chester squinted through the darkness, not willing to get too much closer, even to put the bot in the light. It looked like he'd crouched down to the ground.

"…Sorry."

Chester paused. They hadn't been expecting the bot to apologize. "Oh. That's alright. All is forgiven. Just uh, don't do it again. Okay?"

The bot didn't reply, and Chester was too far to make out any sort of expression. They pushed their fear aside to take a few steps closer, still watching the bot carefully.

"How come you aren't around often?" Chester asked.

The bot watched Chester just as carefully as they watched him. "…I'm only here when the lights are out." He spoke in quiet, gentle tones.

Chester took another step, slowly but surely closing the distance. "What, like a vampire?"

The bot mimicked the sign, tapping two fingers in a 'V' shape to his neck. "Sort of." He sounded amused by this.

Another step closer, and he was almost in the light. This time, he moved back away from the light. "…You don't like the light," Chester realized. They glanced down at their flashlight, then back up at the animatronic, who's gaze never wavered from them for a moment. Chester took in a breath and held it. They clicked the light off.

For a moment, all Chester could see in the sudden darkness was two red pinprick lights a ways ahead of them. They stood stock still, waiting. Waiting for their eyes to adjust, waiting to see if the bot moved. The bot was just as still as they were.

Once Chester's eyes adjusted enough to make out shapes around them, they started to relax. They slipped the flashlight back into their toolbelt.

"You can see in the dark, right?" Chester signed.

"Yes," came the bot's hushed voice. "You cannot."

"That's correct."

"…Why did you turn your light off?" the bot asked.

"It bothered you. Just trying to keep on your good side." Chester smiled, hoping to convey they weren't being too serious. "Listen… I'm looking for my friend Sun. I'm not sure where he's gone, but he can't be far. He can't really leave the daycare. Since you can see in the dark… would you mind helping me look for him?"

The bot tilted his head again. After a long moment of consideration, he said, "…Sure."

Chester watched the bot stand slowly and turn to study a nearby crawly tube. Chester turned their gaze to the play structure they were standing beside. They tried to think about where Sun could be. If he'd jumped off the balcony in a panic, maybe he'd hurt himself on the landing?? Maybe he was laying broken and unresponsive at the bottom of the ball pit. The thought caused Chester no small amount of distress. They turned their back to the red eyed animatronic and headed for the ball pit.

Chester started wading through plastic balls, trying to feel along and not loose their footing at the same time. They noted the red eyed animatronic watching them from the corner of their eye.

"What's your name?" Chester asked. "I'm… I'm Chester." The name didn't sit quite right with them, but it wasn't like they could go around giving out their real name at this point.

"Moon." The animatronic, Moon, watched Chester carefully.

"Huh. Have you ever met Sun?" Chester asked.

Moon took a moment before responding. He was still watching Chester intently. "…Not in person."

"Oh. Well, he's pretty cool. If we can find him, you could meet him…" Chester rounded back to give the ball pit another pass. No sign of Sun yet.

Moon approached, footsteps cautious, only audible by the jingling bells on his shoes. He stopped by the edge of the ball pit, crouching down to grip the rim of the pit with his hands. Chester took a moment to look him over, realizing he was finally close enough to see.

Moon wore similar pants to Sun's, though his were patterned differently, with star shapes instead of long stripes. He had a lot of ruffles and ribbons like Sun too, though his whole color scheme was much darker. He wore a long nightcap on his head, a little gold bell at the end catching the low light from out in the hall. His circular face was half shadowed, leaving only a crescent shape visible in the dark. He had a stagnant grin like Sun's. 'Moon' seemed to be just as fitting to him as Sun's name was to him.

"Huh. Another clown animatronic," Chester said. They had to wonder what role Moon could possibly play here at the plex. Had he been some sort of prototype for Sun?? Was that why he wasn't usually out touring the plex? Maybe he was meant to be decommissioned or something?

"Jester," Moon corrected.

Chester tilted their head in curiosity.

"Lots of people don't like clowns… think they're scary. Jesters are friendlier," Moon said.

"Oh. I understand." Chester gave up on the ball pit. They huffed and made their way to the edge of the pit, climbing out. Moon took several steps back, keeping his distance. Chester stood a little too quickly and wavered, a bout of dizziness quickly hitting them. They felt their weight shift back a little too far, and took in a sharp hiss of air as their stomach dropped-

There was a small jerk, and suddenly Chester was pulled forwards. They could see Moon standing right next to them, his hand on their tool belt. Chester flinched before they could realize what had happened; Moon had just pulled them forwards by the belt, saving them from crashing back into the ball pit.

Moon leapt back with startling speed, crouching back down to the ground. "Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry."

Chester held up their hands, straightening up and taking a steadying breath. Their heart was pounding. They willed it to settle. "It's okay, thank you for catching me." They took a step away from the pit and cast another look around the daycare. "I really don't know where Sun went… I'm starting to get worried. Listen, I'm gonna try and get the lights working again so I can have an easier time looking for him. Since you don't like the lights, I'm letting you know in advance so you can head out, alright?"

Moon just stared at Chester. He was very still, no chance of gleaning his reaction through body language like Chester had learned to do with Sun.

"I'll see you around?" Chester offered, heading back towards the door to the spiral staircase.

"I'm not sure," Moon said quietly.

"Well, I hope so. I've got some questions for you, next time I see you." Chester reached the door and gave Moon a little wave. "Bye for now."

"Goodnight," Moon replied.

Back in the tower room, Chester made quick work of finishing connecting the generator to the electrical box. They crossed their fingers and activated the generator, flipping the lights back on.

There was a sudden hum that Chester realized just then had been missing. They blinked, suddenly blind in the flood of light around them. It had worked- the lights were on. Chester double checked everything, making sure it was all installed correctly and connected properly. They breathed a sigh of relief and went back out on the balcony.

To their surprise, they spotted Sun standing not far from the ball pit. Had he really fallen in after all and Chester had just missed him??

"Sun!!" Chester called, relieved to see their friend. Sun's gaze snapped up to them, and he waved enthusiastically.

Chester hurried through the door and down the steps. In their rush they tripped down the last few stairs like a dunce, flying forwards with a yelp. They landed very suddenly, but not uncomfortably, against plastic casing and soft fabric ruffles. Sun had caught them, having come through the door to meet them.

"Careful!!" Sun chided. He gently released Chester, keeping a hand on their shoulder to be sure they wouldn't fall right over again.

"I was worried about you!!" Chester lightly swatted Sun's arm. "You really don't like the lights being out, huh?"

"I didn't mean to worry you." Sun's eyes flashed with blue light. "Are you alright?? Are you- did you- did…" Sun relaxed, posture slouching slightly as the blue light clicked off. "You're unharmed."

"I'm alright. I actually sort of made a new friend." Chester recounted their meeting with Moon, and how Moon had helped them search for Sun before Chester had decided to fix the lights. "I guess he's gone now. He doesn't like the lights, apparently."

Sun laughed his uncomfortable strained sort of laugh, like the sound was being dragged out of his voice box. "You met Moon. And you're okay?" That blue light came on again.

"I told you, I'm fine. I think I've got the issue figured out, with you guys getting confused in security mode. Remember when we talked about that?" Chester asked, their hands moving through the signs quickly.

"I remember," Sun said.

"Moon wasn't confused this time. He remembered that I'd showed him a paper copy of my employee form. So there's no issue anymore! I still haven't figured out why the employee files get corrupted every now and then or how to fix it, but now I'm at least confidant in this solution. And I think you were right about the others getting confused because of conflicting messages, missing employee forms and valid nametags. I've been thinking about something Freddy told me recently, about how he sometimes disagrees with how his programming runs, and how it makes him feel uncomfortable, like he's in pain. This is just a hunch, but I think maybe its hard for you guys to cope with how certain programs or errors make you feel. So maybe that’s why…" Chester trailed off. That's why Moon lashed out that night.

"That's why the others get… confused," Sun finished slowly. He wrung his hands together, metal shifting quietly against metal. "Chester… when we say 'confused'…"

Chester willed Sun not to finish his question. He did anyways.

"Moon hurt you, didn't he?" Sun asked quietly.

Chester looked away. They sat down on the stairs, hands folded in their lap while they considered how to reply. They went back and forth in their head- they wanted to tell Sun. They despised lying to him, keeping things from him. At the same time, if word got out and the company filed an incident report with the police, Chester was done for. They looked up at Sun. He was clearly worried, his grin entirely foreign amidst his tensed body language. He was so worried for them. Chester sighed, hoping they wouldn't regret this. "It's extremely important that you don't tell anyone. Okay?"

Sun nodded solemnly.

"Okay. That night, when I made that deal with you so I could stay in your room… Earlier that night, I met Moon for the first time. It… didn't go super great." Chester explained in minor detail how Moon had stuttered through voice lines and chased them down. They told Sun that Moon had been the cause of their head injury, leaving it at that. They explained how they'd finally shown Moon their employee form, and how Moon had seemed to snap out of it before retreating.

Sun's hands were shaking as Chester spoke. He was silent until they were done.

"Chester… I… I'm so sorry," Sun whispered, uncharacteristically quiet. "I'm so, so sorry."

"It wasn't your fault," Chester said.

"I'm sorry," Sun said again, his voice wavering and edged with static.

"Easy Sun, it's alright," Chester tried to assure. "It wasn't anyone's fault! I don't even hold it against Moon. I'm still sort of scared of him, honestly, but… I don't think he meant to hurt me. It didn't seem like he was fully aware of what was going on through… whatever it was he was going through."

Sun made a soul wrenching whining noise, the sound of it now drenched in static. He folded his arms tightly, trying to stop their shaking.

Chester realized then that he was crying, as much as he could cry without any tears.

"I don't like this," Sun whined. "I don't like it, it hurts, it hurts, I want this to stop."

Chester shot to their feet, stumbling slightly but quickly regaining their footing. They closed the distance between them and Sun and wrapped their arms around him.

"It's okay," Chester whispered, pressing the signs into Sun's back. "It's okay."

