#maybe for work but if its wonky it can also just be for home | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

carminecarnivale · 5 months

Text

Literally no one is talking about this (that I’ve seen anyway) and the episode is old now but I can’t stop thinking about it so I’m making a post anyway.

This is about the scene in Helluva Boss season 2 episode 7 “Mammon’s Magnificent Musical Mid-Season Special” where a young imp and Fizzarolli sign to each other.

TLDR: The signing is wonky and the scene feels unearned.

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT DEAF AND NOT AN ASL EXPERT. THIS IS JUST MY INTERPRETATION OF THIS SCENE. I DO NOT SPEAK FOR DEAF OR HOH PEOPLES’ OPINIONS.

Right. So, surface level, what do the writers *want* to have the signing mean? What is their desired English sentiment?

Kid: Fizzarolli! I’m a big fan!

Fizz: Come on over here

Kid: I want to be a clown just like you!

Fizz: You can do anything you want to do.

Cool, great. Now, what did they actually sign? DISCLAIMER 2: THERE IS NO WRITTEN FORM OF ASL, ASL CAN BE SORT OF TRANSCRIBED IN ENGLISH BUT IT IS NOT WRITTEN ASL.

Kid: F-CLOWN (name sign, “Fizzarolli”) I BIG FAN.

Fizz: [Gesture to come over]

Kid: CLOWN SAME-AS-YOU.

Fizz: IF/SUPPOSE WANT, CAN-aff WORK.

On the most basic level, this is fine. It more-or-less represents what the writers wanted to be said. But it’s just…not great. It’s so simple compared to what the writers wanted to say. It makes the translation put up on screen look wrong.

The kid makes no indication that they “want” to be a clown, they could very well have been meaning that they currently ARE a clown, maybe even in training. There was no indication of “becoming” or a future signifier. There was a general lack of pronouns making it sound vague. The final sentiment from Fizz is much more grounded than what the writers wanted him to say. “You can do anything!” vs “you could work as a clown if you wanted to.” The difference speaks for itself.

There ARE signs for the sentiment they want to convey!!! They exist!!! LOOK: https://youtu.be/JbfWzc0-R6E?si=FxvbC9l-hvArLPg0

youtube

“But wait!” I hear you say. “What if they got the signs first and mistranslated it?”

Since this is an English show for English speakers that must be written in English, no. They wrote the translation first and put mediocre signing in the episode.

Could the sentiment have been gutted for time/animation constraints? Quite possibly! But we’ve seen the kinds of shots the Helluva team can pull off (Striker’s 3/4 turn with the pistol, DHORKs full camera action spin, to name a few) so I don’t doubt they COULD have animated the signing appropriately if they wanted to.

Now, they did have an ASL consultant for this episode (the bare minimum we love to see it, AND on the very last page of credits? wow), his name is Salvador Baltazar. There’s not much out there on him, but he’s primarily an interpreter. There is no way to know what he helped with or how much he dictated the scene and I don’t plan on wildly speculating. It’s great that he’s there, why did he let this signing air the way it did though.

Finally, what’s the purpose of this scene? Why is it here? Why these characters in this situation?

More competent analysts than I have picked apart the woobification of Helluva characters and how, once they’re not a villain anymore, their characterization and morals get completely overhauled to appeal to the “oh he’s so traumatized!” crowd.

I think this scene is a part of that. And it got its desired reaction.

Seeing celebrities interact well with children is already something that would net a character some popularity brownie points. If that child is clearly an “other” and the celebrity does something special to recognize that child? Brownie fucking bakeries.

The purpose of this scene is to show that not all of Fizz’s fans suck, yes, but also to show how kind and nice and thoughtful Fizz is just to hammer home how TragicTM his situation is.

And the fans went wild!!!! Here is a character putting in effort to learn ASL and speak with child fans! Wow he’s so great! He’s so amazing! What Herculean tasks he’s taken upon himself to be so cool! Wow! (Not everyone says it like that, but that was the general vibe of the Helluva tag following the episode’s release).

It got fans speculating; “I wonder if this ties into his Tragic BackstoryTM!” We’ll probably never know because Fizz’s fluency in ASL, his role in the Deaf community, is not something the writers care about exploring. They didn’t include a scene with ASL because they wanted to have a deaf character, they included it to make Fizz look good.

Something a lot of people have brought up about this kid—and rightfully so—is their age. What’s this 9 year old doing at the blow-out clown sex appeal concert? How did they get into the VIP section? Couldn’t you contrast the possessive critic guy with another adult who isn’t gross? Wouldn’t it make more sense if this character was an ADULT at the ADULT SHOW?

Yes! Yes it would! But would an adult signer garner half as many pity points as a young child with stars in their eyes? No. I doubt it would.

This scene is not here to show respect for deaf people. Just like the show doesn’t respect deaf people. I ask you to check out the captions for season 2 episode 6. Go on.

Because you know what you’ll find?

A bunch of loud, keysmashing inanity, that ignores describing what’s being said in favour of making queef jokes. These are not functional captions. For a show that prides itself on being just as professional as what you can find aired on TV or streaming, this is laughably bad. This is YouTube 2013 gaming jump scare compilations bad. And those captions are Still There DESPITE people pointing out that they’re not functional.

From a studio that’s fine with sabotaging their own captions I really shouldn’t be surprised with their treatment of ASL as sloppy, basic, and only really there for pandering.

Jesus Christ, do better.

#helluva boss #helluva boss fizzarolli #helluva boss season 2 #helluva boss season two episode seven #mammons magnificent musical mid season special #helluva boss critical #helluva boss criticism

74 notes · View notes

beaker1636 · 9 months

Text

A Love Reunited - Ricky Smut/Fluff

A/N: I don’t know why my mind went towards a sappy fluffy cute smut but it did so hopefully you enjoy this anon! I didn’t edit this so they’re maybe some typos, also I upload via mobile so if the formatting is ever off I am sorry! Enjoy!

Edit: for some reason tumblr won’t let me add the imagine below the photo so it’s all wonky. Sorry!

Sighing you clock out at work and make your way out the door, extra glad it is finally the weekend after a long week, but also a little disappointed to be making your way home to your apartment alone. Your boyfriend Ricky is away on tour and unfortunately there is still about a week left before he can be home.

You decide to send him a quick message before you start the drive home, letting him know that you are thinking of him and miss him.

When you pull into your driveway you notice that you have a message so you take your phone out as you walk towards your front door.

“Good thing we got home early then,” you read.

You quickly unlock your front door when you got the message, looking up to immediately gasp. Wasting no time you make your way to where he sits on your couch, sit down on his lap facing him and bury your face in his neck. His arms snake around you, holding you to him tightly as you both sit there in the silence for a couple minutes to embrace and take comfort in being together again.

“Something came up and the tour ended a week early, so I decided to surprise you after work today,” he says softly in your ear, not wanting to let go of you as the two months you were apart has taken a toll on not just you but him as well.

“I missed you so much,” you mumble, trying not to embarrass yourself by happy crying.

The timer in the oven goes off, forcing you to separate from eachother.

“Go sit at the table, I will have dinner out for us in a minute,” he says kissing your forehead as he slips by you and into your kitchen.

You make your way to the dining room table ad smile when you see that there is a beautiful bouquet of flowers itting on it, and candles are lit around the room giving a romantic feel towards the meal, which melts your heart at the effort that he made to do something for you despite the fact you know he must be tired from the tour.

Rick comes out with your plates and then heads back into the kitchen to grab you both a couple of glasses of wine before he takes a seat next to you at the table.

“You didn’t have to do all of this for me, I know you must be exhausted after such a long tour,” you say as you start to eat the wonderful meal that he has cooked.

“I wanted to do something nice for you when I got back because this was the first tour we’ve been through together and I know it is a lot for you as well. I figured we have a nice at home date tonight and then we can spend the weekend being lazy and lying around together. After your week you probably need it too,” he responds back, reaching over to lightly squeeze your thigh under the table.

The two of you continue to eat, Rick telling you all about the fun and weird moments of the tour. Most of this he has already told you during your facetime chats but you still gladly listen to him as its been so long since you have heard him talk in person.

When you both finish eating you move closer to him so that you can give him a kiss, giggling when he pulls you out of your chair and onto his lap, not expecting the sudden playful moment.

“I’m so glad you are home, I missed you so much. I know you would never do anything but just knowing you meet so many fans makes me anxious, you never know what they could do or if you would meet someone better,” you admit shyly as you start to lightly play with his hair, loving the silky feel of it in your hands.

“Baby, listen to me. I don’t want anyone else. Noone comes close to you or how I feel about you,” he brushes your cheek with his thumb, which makes you look at him and making eye contact.

He leans down to gently kiss you again, but this time feels a lot different than any the two of you have ever shared with eachother. You can’t place why but you don’t question it, quickly giving in to the feeling and losing all sense of what is happening around you.

You can feel him smile in the kiss which makes you smile as well. Lightly Rick tugs on your lip with his teeth, your tongues lazily meeting. You can’t help but love how soft and gentle everything is right now. These slow sweet moments together are rare and you haven’t been able to have on in awhile.

His hands trail down your sides before landing on our ass and resting there for a moment before he pulls his lips away from yours just slightly.

“Why don’t we move this to our bed? You can show me how much you missed me,” he whispers, his breath ghosts across your lips making you shudder.

Rather than answering you get up off his lap and grab his hand, leading him out of the dining room and to your bedroom.

Both of you lay down on your sides facing eachother, lips quickly colliding with eachothers again only this time is more heated, both of you getting needy for contact that you have been missing.

One of his hands is resting on your hip as the other is in your hair, holding you closely to him. Slowly he pushs on you, letting you know that he wants you to lay down on your back which you happily do.

His hands teasingly rub the skin of your stomach which is now exposed from your shirt riding up slightly. Trailing his hands softly up your torso until they make their way back down towards the hem of your shirt, which he grabs and slides off of you, your bra quickly going with it while you blush.

The two of you have only been together like this a handful of times before he had to leave for the tour, so despite wanting it you still can’t help but feel shy when he looks at your body.

He gives you another quick soft kiss that is over before you can register that it had begun before they lightly start to ghost from your ear down to your throat. At the same time one of his hands moves to cup a breast, lightly kneading it before starting to roll your nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Even after all this time he still takes satisfaction in teasing you.

He know that he finds your sensitive spot on your throat when you gasp and tilt your head allowing him more access to continue leaving marks along the path, because you know that he has to be at that point.

Reaching inbetween the both of you you decide to unbutton his jeans, sliding them down slightly along with his boxers.

He adjusts so that he can kick his them off the rest of the way before his lips slowly start to trail down your chest, continuing to leave marks as you reach down to slowly stroke him, wanting to drive him crazy and tease him as much as he was doing to you. You know you succeeded when he lets out a barely audible groan which makes you giggle.

His lips wrap around one of your nipples, making you gasp and shift at the sensitive feeling, your jeans feeling a bit too constricting now.

He notices you shift and moves to unbutton them, pulling away from you slightly so that you can lift your hip, allowing him to remove them as well as your panties in one quick motion before sitting at your side. He reaches over you so that he can rub your clit but you grab his wrist and stop him.

“No, I-I just want to feel you tonight, please?” you beg, craving the closeness and the connection that you have been lacking out on with him.

His shifts so that he is leaning over the top of you again, his lips finding yours gently as he teases you slightly with the tip against your clit. When you give him an annoyed grunt he finally gives in and slips inside of you, both of you letting out a groan at the sudden feeling of pleasure that is coursing through you.

Hi thrusts get a little bit harder as he goes but he doesn’t get anywhere near as rough with you as he always has in the past. He wants to savor this moment with you and enjoy this feeling. He also feels the change between this act and the other times the two of you have been together.

Pulling away he locks his eyes with you as his hands find their way to your waist, flipping the two of you so that you are now on top.

“Ride me baby, fuck just like that,” he groans as you begin to rock your hips against his, you being inpatient and going a bit quicker than he was when he was on top and leading the two of you.

Knowing that he won’t last long himself after not getting any for a few month he reaches between the two of you, starting to toy with your clit which makes you look away from him, arching your back at the level it adds to everything.

