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reds-skull · 6 months

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So my thoughts on the train wreck that was mw3

(spoilers... obviously)

I reblogged a post talking about this a few hours ago, and it talked about this issue better than I could, but the mission with Samara made me grind my teeth literally. It doesn't mention that at the end of the mission, when she's forced to wear a bomb vest and hold a glock, in order to get to the detonator to stop the bomb you need to go through a crowd of people. I didn't shoot them but the game encourages you to. jsyk.

It's really fucked.

Overall, I'll be honest I didn't take anything too seriously. I heard it's a shitshow so I just looked for the full half of the cup. I also had a feeling someone's gonna die so I was scared for everyone all the fucking time.

[continued rent below]

My favorite parts are where Graves and Shepherd show up actually, since everyone's so fucking done with their bullshit it's so funny. Ghost straight up asking Laswell to airstrike them killed me, Soap being feral is a highlight.

Shepherd being the prisoner made me laugh idk I can't take that fucker seriously.

I liked seeing more of Farah and Alex. Playing as price was also interesting.

Liked seeing what happened in Verdansk that was cool.

Now for the shit... I was expecting a sort of chasing around the world part 2 after a couple of missions. And that's what it is? Kinda? I'll be honest I'll need to rewatch to understand what was going at the start...

Now for the last mission... I saw people talking about Soap's death coming out of nowhere and I can't help but disagree? Like since Verdansk with Makarov threatening Soap and then Shepherd telling him it will all come back to bite him in the ass... I knew it will be him.

But did it make sense for him to die at that moment? That is harder to tell, I think they're aiming for his death to be a catalyst for Price, to be more ruthless. We see that with him killing Shepherd, like Soap wanted to.

Was it necessary for Price's arc to have Soap die? Not really. He was already set on killing Makarov at the start of the game. I guess you could say he's not tolerant of Shepherd and Graves' grey morality, but they didn't really pose a threat to the 141 after mw2. Shepherd went off the grid and Graves was busy with Farah and Alex.

In general I was surprised that was the last mission. It felt really jarring, even if I know it's supposed to lead up to mw4.

Small note gameplay wise (and glitches) I actually liked the changes, but that's because my favorite games are stealth based, so having the option for it was more fun for me. But I see the average cod player not enjoying it (not really what they signed up for).

I was actually feeling like if I had the option to return the game I would, but it's a dlc and I sure have more than 3 hours on mw2 so I can't...

(first time I buy a triple A game on release and that's what I fuckin get... kinda deserved ngl lmao)

The 2 main things that should be taken away from this are that first this was an impossible game to make in a year, there's a lot of overworking we didn't see behind the scenes, and we can thank the execs and the current nightmare that is the triple A games industry. You can't make a good game at that short of a time.

Second thing is, this is cod. As much as it wants to criticize the military, on the bottom line they got ties with the American military complex. Because of that, Call of Duty will never be an accurate view of the army, and will always glorify western military.

I honestly was agreeing with some of the stuff the villeins say at times when they criticize the good guys. But the villeins are often so over the top evil you can't really agree with them. And that's the point, isn't it?

So it will always have that issue. My interest in this story is purely from a narrative point, irl I come from an extremely militaristic place so I'm sick of all that shit propaganda. Might be obvious for the rest of you, but for the ones that are not... do your research. Learn about how propaganda works. I promise it will be useful to you at one point in your life.

(getting sidetracked here... sorry recent events really bring up some emotions. Mostly anger.)

Just as a sidenote about my own comics - I'm just gonna straight up ignore mw3. Might work with the Verdansk backstory because I liked that, but in general just imagine I'm going off on a tangent. As much as I like angst I want it more emotionally fueled than the campaigns, so if anyone dies, it's on my terms!

I've been really fucking busy with uni so it might take a while, but I'm working on a nice fluffy comic (with an idea I've planned months ago so it's completely unrelated to mw3)

Whoever's still reading, I'll cya then!

#mw3 spoilers #cod mw3 #not art #damn this ended up really long #look I like overthinking stories #especially when it's a train wreck #gotta learn from mistakes and all that #I'll be happy to talk more about this in the notes! would love to hear more perspectives

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dreamii-yume · 3 years

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Yandere genshin self-aware au but you're reincarnation of Aether and Lumine dead sibling

You're the twins beloved sibling that died sometime before the prologue began. Your death is one of the reason why the twins decided to leave Teyvat (aside from the war that is). Till this day, your death still leave a huge scar on the twins.

But Before your death, you promised your sibling that no matter what happened you Will always watching over them and guide them throughout their journey.