Sun's arms hovered over Chester, shaking hard enough to be audible. Then he finally settled his arms around Chester. A shiver rattled its way down his whole frame. He squeezed them tightly, holding onto them like a lifeline.

Chester held Sun until he stopped shaking. When they pulled away, Sun was reluctant to release them, but loosened his arms just enough for Chester to slip away.

"Thank you. That was…" Sun put a hand over his chest, trying to feel for something that wasn't there. "I don't know."

"Sadness. You were sad," Chester offered. "Or at least, whatever the robot equivalent to it is."

Sun considered this. His fingers scraped slowly over plastic plating. "I don't think I like that at all."

Chester nodded. "Yeah, that's a tough one."

Sun focused back in on Chester. "Why didn’t you tell anyone you'd been hurt? Why… Why stay here? After Moon had hurt you?"

"…I can't answer that. I'm sorry." Chester couldn't look at Sun.

"…Okay." Sun reached out and gently took one of Chester's hands. "Chester, I don't want you to be scared of me. The thought of that makes me… feel…" Sun trailed off, his faceplate lowering.

"I'm not scared of you, Sun," Chester assured. They squeezed Sun's hand. They were a little confused as to why Sun would be worried about that. Maybe because he and Moon looked alike?

Sun didn't look up, didn't move for a long moment. He stared at Chester's hand in his. Chester got the feeling he wanted to say something. They waited patiently for him to find the words, understanding full well how difficult it could be at times to find the words.

Finally, Sun settled on a simple, "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?? I'm not upset with you."

Sun didn't reply. He released Chester's hand and turned away. "I think I want to stop feeling sad. It's too much, I don't like it."

Chester thought maybe Sun had been trying to apologize for his emotions. "It's alright to feel things, Sun. I know it can be miserable sometimes, but it'll make the things that make you feel good that much more wonderful by comparison." Chester straightened up. "If you want, we can play a game? Put all this behind us?"

Sun nodded eagerly. "Yes, I would like that."

Chester lead the way out of the stairwell and back into the daycare. They chose a game at random from the game shelf and helped Sun set things up.

As the game progressed, Sun started to relax. Chester relaxed by extension, glad to see that Sun was starting to feel better. By the end of the game, Sun was even back to his happier movements, swaying and tapping. Even so, there was a slight hesitance once it was time for them to part ways. Sun had a daycare to prepare, and Chester had a long day to sleep off.

~~~

The next night, Sun seemed to be feeling much better. Sun insisted Chester pick the game once more, again assuring them that he didn't mind any game, he just had fun playing and spending time with Chester. Chester felt much the same way, and so they chose a game at random, though they tried to pick a new game for variety.

Tonight's game was 'Connect Four'. Sun set up the slot tower and divvied out the chips. Chester took the red chips, figuring the yellow chips were more fitting to Sun.

"You really like board games, huh?" Chester asked, starting off the round by dropping a chip into one of the center rows.

"I do!" Sun nodded enthusiastically. "I like all games. So long as everyone is having fun! That's what's most important." Sun dropped his chip one slot to the right of Chester's.

Chester dropped their next chip in the slot to the left of their first. "I would have loved to have a place like this growing up. Seeing these jungle gyms and listening to you play with the kids all day, it just makes me happy knowing the kids have a place like this. You run a really nice little daycare here, Sun."

Sun started bouncing in his seat with enough fervor to bump the table. "Oh gosh!! Thank you so much, that's so kind of you!" Sun laughed. He seemed to realize suddenly that it was his turn, and quickly dropped his next chip, to the left of Chester's last chip. "I try really, really hard to make sure everyone is taken care of and having fun. It's what I was built for! Sometimes it's hard, kids don't get along or they have bad days or get upset or sometimes the parents are mean, but even so, I can't imagine ever wanting to do anything else! When the kids are kind to each other, or when they give me a hug goodbye, or draw something for me, there's this feeling… sometimes feeling things is so hard and overwhelming, but this feeling is so, so nice, it's one of my favorite things! And it's almost never overwhelming, definitely one of the kinder things to my processors. It's like… its like right after a software update that patches up a bug, or right after I finish recharging. Like everything is not only as it should be, but the best it can be!"

"That's really nice." Chester smiled. They turned their chip over a few times in their hands before dropping it on top of Sun's last chip. "I think the kids are all the better for it, too."

"I sure hope so!" Sun continued to bounce and sway, barely managing not to bump the table again. He dropped his next piece, beside the first chip he'd dropped.

Chester could hear bells jingling merrily along Sun's costume as he bounced. It almost sounded like there were bells jingling inside him too, like there were spare bells stowed away somewhere in his casing. Every part of him really was crafted for his position. Chester wondered what that was like, that feeling of fulfillment Sun must have from carrying out the role he was entirely and intentionally made for. They imagined as well what it might be like for him to fear loosing it. Chester felt they understood a bit better why Sun seemed so anxious about the lights- being told the daycare was at risk of being closed down… What was anyone supposed to do if they'd lost their entire life's purpose? What they were literally built for?

"You've been thinking for a while! It's so early in the game to be strategizing that hard. I worry I'm in for a rough time!" Sun laughed lightly.

Chester brought themself out of their thoughts, focusing back on the game. "Sorry, I got distracted." They made their next move, dropping their chip to the right of Sun's last chip.

"Do you like being a technician? Does it feel… what's the human equivalent? Like a full night's rest??" Sun wondered. He made his next move while Chester replied.

"I do, actually. I didn't think I would, when I… started this job. But, as it turns out, I like working with my hands, and seeing something that was broken run again because I fixed it is very rewarding. And there's a satisfaction to marking tasks complete in my little list. It feels… fulfilling. Maybe not to quite the degree that you experience, and maybe not in the same way that you experience it, but there is that sense of fulfillment for me from doing a good job. Or at least, doing my best and having it be enough."

"That's good! So you think you'll stick around then? You like working here, right?" Sun asked.

Chester stared down at their chip, flipping it over and over in their hand while they thought. "I… yeah. I would like to stick around," they admitted. They dropped their chip. They knew they couldn't stick around here, they were only here because they needed a place to lay low for a while. But… there wasn't any harm in not being miserable while they were stuck hiding out here, was there? They hadn't lied to Sun after all, they did want to stick around. Even if they couldn't.

"Good! We can play so many games!!" Sun's rays all popped in and out. His stagnant grin seemed much more genuine. "I really like playing games with you. It's much different than playing with the kids! I love playing games with them too, but you don't seem to mind at all who wins or looses. You just like to play, like I do!"

"Yeah." Chester smiled. "It's just nice to hang out with you, honestly. You're very easy to talk to. And that's coming from someone who doesn't like talking to the point of being selectively mute." Chester laughed.

"Aww, thank you friend! You're very kind." Sun put a hand to his cheek and waved at Chester with the other in a very 'oh, stop it you' sort of way. He dropped his next chip. "How come you don't like talking??"

Chester explained while they thought about their next move. "Well, for me it's really difficult to translate what's going on in my head into spoken word. And there's a lot to consider with tone and implication, I could accidentally say something I don't mean to say by using the wrong tone or messing up what I'm trying to get across badly enough. It's just easier for me with sign. And sometimes I just… I don't know, I just don't feel like speaking, it feels… difficult. It's tough to explain." They played their next move, managing to line up three chips in a row.

Sun quickly blocked the space Chester needed for their fourth with his next move. "I see. Speaking can be hard for me too, sometimes! My coding doesn't like it when I try to use certain tones. I'm supposed to be happy and friendly and upbeat all the time! And I don't mind that, really, I like being friendly, and when I'm happy and silly it makes other people around me happy too! But sometimes I don't feel happy. And when I speak it comes out sort of funny," Sun explained.

Chester could remember hearing static coming through with Sun's voice from time to time. They nodded in understanding. "I see." They dropped another chip.

They played a few more turns in silence. Sun nearly got four in a row, but Chester managed to block him before he could win the game. The board quickly filled with red and yellow tiles. They would both get close to winning without managing to actually seal the deal.

Sun broke the silence first. "What's your favorite thing to do when you're not working?"

Chester thought back, to a time before their life had gotten so complicated. "I really like to take little walks and just… look."

"Look?" Sun tilted his head, faceplate rotating a few degrees.

Chester nodded. "Yeah, I like to look at the world in general. Sometimes I'd take a walk in the woods and find a nice place to sit and just… look at the trees and plants moving in the breeze and watch birds and squirrels. I love looking at the stars, too. I don't know, there's just something nice about just. Existing in the world. Watching it quietly and appreciating it."

"Hmm." Sun hummed thoughtfully. "That sounds very nice."

They played until there were no moves left to make, the game ending in a draw. They tipped the slot tower and played another round. This time Chester won, though they got the sneaking suspicion that Sun had let them win. They played and talked and laughed together until it was time to wrap things up and prepare for the day.

This time, when Chester left to sleep up in Sun's room and wished him good luck for the day, they felt a little sad to say goodbye. They felt silly for the thought, but they couldn't help it. They genuinely enjoyed Sun's company, and despite everything, it seemed the feeling was mutual.

Chester curled up in their makeshift bed, drifting off with ease and sleeping just as easily.

~~~

Chester's dizziness was slowly improving. The headaches they did get were manageable, and the haze clouding their brain was all but gone. Despite their improvements however, they still found themself spacing on certain things.

I'm totally allowed to blame this on the concussion, Chester thought as they fled for their life down the halls of the plex. They'd spaced and forgotten to return their faz-phone to its charger after their shift. They'd been about to settle down for bed when they'd realized, and not wanting to sleep with the employee form in their pocket, had removed it before bed. Naturally, they'd forgotten to put it back in their pocket when they'd left to return the faz-phone. Which was why they were now being chased down dim neon drenched halls by a violent chicken robot.

There was a way out of this, if Chester could just think. They were outpacing Chica by a small margin. She was lighter than most of the other animatronics, but she still had trouble turning corners at top speed. Chester couldn't keep running circles all night, though. They'd get tired. Chica would not.