He can feel you starting to clench around him, hear you letting out breathy moans that let him know that you are getting quick and when you do cum rather abruptly he is right behind you, spilling inside of you a couple seconds later.

When you come down you share a couple lazy kisses before you finally pull yourself off him and go to your bathroom to quickly clean yourself up.

When you return you quickly put your pajamas on, and notice that he has slipped into his boxers and is laying on your bed waiting for you to join him. You do so, laying your head on his chest and wrapping an arm around him while he begins to lightly run a hand along your back. Both of you sit there quietly, processing what has changed between the two of you but not wanting to be the one to break the silence.

A few moments later Rick decides to be the one to break it, “Being away from you like this for so long made me realize something… well that and one of Chris’ weird peptalks helped me figure it out too,” Rick says softly, still rubbing your back softly.

You move so that you are looking up at him,” Hmm?” you ask.

“This is probably not the best time to say it, and totally is not what I planned to do but I want to say it. I love you, more than that I’m in love with you. I’ve never mised someone so much while gone, or worried about a girlfriend like this,” he slowly stops talking when he realises he is rambling.

“Rick, I love you too. I just was too nervous to say it and freaked out thinking it would freak you out saying it only four months into our relations,” you admit and then before giving him a second kiss lightly.

Suddenly realization hits you and you pull away with a weird look on your face.

“Wait, you confided in this with my brother before you did me? No wonder he has been really weird lately when we’ve talked and asking how things are going with you,” you say giggling slightly.

You lay back down, curling up in his side again, content to just stay like that the rest of the night.

“He confronted me about it, I will explain later, lets just go to bed,” he says, sounding annoyed.

You decide to just let the subject go but totally plan to ask him about it in the morning curious on what that could have meant.

The two of you continue to catch up on everything you haven’t had a chance to with one another before you finally start to fall asleep, feeling loved and cared for, more content in your relationship than ever.

#motionless in white #vinny mauro #motionless in white imagine #ryan sitkowski #chris motionless #ricky olson #justin morrow #fanfiction #ricky olson imagine #ricky horror imagine #ricky olson fic #ricky olson x reader #ricky olson smut #bree sucks at fanfiction

56 notes · View notes

mmc-veronica · 11 months

Text

A≒A'≠A - A’ English Translation

Trigger warnings: Death and suicidal ideations

UM. so i finished this quicker than i thought i would. THERES A LOT OF STUFF HAPPENING IN THIS TRACK… i did translate/format half of this on my phone so sorry if its a bit wonky 😭 when i first listened to this i remember being kind of like “?????” lol… also i.. have not proofread this so sorry for any mistakes. anyways, translation under the cut!

Hello? Honey? It’s Etan~

Actually today I have a feeling that I can get home early today, so maybe we can see each other soon~...

Eh?! For real? Then let’s just meet up somewhere… by the way, where are you right now?

Oh, oh, then that would be closer to Tokyo Station.

I’ll be there in forty secon… no that might be impossible, but I’ll be finished with work in five minutes so wait for me somewhere, or you can just go ahead and meet me at my place, that might be a bit more convenient!

Alright! If you get there before me, feel free to make yourself comfortable! Then I’ll see you later, mwah!

It’s been a while since I’ve been this tired… Yo, yo! My Honey’s shoes are already here!

Honey~! Are you alright? Did you bump into anything? I’m home, I’m home, I’m home!

This situation where I come home and my honey’s right in front of me… Isn’t this a bit too good? It’s so priceless that my heart won’t stop racing! Hug~!

Hah… this is nice… coming home from work and being recharged with my Honey!

All my worries and stresses from today are replaced by happiness that I feel like I could redo this entire day and feel fine~

Huh? Of course, I’m fine! I seriously hurried over here after those five minutes, you know!

Could it be… Did my Honey make me something or do something for me?!

Are you serious? That’s seriously the best! By the way, what did you get for me? What are you going to make for me?!

This is so good~ Anything you make is good! Like, seriously, somehow everything tastes like my Honey!

It’s okay! There’s nothing to worry about! This handmade hamburger steak is a given, and once this frozen potato side dish was warmed up it’s Honey-flavored, right? Mmm so good…!

Thank you for the meal~ Thanks to your nice surprise I’m in such a good mood! I’m so satisfied that I’m filled with so much inspiration for ideas for a new song!

Right, right! Well, even once the release relay starts, we NSFW are the exciting last performers, so we’ll start putting in some serious effort soon~

Well, yeah, kind of. When it comes to the performance we haven’t thought of anything yet. The other members are still out and playing around. Even so, I think we still have to produce a happy song that breaks our boundaries, so the people who listen to it will be so happy that they want to start dancing!

That’s right, as the ambassador of this name I want to keep working hard.

Well that was the plan, since my happiness has reached its limit. But you see… Mm… There are some things I need to start cleaning up… before I properly become an adult…

Well before that, Honey over here! Come over here!

No, no! That can wait until later, It’ll become a hassle!

When it comes to cleaning up, I’ll properly do it all later, so…!

I caught you~ so from here on out its the start of my dessert time~

This is…! Hyper delicious sweets! Not even a ten star rating will cut it! Just one bite won’t do, so I’ll just have to take my time with having a taste~

I’m so refreshed! Then Honey, you were alright with… Yo yo?! What is this! Isn’t this a sight! My honey, wearing my shirt and sweatpants! Oh… this is too attractive…

Oh okay, okay, help yourself to any drinks! And why are you watching the news? That’s a bit bland!

I see, I understand the sentiment. Background noise just to keep your nerves at bay is always good. Especially if you’re alone.

Yeah, you’re right. Except I’m not sure what’s been changed specifically. The drinking and smoking age has been the same. Passports… you can get after ten years, right? Damn! I don’t know if it’s because of this country or not, but if someone goes out on a whim and decides to become an adult then that’s a bit of a problem~ Even with me, there’s a lot of stuff I need to do.

Hey, honey? You call me A, right? Ever since we started dating.

Yeah, true, but… For one, you don’t call me by my real name so it’s fine and I like you calling me A but…

I am A but this- If I said I was a fake A, what would you do?

Did I scare you? I guess we are similar~

I’m actually a twin. The one on the right is me and the one on the left is my older brother. The real A, without the dash.

The one that started the band and went by A, that wasn’t me. That was my brother. But…

He died.

A bit before we turned fifteen, he was crossing the street and a truck came… He… He… I’m fine. I’m fine now. I’m sure you can guess what happened. What I couldn’t say all this time, was this. Whenever I think about what happened, I can’t stop from panicking, so I've made sure to try not to think about it. My parents and doctors have all said to hurry up and forget about it, but not just the incident. They want me to try to forget about him as well. But, I can’t help myself. Especially recently. I have to keep him in my memory, or he’ll be scared right? I keep aging, but he’s alone, in the body of a kid. To think that he’ll be forgotten by everyone…

It’s kind of too late for this, but can you listen to me? About the real A that you don’t know.

I’ll make sure that I’ll remember properly, so if it’s you, it’ll be okay.

Yeah. Of course I know. No matter how stupid I am, I know you’ll wait for me. Up until now you’ve done that already. I won’t push myself. So first I want to talk about some of the easier stuff.

To outsiders, we were both little troublemakers. But, on the inside we were actually good! Basically, we would come up with ideas and run around messing with the adults! Well we were identical, right? So we would switch classrooms and see how long it would take for them to notice! Right?! But if no one notices, it takes the fun out of it, so in the end we would just tell them ourselves, especially him. I would say to him, “We were doing so well, so why did you tell them?!” and we would get into arguments, but, when we came up with our next prank, we would just make up without a word.

We went into middle school, and he suddenly said he wanted to join the light music club. I liked music too, but I never thought of doing it myself, so I was a bit surprised. I guess it was then… the crowds of people we hung out with changed bit by bit, but we still got along well, it was what it was. When he started being the singer for the band he was in with his buddies, it felt like he kept getting sucked in by the music. He was all like, “A musical star being born doesn’t sound that bad!” and I started watching his practice sessions with my friends. When we were third years, they had a farewell stage at the cultural festival, and of course he was super excited, but he got sick out of nowhere! I would say he got too excited and he got sick. Catching pneumonia and going to the hospital, coughing everywhere, he kept saying “I let down my bandmates and underclassmen,” I felt bad for him so I said, “Well, do you want me to stand in for you just this once? We look the same and we sound the same, so if I copy your singing we can just trick them like that!” Just like we did in the past.

Yeah. I sang in his place. I thought I did perfectly… Well yeah, in the end we were figured out. Well, I guess we revealed it, he did, that is. I’m not sure. That’s what I wanted to ask. Then, that day, I met with him on the way back from class, and… From that time, I really can’t remember much. No matter how hard I try, I can’t recall anything. When I came to, I was in the hospital. No, I wasn’t injured, but…

Yeah. That’s why I don’t like hospitals, even now. I blacked out without even realizing, and when I woke up, I was told that he had passed, and I couldn’t even attend his funeral. I was the one that invited him, and if I didn’t do that, then the incident wouldn’t have happened…

No, I’m fine! If I’m able to tell you this much, I can keep going. I want to tell you everything.

It was from there, where I started thinking, “I want to hurry up and die.” That was all I could even think. Even after getting discharged from the hospital, I was a mess, and I felt like even eating was meaningless. Then, I just started messing around here and there, and was surrounded by weird people. Yeah, the weirdest people I’ve met up until now, those are the current band members. That’s kind of the punchline here. Well, I’m not sure why, but they told me they wanted me to sing for them, but once I thought about it, I thought that it wouldn’t be that bad. And I could stand in his place… because the one who really wanted to sing was him, but he can’t anymore, so there’s only one thing that I can really do. But, I didn’t want to steal his spotlight, so I put ‘ at the end of my name. I’m A, but I’m also not. An imposter that is identical to A, A’. Well that’s obvious, isn’t it? We were seriously inseparable, where one of us was, the other was there also, and we would always go to each other for advice. If we were together, I thought we could do anything. No matter how old we get, nothing would change, is what I thought but… but then why… If that’s the case I should’ve died instead… I wonder, I don’t even know what really happened. I don’t even remember. Before the accident, we were just chatting, and according to the police, it turned out the truck had ran a red light, but… Even then, I blamed myself, that I was in the wrong… No way. There’s no way. If he was here right now, he would never blame me. That’s the kind of person he is. If… I was really in the wrong, he would probably just laugh and say, “Seriously, what are you doing? Rather than that…!” Huh? No… it’s nothing. Yeah. No matter how many people say we’re so similar, I can only think that he was more mature than me. We’re twins, but I can only think that he’s my older brother.

Maybe… Well, there’s not much I can do! He’s not here anymore, and I need to make something of myself. To make something of myself… that’s…

I know. Becoming A’… it wasn’t a mistake. I met you out of it too. Right now everyone’s waiting for me. The A with a ‘’s songs. From starting as an imposter…I couldn’t do it without reason.That’s why I said at the start, that it’s okay. I wonder if he’ll forgive me too, if I keep using the name A’ and continue making songs. Me? Yeah… I think he’d say “Go for it, as long as you’re having fun.” Well of course you’d get along with him! If you can get along with me, then you could with him. I guess it was all in my head… If I think about the type of person he is… then I have a feeling it was.

Haah… Yes!! One song finished~! No matter how I think about it, this is good! Now that’s said and done, the second song… I can leap this hurdle easily. I guess regaining motivation does help…

Why isn’t there a towel hanging here?!

Sorry, I guess I can’t reach you yet. I guess you knew that already though. But I hope you’re waiting excitedly for all the stories I’m going to tell you. I’ll have fun for the both of us. Even singing, and this dazzling world of adulthood.

#dear vocalist #dear vocalist translation #dearvo #dear vocalist unlimited #a’#edasshu #えーダッシュ #ディアヴォーカリスト #ディアヴォ #dearvo translation #rejet #rejet translation

77 notes · View notes

sophierequests · 2 years

Note

Can I request a Darkling x reader where she's best friends with Kaz, Jasper, and Inej (I'm not sure if I spelt it right so I'm freaking out OH MY GOSH) and he gets jealous (but he has nothing to worry about) and he also yells at her, which makes her scared, and he feels awful afterwards? Maybe angst with a happy ending as a genre/vibe? If not I completely understand. Have a nice day ❤

between brick and mortar

𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧┃𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭┃𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬

Pairing: The Darkling x gn!Reader

A/N: Sooo, my characterization of the Darkling is kinda me, but I am still working on it, so I hope this is not too ooc for your liking. I hope you like the fic, and thank you for requesting this!