Chester thought back to a few nights ago, when they and Chica had caught each other both eating things they shouldn't be eating. Chica hadn't said a thing about their missing employee profile then. Of course, Chester's employee form had been on them, then.

Chester found themself back in the food court. They dashed along the outer line of little restaurants, then made a sharp turn down the short staircase and into the main seating area, taking all five steps at once. They fumbled the landing, careening sideways and forwards. Their hands found a trashcan by the side of the stairs, toppling it in an attempt to regain their balance. This didn't work quite as well as they'd hoped, and they ended up sprawled across the tile, their side hitting the leg of a table.

In a panic, they tried to quickly scramble back to their feet. They whacked the top of their head on the underside of the table, falling back on their ass with a cry. The pain was quickly overshadowed by fear, but…

Chester looked up, eyes landing on Chica, who was not currently attempting to murder them. She seemed to have forgotten about Chester entirely, instead focusing on the toppled trashcan. She dropped to her knees and grabbed up in her fist a discarded, mostly eaten slice of pizza from the ground. She eagerly stuffed it in her beak, then feverishly dug through the trash, finding another slice.

Apparently, the urge to eat garbage pizza was even stronger than Chica's urge to put an end to Chester's error causing existence. Chester only sat around contemplating this for a moment before booking it out of there. They passed a staff bot already rolling over to clean up the mess Chica was making- the familiar custodian bot with the blue cap- who stared intently at Chester as they hurried past.

Chester made for the daycare, checking over their shoulder to be sure Chica hadn't lost interest in her garbage. They rounded the corner, putting Chica out of sight. They turned around just in time to catch a flash of green before they walked right into another animatronic.

Monty stood before Chester, perhaps having come to investigate all the ruckus. Chester nearly swore aloud in frustration- they just couldn't catch a break.

"Hey, little guy! Little- are you lost, lost? Runt, hey-" Monty started to stutter through voice lines. He took a heavy step forwards. "You… don't have… valid employee profile." Monty groaned. Several fans had kicked on and were whirring away, desperately trying to cool down something overheating in his head. "Runt… make this stop."

Chester was exhausted. With Chica behind them and Monty in front of them, they tried to think. If certain things could snap them out of their error feedback induced rage, then perhaps there was another way out of this. Chester recalled everything they knew about the gator, which admittedly wasn't much. He was prideful, said 'rock-n-roll' a lot, and loved playing minigolf. That would have to be enough.

"Montgomery, I challenge you to a game of minigolf!" Chester said quickly, speaking as well as signing to be sure Monty understood.

Monty froze. Chester eyed his clawed hands, hovering uncomfortably close to them.

"You're on, runt. No way you can beat me!" Monty said. His voice was edged with static. Rigidly, he turned and started to walk away.

Chester stood still, hoping Monty would just walk off to gator golf and leave them be. No such luck.

When they didn't follow, Monty turned back around. With a static-drenched growl, he snatched the back of their shirt and pulled them along with him. Chester struggled to keep on their feet as Monty practically carried them with him down the hall, past pirate's cove, and through the double doors to gator golf, whacking his tail on the doorframe as he passed.

After stomping past bushy plastic foliage and past a swamp themed shack where people could make their minigolf experience purchases, Monty dropped Chester by one of the golf club dispensers. Chester recalled fixing this particular dispenser not too long ago. They winced when Monty ripped the top off the machine, easily tearing it off like the lid of a pringles can. He grabbed two clubs from inside. He held out the one with the blue handle to Chester, keeping the red handled club for himself.

Chester took it. Monty grabbed some golf balls from inside the machine, then stalked down the faux dirt path to the first hole. He stared at Chester intently.

It seemed their choices were to either play mini golf with Monty, or perish. Given the options at hand, Chester opted to play. They joined Monty and set their ball on the grass carpet. They squinted at the hole, laying in wait in the shadows between two hills. They tried not to think too hard about the absurdity of the situation, and hit the ball with their club. They actually managed to get it close to the hole. Chester realized that, actually, they shouldn't be trying to win. They needed to prolong this game for as long as possible, because as soon as it was over, Monty would be back in security mode.

Monty made his move next. He hit the ball surprisingly lightly. It barely made it halfway down the little field.

As the game went on, Monty would occasionally run a clearly pre-programmed line. These lines were all steeped in static, drawn out and slow as if Monty were struggling to get them out. Or perhaps, trying and failing to keep them in.

Chester noticed that Monty was playing a lot differently than he had the first time they'd played, when the situation hadn't been quite as tense. There was no boasting or bravado, no light jabs at their skills. He was playing with extreme caution, taking his time to get his ball across little wooden bridges, through hollow logs topped with plastic frogs, around clusters of fake reeds.

With a start, Chester realized Monty was doing the same thing they were doing- trying to prolong the game. They remembered how he'd sounded before they'd challenged him to the game, how he'd less stated that they didn't have an employee profile, and more warned them about it. He'd asked Chester to make it stop.

Chester stared at Monty as he barely tapped his golf ball towards the hole, not a foot away. The ball rolled two inches closer at most.

"Beat that, runt!" Monty hissed through the static. "You having fun yet?"

Chester hoped that Monty wasn't still in any pain. They made their shot, purposefully overshooting.

They were only a course away from the final hole when the lights turned on all at once. Monty dropped his club, shoulders sagging in relief. Six in the morning had come at last.

"MAAAN. What a pain!" Monty groaned loudly. "You alright there, runt?"

Chester nodded. They leaned against their golf club and returned the question. "Are you alright?"

Monty waved a clawed hand in the air. "I'm fine. You need to figure out what to do about your employee file if you wanna keep working the night shift. I don't know if you realized but I was pretty close there to doing whatever it took to make the errors stop."

Chester nodded. "I know. I have a paper copy of my profile form, I just didn't have it on me tonight."

"Let me take a look at it soon as you get the chance. And show it to the others too," Monty said.

"I will." Chester held a hand out to Monty. "Good game."

Monty barked a laugh. "Are you kidding? That was the worst game I've ever played!"

"Thanks for not killing me," Chester corrected.

"Sure, kid." Monty shook Chester's hand. "Now get outa here before I change my mind."

Chester smiled and nodded. They made their way out of gator golf, frowning as they passed the golf club dispenser and realizing they might have to be the one to fix it. They heaved a sigh as they left gator golf, trudging at last towards the daycare.

Chester considered telling Lance and Rosa about the error feedback loop the bots would get stuck in. If they were careful about it, they might be able to explain the situation, and also warn them against assigning anyone else to the night shift without first having said employee show the bots a copy of their employee form, all without explaining how exactly Chester knew about the issue, and how they'd originally found out. If the bots could be distracted from this hellish overwhelming error loop by engaging certain other programs, that might be valuable information as well.

They decided to come forward with the information. There wasn't anyone else working the night shift currently, but it likely wouldn't always be that way. Chester didn't want anyone to get hurt, and so they'd have to risk it.

For now though, they desperately wanted to get to sleep. Once they'd taken Monty's advice and shown all the bots their employee profile form, they hoped they'd be sleeping a little easier. With murderous animatronics scratched off their list of things to worry about, Chester dared to hope that things would even start looking up for them.

0 notes

beomglocks · 3 years

Text

happy (very) 'belated' father’s day

summary : the only father willing to come to the dinner

pairing : dilf neighbor!soobin x (legal)!reader x beomgyu (?)

warnings & other: i wrote the day after fathers day, the title is edited bc im posting this like WAY later LOL, threesome (?), degradation, some beomgyu (no incest), sub!beomgyu if you squint like really fucking hard, definitely not a normal relationship, slight exhibitionism, some possessiveness, DON’T read if you’re uncomfortable with age gaps, edit: REwriting this, this one is for the dilf soobin stans, eat up, don't say i don't feed yall, enjoy <3, kind of proofread

w/c : ~4k

you realize it now.

after living side by side with mr. choi soobin and his son, beomgyu, for a couple of weeks, you’ve started to realize something quite interesting.

1. your mother has a liking for tall lean men.

2. she also has a liking for trying to set you up with the tall lean mens’ son.

now, you wouldn't say you're exactly opposed to getting close to beomgyu. he's conventionally attractive and he seems like a nice boy but you're very much more attracted to the one who created him. it made sense after all.

"give these to mr. choi for me?" your mother all but shoves the roses and chocolates in your arms. you look down quizzically at such gifts. "it's not valentine's day.." you trail off.

you have a strange feeling that soobin would be put off by such acts, not seeming to be as out there as your mother. she doesn't care.

"it's fathers day..well it was...yesterday," she shrugs, fixing her bombshell red lipstick. why was she doing herself up? well a certain mr. choi was coming over.

despite the fact that your own father was out of the picture, that didn't stop your mom from wanting to celebrate every holiday in existence. unfortunately, the only willing father in town to partake in your mother's antics was mr. choi.

he liked to rile her up, you notice. soobin liked to toy with your mother's clear affection towards him, just as he did you. he also liked to throw it in your face sometimes. you didn't say what you observed but you knew he liked to make her feel wanted by a much younger, much more handsome man.

without another word, you decide to give the outlandish gifts to your neighbor. you sigh, looking down at the gifts. some assorted chocolates, nice flower arrangements, and what seems to be a sealed note? you want to roll your eyes but a part of you wonders if soobin would really like these kinds of things.

when you get to the door and ring the bell, the door swings open and there's stands the man himself. he's more put together than you at the moment so you feel out of place even at the front step of his house.

"always a pleasant surprise~" he smiles. his eyes trail down to the gifts in your arms. "for me?" his eyes grow wide and his pouty lips, the ones which you suddenly can't stop staring at since they seemed to be stained cherry red, lay slightly agape.

"from my mom," you deadpan, holding the gifts out. "she's generous~" "overbearing," you correct. "we seem to have different views then," he shrugs. "where's my gift from you though? this can't be all," he ponders in faux thought.

you smile shyly, looking down in embarrassment. "what did you get me baby?" he teasingly leans down closer to you to properly see your face. "could it be perhaps-"

before soobin can place a hand on you, beomgyu comes from downstairs. he's looking sharp, which suits him a lot, you admit. his hair is parted, giving you a teasing view of his forehead. regardless of the fact that he's wearing casual clothes, a stark contrast from his father who dawns an all black attire, beomgyu still manages to make it work for him.

"we'll be seeing you at the dinner," soobin clears his throat, noticing your apparent staring at his son. you can tell that he feels off put by your slight attraction to beomgyu. however small or minuscule it may be its still there to him.

the dinner goes almost exactly how you thought it would. soobin and your mother hit it off, talking about whatever they could to distract themselves from their children for a while. to your surprise soobin barely interacts with you. he seems too occupied with entertaining your mom to pay you any mind.

you're not sure why but this bothers you. beomgyu is occupied in the bathroom at the moment so you can't help but glance in their direction every couple of seconds. your mom is currently leaning against soobin's broad shoulder, laughing at something he's previously said. so he’s a comedian.

you watch as he looks down at her with a satisfied smile on his face. you bite the inside on your cheek and as if on cue, soobin looks up in your direction and smirks. it's almost as if he's taunting you. you bite down harder until you taste something metallic in your mouth.

you're not sure where this feeling of jealously is coming from and you know it's not healthy but you can't help it. maybe you've gotten too attached to your older neighbor in these past couple of weeks.

beomgyu comes out of the restroom with a sigh, walking back into the living room where you are. he can feel a weird tension in your general area but decides not to comment on it. suddenly you stand up, catching beomgyu off guard.

"come on beomgyu!" you say loud enough for everyone to hear especially soobin. the man in question practically pauses in speech midway to look over at you and his son. he eyes you both, mainly giving you a glare that will be engraved in your mind but you don't care. he needs a taste of his own medicine.

"come on let's go to my room, i need to show you something~" you urge him along. meanwhile, you say those words while staring straight at soobin. you hear your mom assure him that it's ok, "the kids are doing their own thing." you knew you were being childish and petty but if soobin wanted to fuck around with you this is what he would have to deal with as well.

you drag beomgyu along to your room who seems quite eager to be in this position. all he knows is that there's a weird tension between you and his father but that's as far as his knowledge goes.

when you both arrive at your room you close the door behind you and lean back on it. "is everything alright?" beomgyu hesitantly asks. you sigh, ushering him along to sit on the bed with you. he looks around subtly at all the little items in your room. everything seems to reflect you well, in his opinion. "well.." you try to stall.

you look up at him through your lashes. "you like me right?" beomgyu stares at you with wide eyes, "i-i mean yeah?" he stutters at your boldness.

"then lets try something," you smile at him, casually pulling your shirt over your head. "let's see how long it takes for your dad to come see us in this position," you say to yourself.

soobin doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to know what's going on here. he knows you're being a brat on purpose but he doesn't care because it makes it all the more fun. he will say he's surprised that you're using beomgyu, his own son, to get to him.

at first, he was getting annoyed with how you seemed to take a liking for his son which is why he wanted to rile you up by seeming extra interested in whatever your mom had to say. now, however, he knew he had a plan for that. you were not going to outsmart him, he wouldn't allow it and he would just have to put you in your place.

"excuse me but i need to use your restroom," soobin makes up a bullshit excuse to get to where you are. "oh of course!" your mom nods at him, instructing him towards the one upstairs. perfect.

"ill just finish up the dinner then!" your mother offers. "great that's enough time to put this slut in her place," he thinks. he smiles at your mom heading for upstairs.

"beomgyu you look like you just saw a ghost," you chuckle lightly, looking down at him. "y/n," he groans at the sight of only seeing you in your bra. he reaches up to grab your breasts, fondling them as delicately as possible. "you can be rough," you offer.

without even bothering to knock on the door, soobin opens it to see you both on the bed in a lewd position. you shirtless on top of beomgyu. he sucks his teeth when you both look back in alarm at the door being burst open. "y/n," he chuckles, almost sadistically.

you can already see the look in his eyes and suddenly you feel bad for not only yourself but beomgyu as well. you try to subtly grab your shirt again in shame but soobin's glare stops you. "what do you think you're doing little slut?" he folds his arms over his chest. not even caring that beomgyu is in the room, he walks over to you and grabs your hair causing you to yelp in surprise.

"s-sir.." soobin narrows his eyes at you then they flit over to beomgyu. "sit over there," he motions to the beanbag in the corner of the room. "i want you to learn something from this." without another word, beomgyu scrambles over to the seat, his heart beating in fear and excitement strangely.

you feel heat rising up your neck and to your cheeks as well as your dripping pussy. "don't be embarrassed, im sure this was your plan all along," soobin tsks, shoving your face down into the sheets. you breathe out when he rips the skirt and underwear from your body without a second thought. the racy thong that was supposed to be his surprise for father's day discarded in a second.

"soobin-" a smack to your ass. "that's not my name."

he doesn't even give you a chance to correct yourself, messing with your sticky juices before entering his cold fingers into your hole. you try to stifle your moan by burying your head further into the sheets.

"god you're so wet," soobin comments. he slowly moves his finger in and out for a while, practically torturing you with how meticulous and slow he's being. "please," you whine pathetically. "please what?" he slows his movements to stare at you with a raised eyebrow.

"please f-fuck me, please, i need your cock," you beg shamelessly. beomgyu breathes heavily, trying to forget about his growing boner but not being able to ignore it. he painfully wants to do something about it but he's not sure if he's allowed to touch himself.

he opts for subtly dragging his hand to his clothed crotch and palming himself through his pants, as uncomfortable as it is. in the meantime, soobin rids himself of his own pants, shaking his head.

he lightly smacks your throbbing pussy and you jolt. "do you seriously think you deserve it? fuck, look at you, can’t wait to be fucked like a bitch in heat~" you whine, wiggling your ass wordlessly in his face to hopefully get what you want.

soobin rubs your clit with narrowed eyes, making sure beomgyu is watching. he could care less that beomgyu is touching himself. he drags some of your cum from your hole to your clit and sighs. "alright then.."

he aligns himself with your hole and without another word slips his cock in with ease, completely bottoming out.

you want to scream at how big he is but you're only left with ragged pants as you know you're unable to make any loud noises. it seriously feels like you could be torn apart at any minute but you love the feeling of soobin’s cock filling you out.

"you're so tight seriously," soobin breathes. he can barely move at first. the way his dick fits inside of your pussy perfectly. he almost wants to comment about how you were practically made for him. he's sure if he flips you over right now, he would see the outline of his cock in your womb.

after waiting a bit for you to adjust to his length he finally starts moving. "shit-" he breathes. you have to grip the sheets to stop yourself from yelling. soobin's hands find their way to your waist and when you look to the side just for a split second you can see beomgyu fighting for his life to not moan out loud.

"look beomgyu-" soobin says in between jagged breaths. "if you wanna fuck around with his pathetic slut this is how you treat her." a moan gets caught in your throat when soobin pounds into you at once. "ah- i-" a part of you wants to apologize and is trying to but he won't give you a chance to speak.

"isn't that right my slutpuppy? did you have something to add?" at the sound of the nickname your walls tighten around him and he sends a harsh smack to your ass. "you're enjoying this aren't you?" he rolls his eyes and sighs heavily.

soobin thrusts start getting faster and faster, beomgyu watching with his mouth agape at his father kissing and sucking at your neck to muffle his own moans. beomgyu can only bite his lip and noises from his throat barely pass his lips as he reaches his high.

soobin growls at seeing your eyes focus on beomgyu so he starts slamming his cock into you at an animalistic pace and you think you might break.

beomgyu bucks into his hand as he cums from the sound and sight of skin slapping added with the tiny noises you'd make. not too long after you feel yourself shudder, unable to warn soobin that you had come you squeeze your eyes shut and let out a whine instead.

"fuck- ok baby," soobin understands as soon as your walls squeeze around him. he pants a couple a times and as soon as he reaches his high he pulls out, pumping his cock to let his cum shoot out on your ass.

"s-sir," you moan. "shhh it's ok." soobin sighs heavily, coming down from his own high to tend to your broken state. he looks over at beomgyu, who's head is lulled to the side as he gazes at your sweat and semen covered body.

soobin sucks his teeth deciding not to say anything to the boy and let him chill for a minute. he shrugs his pants back on and carries you in his arms to the nearest bathroom.

you cozy up to his warm embrace, letting out a sigh. "baby we need to clean you off.." you hear him whisper. you almost completely forget that there's a dinner that's supposed to be happening and you cant just go to sleep with soobin like you'd want.

a sudden coldness hits your body and you shiver. "ok," you agree. his cum is already starting to dry on you and you want nothing more than to be cleaned like he offers. you're not sure how you'll explain your change of clothes to your mom but you're sure you'll come up with something later.

no words need to be spoken after what happened and you're glad because you're not sure what to say. soobin doesn't seem keen on talking at the moment either, too focused on cleaning you off, so you decide to stay quiet.

it's silent in the bathroom until you both hear your mother all out. "dinner's ready!"

you chuckle, breaking the silence as soobin looks up at you with a questioning eyebrow. “happy father’s day.”

#soobin smut #soobin x reader #txt smut #txt imagines #txt scenarios #soobin scenarios #soobin imagines #choi soobin smut #txt x reader #smut #drabble #tomorrow x together imagines #soobin reactions #soobin drabble #now.....#i have to cleanse #and think abt my life #i love dilf soobin #rip beomgyu

709 notes · View notes

possiblyimbiassed · 3 years

Text

The lying liars who lie

Years and years late to the party, I’ve finally gotten my hands on all the DVDs of BBC Sherlock, and I thought it would be fun to watch the extra material carefully, one piece after another, and also listen to at least some of the show makers’ commentary of the episodes. But at this point, after S4 where DVDs seemed to be a constant lying device in general, I tend to look at them with a bit more suspicious eyes...