Summary: Aleksander dislikes the relationship the reader has with her old best friends, leading him to lash out on her

Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Word Count: 2.3K

Warnings: Mention of bruises and yelling

The sun had just begun to set when your coach reached the grounds of the Little Palace. You felt tired and terribly nauseous, while you wobbly stepped on the steady grounds of the courtyard. It didn’t really help that you had spent the last few days either on a wonky ship or inside the clammy coach.

Even though you were glad to be back in Ravka, you already began to miss your old home back in Ketterdam. The city wasn’t that much of a treat to come back to. Its dirty streets with their putrid smell didn’t truly catch your interest. There were certain people that you did miss, however.

Your old friends, who were more like a little fucked up family to you, had you coming back regularly. The Crows, consisting of Kaz, Inej and Jesper, took you in when you found out about your Grisha abilities. Soon you moved in with them, spending every waking moment with helping and supporting your newfound family.

Obviously, they didn’t appreciate it when you decided to go to Ravka to advance in your Grisha training. They also didn’t appreciate it when you told them about the relationship you had with General Kirigan - also known as the Darkling. Kaz almost whacked you with his cane, when you told them about what had happened between the two of you. Inej and Jesper only gave you judgy expressions, trying to talk you out of it.

Once they realized how good you felt - and looked - after you came back to visit them, they slowly but surely got around to accepting it. They didn’t like it, but they noticed what he did for you, and how much he helped to develop your abilities, so they didn’t try to get you away from him. (Even though Inej did threaten to stab him if he’d ever try to hurt you.)

Aleksander wasn’t too fond of your friendship with them either. You noticed the displeased expression he gave you when you talked about all the things you experienced with them, all the heists you went on together, or just in general about the strong bond you still had with them.

Sometimes you thought back to the first time you went back to Ketterdam, after getting together with the General. He suggested accompanying you, but you just laughed at that. Having the Darkling stay in a crooked town, such as your old home, wasn’t really the best idea. The evening before you left, he just spent most of the evening sulking, visibly distressed by your decision to hold on to your past. It was a mystery to him why you still decided to spend time with people that weren’t as appreciative of the Grisha powers as he was. You also came to the conclusion, that he might be slightly jealous of the close relationship you had with them, but you knew that he would never admit it.

After finally climbing up the mountain of stairs to his chambers, you slipped into the room, dropping your bags on the floor right by the heavy entrance door. The room had always looked surreal to you, since it was completely different to the places and flats you knew from the Slat. It looked enormous, making you feel like a tiny being in the utter vastness of space.

Much to your dismay, you didn’t find your partner laying in the bed, sleeping peacefully and waiting for your arrival. At first, you didn’t find him at all. Until you heard the distinct shuffling of paper coming from the cramped office space he insisted on keeping unchanged.

You frowned, knowing that he probably didn’t plan on sleeping, most likely worrying over some new military scheme.

Without a sound, you slid into his office - a habit you had picked up from Inej - walking over to the desk, that he was currently hunched over. His black hair was messy, but all in all, he still appeared quite well put together. You could see him playing with his rings erratically, a sign that he was evidently unsatisfied with what he had in front of him.

Your hand moved to lay on his shoulder, the rest of your body following to lean against his side, allowing you to take a peek at the array of maps and documents sprawled out on the wooden table. He shuddered slightly, almost unnoticeable, he was surprised but not startled.

“Good evening, love.” he cooed, straightening his back, and facing you fully.

His hands found your waist, and yours wrapped around his shoulders. He leaned down a little, pressing his lips against yours softly. Even though you adored his passionate kisses, you were way too tired for this kind of ecstasy, and he knew that.

“Good evening, you look tired. How long have you been working?” you said, as you let go to smile at him.

He sighed, his dark tired eyes scanned you intently as if he was looking for something that had changed whilst you were out of his sight.

“Quite a while, but it’s important that I finish this as soon as I’m able to.” he answered, already knowing that you would’ve asked him to join you in bed.

“Are you sure? I missed you sleeping next to me.” you mumbled, stifling a yawn.

“So did I, but I truly have to finalize this. Don’t worry about me, I’ll join you tomorrow.” his low voice trying to appease you, “Go to sleep, darling. I’m right here in case you need me.”

With one last peck on his cheek, you left the room, throwing yourself on the bed, sleep finding you sooner than expected.

The shutting of the door awoke you from your deep sleep. When you turned to your side, you noticed a note lying on your nightstand, right next to a glass of water, that had been placed there only recently. It read:

Don’t wait for me with breakfast, I have a meeting. We’ll see each other in the evening. Cure your headache.

You sighed, the hopes to spend a cosy morning with your boyfriend disappeared immediately. But you didn’t have too much time to fret over this change of plan, breakfast was soon to be served, and your energy levels were in desperate need of some food.

The rest of your day was spent finishing dull tasks that you had been putting off forever. Your thoughts always seemed to wander between the time you had spent with your friends and the moments you spent with Aleksander. You knew how challenging it could be for all parties involved. You were well aware of your boyfriend’s distaste for the Ketterdam lifestyle, but you also knew that you’d never willingly let go of your old friends.

Whilst you were contemplating this apparent conflict, Aleksander had already entered the room, watching you fold the laundry you had just received from the maids. You were merely dressed in a loosely fitting top and short shorts, that showed off a big portion of your back.

He was clearly agitated, apparently whatever meeting he just had been in, didn’t go as planned. His mood only soured when he spotted an array of bruises trailing down your spine. It wasn’t anything serious, but it made him even more furious, supposedly knowing who to blame for it.

He grabbed your upper arm tightly, forcing you to jump and spin around hastily.

“Saints, you scared me!” you chuckled, not yet aware of his current temper.

“What in all Saints happened to your back? I told you, these people aren’t the crowd you’d want to surround yourself with.” he snarled, a rash pang of anger rising up in his chest.

His sudden change in demeanour gave you goosebumps. He was known to be stern, and you were well aware that he could be able to lose his temper if things went terribly wrong, but during all of your relationship he never once had raised his voice against you. When you didn’t answer, he opened his mouth again.

“I asked you a question. What happened?”

“Aleksander, what do you mean? The bruises on my back?” you questioned meekly, voice already quivering, “It’s nothing really. I just tried to help out Kaz and Inej, and got myself pulled into a tiny…dispute.”

“You can’t be serious. Do you really think I care about your little criminal friends?” he spat, his voice getting louder, “I would’ve never let you go back there again if I knew that this is how you’d come back. I can’t believe you’d ever consider going back to these deplorable children.”

Tears were welling up in your eyes as you ripped your arm away from his tight grasp. You couldn’t believe that he would talk about the people you called family like this.

“This is what you think of them? They were the only people I had, Aleksander. They are good people, even though you don’t seem to accept that. This wouldn’t even be a problem if you wouldn’t make one out of it.” you stammered back, now actually crying.

“Maybe you should consider the people you decide to waste your time on.” he retorted, frustrated by your rebuttal.

“You know what? Maybe I should.” you whispered, barely audible to him, “I think I should leave, or I might say things I’ll regret later. Have a fantastic night.”

With that, you dashed through the door, slamming it shut tightly. Aleksander was left alone, standing in the middle of his now empty bedroom. His previous anger was suddenly replaced with a foreign feeling of guilt. He had no right to yell at you the way he did. But somehow the sight of seeing you hurt, paired with his prior frustration, made him lose all his senses and rational thinking.

He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose to keep him from throwing something around the room. Much to his dismay, there was only one way to make this up to you. He had to apologize.

Without hesitating any longer, he threw open the door in an instant, striding through the halls of the Little Palace in an attempt to hide his tense thoughts. People tend to call him heartless, and in moments like these, he did his best to keep up this image, never showing any emotion that would betray him.

He knew that you wouldn’t be inside the Palace. You wouldn’t risk just accidentally running into him in the halls. But he knew that you had one place, where you would always go when you had a bad day. Whether it was a failed training unit, an especially hard study topic or just a generally bad day, you would always go to the hidden lake, close to Baghra’s hut. He had never understood why you chose this exact spot since you weren’t particularly fond of his mother, but you were always there without a fail.

You heard his heavy steps approaching, way before he actually chose to make himself present. There was no need in talking or visibly acknowledging his presence, since this would only make you angrier, having to take the first step again. So you waited until he saw it fit to talk.

“You’re going to catch a cold.” he said matter-of-factly, trying to get you to accept his attempt at conversation-making.

When you didn’t answer, he chose to take a few more steps, to appear in your vision, that was still focused on the body of water in front of you. He was relieved that you weren’t crying any more, but your eyes still appeared to be slightly puffy, and your expression had turned sour.

“I’m here to apologize, Y/N.” he tried to begin, but you just felt like laughing at that.

“The Darkling does not apologize. Not to anyone.” you retorted, watching him scowl at the mention of his alias. You knew he didn’t like when you called him that.

“Then let this be a first.” his tone was way softer than before, making you relax, “I didn’t mean to raise my voice at you like that. It was unjust to treat you like that.”

“Then why did you? You know that the Crows are like family to me. Why would you say that?” you interjected carefully, not wanting to be too confrontational with him.

“I dislike when you’re with them because I don’t think they value you as I do. I don’t hate them, and I like seeing you enjoy your time with them, but I can’t stand seeing you get hurt because of their…negligence.”

You sighed, looking up into his eyes for the first time since he came to look for you. His eyes were hard to read, even for you, but now they seemed to be filled with something close to remorse.

“It wasn’t their fault. I tried to help and things went south. That’s a thing we have to deal with wherever we go, Aleksander. They do care for me, but they aren’t Grisha. They can’t protect me like you do, but that is fine.” you said gently, waiting for him to say or do something.

“I’m aware, and I’m…sorry for the things I said. It was never my intention to hurt you, but things just went…wrong.” he chose his words wisely.

“Our intentions betray us sometimes.” you chuckled bitterly, but gradually getting around to accepting his apology.

“Apologizing may not be my strong suit, but I still want you to know that I’m truly sorry.”

“If I’d try to tell anyone that the General Kirigan has just apologized to someone and meant it, they wouldn’t believe me. So I am inclined to accept it. Just because it’s not every day that you see a miracle.”

He chuckled in response, offering you a hand to pull you off the muddy ground. You gladly took it, starting to regain the bubbly feeling of excitement you had when you were around him.

“Now, let’s go back to the Palace. I suppose there are some travel stories you have to get off of your chest.”

#shadow and bone x reader #shadow and bone #sab #grishaverse fanfic #grishaverse #grishaverse x reader #the darkling #the darkling x reader #aleksander morovoza #aleksander morozova x reader #six of crows

252 notes · View notes

fireproofphoenix · 3 months

Text

So I've been playing Palworld and it's scratched that itch I had back when Ark was also new and wonky as all hell. I love finding wonky shit that will be patched soon enough that I otherwise would never had seen if it was a polished game already. That's not the point. The point is the day I reached 365 in-game days on my character, I was taken to Hell and God spoke to me.

This is a somewhat long tale because I can't seem to tell a story without lots of details but ehh.

Now I know it wasn't intended as such but I know what I know man. See I'm all about breaking games. I enjoy speed running and clipping objects, and let me tell you about unintended files stored as magic boxes behind a fireplace in Skyrim! Naturally then, I have used some less than authentic things in the year.

Have I maybe held a conversation about the pros and cons between two Chikipi in the inventory of a Black Marketeer while my Quivern roasted him alive in the background so I could loot his corpse of 35k gold? Perhaps.

Have I ever intentionally instigated a riot in one of the only civilized parts of this island of nightmares? Have I led that bloodthirsty mob then against the leaders of the cults and/or organizations that control the island with the intent of forcing their leaders and their partner creature into a sphere thanks to an exploit allowing me to catch them? It's possible.