I still love the show of course, but now that I’ve taken this deep dive into all the special features, I find them a truly hard thing to try to wrap my head around. Even this long after the fact, I’m amazed by the amount of shameless, self-congratulatory BS in the DVDs, where the people involved can’t have enough of complimenting each other and their show, while they skillfully avoid to discuss anything actually meaningful about the plot line. ;) For example, Moffat claims in the S2 DVD that “In fact, you’ll never see a more obsessively authentic version of Sherlock Holmes than this one”. But if we follow their light-hearted commentary, which basically takes the show at face value, I’d call that not just hyperbole, but an outright lie. If you want to see the ‘authentic’ stories from ACD’s work in this show, you’ll definitely need to go much deeper into the subtext and meta levels - neither of which are mentioned on these DVDs of course. Here’s my own (rather subjective) ‘review’ of the whole thing, trying to pinpoint why I view most of the commentary of the show from its own makers as an advanced art of deception.

(My musings under the cut)

Series 1 - a wealth of extra material

First of all - as many of you probably knew already - the whole of the Unaired Pilot is added to the DVD of S1. In the extra material about the making of the series, they (Sue Vertue, Mofftiss and others) talk about what things they changed between the Pilot and ASiP, claiming that many changes were necessary improvements once they knew that they had a whole series and a lot more time at their disposal.

Which I can perfectly understand and agree with in general. But I think what’s missing in their discussions is more interesting than what’s actually there (”Mind the gap” ;) ). Things that I would expect from the show makers when they go to the trouble of comparing the pilot version with the aired product. There’s not a word, for example, about the fact that they added both Mycroft and Moriarty to the story in ASiP - two characters who later turn out to play major roles and appear in almost every other episode until the end of TFP. Or about the choice that one of the screenwriters would play Mycroft.

Neither do they discuss why they chose to relocate the place where Sherlock was challenged by the cabbie from 221B to Roland Kerr’s School of Further Education. Instead they focus on the details, like for example the new design of the interior of 221B.

Not to mention the fact that almost every scene in the Pilot is mirrored in ASiP (as pointed out long ago by @kateis-cakeis X), but at Angelo’s in the Pilot Sherlock follows the events with the cabbie while looking in an actual mirror. I even noticed that in the Pilot the cabbie is offering Sherlock dark-coloured bottles with the pills in them, while in ASiP those bottles are transparent, as if the cabbie is offering Sherlock to play Black or White in the chess game that he is simulating. What’s with all these mirrors, though? Not a word on the DVD... ;)

Now, even though these rather remarkable choices are neglected together with a great bunch of minor ones, I still think that the most interesting fact about all this is that they actually included the whole pilot version within this DVD, which is sold by the franchise. Why even do this, when it raises far more questions than it answers? The only logical reason I can come up with is that they’re laying out a track of little hints that anyone with a deep enough interest in the show to actually buy the DVDs can try to follow. And it seems to me that lying by omission is one of the first steps in the long line of cryptic and misleading author comments on this show. But at the same time, they clearly want the fans to have access to it all, even the abandoned version.

Moving on to Series 2, time for bigger lies

In the extra material of this DVD Benedict himself describes how his character "faces one of his deadliest enemies in the shape of Love, and it comes in the form of Irene Adler, who is this extraordinary dominatrix [insert here a bunch of superlatives regarding Adler]...”. And then we see how Adler whips Sherlock with a riding crop (without any kind of consent, I have to add) while he’s lying on the floor, and we have Lara Pulver telling us how it was to have a go at Benedict on set. So Holmes whips dead bodies and Adler whips living; seems like a match made in hell! :))

Gatiss claims, grinning with his whole face, that “they’re clearly, absolutely made for each other”. OK, so I think we can see Sherlock being intellectually impressed by Adler, and even trying to protect her from Mycroft, and we can see John acting jealously. We can also see her being dressed and styled as a perfect, female mirror of Sherlock. But I’m still at a loss what all this has to do with love on Sherlock’s part? Especially since he’s not even responding in any fashion to her various attempts at seducing him.

And there’s more: Paul McGuigan, the director of ASiB, claims that the scene where Sherlock has a conversation with Adler inside his Mind Palace about the crime case with the car that backfires "is a part of a kind of love story, if you like...” No, I don’t. Maybe it’s just me, but if their aim really was to convey to their audience a love story between Sherlock and The Woman, I think they failed miserably. All I see is a guy ’mansplaining’ to a clever woman how to use her brain, while she’s trying to flirt with him by expressing her admiration (to no avail, though) and make deductions at the same time. Nothing new under the sun, really. John did the same thing repeatedly in ASiP (without making own deductions) and got far more attention from Sherlock, but I’ve never heard any of the show makers call that ”a love story”. But by ’lie-splaining’ the scene with Irene to the audience, they try to manipulate us all to see it as such...

In all the direct commentary of this episode, where Steven, Mark, Sue, Benedict and Lara are present, I get the impression that every time they even touch on the relationship between Sherlock and John, they hurry to add the term “friendship” or “man love” or similar words in case they forgot them at first, avoiding even the tiniest possibility that there could be anything more going on between them. They even explain that when Irene calls them “a couple” she does not mean anything romantic. This whole approach feels almost paranoic in the midst of all the laid-back jokes and light-hearted talk about the filming. It’s as if a sort of restrictive, heteronormative filter or blanket is being constantly applied, to teach the audience the ‘no homo’ lesson of it all. And the more I listen to this, the more tiresome it becomes.

In the commentary Moffat does reveal an interesting detail, though: that the ‘Flight of the Dead’ in ASiB was inspired by a cut out scene in the Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service. To me this is just one more reason to question the ‘authentic’ quality of this scene, as opposed to possibly taking place in Sherlock’s Mind Palace. But I digress...

Listening to the commentary in general, it’s like it’s aimed to distract the attention from what’s going on at the screen rather than highlight it and try to explain their intentions. They do mention that Irene didn’t actually ‘beat’ Sherlock in the end of ASiB, but there’s no explanation of this obvious deviation from canon, where Adler does indeed fool Holmes, taking advantage of his prejudices.

The rest of the extra material of S2 is mostly about technical stuff, special effects and such, and also about filming techniques and Benedict’s delivery of fast deductions. But the part I really do love is the one where Andrew Scott talks about how much he enjoyed playing the scene where Moriarty dances before breaking into the Crown Jewels. That’s one of my favorite scenes of he whole show. :) Also, the takeaway message from this DVD is Moffat’s words at the end:

“These are still the formative years of Sherlock Holmes, and the most important thing about this series is not that it’s updated; it’s the fact that those two men are still young and they’re still at the beginning of what they don’t yet know is gonna be a lifelong partnership”.

And then comes Series 3...

...and its extra material, with the most blatant attempts at deception so far, I believe. At this point Sherlock is called a “psychopath” by both the show’s characters, John’s blog, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as if it were true, which is a big deviation from ACD canon. That simply doesn’t happen there; while Holmes is sometimes described as eccentric, no one in the books is ever claiming that Sherlock Holmes has some kind of mental illness leaning towards cruelty and egotism - not even his enemies say this about him. In the show, however, they begin in ASiP with making him torture a dying man for information (something that is not included in the Pilot). And in S3, where they avoid discussing the reason why they turned Mary Morstan into a ruthless assassin, this major shift is glossed over by the fact that in the same episode (HLV) they also turn Sherlock into a murderer, who cold-bloodedly blows the brains out of a blackmailer for threatening to make said assassin’s crimes public.

But without ever getting into the “why” of it all, the cast and crew seem overly happy and smiling describing these rather morbid choices as something positive; “fantastic”, "fresh and new” and "amazing” are their choice of words. Benedict claims that Mary, who has literally shot and almost killed Sherlock in HLV, is now "a new best friend of Sherlock’s”. Amanda claims that Mary “is protecting John” when she shoots Sherlock in the chest. Now they’re both psychopaths, and poor little John is forced to stomach them both because he’s addicted to danger. In Amanda’s words, Mary also “kind of gets in between the two of them, but she wants them to be together as well”. Which is a load of BS considering that Mary tries to kill the protagonist of the story.

Lars Mikkelsen thinks it’s “such a good script” because “you’re mislead as an audience”. But he never gets the chance to expand on what the misleading actually contains, because then Mofftiss cut in to express how much they love playing with “what ifs”. As if this whole mega-budget project of a show were just a big experimental playground without any actual story to tell.

Benedict repeats his line from HLV that Magnussen “preys on people who are different” and Moffat also says he “exploits people who are different”. Which is really confusing, considering what we can see Magnussen actually do in the show. Lady Smallwood and John Garvie are two well-established, powerful governmental politicians whom Magnussen blackmails by finding their respective pressure points. In Garvie’s case his pressure point seems to be alcohol problems in his past, but according to media he’s later arrested on charges of corruption. Lady Smallwood is blackmailed on the basis of her husband having sent compromising letters to a minor many years ago, in spite of later claiming that he thought she was older and stopped when he found out the truth. And then Magnussen is blackmailing an assassin who recently threatened to execute him but shot Sherlock Holmes instead, in order to try to get at Sherlock’s brother Mycroft, another powerful governmental figure.

But what does media seeking out dirt on certain people in power and their families have to do with “people who are different”? Despicable as the method may be, isn’t this unfortunately how political power play usually works in our society? Or are TPTB somehow a repressed minority group now? Unless this whole “people who are different” accusation is actually about something entirely different, something that none of the show makers even cares to mention... ;)

In these DVDs, none of the involved persons is ever discussing the change of roles with regards to canon, though, or the (lack of) logics in this turn of events, or even a hint about the narrative motivation behind them. It’s all about the great Drama, the extraordinary visual effects and the aim to endlessly “surprise the audience”. Which is fine by me to a certain extent, but when this is all that’s being said, it feels extremely superficial, as if the audience is merely seen as a bunch of consumers that have to be triggered more and more by horror, special effects and cliff hangers to be able to appreciate the show. (“Warm paste” indeed, like Gatiss has later criticized some viewers of wanting...) While the "why”; the idea behind this surrealistic adaptation, made by self-proclaimed fanboys of ACD, is not even touched upon. Around this, the silence is total and therefore totally confusing.

Maybe I shouldn’t even go into Series 4...

...but why not, since I’ve already started? :)

First of all, there’s a lot of extra material on this DVD and I particularly love the parts about the music and composing and Arwel Wyn Jones’ work with the design and build-up of John’s and Mary’s flat and the interior of 221B. Those bits are truly enjoyable. What I could live without, though, is the leading commentary that kind of instructs us, the audience, how we should interpret the show.

Benedict is on it again on this DVD, telling us that in TST they picked up where they left off in S3 and “It’s a very happy unit of three people that then become four.” Why does he feel the need to make this statement, considering how S3 ended? Actually, if there’s anything I totally fail to see in S4, it’s happiness. The banter between the three of them may seem entertaining for a while, but who could have a relaxed, warm relationship with someone who tried and almost succeeded to kill you less than a year ago? Without any sign of remorse? Now there’s a dark tone of discomfort and mean jokes that feels forced and not even a bit happy to me.

But Martin tells us how excited John and Mary are about starting a family and Amanda mentions how much they’re looking forward to the baby. Again and again it’s repeated, as though trying to rub it in: “they’re in a good place, they’re a loving, married couple”. Yeah, right - a child that (judging by TSoT) wasn’t at all planned and now with an assassin for a mother... Twice we see the new parents complain that their daughter has the mark of Satan on her forehead and debate which horror movie she’s from. The clichéd hypocrisy of it all is sickening, and I’m willing to bet that it’s really meant to be. ;)

But Gatiss chimes in, deciding for us all that the christening of Rosie is “a funny scene” and “they’re enjoying each other, enjoying being on adventures as a three”.

An interesting detail is that Gatiss also tells us that the working name of this episode was “The Adventure of the Melting power Ranger”. So this little blue guy was that important? :) And - even more interesting - is when he says: “Cake is now the code for violent death”. So how should we interpret Sherlock, John and Molly going out to have cake in TLD then, on Sherlock’s (supposed) birthday?

These might be jokes, though, but when they tell us that Sue cries every time she sees Mary’s death I strongly believe they must be joking. How could anyone feel truly moved by this overly sentimental long monologue where far more efforts are put into reacting to Mary’s speech than saving her life? And John’s mooing like a cow, is that also moving? :)

One thing Martin says about TLD that actually disgusts me is regarding the morgue scene where John assaults Sherlock and Sherlock lets it happen: “From there, really, their relationship can only sort of rebuild, that’s the absolute worst it can get”. As if outright physical abuse would be something that makes you want to rebuild a relationship? Wow - just wow... How far can they go with this crap?

Anyway, when we finally arrive at the absurdity of TFP and Sherlock’s ‘secret sister’, everything is of course discussed as if she actually does exist on the given premises, and everything she does is ‘real’, no matter how impossible it would be in real life. The abandonment of any attempt to have the story line make logical sense is skillfully covered up by more distraction with fascinating technicalities of the film making process. This is where Gatiss makes his now almost classic statement that after Sherlock and John jump out of the window at 221B when a grenade explodes there, it’s just “Boop! And they’re fine.”

Of course there’s no serious attempt at explaining this logically. Except perhaps Gatiss claiming that they both landed on Speedy’s awning - whatever good that would do to them, since the awning is leaning downwards, but never mind... But we never even saw that happen, did we? A great deal of time is then dedicated to show all the precautions to have Martin and Ben jumping safely at low level onto a madras supported by empty cardboard boxes.

Sian Brooke did say something interesting about Sherrinford, however, that got me thinking. She said that Eurus “wants revenge for the years and years that she has been held captive” there, isolated, and that in TFP the Holmes children are now “lab rats” and “it’s an experiment”. On a meta level, I think we can indeed see this episode - and maybe the whole show - as a kind of experiment, but maybe we, the audience, are also lab rats? Since Sherrinford is slightly shaped like a film camera (not commented in the extra material, of course), it leads my thought to all the adaptations through the years and years where Holmes and Watson have not been allowed to be together. A whole century when Sherlock Holmes has been held captive, restricted by the very same sort of heteronormative filter that all this extra material imposes; it’s like Sherrinford, isn’t it? Which gives all the more meaning to Moriarty’s arrival to the island, accompanied by Freddy Mercury’s “I want to break free”...

I think I’ll let the final words in this little exposé come from Mark Gatiss in The Writers’ Chat (my bolding):

“Moriarty is a fascinating thing in that in our sea of ongoing lies, one thing we’ve genuinely been completely consistent about is telling people he’s dead. But no-one believes it! And it’s a rather brilliant thing.” Again - self-congratulatory statements. But instead of providing some actual evidence of the death of this character, who has kept popping up in almost every episode since his supposed demise, they think that the more a confirmed liar repeats something, the truer it gets? And the more we’re supposed to believe them? Well, all we can do is wait and see. :)

Tagging some people who might be interested:

@raggedyblue @ebaeschnbliah @sarahthecoat @gosherlocked @lukessense @sagestreet @thepersianslipper

My earlier meta on a similar topic (X)

#bbc sherlock dvds #Deception in BBC Sherlock

225 notes · View notes

one-boring-person · 3 years

Note

Hey, if you take requests, can I ask Eric x Reader where he’s obsessed with her? Ps. "Stiff, huh?" Is so intense ... Eric is wow

I do take requests! Thank you for leaving this, it was fun to write! I hope this is alright! And I'm glad you enjoyed the other fic 😊💛💛

I'll Cover You.

Eric Coulter x reader

Warnings: swearing, injury, blood, violence, gun use

Masterlist

A yelp inadvertently escapes me as a sharp bolt of pain goes through my right hand, my punch falling short as I flinch back in surprise. Biting my lip, I shake my hand, glancing around at the other initiates nearby, thankful that no one has noticed my brief moment of weakness. Discreetly, I unfold my fist and examine it, trying to discern exactly what caused the sudden discomfort, looking over the purple bruising dusting my knuckles, as well as the grazes adorning the same areas. I frown, unsure of what happened. Shaking it off, I simply get back into position and go to strike the punchbag again, tensing my core before I do anything.

A stern voice interrupts me, however, as a familiar figure steps up beside me.

"Take your thumb out of your fist, initiate." Eric commands, staring me down with his icy blue eyes.

"S-sorry?" I stutter, unsure of what he means as I look down at my fists.

He rolls his eyes and sighs, forming a fist with his own hand.

"Like this. It's not hard." He shows me, gesturing to my own hands.

Trying not to look at his bulging muscles, I observe his hand and copy it, only now realising what he meant.

"Never punch with your thumb in your fist, or you'll end up breaking it. Wouldn't be a great start, would it?" Are his only words before he stalks off, going to watch over some other initiate, leaving me blinking in his wake.

Keeping my hands as he showed me, I start beating the bag again, ignoring the slight stinging from the grazes as I work on the efficiency of my blows. With each punch, I make sure to hold my composure, stepping back from the bag as if my opponent were retaliating, keeping my eyes trained on it, so much so that I completely zone out the area around me. That is until I hear my name being called.

"(Y/n)! Kai! In the ring, now!" Eric orders us, voice resonating around the training area as it always does, his authority lacing his tone.

Swallowing nervously, I cautiously walk over to the raised platform, terrified at the thought of facing off with this particular initiate. People stare as I climb up, their eyes roaming over my body critically, comparing me with the hugely muscular boy across from me. Kai is massive in every sense of the word: bulging muscular arms, visibly toned torso, thighs like pillars and with a towering height that looms over the tallest of people. Surprisingly, however, his personality is much softer, the guy being relatively friendly with everyone, only really using his strength (gained from hard work in the Amity fields) for good use; he almost always apologizes for hurting someone. As I square up to him, I feel myself becoming more and more nervous by the minute, his fists easily the size of two of mine, but I ignore the rising sense of dread and wait for Eric to start us off.

"Go." The leader simply grunts, watching closely as we start circling each other.

Controlling my breathing, I move my weight onto the balls of my feet and hold my arms over my body, providing some protection from the oncoming onslaught of blows. Judging his step, I make eye contact with Kai briefly before suddenly ducking into his space and jabbing my fist out at his lower abdomen, striking his rock-hard abs with some force. Instantly, I recoil back out of reach, prepared for some form of retaliation in reaction to the blow, somewhat surprised when he shows minimal pain. Distracted by this, I quickly receive a blow to the stomach, having left it unguarded from my previous attack, the breath leaving me as his knuckles make contact. Grunting, I stumble backwards, ducking over my body to protect myself, only to accidentally make myself into an easier target as he grabs hold of my head and smashes my face into his lifted knee. Tears spring to my eyes as my nose audibly crunches, blood starting to pour from it as I begin to lose some focus, the pain raising in my face very disconcerting.

With my head still in his hands, I feel him lift it again for yet another blow with his knee, my mind racing as I jerk out my arm and jab it into the space between his thighs. A grunt escapes him at this, instinctively releasing me as he goes to protect his intimate regions. Relieved, I slip out of his reach and readjust, taking note of his slightly hunched position. Moving swiftly, I get closer and swing my leg round in a sharp kick to his jaw, throwing his head to the side painfully, the muscular boy spitting out a mouthful of blood as he goes, one of his teeth coming loose from the sudden impact. Triumphant, I go to repeat the action, only to find my leg grabbed by him, his hand closing around my limb tightly. Smirking, he quickly uses this hold on my leg to pull my feet out from under me, easily throwing me over his shoulder and smashing me into the ground, pain blossoming in my chest as it collides. Winded, I lie there, only just managing to twist onto my back as he lifts a foot over my head, ready to kick me into unconsciousness.

"Stop." Eric's cool voice interrupts us both, breaking through the haze.

Both our heads snap round to look at him, my vision spinning as I do so, confused as I stare at our leader through blurry eyes.

"Go to the infirmary and get yourselves fixed up. Now." He commands us, turning away from us and going to stand a little way away.

As soon as his back is turned, Kai crouches down to my level and offers me a hand, grey eyes clouded with concern.

"You alright? I'm sorry, I went too far." He says, helping me upright, slipping his arm around my back and lending me his shoulder to get me walking.