But no, instead me and Immortal the Shadowbeak decided to visit his home realm. See I was doing the now-known trick of butchering a pal and then riding them to prevent them from dying. Didn't realize how it worked, really, i just knew to try riding him during the second loop of the animation. I'd discovered this from dropping the controller in a panic as my cat made a mad dash and knocked over my coffee.

I figured out the rhythm of it. I was killing and harvesting this beast endlessly! It refused to stay dead under my guiding hand. Sure it was eternally blurred out with that pixil-y cloud, but that's because we should not gaze directly upon the divine, as this death transcendent hippogriff clearly was. I explain this in a sleep deprived mania to my roommate. They suggest a nap. I disagree. Another coffee means I can continue the immortal butchering.

Then we Fell the first time. I'm no stranger to being out of bounds in a game mind you. Hell my favorite mining route meant clipping through a mountain in another game. This is Fine™ so I land in the water under the map. Recall people saying online that the dungeons and whatnot are just hidden pockets under the world. Maybe that's where I was? Didn't care. Immortal Shadowbeak was there with me still. I continued the butchering unimpeded. Must get technology books for unlocking more shelves.

Over time I have repeatedly entered the Undersea. Sometimes its from exploring, but no, I have a Rushoar and he is called Sæhrímnir and he will take me to the Undersea every time. No matter what. Every other Immortal has regenerated every reload of the save and lost their pixel cloud, but remains censored to this day. But a man needs bacon for his eggs so I butcher him like his namesake to feed the people.

Now, like every good casserole recipe, the backstory is finally set, so onto the tale. On the day of my character's 365th day I rolled out of my bed and walked out of my keep. I did a full tour, remembering my tiny three walls and a roof to how far I'd come with my Pals. It'd been a long year, but I decided a feast! We must celebrate! Not just me and my party, but all of us shall enjoy Sæhrímnir! No salads for breaks today!

So me and Sæhrímnir get into position on the Bloodstone. I'd read having one stone foundation away from everything helped with not falling through the ground and while it worked for everyone else, Sæhrímnir is more Divine and thus immune to that so once again I'm riding his not-a-corpse down to the Undersea. I figure I need more meat to fill everyone, what with food level 7s everywhere, so i continue meat making.

Sæhrímnir decided I'd been flaunting his immortality I guess because later at the party he suddenly burst from his palsphere and I was like "Weird, but okay" and decided I'd try "petting him and calming him down" before tossing him back into the sphere. I was still holding the butcher knife I guess and started disembowling him on the table in the center of the picnic area in front of everyone. Only the Immortals knew what they were, having been killed at the Bloodstone far from the eyes of the rest, and now they knew.

But I wasn't gonna let Sæhrímnir die, so I went through the rituals the same as always and down to the Undersea we went. I prepare to go back to base via the keep inventory option in conjunction with the die and respawn button in the menu. It's routine at this point.

"Come" I hear an older man and younger woman say at the same time. I just happened to be looking at Sæhrímnir, about to return him to his sphere. His pixilation ended at that one word and then we started falling through the Undersea. In that short fall, I wondered if we'd fallen somehow into one of those dungeon pockets. As we landed I knew this was truly not somewhere I was supposed to be.

See, the grass was much more gray than green, but there was grass and ground under my feet in every direction I could see. The issue was, I could not see that far, only about five to ten feet through the thick white mist that was static and yet animated. No wait, that part just moved, but the smoke texture wasn't animated. I cautiously begin moving through the mist, careful that the ground may end yet again. Try finding Sæhrímnir, but he's gone. My palspheres aren't working, my character not even trying to throw an empty hand.

On the side of the screen, I see my character has eaten another plate of bacon an eggs. I'm still alive and eating, so that's a bonus. Means this isn't unsalvagable, but curiosity has me. I check and I have all my weapons. The firearms shoot into the White Void and my ammo count went down, so they work. I reload and set off further and faster into the mist.

Even fully sprinting there's nothing but knee high gray grass and flowers and the mist that is everywhere. I opened the map and it says I haven't left my base. I know I've been running in the mist for easily five minutes. I encounter a tree. It's texture is on inside out and is more or less just a mass of spiky vectors in a dead tree shape. I continue. Minutes pass, more trees appearing in the fog. I saw a pal fragment node but it vanished as I approached.

eventually as I get bored, I notice the day is about to end and I consider respawning and going back. The Sun turns into a Moon in the dial and I hear a crashing sound like a felled tree. Everything flashes and the grass is suddenly green, but the mist is turning black like ink. Horror movie vibes as hell. I'm rooted in place watching this glitch and needing to know how it ends.

The double-voice says something again, but they're no longer saying the same thing. Too brief to comprehend what it was. Haywire audio files, no big thing. Happens a lot. Sæhrímnir then appears, or perhaps another boar like him. It squeals and does its death animation as the fog finishes becoming black. Night must've finished falling in the Overworld---

Lights start coming to life around me, brightening and dimming slowly. Lifmunk Statue green and data log/fast travel blue lights started pulsing in the void. I made the mistake of trying to run to one. The camera spins as I start running. Moving is controlling the camera now and the camera is moving the character now. No problem, lemme just unlearn decades of gaming muscle memory real quick.

"COME" the Twin Voices cried suddenly, static accompanying the word. Feel backdoor room vibes and get goosebumps. My nerves are suddenly both taught and shot at the same time. My character has fallen into the distortion world ffs. Time to abort. I select Respawn in the menu. My character doesn't die. Try several more times to no avail. Try double jumping and my Galeclaw still refuses to answer my summons. Palspheres are still not working.

As I get the idea to just hard-close out the game, the sun begins to rise. Like a disney movie, rays of gold and orange shoot through the black and dispel it....why are the rays of light twisting? They start bending around and twisting around invisible objects my character doesn't collide with. Wait, that thing over there kind of looks like part of the assembly machine---

The entire screen suddenly turns white and I hear a sound like a dozen digital demons as the game crashes. I reboot the game and I'm standing in the middle of the party, still in full swing around 4 in the afternoon on the 365th day. Nevermind my night going through the Shadowrealms like I'm mfing Ra crossing the Duat. Nevermind that I saw beyond the veil as many Islanders wish for and I found only horrors.

I prepare to log out when I check my party. Sæhrímnir is gone. He never returned with me.

The Immortal Pal Experiments have been halted at this time.

#long post #palworld #game adventures #real long post so sorry if it mucks up anyone's feed i just had to tell someone this #glitches #video games

7 notes · View notes

thesinglesjukebox · 2 months

Text

LE SSERAFIM - "EASY"

youtube

Maybe enable Hard Mode next time...?

[5.83]

TA Inskeep: A snap music breakdown and a mightily bass-heavy track are two things I didn't expect from one of K-pop's hottest girl groups; LE SSERAFIM really are making it look easy here (sorry). "Easy" just glides along, so smooth. [7]

Kayla Beardslee: For a song about making it look easy, there isn’t much about the topline of this song that sounds like it requires work in the first place. LE SSERAFIM are at their best when they’re going hard over a beat that requires the utmost commitment, but this is just a bland rip of dated hip-hop trends with a recorder loop that makes me want to scratch my ears out. RIP fall 2022 TSJ, you would have loved “Antifragile.” [3]

Leah Isobel: "Easy" doesn't feel quite so resolutely its own thing the way that "Antifragile" and "Eve, Psyche, and the Bluebeard's Wife" did; it's basically a Tinashe song. I love Tinashe! [7]

Michael Hong: On "Good Bones," another of the group's fascinating intros, that final line sounds earned: "easy, crazy, hot, I can make it." Maybe it's not really, maybe these words they spit and scream are profound only to themselves, better answered with a shrug and a "well, yeah." But as they motor through the amped-up instrumental, they sell it: "in the end, we all die / half of our life will be suffering," Kazuha mutters. The drums are aching and the guitar roars back at her, but it's this bite that makes it so fascinating, the hint of weakness and vulnerability that makes the group's confidence act feel appropriate. On "Easy," LE SSERAFIM's rough edges are sanded down as they huff and puff over the dry instrumental, the titular word wheezed out with the autotuned-backing sounding like a necessary support. The anxious rush that made "Good Bones" feel so astounding is absent as LE SSERAFIM sound like dolls here, their confidence a blankly feigned act. [2]

Will Rivitz: If "making it look easy" is doing at-home Positions karaoke sprawled on your couch while your friends ignore you to scroll Insta, then sure, I guess. [3]

Katherine St. Asaph: Pleasant! Also situated exactly on the edge of sounding dated -- as in, I genuinely cannot tell whether it does or not. [6]

Ian Mathers: I'm not sure what's actually making that flute-like loop you hear at the beginning (and throughout); maybe it's a specific instrument I'm not familiar with, but it sounds to me like a wonky recorder and partly as a result of that it's very charming. It brings a fittingly casual air to a song about making it look easy, like surely you can pull off this kind of vibe with just about any kind of materials? I'm not even sure what does or does not qualify as "trap" anymore (if I ever knew) but surely if this does it's one of the least outwardly aggressive expressions of the form. Kinda works, honestly. [7]

Taylor Alatorre: I don't know if it was intentional that nearly all of the casually badass "I run this shit"-type lyrics are sung in English, while the admissions of imperfection and struggle are, from the non-Korean audience's perspective, hidden behind a language barrier. But with Le Sserafim, a group that takes such pride in their meticulously crafted identity that they sing their own name twice on a 5-song EP, nothing seems to be unintentional. Having built their brand upon anthems of disruption and defiance, "EASY" serves as a well-timed reprieve from all the noise, a chance to sprawl themselves out over a melodic trap beat, count their checks, and survey all they've conquered. They resist any temptations toward showiness that might upend the carefully composed balance, confident that a line like "rip it up like ballet" will make its genius known even if it isn't shouted from the rafters. [8]

Daniel Montesinos-Donaghy: As another example of LE SSERAFIM's inspira-pop, "Easy" is initially underwhelming with a light trap beat and flute riff: it sounds lightweight following singles like "Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s Wife." That's also the strength of the song -- "Easy" sounds easy but not tossed-off, proving their point. It's confident. It's not their best, but it works. [7]

Nortey Dowuona: Amanda Ibanez you will always be famous with the Technicians. [9]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Not the best sleek K-pop dance track named "Easy" out there but a perfectly fine substitute in a pinch. LE SSERAFIM have been more interesting than this on every one of their prior singles, but the cool, cipher-like nature of "Easy" suits them oddly well -- against a trap beat generic enough that I wondered if it were a sample of something from Atlanta circa 2017, the five of them muster a poise that they lacked on some of their earlier work. It's solid enough, but the closer you examine it the less there is to truly love here. [6]

Alfred Soto: Too easy. [5]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#le sserafim #music #k-pop #music writing #music reviews #music criticism #the singles jukebox #Youtube

3 notes · View notes

srhunt · 3 months

Text

Thoughts on Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)

Shadow has been my favorite Sonic character for years. My earliest exposure to Shadow was at my local Boys & Girls Club. We had a GameCube where kids would take turns playing games. I distinctly remember watching several kids try to beat the final boss of Sonic Adventure 2, though I didn’t fully click with it at the time. My first real exposure to him was through cutscenes posted to YouTube in the early 2000s because I didn’t have a gaming console growing up. I would watch Sonic X when I was able, specifically seeking out the episodes with Shadow. When I finally got a PS2, I got Shadow the Hedgehog because, well, Shadow.

I was not great at it. I struggled a lot because of the slippery controls, flying off stages, and bombardment of bullets. I maybe got through one ending if that.

And for the longest time, that’s all I really had. I got a PS2 towards the end of its lifecycle, the PS3 was already out and I struggled to find other titles.

I had other Sonic games like Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, Sonic and the Black Knight, but outside of party games like Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and Sonic & SEGA All Stars Racing, Shadow the Hedgehog is still the only story driven game I own where Shadow is playable*.

So, when the recent news about Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic x Shadow Generations dropped, I decided to finally beat Shadow the Hedgehog after all these years.

Over the course of 4 days, I worked my way through the 8 remaining endings I had left (having completed the true hero path and the semi hero path a few years prior). And after a decade of owning the game, I beat it.

So what are my thoughts?

While I can acknowledge the game’s flaws…I still don’t hate it.