"It's fine, Kai, don't worry. It's what we're supposed to do, after all. I'm sorry about hitting you...there." I apologise, wincing as my chest heaves slightly, my ribs clearly bruised.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine."

As we walk, neither of us notice Eric's eyes following us out of the room.

For once, I don't barely climb onto the train as I speeds by, my arms somehow managing to pull me inside with time to spare, a smile working its way onto my face in triumph. Usually, I seem to struggle with having the distance, but tonight I managed it with some ease, meaning I didn't have to embarrass myself under the watchful eyes of Eric, who stares down at me as I straighten again. As always, his face is blank, his arms folded tightly across his chest, his muscles straining under the fabric of his coat. Suppressing the smile on my face, I bite my lip and look away, ignoring the slight twitch of his brow as he looks me over, eyeing me carefully as I go to stand with Kai, who has quickly become a good friend of mine, the huge boy turning out to be very caring and enjoyable to have around.

"Where do you think we're going?" The brunette asks me as I go to lean on the wall beside him.

Shrugging, I watch as the rest of the initiates join us, the Dauntless-born easily springing onto the moving train whilst the others, like Kai and I, struggle a little. Four is last to hop up, as always.

"I don't know." I inform my friend, looking to the bags at Eric's feet.

"Well, if you wait patiently, you might just find out." Eric suddenly bites out, his gaze fixed on the two of us.

Surprised, we both now, exchanging a glance between us.

"Oops." I mutter to him, falling silent as we watch the leader step forwards into the middle of the initiates.

"We're gonna play some Capture the Flag tonight. Four and I will each lead a team, each of which hides a flag and has to defend it. First team to get the opposing flag wins." He explains briefly, bending to unzip one of the bags at his feet, pulling out a type of gun I've never seen before, "You'll each get one of these. They're loaded with neurostim darts, which will simulate the pain of a gunshot wound without actually injuring you. They hurt like a bitch, so watch yourselves."

As he says this, Eric allows his eyes to fall on Kai and I, narrowing them as he finds my friend.

"Ok, Eric and I will now pick our teams. Eric will go first." Four chips in, gesturing for the leader to start.

"I'll take (Y/n)." He chooses, staring at me as I double take in surprise. Dumbfounded, I nod once, signifying that I heard him.

Four appears surprised momentarily, before he blinks and chooses one of the Dauntless-born.

Five minutes later and we've all been picked for a team, each of us sidling over towards our corresponding team leader as the train starts to come to a slowed pace. Kai was picked for Four's team, so I shoot him one last look before going to stand with the rest of Eric's team, taking one of the proffered guns and comfortably resting it against my hip, keeping the safety on for now. Looking up, I make eye contact with the stern leader, just catching his eye before he quickly glances away, saying something to Four as we prepare to leave the train, having been told to do so.

Without warning, Eric and Four throw themselves from the vehicle, landing somewhere in the darkness as the rest of us follow hastily, unwilling to be left on the train. Slinging the gun over my shoulder, I launch myself into the black night, my feet colliding with the ground seconds later, causing me to roll to absorb the shock, my hands scraping slightly on the uneven gravel. I'm quick to right myself, however, taking the gun off of my shoulder as I take out my torch and light it, easily locating Eric and going to stand with him. The rest of the team joins us and we leave the main area, walking for a few minutes until Eric stops.

"We'll need a tactic. Four is good at this, but I've beaten him most times so we need to make sure we don't lose to him tonight, got it?" The leader briefs us, holding out the luminescent flag to one of the Dauntless-born, "Go hide this in that old ticket booth over there. It's easy enough to defend and it's hard for them to find. The rest of you, find somewhere to hide around it. (Y/n), you're coming with me."

Surprised, I look at him but agree anyway, glad to have some alone time with the leader, watching as he elects one of the more experienced initiates to take charge of the defending team, before he signals for me to follow him. Taking the safety off my gun, I do so, keeping my footfall light and gentle, staying low to the ground to avoid being seen. Eric does the same, his movements calculated and practiced, his muscular frame somehow managing to step stealthily over the uneven ground.

"What did you want me for?" I hiss at him, keeping an eye out for any attackers.

"I need you to climb that tower and locate their flag. And you have the best aim, so I'm gonna need you to snipe out any guards if you can, so that you can then go in and get it." He whispers back, pointing to a nearby tower.

Frowning, I go to respond.

"And what about you?"

"I'll cover you, obviously." He replies matter-of-factly.

"Right."

As we approach the tower, he breaks off and goes to hide behind a nearby dumpster, reinforcing his plan to me as he does so, expecting me to scale the riveted wall of the abandoned structure by hand. Swallowing, I replace the gun over my shoulders and look over the rough surface before me, wondering how the hell I'm ever going to pull this off. Finding a handhold, I start ascending, using the marks to my advantage as I hoist myself higher and higher, ignoring the aching protests of my arms. Grazes litter my fingertips, my muscles trembling with each pull up, the gun knocking gently against my lower back.

It takes me a few minutes, but soon I'm high enough that I can see the area around us, my eyes roaming the dark area with scrutiny, looking out for the fluorescent flag. I spot it easily, the colourful fabric glowing brightly on top of another nearby tower, just a little way away, a figure guarding it alone, though there are most likely others at the base of the structure.

A sudden cry of pain snaps my attention down to the ground again, my eyes swiftly finding the silhouette of a body lying on the floor, Eric swiftly moving out to make sure the threat stays down, his fun levelled in preparation. Upon seeing this, I start climbing back down, spotting another three oncoming opponents just a little way away from us, their voices somewhat raised. Taking note of this, I hasten down, managing to hop down in time to face off with the newcomers, who are faced with a swift barrage of darts. Two fall, clutching at their legs in pain, the third taking a little more to neutralize before he too drops to the floor, squirming in agony.

"You find it?" Eric questions me, secretly checking me over for any injury in the darkness, aware that he can't really see much

"Yeah, it's this way." Turning, the two of us run in the direction of the other tower, thankfully staying clear of any enemies until we reach the low wall surrounding the structure. Circling it, we soon figure out why this particular tower was chosen.

"There's only one way into the tower past this wall, and they'll all be around that area." Eric muses, stopping with his back pressed against the offending architecture, "Any ideas?"

Thinking for a minute, I eye the wall carefully.

"I think so. We didn't get shot at as we approached it, which means they must all be at the other end, or not paying any attention, so one of us could climb over the wall and get in that way, but they'd be vulnerable when they were climbing the tower." I suggest, tapping my weapon slightly.

"I said I'd cover you. You climb and I'll shoot the bastards, then I'll join you at the top." Eric confirms, gesturing for me to go.

Nodding, I make my way around to another part of the wall, starting to scale it in the darkness as I did before, hoping no one will catch me. Gritting my teeth, I haul myself over the structure and drop into the enclosed area, glad to hear the cries of alarm coming from a different part of the circle as I run over to the base of the tower. Thanking my aptitude for climbing, I start making my way up the building, trying to ignore the possibility of falling to my death as I start to get higher and higher off the ground. It takes me a little while, but I eventually manage to pull my aching limbs up and onto the balcony of the upper floor of the tower, somehow still out of sight of the guard, who is shooting at what I'm assuming is Eric down in the circle. Quietly, I slip into the shadows and ready my gun, shooting the unsuspecting initiate into the back, their sharp cry of surprise and pain resonating loudly around the room as I take up the flag and go to the open window. Leaning out, I scream out to the people below, waving it around triumphantly as a chorus of groans escapes the gathering of defenders, Eric already climbing the steps inside the tower.

Ecstatic, I shake the flag around more, happy that I may have proved myself as capable for once, my face split into a proud grin. Behind me, Eric suddenly bursts in, coming over to me with a smirk of his own.

"Congratulations, (Y/n)." He says, seemingly considering something.

"Thank you." I murmur, fighting off the blush as he stares at me, his eyes concealing a different emotion to what I was expecting.

Suddenly, he leans in and presses his lips to mine, swallowing my squeak of surprise as he starts to move with me. Cupping my face in his hand, his other at my waist, pulling me closer, Eric continues to kiss me, the sensation stirring up butterflies in my stomach, my body craving his touch as he presses himself flush against me. Briefly pulling apart for air, he manages to say something before he closes the gap again.

"God, I'm obsessed with you."

#divergent #eric coulter divergent #eric coulter #Eric Coulter imagine #Eric Coulter x reader #jai courtney

371 notes · View notes

missroller15 · 3 years

Text

A very special date night

ok, here it finally is! I’m sorry about the delay but I got it finished and I’m actually pretty nervous to post this but here goes, I hope you all enjoy it <3333

________________________________________________________________

Finally.. It was date night. EJ and Gina couldn’t be more hyped to finally get their time together.

Due to busy schedules (EJ in college and Gina with highschool, theater, etc.), time alone just got cut shorter and shorter. They decided enough was enough and planned for one day a month where they could both simply be together but of course, to make things a bit more interesting, one of them would choose the location while the other got to choose the meal or place to eat.

This month, EJ was choosing where they’d go but the thing is… Gina truly had no clue what he could be planning. Usually, he’d drop a huge obvious hint but assume he didn’t just reveal but this time around, no hints or anything.

The day finally came, a bright Friday afternoon. The sunlight beamed through Gina’s window as she yawned while stretching her arms out. Still in the process of waking up, she suddenly heard a buzz come from her phone.

Hey, G. Sorry, I couldn't text sooner! I’m at the zoo with Big Red so I won’t be home most of today. Enjoy some of the breakfast saved in the fridge and get your game face ready for tonight with my cuz ;)

Before Gina could respond, a second message came in putting a stop to all her suspicions.

And nope, can’t answer any questions! Anyways, have fuuuuun

She let out a long sigh, so many questions rushing through her mind and the only way she could think of putting them to rest for the moment was by focusing on something else so the girl sluggishly got up and went to shower.

Once she was out, most of her impending questions had settled (not all were gone, to be clear though) and as she walked downstairs, yet another message came except not from Ash this time.