I’ve watched several videos that explain why this game is terrible, from the mechanics to the butchering of Shadow’s character. And I agree.

Chaos Controls

The game is hard to control, I recognized this even growing up, but I mainly chalked that up to “I’m bad at Sonic games”, which is also true.

Until I beat Shadow, I’d never beaten a Sonic game because I lacked the reaction time. We’ve come close, we’re at Eggmanland on Sonic Unleashed, but I had never beaten a Sonic game.

I even tried to play Radical Highway on my friend’s copy of Sonic Adventure 2, and I struggled hard with the controls.

Shadow’s controls are indeed wonky. Multiple times my homing attack would send me flying off the stage, Shadow wouldn’t aim at the enemy right in front of him, and I’d miss jumps because Shadow would stagger on the edge of a platform.

After I learned how to better manage these flaws, the game became much easier. I began to slow down my homing attacks so I wouldn’t fly away, and started jumping before the edge of the platform. This didn’t erase these problems, I still fell off the stage from time to time, but they didn’t happen as frequently. I got so good that I got A Ranks on the neutral paths for Westopolis and Prison Island.

Shadow’s air shoes make him slippery to control, but I feel like all Sonic games are slippery? Maybe that’s just me, but even with Adventure 2 and Unleashed, I felt like I was slipping and sliding all over the place. So, with Shadow, I’d slow down a bit if I felt like I was going out of control. Granted, this is still a Sonic title where speed is key, so the advice to “slow down” is not really the best if you’re going for all A Ranks.

I Think You’re the Fake Hedgehog Around Here

This is the game where Shadow gains his “Edgy Hedgie” status.

He has guns!

He says “damn”!

He hates humans for killing Maria! (Even though…that’s not what Maria wanted)

He wants to learn the truth about his past cause amnesia’s a bitch! (Even though…he already learned hakuna matata in Sonic Heroes, apparently)

Yea, I admit this game is a huge step backwards for Shadow’s development. Post-SA2 Shadow cares deeply for his closest friends, mainly Rouge and Omega, but is reserved around others. He’s a hedgehog of few words. He has respect for Sonic, a little bit of a rivalry, but it’s not to the extreme where Shadow hates him. He doesn’t hate humans, but if push comes to shove, he will defend himself if they attack him first. This side of him is well illustrated in the cutscenes for Sonic Heroes and, yes, even Sonic ‘06.

However, this is not the Shadow we see in his titular game. Shadow’s cold towards Sonic, he sounds annoyed anytime he shows up. Depending on the path you take, he becomes downright cruel. He never really talks to many of the other characters outside of the ones in cutscenes. And when he does speak to them, it just feels out of character most of the time. Shadow has a distain for humanity, commenting how they’re pathetic and he doesn’t have time to for them when the Black Arms begin destroying Westopolis.

However, there are a handful of parts where the Shadow of Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes can be seen.

Any level where Maria is your companion is a good example. Especially the cutscene before Lost Impact.

Cryptic Castle Hero, you help save Cream and Cheese, afterwards he heeds them to stay away from Doctor Eggman, showing he does care about them.

The Pure Hero path is probably the closest you get to Shadow’s true character, even though there’s still a few moments that feel off. “This is like taking candy from a baby, which is fine by me” is probably the most out of character line, and you’ll only hear it by doing Hero missions.

Apparently this line still relevant to Shadow, as he steals popcorn from a Chao in an official Sonic Team Racing animation.

This might be a hot take, but the Dark Path on Final Haunt didn’t feel like a sudden betrayal to me? The way Sonic talks during and after the fight makes me feel like he saw it more like a friendly competition. Especially when you compare his dialogue to the other endings where you fight Sonic.

Final Haunt Dark Path

(Before the Boss)

Sonic: “Shadow! Why are you siding with those black creatures?”

Shadow: “Siding with them? You’re joking, right? I’m just siding with whoever goes against you! This time you’re going down, Sonic!”

Sonic: “hehehe, if that’s how it’s gonna be, Shadow, then bring it on!”

(Start Boss Fight)

Sonic: “Alright. Ready to do this? Come on!”

(After the Boss)

Sonic: “…Man…I didn’t think ya had it in ya…”

Sonic’s delivery makes it feel like he’s not angry with Shadow, but that he’s impressed. At least that’s how I read it anyway. He doesn’t sound distraught or scared like he does in the Pure Dark Path, he just sounds exhausted cause Shadow put up a good fight.

Sonic even offers Shadow a “friendly competition” if you do the Hero Path in Westopolis, but Shadow declines because he’s got other priorities at the time. He still doesn’t agree with Black Doom’s mission, he just wants to take Sonic up on his earlier offer.

Regardless, this game has had a lasting effect on Shadow’s character that he’s still trying to shake off. He went from a solemn hero who cared deeply for his closest friends, to an angsty anti-hero who only cares about himself.

Thankfully, it seems like he’s starting to get back to his old self in Sonic Prime (I’ve only seen season 1 and a handful of clips from the recent seasons, haven’t been able to get caught up, so correct me if I’m wrong).

Let’s hope Sonic 3 and Sonic x Shadow Generations continue to repair the damage.

In His World, Your Choices Don’t Matter

Shadow’s gameplay has three paths you can take; Hero, Dark or Neutral, with 10 possible endings. You can mix and match these paths however you please. You can start Dark then redeem yourself, turn on your friends in an act of betrayal, or just say “nah, imma do my own thing”. This freedom of choice was a massive selling point for the game. Do you want Shadow to be a “black-hearted evil” or “brave-hearted hero”?

This freedom of choice is present in a handful of my favorite games, like Epic Mickey and Undertale.

But, Shadow fails at this “choose your own adventure” format. Yes, your choices impact which of the 10 endings you get, but none of these 10 endings are the true ending.

This is apparently left over from the Sonic Adventure-style games where you had to play everyone’s storyline to unlock the last story, where all the characters join together and fight the Final Boss.

However, this format does not work when we follow one character for the entire game.

In order to unlock the true ending, you have to complete all 10 endings. And if you’re someone like me who always goes for the good endings because being mean makes you feel bad, then this will be a hard pill to swallow.

The Last Way begins with Shadow already in possession of all 7 Chaos Emeralds, we have no idea how he got them, so basically every path you spent hours playing mean nothing. They’re not canon. Only a few parts here and there are still relevant past this point.

No matter what you did, Shadow will always turn on Black Doom, destroy the Black Comet with the Eclipse Cannon, and save the world. Which kinda negates the whole “choose your own adventure” gameplay.

Epic Mickey’s ending is also the same no matter what you do, Mickey still defeats the Blot and frees Wasteland. However, you’re still shown how your actions impacted the residents of Wasteland. For example, if you choose to paint the Clocktower boss, you see it happily playing with some Gremlins. But if you destroy it by thinning its arms, you see it lying in ruin.

Shadow’s endings are more like the ending from Clue.

The only parts that remain canon are the Chaotix story, and conversations Eggman had with Shadow on the Neutral path.

Throughout the game, the Chaotix are digging into old files. Charmy is looking for secret disks on Prison Island, Vector is looking for the notorious computer room on the ARK, and all three were hacking into Eggman’s computer before Digital Circut. The data they found contained a video message from Professor Gerald addressed to Shadow. Gerald explains the purpose of the Eclipse Cannon, and we’re shown it was recorded before Maria’s death, as she pops in at the end.

That is one revelation that enhances Sonic Adventure 2’s story, in my opinion. Professor Gerald created the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Black Comet when it returns in 50 years, only using it against humanity after Maria was killed.

If you battle Devil Doom past the 9 minute mark (which I did a handful of times because I’m a terrible shot), Eggman will tell Shadow he lied about him being an android and that he rescued Shadow at the end of Sonic Adventure 2, and he is, in fact, the real Shadow. Which…I feel like was obvious because our Shadow had more polygons than the androids.

Also the Sonic Heroes manual straight up says that he is the real Shadow and he survived the events of Sonic Adventure 2, so…

Where There is Shadow, There Must Also Be Light

I’m the type of person who always tries to find the good, even in the worst things. So here’s some things about Shadow that I did love.

The pre-rendered cutscenes look amazing. Almost 20 years later, and they still hold up.

By the way, guess who worked on these amazing cutscenes? After watching the credits 11 times, I noticed a couple names in the credits, Jeff Fowler and Tim Miller. Not ringing any bells? Well, Fowler went on to direct the live-action Sonic movies, and Miller was a producer on them. This is their only Sonic credit outside of those movies, so I think it’s safe to say we wouldn’t have these awesome movies if it weren’t for Shadow.

The soundtrack is also great. “I Am…All of Me” is still one of my favorite Sonic and Crush 40 songs, “Never Turn Back” struck a cord with me, and the rest of the lyrical songs had me vibing while I took a breather during the credits.

It might just be because I had to replay the levels multiple times, but I’ve had a handful of those tracks stuck in my head for years. Circus Park, Sky Troops, Lava Shelter and Cosmic Fall are a few that stick out. “Vengeance is Mine” from Sonic Adventure 2 returns as the soundtrack for the 2P Battle Mode. Yes, it took me a long time to realize it was the same song. Even when Sonic games are “bad”, they never slack on the soundtrack.

Goodbye Forever, Shadow the Hedgehog

I consider Shadow the Hedgehog to be one of my guilty pleasures. I recognize there’s a lot of things that don’t work. Shadow’s character took a drastic turn that he’s still trying to recover from, the controls feel like roller skating on ice, the “choose your own adventure” gameplay forgot about the “choose your own” part, and it’s so edgy you can slice your hand open just by touching it.

But despite all of this…I still enjoy it? Even though I was annoyed and exhausted by the game, I still had fun. The good parts are still good enough that I unironically enjoy them. And the bad parts at least can get a laugh out of me with how dumb they are. “Where’s that damn FOURTH Chaos Emerald?” and “Find the Computer Room!” are classic Sonic memes.

Do I recommend beating Shadow? Oh hell no. Not unless you’re a serious Shadow stan or a masochist. I’d say play as much as you can tolerate.

*in the time since I wrote this, I got a copy of Sonic Heroes. Currently stuck on the Power Plant level with Team Dark. HOW DO I GET PAST THE LAVA??? 😭

#shadow the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog 2005 #shadow the hedgehog game #sonic the hedgehog

3 notes · View notes

cyberspace-of-gods · 2 years

Note

hi! i’m so glad you’re still working on this, because i adore stories about VR. i dunno if you’re up to answering asks about the whole cast (the list is so long! i’m impressed!!), but could i ask what are everyone’s hobbies in the group?

Hi! Thanks for the kind words, it really makes me happy knowing that people are still interested in my story even after such a long break💖 Thank you for the question too!

So, hobbies! I'll just put who games and who doesn't at the top since it's practically the baseline for the story.

(From who games most to less)

Gamers: Haga >> Ikuto > Asumi > Leon >= Shian > Oumi (he only plays Playground of Gods)

Non-gamers: Hiyori, Ume, Yuria, Tatsuya, Setsuna

Amane plays many kinds of games but doesn't invest a lot of time on any, so their placement is a bit wonky.

Now, for their hobbies! Maybe some spoilers, so be careful!

Leon: He likes working out and runs very often! Any kind of activity that doesn't involve objects flying at him (ball sports. He has broken many bones to basketball, soccer, volleyball and so on.) He also likes cooking, but doesn't do it much because he tends to burn or cut himself by accident.

Asumi: He plays the guitar and writes music for a living/hobby! He mostly uses a voice synthesizer software (called Otoloid in this world. You know what this is referencing to) and is pretty popular online.

Shian: Shopping! She loves clothes and accessories and can immediately tell whether the product is high quality or not. She likes to make small jewelry and sell them online too.

Haga: Besides rotting away in front of a screen, Haga actually loves trying out many different kinds of flavors. Mostly weird ones (like pineapple flavored potato chips, wasabi beef ice cream etc) and they love spicy food. They usually eat those snacks and watch TV dramas (doesn't matter where its from or the quality. They will laugh at it).

Ikuto: The ultimate Otaku. Anime, dating sims, RPGS, vtubers, manga - this boy has tried anything related to 2D. He likes collecting goods from his favorite series and doodles whenever he's bored, and goes out to the Otaku sanctuaries in Tokyo during weekends.

Oumi: Reads many books in other languages at home or at jazz cafes and swims no matter the season. He owns a fish tank and is extremely meticulous about caring for his pets. He also likes to take care of bonsai because of his parents, but he doesn't have any in his apartment in Tokyo now.

Hiyori: Cosplaying! She loves to make her own costumes and is quite active in going to conventions. She loves to read about mythology of any kind, and has more average hobbies like watching dramas and reading manga too.

Ume: Sadly, Ume is so preoccupied with spending her time on others that she barely has time for herself. So she doesn't really have an active hobby now, but in the past, she loved watching sports on the internet and in person, and loved volleyball to the degree that she was considering going pro. She still has a volleyball signed by her favorite athlete in her room though.

Yuria: The responsibility of taking care of her younger siblings was mostly dumped on her since she was a kid, so she was always so busy that she doesn't really have a hobby. Now, she's trying out anything that catches her eye, and has taken a liking to going to a batting center and hitting some balls.

Tatsuya: He loves to paint and draw whenever he can! Spends most of time inside making something, but he also enjoys working out to stay healthy. He's also always loved watching tokusatsu type of dramas since he was a kid, and is still a big fan of the Masked Biker series.

Setsuna: Mostly cooped up inside working on crafting anything made out of clay or similarly moldable materials - either that or taking long naps. She loves watching the magical girl shows that air every Sunday morning and has trained herself to wake up early on that day just to watch it. She tends to make figurines out of her favorite characters too.

Amane: Human observation. And kiddy games like rock-paper-scissors or ayatori. Usually bugs the people near them for entertainment (the MC is now added in their list of bug-able people too).

#cyberspaceofgods #ask #all characters

7 notes · View notes

blindedbythedarkness · 2 years

Text

You know what? I'm fucking sad. I don't hate my body for sucking ass at keeping shit together, but that doesn't mean it doesn't make me sad.

Before I ever knew there was something wrong, I had an overwhelming urge to be careful. Back then I just assumed everyone did, but that other people were better at ignoring those gut feelings and alarm bells so they could run head on into rugby tackles or step into a boxing ring. Now, I'm not so sure. I think my body was actually warning me all along, not that it stopped me getting hurt eventually.

I've always been pretty fucking determined to keep up with everyone else, prove that my health problems are just one small part of who I am. The first time they stopped me from keeping up with my friends I was 15 and trying to do my silver DofE, an award we do in the UK that involves volunteering and hiking and stuff. My intestines weren't working properly, they were hurting and I saw that the campsite only had one toilet. On balance, I decided I'd prefer to go home ill than have my friends discover how gross and broken I was after waiting for me to use the toilet. I hated myself for "letting it" stop me, but I made up for it by completing the same expedition a year later.

As I've got older and bits of me of have fucked up here and there, I've had to make more changes. I've had to permanently, severely restrict my diet; to learn to pace myself; to commit to weekly physio to keep joints in place; to take enough pills to make me rattle. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the health I do have and terrified of losing even an ounce more of it.

I'm grateful I can pursue my dream (realistic) career of being a doctor, even if it did mean extensive research beforehand on how I can make it work. It means I likely won't be able to be a surgeon; my hands often shake; I often have whole arms out of action; operating for so long would cause pain; under those lights my blood would pool and I'd drop like a fly. I probably won't be able to work nights because of fatigue or do anything that involves prolonged standing. I'll probably have to limit myself to being part time and scooting around in an office chair. But I'll still be a doctor, I'm determined.

The thing I don't talk about is how this body took away all my other dream careers before they ever had a chance to start. At heart, I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, which is an odd mix with a body hell-bent on protecting its wonky, fragile form. But I am. Ever since I was a young kid I always wanted to be a stunt person- I looked seriously into it. I wanted to know every martial art, know how to knife fight and run up walls. Something about it just looks so thrilling, so freeing. But I can't, it's too dangerous. I also always wanted to be a dancer on stage at the West End, but I don't have the coordination and even that much movement could do me permanent damage. I wanted to be any kind of performer; maybe a rock star. But my fingers bend backwards when I try to play guitar and my coordination gets in the way again and I don't have the energy to jump around a stage.

Of course I'm happy with my choice to be a doctor. It combines what I love with what's realistic. But that doesn't mean I don't feel a pang of longing when I see shows or MMA fights or free runners. When I see people saying "all you've got to do is try and follow your dreams" but it simply isn't safe. I've never felt like my mind is a good fit for my body; partly because I'm trans, but also partly because to trap such an adrenaline junkie in this body is so seriously mismatched.

So yeah, sometimes, it makes me fucking sad and all I can do is hope that in the next life, I have more luck.

3 notes · View notes

kinetic-elaboration · 3 months

Text

February 9: Hackers

Finally watched Hackers for the first time and aaaaaaah it is so good. I had heard it was good but I wasn’t really sure otherwise what to expect, and honestly my immediate reason to watch it was to see the outfits and Matthew Lillard (in his Outfits) being deranged. But it really drew me in just about every respect.

It did feel a little long to me but not necessarily in a bad way, more in a ‘there is a lot going on here.’ It didn’t drag but it had a lot of story. Also, I started watching kind of late and my stream of it was a little wonky so I had to pause it with some frequency to get it to stop skipping, which made it longer. My only other sort of complaint is they really just abandoned Phreak in jail, huh? I mean presumably he was let out at the end but we never see that happen, and he also presumably was not out on bail (…racism?), which meant he wasn’t even allowed to be part of the big climactic scene. That felt sort of sad because he had been a significant character before then.

But—these are quibbles honestly! I really, really loved it. So well cast, such great costumes. I loved Dade’s mom and his relationship with her. I don’t know what I was expecting necessarily but definitely not that, not for her to be both so supportive and so funny. You love to see it. And I also really liked Dade, how he was clearly very talented but he wasn’t the MOST talented, he wasn’t like the savior or the main genius among all geniuses. He was significant to the final hack but he wasn’t the one to bring it all home. He clearly did have next level skills but there also wasn’t any indication he’d actually broken parole, which is to say he’d been out of the game for years. That’s smart story telling because it allows him to be an audience surrogate to learn things (not vocab per se—that’s Margo) but the NYC Hacker scene, but I also think it would be tempting to still have him be magically, inherently, naturally, heroically better than the rest despite his disadvantages. To have it both ways in a sense. Like I really thought he would win the contest against Burn if for no other reason than to get them on a date, and maybe also to make it clear that, you know, she’s good, but she’s no Male Protagonist. I would say that it was really a tie, though. She says he was declared the winner at the end but before the contest was really even over she was changing the game: not betting the date but betting the dress code. (He should have been wearing a dress in the last scene though.)

He was also just generally really sympathetic, I thought. Maybe I was expecting too much Mr. Robot lol (and there were parts that reminded me of Mr. Robot, especially when all the hackers got together) but he was… a pretty normal kid, and his weaknesses were the intensely relatable ‘new kid in school can’t find the office’ and ‘teenage boy thinks teenage girl is pretty.’ He wasn’t nerdy but he wasn’t cool; he fit in with this subculture pretty easily, but he didn’t dominate within it.

And it was so 90s… but not in a dated way, honestly. I kind of was expecting it to be in some sort of inevitable way, not just because it was made in the mid-90s but because it was about something so cutting edge at the time, but it was totally immersive. I wasn’t thinking ‘oh how 90s’ very often and never in a bad way. It’s aesthetically over its time but I like things like that, that don’t try to be timeless because that generally means generic. Also generic things can become dated too and then it’s all that work to be bland for nothing. I was pretty young when this movie came out so I don’t personally remember computers of this era very well—we did have one in ’95 but it wasn’t a laptop and I, personally, a first grader (?) was not exactly the one using it. But I remember, you know, more of that more general era than Kids These Days would for sure. So it was sort of a weird combination of familiar but old-school tech, like the floppy disks, and before-my-time tech like the laptops and a lot of the interface. I used dialup for a long time but I guess I’ve blacked that all out because it took me a sadly long time to figure out why they were always congregating around pay phones—duh, because they needed the phone lines lol.

I liked the balance between the Big Storyline, which was fun and decently suspenseful and had a satisfying conclusion, and the more lowkey, let’s fuck around and hang out with these kids and explore their specific subculture. It was good at combining the two also, like the content to annoy the Secret Service agent: that’s part of the larger story line in a tangential way and it’s important for the character development/romance of Crash and Burn, but it was also pretty clearly just an excuse for some fun hacking mini-adventures.

Anyway, I loved it a lot. I could see myself watching it repeatedly for sure.

#the year 2024 #2024: fandom thoughts #2024: movies

1 note · View note

mystikalrootz · 9 months

Text

Mercury Retrograde

21° in Virgo 12:59 pm (PST)

8/23-9/15

Here we go again! It’s Mercury Retrograde time! 3-4 times a year Mercury laps Earth as we orbit the Sun which gives the impression that Mercury is moving backwards. During this time we experience disruptions in all things Mercury related such as communication, technology, travel and health and home matters. Depending on what sign Mercury moves in will depend where this affects the collective. Regardless of its placement tho, some things are KEY during this time and it is important to implement all the “Re” actions and practices you can, and avoid beginning anything new if possible.

Renew, refresh, rewind, reflect, revise, revamp, research, rethink, return, revisit, refrain, reorganize, retreat, retrieve, reconnect, recommit, resolve, and repeat are just some very good guide words to keep at the forefront as you move through this sometimes confusing and frustrating retrograde energy. You will enviably see funny memes saying “I’m not responsible for what I said during Mercury Retrograde” which I too find funny BUT this is an excuse for being an intentional asshole and blame a planet for it… I don’t REspect this type of thinking. Mercury in Retrograde gives us the gift of slowing down and reflecting on things that may have soured in the past few months. It lets us return to the things that are meaningful and maybe recommit to things or people that we have forgotten about. You can breath REfreshing air into an already started project or return to a hobby or skill you have done further REseach on to make it a success.

*ABSOLUTELY BACK UP DATA

*Know that you may not understand what others are trying to say the first time they say it and vise versa.

*Double check all forms of communication for clarity and that it is going to the correct person. (Texts, emails, DM’s, letters, cards, bills, payments etc)

*Try not to travel or make travel plans. This can sometimes not be avoided so making sure vehicles are running smooth, airports are arrived at super early, and prepping for delays is a good idea

*Don’t sign legal papers or contracts is possible. I actually told my old job’s HR that I would come sign my retirement/separation paperwork the next week when Mercury Retrograde had left it’s post shadow phase! Not sure if she understood me but she complied! If you MUST sign these types of papers, read them over thoroughly and maybe take a friend to read also.

During this particular Retrograde, Mercury is spending the entire time in one of its home signs, Virgo. It stations to go backwards at 21° in the sign and then stations to go direct again at 8°. The grounded Earth energy of Virgo is caring, health aware, nurturing, organized, thoughtful and even sensual. Mercury can be used beautifully here to reflect on any health matters you have wanted to attend to, revamp your dietary plans, or even research more earth based ways to a healthier life. Pulling out some half finished organization projects such as filing gone unfinished or storage bought but never used is also great here. This particular placement can really hit your work and day to day activities so beware of this and take the proper mindset and awareness. If a program crashes, laugh, know it is Mercury, go for a walk, and come back. You will more than likely find the issue is corrected. Be sure your not sending personal things to work peeps and vise versa as this is also a common mistake. Your co-workers may be cranky and moody leaving YOU to be the vibe. Why you? Well, your aware of this wonky ass energy and chances are, they aren’t. Be kind and show compassion or if your like me…SHARE THIS INFO!! Mercury and Virgo energies love information and love to teach others. That being said, with ALL things you try to teach or assist with at this time, be careful not to force yourself on others. When Mercury is in Virgo we have a tendency to over think and over “help”. Others may feel you as overbearing and the possibility of you feeling rejected is very possible.

Personally, I am loving the feel of this retrograde! With the loving support of the Sun entering Virgo (email subscribers got that energy walk through) just hours before Mercury starts its backwards dance, there is a vibe of self care, nurturing, journaling, and full on relaxation that is much needed with the 2023 weirdness many have experienced. If used properly, the next 3 weeks could be the REset you need in order to finish off the year as the bad ass you are! Happy Mercury Retrograde!!