From EJ: Ready for one of the greatest date nights ever, babe? ;)

A smile grew on her face as she headed to the door and found EJ waiting outside beside his car. He was leaning against it, specifically by the passenger side, most likely waiting for Gina to arrive so he could open the door for her like the incredible sweet boyfriend he is. Blush spread across her face as he noticed her coming out.

“So, am I still not allowed to ask questions?” she joked once they were both sitting inside the car.

“I mean, of course but this is gonna be an interesting date and honestly I’m curious to see your reaction without any ideas..” he explained as they drove. Gina raised an eyebrow but kept her thoughts to herself. While they sat in a comfortable silence, she started to try and contemplate where they could be going. The biggest hint she had was Ashlyn’s text but even then, with how vague it was, she still remained puzzled.

Just then when they arrived, all that curiosity disappeared from her mind and she finally realized what she meant by getting her game face ready. They were about to play Laser Tag.

As they walked in, she couldn’t help but already feel her adrenaline start to rush. She finally realized what Ash meant when she said to get her game face ready and Gina was going to do just that.

The teams were selected by random and EJ already had their names filled out on the form so now all they had to do was wait for the announcer to begin calling out names. Gina and EJ anxiously but even more excitedly stood waiting for the announcement to come already with their hands interlocked.

As they stood waiting, EJ leaned over to whisper something into Gina’s ear sending a chill down her back. “Just know, that if we’re on a different teams and I beat you, I will like you just the same as I do at this moment.”

Gina scoffed at the comment and looked him dead in the eye, trying to stifle her laughter. “Don’t try to intimidate me, babe.. It’s not gonna change anything, I got my game face on now and it stays till I win.”

He jokingly rolled his eyes at the snarky reply. Before he could respond, the announcer finally came on.

“Ok ok ok, let’s do this! So excited to kick-off the first laser tag game of the day and as most of you already know how this goes, blah blah blah be safe. Once you’re hit, you’re done for a good ten minutes. Now anyways, now back to teams..” he quickly rambled.

Gina glanced over at EJ who just gently squeezed her hand while they expectantly waited to hear the team names.

“Alrighty then, let’s begin… for team red, EJ Caswell…” he started, considering the teams only consisted of six players for this round, it didn’t take long to name all the players and before they knew it, it was already time for the blue team.

Since Gina’s name wasn’t called out for the red team, it was obvious she’d be a part of the blue team meaning that they were going to go against each other. To be honest, the idea of being able to hold the win over the other’s head enticed them both.. A lot more than they liked to admit.

The teams began to disperse and head to the main room for setting up. While in there, this time EJ shot a glance at Gina, who was zipping up her dark blue vest. She turned for a second to wink at him before returning her attention back to her team.

EJ did the same and not too long after, the whispers and small talk went silent as everyone’s laser guns began beeping and flashing most likely because they were being turned on while the lights dimmed down. The announcer came on one last time soon after.

“Players, prep time is over… the doors to the laser tag area are now unlocked and you may enter. Let the games begin.”

Everyone immediately separated and went to find hiding spots. Gina immediately knew the second level was the place she needed to be. As she navigated through the dark space, something felt off… almost as if she felt a presence following behind her.

“It’s probably just your nerves, don’t break focus”, Gina muttered under her breath. Soon enough, she began to turn a corner, that feeling came back again. She immediately began dashing and ended up finding a small pitch dark corner to hide in right by the stairs she was finding to the second level in the first place.

Just as Gina thought, once she slipped behind the corner someone came not long after and it didn’t surprise her one bit who it was.

“Aw man, I lost her.” EJ groaned in frustration. Gina bit the inside of her cheek to contain her laughter at seeing the poor green eyed boy mope.

The fun ended though as he started to explore the area and he began getting dangerously close to her corner so she did the only reasonable thing a person would do if they felt threatened.

While his back was turned, she took the opportunity and leaped onto his back. He immediately toppled over and Gina had the upper hand for the moment. Gina clapped her hand over his mouth before he could start yelling for help.

“Shhh.. don’t fight it.” she whispered softly leaning in closer. Now she hadn’t planned for this part of the plan but he was right there.. one little peck wouldn’t do anything.

As she slowly removed her hand from on top of his mouth, her body went into shock when he went in for the kiss. She didn’t even think twice once her brain started to function again and reciprocated.

Her hand gently released its tight grip on the gun and Gina’s focus finally broke. They broke apart after about 30 seconds to take a breath but then Gina heard something that made her blood run cold.

Her vest was beeping and so was her gun.

She looked at EJ, who had a satisfied smirk resting on his face. “I thought you knew this, G. I play to win.” He said so while holding his red glowing gun up.

Gina, shocked and possibly just a bit impressed, remained speechless. He played her at her own game and won?! Gina wasn’t gonna let this go, there was still a chance and she wasn’t going to waste it.

In the ten minutes that Gina was out, EJ knew she would be out to get him and only him. He played an extremely dangerous move by playing Gina like that but it’s obviously what she was planning for him so if anything, at least she’ll know now that he knows most of the tricks up her sleeve.

What scares him though is what she has left…

Within a couple seconds, he manages to find one of his teammates and the two stuck together for a couple minutes. They found a good spot and chilled for a second after all the navigating and running.

“So, the girl that’s currently out.. She’s your girlfriend, right?” the boy said, he looked around 14-15 but EJ couldn’t exactly tell.

“Yep and once she’s back in, we’re gonna need to hide really well.” he warned, followed by a chuckle. “You really think she’s gonna be that furious?”

Poor kid. He really doesn’t know what she’s capable of, he thought to himself. “Oh yeah, she’s gonna be infuriated. Don’t worry though, she’s probably gonna come for me only. We’re just super competitive like that. It runs in our blood.”

EJ glanced back to see the kid terrified. “O..k.” he let out. The conversation didn’t go much further but at least before they split off, EJ did manage to get across the fact that he was only joking.

After a while of walking, he checked his watch and realized that Gina would be out any second. Just as he thought, not a minute after checking the time, a beep came from the speakers signaling that a player would be entering the game.. It was about to get a whole lot more dangerous than before.

Once she was out, Gina knew exactly what EJ would be thinking.. He knew that he was her main target and that’s what he needed to get out of his head.

So, Gina put her focus on getting his teammates out first, with the help of hers as well of course. If she was being fully honest, she really did not expect to work as well with her team as she did. They were just as cunning and competitive.

This made Gina’s plan that much easier to complete. While waiting out her ten minutes, she had concocted a pretty simple but effective plan.

Her teammates and some of the opposing team members were actually everyday regulars here at the lasertag so they knew the routes and pathways that the others would take. With this information, it was decided that they’d take care of their own personal friends and get them out while Gina was left to find EJ and get him out.

Yes,it was simple but if Gina was going to win, all she needed was for it to be efficient.

Not much time was wasted, once she got out. The beeper signaling that players were out began to go off every couple of minutes, she quietly counted while swiftly moving through the area. Out of the corner of the eye, she saw something from behind. No way, she was turning her back this time.

She quietly and carefully walked back to the spot where she noticed something and immediately let out a breath of relief at seeing a kid resting back in the corner, his eyes shut tight. “It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll tell you where he is. Just please don’t tell him I told you. I can be out, it’s ok, I-”

“Ya know, kid. I actually kinda like you for that but what did EJ tell you?! Did you really believe I was seriously out to murder him, it’s just our thing.. Don’t worry and well, if we’re bargaining here.. The best I can do is you give me EJ’s location and I’ll give you an extra ten minutes to go hide.” she explained, holding her hand out to seal the deal.

He looked down a bit worried but shook nonetheless. He quickly whispered where he thought EJ would be hiding and ran away within a second after.

Gina followed his instructions and slowly crept up to the second level of the arena. She knew that kid gave it up way too easily and there was no harm in being cautious so she walked towards the spot that the kid described as quietly as possible.

Once she was there, she looked around but not carefully enough because now she was back to square one when she heard his voice. “Well, looks like my plan worked. I’m just so touched with how well you’re taking this, G.”

“Aww Eej, you think you’re really gonna end up winning”, she started, as she turned and began slowly walking towards the proud boy, “-tsk tsk, you’re too good and naive for your own good, babe.

EJ furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and ever so slightly,let his guard down. Rookie mistake, Gina thought as she jumped towards EJ again. He saw it coming and dodged the attack but ended up causing Gina to trip over his foot.

She yelped at the collision with the floor. Pain shot through her wrist as she sat back up. Within a second EJ was already at her side, helping her stand. “Maybe we got a little too intense with the game..” he joked, walking to the arena exit with Gina.

“Ya think?” she laughed, while gently massaging her palm and wrist area. Once they made it, the two returned their gear to the set-up room. There was still about a half hour of laser tag left but it was obvious, the game was done for today.

Even if their initial idea got cut short, that didn’t mean the day was over. As EJ and Gina walked to the car, they couldn’t help but continuously chitter and chatter about all that occurred. From Gina’s surprise attack on him to EJ’s interesting conversation with the young boy.

By then, Gina’s wrist had relaxed and the pain toned down. While they drove, the chitter chatter turned to a comfortable silence. It was just that time where words didn’t need to be said anymore. The glances, little laughs here and there, it was just really nice.

The drive didn’t take too long and before they knew it, they’d already arrived at Ashlyn and Gina’s place.

“So.. we’re here. Look, I’m sorry about the wrist thing and I just got a little too into it, you see when I-” His rambling got cut short by Gina pressing a gentle kiss to his lips.

“Hey, it’s alright. It was just a game and it’s not like the day is over yet, I’d like to use up all the time I have with you today.” she smiled after breaking off the kiss. EJ proceeded to continually caress her cheek as she spoke.

“Ok. This time, you name it though.”

Gina decided on a movie night to end the day.

Honestly, this month’s date night wasn’t the most planned and perfect but that’s what made it all the more fun. Both EJ and Gina couldn’t wait for the next to see what surprises were in store.

#portwell #portwell fics #ej caswell #gina porter

33 notes · View notes