If you find value in these forecasts, please consider a small $5 donation as an exchange of energy using the link below 🤍

#astrology #forecast #follow #mercury retrograde

0 notes

beaker1636 · 10 months

Text

So no clue where this came from but it just happened like a month ago and I haven’t had the guts to post it yet but my friend Paige keeps telling me to soooo here’s a very smutty Chris fic.

Please be gentle, I don’t write smut at all, this is my first attempt. And I absolutely hate it despite paige and another friend saying it was really good. Also sorry if formatting gets fucked up, I type these on my laptop but can’t remember my tumblr password so I cut and paste it from a document on my phone into tumble so sometimes it gets wonky.

“Hey baby, I am sorry but things are not going how I wanted so I will be done late, we will have to move our date to another night. As soon as we finish this song I will come to your place and we can watch a movie or something,” you read the message from your boyfriend Chris for a second time, your mood instantly dropping.

This is the third time he has had to cancel date night in the last couple weeks that he has been home so that they can continue working on the new album at night. You understand that this is what he does for a living but you are getting really tired of this happening all the time. Honestly, it is making you start to feel like you arent important to him and that maybe he doesn’t want you around as much as he used to.

You sign, before responding to him. ‘Okay, don’t worry about coming over tonight if you are going to be late, you can go home and rest so that you are ready to work tomorrow.”

You get a response rather quickly, catching you off guard. “I want to come see you, I feel like we haven’t had any time together with both of our jobs.”

That message is what finally breaks you, that makes you snap and let out all your frustration in one strongly worded message that you send back.

“And that is somehow my fucking fault, YOU are the one who has cancelled on me yet again. Go fuck yourself, I don’t even want to see you tonight now,” you type out, fighting tears of frustration that are threatening to fall as you hit send.

You quickly shut your phone off and throw it on your living room table so that you don’t have to see what his response is. You had a rough day at work and really needed to be with him tonight but that doesn’t matter anymore, nothing matters anymore.

Storming off to the bathroom you start to wash your face of your makeup, its just going to get ruined when you eventually stress cry, which you know is going to happen. You also say fuck it and change into pajamas, theres no reason to be dressed up just to spend the night alone in your apartment.

You follow this all up with getting a large glass of wine before going to your room with your new romance book to read and drink your feelings away, hoping that it would give you a much needed distraction so that you don’t spend your night sulking about your fight with Chris.

About an hour later it has worked, you are so drawn into the story that you don’t hear your front door open rather hashly, nor do you hear the footsteps leading to your bedroom until your bedroom door slams open.

You look up and gulp when your eyes lock with Chris’, his eyes showing you very quickly just how pissed off he currently is.

“This is seriously what you have been doing while ignoring my texts and calls? Reading a book?” He seethes, glaring at you to the point you are uncomfortable and glance away.

Fighting the tears that are now threatening to fall down your cheeks, you decide to be quiet for a minute to think about what you want to say.

“Maybe if you actually made time for me and didn’t always put me second I wouldn’t want to ignore you.” You finally say, quietly, feeling rather small in the moment. You hate confrontation so to know that Chris is upset with you really has you anxious.

“You know we are recording and have deadlines we have to meet, I can’t just leave in the middle of a song,” He spits out, growing more frustrated.

Feeling like Chris isn’t even listening to you and not wanting to get yelled at even more you decide to go back to reading your book, this conversation can be finished once he has calmed down some.

This is the last straw for Chris however, who is not going to let you continue to ignore him. He storms over to your bed and quickly rips the book out of your hands in annoyance, his eyes scanning the text on the page that you currently had the book opened to.

“Seriosuly, you are ignoring me so that you can read about other people fucking eachother?” His eyes darken as they scan your face, watching for your reaction.

Finally having enough of his tantrum yourself you finally crack. “Yeah, I am. It could have been us if you would actually show up for a fucking date.”

If he wants to fight then fine, you will fight back. He doesn’t get to be a dick when it is his fucking fault that you are upset and fighting right now. You match his glare, not wanting to be the one to back down at this point, too riled up to give in. But slowly his glare turns into a smirk, and he makes his way to the other side of your bed, climbing in next to you.

“You want to read your book so bad, fine. Read it, out loud,” he challenges, thrusting your book back into your hands.

“What? No I…. I can’t. That just, what? No Chris,” you struggle to come up with a coherent response, feeling awkward and honestly embarrassed at the thought of reading out such a dirty scene out loud in front of him.

“Why not? You seem like you have plenty to say tonight, so come on. Put your words to good use and read it to me,” he teases you. Chris knows that if he pushes you enough that you will do exactly what he asks you to, because you always do.

“Ugh fine,” you grumble.

You know Chris well enough to know that he is playing some kind of game with you but what exactly? You aren’t sure.

“‘You’re already so wet for me,” he whispers, his tongue running flat alone the darkening marks along your neck. He drags his fingers up the length of your heat’”.

You cut off suddenly with a gasp as Chris slips a hand inside your pajamas and your panties to do what you just read to you, removing the garments from your body.

“Keep reading, you wanted to ignore me for your book so bad so lets see if you actually can,” his voice grows deep as he continues to tease you.

You suck in a shakey deep breath before you continue.

“‘What do you want me to do to you,” he asks, your thighs shifting around his wrist. “Hmm?’

‘To touch me,’ you whisper, your voice barely audible in the quiet room.

‘You’re going to have to be more specific,’ he informs you. ‘And aren’t you forgetting something?’

‘Sir?’

‘Much better.’ He nod his head and you withhold a sigh, you’re never going to remember that. Before you can utter another word, two thick fingers are inside of you, you being wet enough to where he has very little resistance as he thrusts them knuckle deep.’”

You hesitate, swallowing as you try not to make a sound as Chris yet again does what you just read. You don’t want to give that cocky bastard the satisifation of knowing what he is currently doing to you.

He stops moving, glaring at you again. “You stop reading, I stop touching you.”

“‘ He pulls his hand back enough only to thrust them back inside you roughly, causing a deep whine to leave your throat at the sting of pain and pleasure, shivers immediately crawling up your spine.

He pulls away slightly, watching you under a heavy lidded gaze as his fingers continue to thrust into you, rough, forceful and unforgiving…”

You cut off, finally giving into Chris, whispering fuck this, throwing your book onto your bedside tabe before grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him in for a kiss.

He resists, not giving you the kiss that you are craving so desperately.

“I always get what I want,” he says with a chuckle. “And don’t think that after the way you spoke to me that I am going to let you cum that easily.”

You try to hide your disappointment when his fingers leave where you need them most.

“Now clean up the mess you made,” he demands, holding his hand infront of your face.

You learn forward, taking his two fingers between your lips, tasting yourself. You decide to take your time to make sure you actually get them cleaning, hoping that maybe if you do what he says that you will get what you want from him. He removes them, resting them on your lower lip.

“Good girl, now tell me, how bady do you want me y/n?” He asks, his eyes meeting yours.

“Badly, please Chris,” you whine, deperate for him to touch you again, to take care of the ache that he has created.

He slides your shirt off, smiling at the fact that you had already taken your bra off when you changed, leaving you bare as he stands up.

“Then how about you show me how much you actuary want me,” he commands, making you shiver at his tone of voice. “Get on your knees for me baby.”

You don’t hesitate to get up and do just as you were told. Reaching out to open the button and slowly slide the zipper down on his jean before tugging them and his boxers down in one movement, his hard cock finally free much to his relief.

He tugs your hair harshly, pulling you forward and silently urging you to do something, anything, just as desperate as you are for what is to come.

You wrap your hand around the base of his shaft before running your tongue along the underside, only to then teasingly lick around his head tasting the pre-cum there before dipping lower, not missing any of his length.

“Stop teasing,” he groans at your actions, growing frustrated as you continue to do so. You want your revenge for him doing just that to you earlier.

You can’t help but smirk up at him, glad that you could make him crave you just as much as he makes you crave him.

Finally you decide he has had enough and take him into your mouth, slowly lowering as your hands strokes what you can’t quite take. He tugs on your hair to make you look up at him as you hollow your cheeks and start to actually bob your head, ready to drive him crazy like he does to you. His eyes meet yours as you take him even deeper.

“Fuck, I love how great you are with your mouth,” he groans, knowing that the praise always motivates you, makes you work harder in hopes of receiving more of it.

He starts to pull on your hair, taking control away from you as he urges you to go faster. You gladly let him, loving that he is making you do what he wants, taking what he wants from you with no restraint.

He groans, pushing deeper, your eyes watering as you keep swallowing around him, trying not to choke as he gets rougher and rougher with you.

His eyes close as he leans back slightly, letting you deep throat him as he shudders, getting right to the edge. After a moment his grip on your hair tightens again as he pulls you away from his throbbing cock, you gasping for breath.

“Get on the bed, hands and knees for me baby,” he growls as he helps you up, pulling his shirt off as you crawl on the bed, looking over your shoulder at him.

You tense in anticipation when he climbs up behind you, pulling you back towards him by your hips and making you both groan at the friction that it creates. His hands pull you up by your hair o that your back is pressed against his chest, leaving kisses that trail form your neck to your ear.

“I’m about to fuck you, hard,” he whispers as he reaches around, cupping your breasts before pinching your nipples which makes you jerk back into him, causing the much craved friction between you both again.

You fail to fully process his word as all you can think about is your want, no your need to finally cum.

He gives you a kiss before letting you go, you falling back on your hands as he enjoys the view of your ass and the fact he is able to have his way with you without you putting up much a fight.

He can see just how wet you are as it glistens in the dim light from your lamp. It pleases him to know how much he can make you crave and need his touch, that only he can do this to you.

He cam tell that you are growing impatient as his fingers make their way to your hips yet again.

“I bet you still want me to go home, don’t you,” he murmurs, not wanting to give you what you want just yet.

You glare over your shoulder at him, barely holding on to what little resolve you still have left, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing just how badly you actually crave him.

“Use your words y/n, I want to hear you beg for me before I even consider touching you. You wanted to use them so badly to get me to leave earlier” he demands of you, harshly thowing back your words from earlier in your face.

You still refuse to answer, which just frustrates Chris, so he harshly smacks your ass, instantly making you whine at the sting.

“I still don’t hear you.”

“Oh come on, you can clearly tell how much I fucking want you. Just fuck me already,” you groan, annoyed that he is making you do this. Any other time you don’t mind begging but the angry part of you is still holding on weakly, making you want to put up a little more fight that usual.

“Good girl, thats more like it,” wraping his fingers around himself, practically pulsing from how close you had him with your mouth.

Without warning he roughly enters you, making you gasp in surprise. You press your face in your arm, jaw clenching at the sudden sting from the action.

He starts out rather slowly, deciding that he is still going to tease you before he finally starts to get rougher and rougher with each thrust, pulling your body back to meet his with each movement.

You lose your breath and close your eyes as you get closer and closer to the edge. Enjoying that he is being so forceful that it almost hurts, loving this new and rougher side of Chris that you have not seen before.

He’s slamming into you with no restraint, pulling you right to the edge but still not giving you enough to actually cum yet, the need tormenting you at how close you are.

His fingers slip around your waist to tour clit, making you cry out from the pleasure as he enjoys the sight of the bruises forming on your hips from the hold he just had on them.

You suddenly clench around him, making him groan.

“Please, Chris, I’m” you cut yourself off, not able to finish what you are saying as you beg him for your release, knowing that the only way he would give it to you is if you do.

“Fine, cum,” he demands as he presses his body down into yours on the mattress. “Cum.”

You finally do, your vision going a bit blurry as you cry out, loud enough that Chris secretly hopes that your neighbors have heard you.

His rhythm slowly becomes erratic as he can’t take it anymore and spills himself inside you with a low groan “fuck”.

His arms slip around you as you both go limp, him gently rolling you over onto your back as you lay there for a few moments, catching your breath, still pressed together as you lowly regain control of yourselves.

He slowly pulls away, gently helping you get more comfortable as you let out a sign in exhaustion. You barely notice that he left the room until he returns with a damp washcloth, helping you clean up the mess that you both let on your now very sore thighs.

“y/n, do you need anything? Are you alright?” he asks after he finishes, laying down next to you in the bed, pulling you into his arms and bruising your damp hair out of your face.

You nod, not quite ready to answer his question.

He gives you a very gentle kiss, almost as an apology before speaking.

“I’m sorry I haven’t had much time for you, I promise that I will take tomorrow off to spend with you, just us,” he says softly, toying with your hair in the way that he knows you love.

“Thank you,” is all that you mange to get out, not feeling like any other words need to be said as you oth lay there, slowly falling asleep next to eachother, glad that the fight has ended.

#motionless in white #motionless in white imagine #chris motionless imagine #chris motionless smut #be gentle #Bree sucks at fanfiction #chris motionless x fem reader #chris motionless x reader #Chris motionless X reader smut #chris cerulli smut #chris motionless fic #Chris

66 notes · View notes

jeremy-ken-anderson · 11 months

Text

Overworld Mobs Were a Mistake

In a lot of fantasy games there's the concept of the Overworld Mob. We'll just ignore the weirdness of singular units being referred to as "mobs" in MMO spaces. Language evolves. This is a creature that has a place in the terrain; Some are entirely stationary, many have a range - essentially their territory - with their walk-around animations having random directions but those random rolls taking in info about how far they are from their home point, and a rare few even have a specified migration cycle, where the "home point" in question itself moves around the zone. A lot of overworld boss monsters in older MMOs were fully random, basically walking around wherever they wanted within the full breadth of a zone (sometimes with "safe zones" for PCs carved out; things like hidden camps, or major cities the monster wasn't willing to assault).

Generally an overworld mob post-2000 has a pretty fast respawn cycle unless it's a major boss. Few games these days have a zone that can be emptied of wildlife by a determined murder-hobo with too many levels. There's some interesting design stuff to consider about respawn duration, because you want it fast enough that a jerk can't make everyone else unable to do "slay 4 wompus birds" quests but not so fast that the one you just killed respawns immediately; That breaks immersion and really undercuts any quests about killing monsters specifically to control population.

So. City of Heroes.

On the one hand there's a piece of the fantasy that involves leaping rooftop-to-rooftop and seeing a mugging in process down at street level and flying into action. On the other, there's the above immersion-break that these interchangeable supernatural gangsters are immediately back to mugging someone on the same street corner you just arrested them from. I can imagine the mechanic's defenders saying this parallels how Batman has ended up having several stories about getting discouraged by the fact that Gotham never seems to actually clean up with all the work he does. But it doesn't feel the same.

Also, the game just doesn't play out that way. The reality is the overworld mobs of City of Heroes end up being more related to old concepts of zone progression; a kind of "you must be this tall to ride" system that stops the level 5 characters from walking around the level 50 zones.

The problem with that, of course, is that in City of Heroes most of the "level 50 zones" are still inside a civilized city. There's something wonky about a game where Plainclothes Bob can walk down the street past the weirdo space-nazis or the magic soul-stealers and they don't harass him, but if you make a superhero named Plainclothes Bob and make him look just like the other citizens and walk around, they will pick you out of a crowd and they will murder you the second you walk into the wrong zone.

Regular overworld mobs are deeply outdated. They're the most rote and paint-by-numbers part of almost every MMO. They're usually the least interesting encounter type. In games with standard traversal - Diablo 4, for instance, has teleportation to cities you've visited, and other than that you're on foot or horseback - overworld enemies are meant to keep the player on their toes and give them something to do between story beats, maybe also stress how the corruption of whatever evil besets the land needs to be pushed back by your heroic deeds.

But in a game with lots of nonstandard traversal - Spider-Man, for instance, or City of Heroes - the whole game makes a lot more sense if you have no Overworld Mobs, per se, but rather a series of events. A Mugging. A Drug Deal. A Dark Rite. A Bank Robbery.

Basically I think CoH - or some new version that tries to fill its shoes, if anyone makes the attempt after Champions' failure - should have something more like the FATEs you see in FFXIV...and then not have overworld mobs at all, outside of those events. We've got the processing power now to include a bunch of non-monster characters at street level to make the city feel lived-in. CoH already had the system where most of the content was instanced; players entering a warehouse or skyscraper through a clicked door, or clicking on a helicopter to be carried to a forest somewhere near town. And running around killing random goons is the least interesting part of an MMO. This is even true when they tie it into the plot.

#game design #city of heroes

1 note · View note

watching-pictures-move · 1 year

Text

Movie Review | Mortal Kombat (Anderson, 1995)

I wouldn’t call this a childhood favourite by any means, but it was certainly one I saw a bunch of times as a kid and not since, so that fact that was on Tubi and threatening to leave in a few days was good enough reason to give it a rewatch after all these years. One scene that I more or less remembered was the one where Johnny Cage punches Goro in the… you know… and the chase and fight that ensues. And the reason I remembered this was not just the scene itself but that, seeing it as a child on a CRT television of not extravagant size and likely at the mercy of poor reception, I’d imagined at the time that I’d actually seen Goro’s … you know… flailing about during the chase scene. And that after seeing the movie, when I drew a little doodle of Goro, I sketched out his… you know… And I don’t remember if I drew this doodle at school or at home, but let me tell ya, whoever saw it was NOT happy! Anyway, that’s my little trip down memory lane.

As for the movie, I suspect a lot of this comes from the source material, which I’m only vaguely familiar with (I’ve played some of the games at arcades and family friends’ houses, but never owned any myself), but the tournament plot and trio of heroes with an Asian lead seem greatly indebted to Enter the Dragon. There’s some logic behind this calculation, as Enter the Dragon was tasked with selling the concept of martial arts cinema to American audiences, so it would make some sense to use its template when trying to sell the concept of video game movies, which had only been around for a few years prior. I will say that I appreciated that, unlike some of the movies that followed where Hong Kong stars tried to cross over, the movie actually lets Robin Shou be charismatic and funny. I suspect because he wasn’t a big star and didn’t have any major baggage, there was no need to try to package him into anything specific. I also appreciate that the other heroes, Linden Ashby (the aforementioned puncher of Goro in the… you know…) and Bridgette Wilson actually hold their own in the action sequences, which was not true of at least one of the heroes in Enter the Dragon (John Saxon, I love ya, but c’mon), and that Ashby gets to be a doofus in exactly the right measure to allow for self deprecation and humour but not undermine the movie with self awareness. There is a baseline of respect you ought to pay the material here and I think this movie pulls it off. And you round out the cast with Christopher Lambert, who kinda nails the subtly exotic qualities of his character, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, who plays the role with a good deal of menace. Also, for some reason I got real excited when I recognized Peter Jason, despite the fact that the movies I remembered him most clearly from, Trick or Treats and Texas Lightning, are not good. Sometimes “hey, it’s that guy” provides a certain frisson.

I will say that while I liked looking at the outdoor scenes, because there are temples and vines and greenery and sand and sun and what have you, I did not like looking at the indoor scenes, which are lit in strong, kind of dark colours calibrated to a level I found unpleasant on the eyes. For some reason, there’s a lot of maroon in this movie, which did not make for a pleasurable viewing experience. That being said, despite the wonky CGI, this is shot on film and there are actual sets so maybe I shouldn’t complain so much. I will also note that unlike pretty much every other Paul W. S. Anderson movie I’ve seen, the action scenes here actually work as action and not inert, self contained exercises in framing and movement. Sure, you can feel that some of the scenes feel like Shou is moving at half speed so the American stuntmen can keep up (or at least it does if you’ve seen Tiger Cage II… what a movie *chef’s kiss*). But unlike Anderson’s other movies, where ridiculously overpowered heroes engage in totally arbitrary back and forths before the confrontation is resolved in the lamest possible way, the action scenes here evoke a sense of actual struggle for the heroes and as a result, some semblance of progression. The movie on the whole plays like slick, energetic hackwork (take a shot every time a variation of the awesome techno theme comes on the soundtrack), but Anderson, like Zack Snyder, seemingly turned out his most enjoyable movie before he really developed a distinct style.

#film #movie review #mortal kombat #paul w.s. anderson

1 note · View note

augustinewrites · 2 years

Note

we want kageyama trying to make us dinner for our anniversary but failing :’))

anything for you 💕 and i can totally see him doing this oh my god

kageyama tobio is good at a lot of things.

he’s good at setting, obviously. he’s been a setter on an international stage not once, but twice.

he’s pretty decent at serving (volleyballs, not food). there was a point in his career with the adlers that he had beaten miya atsumu in consecutive service aces.

he’s also good at memorizing stuff. sure, he’ll forget to stop by the store after practice or that he has a dentist appointment on tuesday. the one thing he can remember? tactic signals for each and every attack in the book. offside, back row, quick.

so maybe most of the things he’s good at are volleyball related. what’s wrong with that?

well, what’s wrong with that is the fact that yeah, he remembers the signal to tell his teammates he’s setting up a pipe, but he’d almost forgotten your anniversary.

in fact, he’d been reminded when you’d woken him with more kisses than usual. when he’d grabbed your hips and asked what the occasion was, and you’d pouted and asked if he’d really forgotten.

that’s when it’d clicked. he’d married you a year ago today.

and he’d told you that you must’ve hit your head or something last night, because he’d never forget. he’d give you your gift tonight, babe, c’mon don’t make that face, and kissed the crease between your brows until it’s disappeared.

but as soon as you’d skipped out of the room, he was grabbing his phone, doing the one thing he’d never thought he’d do.

[kageyama] i need your help

[miya a.] who is this?

he rolls his eyes.

[kageyama] are you serious?

[miya a.] no lol what do you want scrub

[kageyama] your brother’s cell number

[miya a.] you’re making me pay long distance charges just to ask for onigiri miya’s number?

[miya a.] ever hear of the internet?

[kageyama] ever hear of serves that go in the court?

[miya a.] ever hear of sets that don’t suck?

[kageyama] can i get the number or not? he owes me a favour.

[miya a.] for what??

[kageyama] all the times the adlers beat the jackals

[miya a.] doesn’t ring a bell but fine

—

kageyama tobio is good at a lot of things.

he can set volleyballs with ease and serve conservative aces. he can remember the tactic signals for every play in the the book.

he cannot, apparently, follow a recipe to save his life.

miya osamu had dumbed down the instructions to make them idiot-proof, but when kageyama surveys the scene in front of him, he’s really challenging that, isn’t he?

you’re coming home soon from the impromptu trip to the spa he’d sent you on, and what are going to come back to?

the scent of burnt onions and a pot of leaky curry.

misshapen onigiri with its filling falling down the sides.

cupcakes that are somehow dry, but undercooked at the same time.

but he’s a scrappy player on the court. he makes do with the toughest situations and sends that ball back over the net.

he’ll make this edible.

he lights a few scented candles (for ambiance, not to hide the smell) and sets the table to perfection (the perfect plating is for aesthetics, not so you don’t notice the watery curry on the rice).

he shoves filling back into the rice balls and covers any holes with more rice (no, they’re not wonky looking. that’s the shape of a heart, obviously).

he mixes his store-bought frosting with the crumbled bits of cooked cupcake and makes cake…lumps. (cake volleyballs, actually).

it’s not good work, but it’s honest work.

and his effort is worth it, because when you come home your face lights up. you hug and kiss and thank him.

you enjoy a nice meal together over good wine and share a tearful, reminiscent conversation about your first year as a married couple.

“i’m just getting choked up about how great of a year it’s been,” you insist when he notices your throat catch a few times as you eat another spoonful of curry.

“oh, vegan onigiri,” you joke when you bite into one he’d somehow forgotten to stuff with filling.

“these are an…interesting texture,” you observe, chewing your cake volleyball very slowly, washing it down with wine.

but he can see it in your eyes that you appreciate him for trying. and for some reason, you lying through your teeth for the sake of his feelings is very romantic, and more than makes up for it with his sweet kisses and spicy anniversary night.

and if you both wake up the next morning with food poisoning at least you’ve both learned one very important thing:

kageyama tobio is good at a lot of things, but cooking isn’t one of them.

#kageyama x reader #kageyama tobio x reader #kageyama tobio #miya atsumu #haikyuu!!#haikyuu drabbles

422 notes · View notes