And you did! But in form of player. In this new life, you're just a regular person who loves playing games. And for some reason, you feels some kind of connection with the protagonist of this new games you've playing...

I imagine the abyss twin is the first one to realize the player identity (in this case i Will use Lumine). After knowing the truth of Teyvat and gaining self awareness, Lumine decided to work together with the abyss to bring you back to Teyvat by any means possible. She's already been separated from her brother and suffering from the truth of this world, she just want her family to comfort her, especially from her dear sibling.

On the other side, Aether also gained the self awareness, and after realize the player's true identity, he became protective of player. Getting excited when player use him and sometimes stares longingly from their camera. He also started to research a way to bring his reincarnated sibling to this world. He can't wait for the moment when you, Lumine and him can be together again.

But what is this? Everyone also gained self awareness? Why are Klee saying that she has a new friend from another world? And why Albedo has many sketch of you? Speaking of Albedo, it seems like he conducted a secret experiment, one that might involved his sibling.

And Ather can only screaming inside when he realize that everyone on Teyvat is now after his sibling

(O w O) T-This is...! >:0

Darling, do you realized how much of a big brain of an idea you just suggested?? Are you proposing a yandere battle between genshin siblings vs other siblings LMAO Becausw that sounds fun af (๑･̑◡･̑๑) Like— Yandere Lumine and Aether tag team + Big sis reincarnate player lol I would absolutely die and give my self up, because I am already emotionally attached to them lol They be taking advantage of that protagonist privilege haha…Also, since they basically have the most important role in the game, imagine not using them and they just pout and dead ass crashes the game lol If you won’t play with either of them on the team, then maybe you don’t get to play at all ＼＼\٩(๑`^´๑)۶//／／

Also— Diluc and Kaeya working together??? Like- w h a t?? Is that even possible lol Joining in was probably Kaeya's idea because he thought it'd be fun, but lowkey kinda worried to get left behind so, he needs the brothers appeal with Diluc lol The brother in question here be grumpy af but kinda also agree—

Albedo and Klee would be SO CUTE— AH. I imagine Albedo doing all the creepy yandere shit, like breaking fourth walls, saying concerning voice lines, and won’t do as you control him to do so, you're this 👌 close to taking him out of your team. But then, Klee comes in doing the same fourth wall breaking stuff but like— It makes you feel bad rather than creeped out lol She says things like being lonely without Albedo-nii-chan and begs for you to take both of her and Albedo together so, your heart just- boom boom lol

Then, we have Barbara and Jean which would probably be wholesome as shit, not gonna lie lol Imagine the health bar never going down because Barbara keeps healing the entire party regardless of the countdown required lol and Jean's dmg amount slowly becoming higher and higher- You'll probably think its a glitch.

#Talk with Yume

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allronix · 3 years

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Carth and Force Sensitivity (crossposted from Reddit r/kotor)

This is for @k-she-rambles:

Okay, so while we're shooting the bantha crap over on KOTOR fan theories, u/134340Goat mentioned my all time favorite "Have you been chewing spice?!" fan theory when it comes to KOTOR: Is Carth Force Sensitive?

So this one starts with a story. I mentioned my brother in law, who is pretty much Keeper of the Jedi Archives. Seriously, he's an English teacher and my sister is a librarian. They met at a sci fi convention and their first date was Phantom Menace. We're taking not just geeks, but geeks who can throw the damn bookshelf at you. Brother in law bought KOTOR on the day it launched and turned it into a week long binge watch at his house. And because brother in law is that kind of geek, he's translating the characters into the West End D6 system. I'm watching him do a playthrough, and he's got Canderous and Zaalbar at Ajunta Pal's tomb.

Allronix: Huh. That's odd. Why aren't commenting on anything when Ajunta is speaking?

Bro in law: Oh. They can't even see Ajunta. You have to be Force Sensitive to see a Force Ghost The stronger your Sensitivity, the better you can see it.

Allronix: Really? Then how come Carth can see it?

Bro in law (gets the "holy shit, I gotta confirm this" look): Really?! He just sees something out the corner of his eye or something?

Allronix: No, he sees Ajunta just fine. Understands what the dude's saying too.

Bro in law instantly rolls back to his last save, swaps Zaalbar for Carth, and sees the bit in question.

Bro in law: Oh. Dear. (Goes over to make some quick scribbles on Carth's character sheet)

Okay, so maybe that was a lore fail. I didn't really think about it too much until I hit that False Level Up glitch and ran around with Carth and Mission as Sentinels. Now, while I couldn't really see Mission as a Sensitive, that little bit with my bro in law nagged at me. And became a "once you see it you can't unsee it." Apologies to TV Tropes, where some of these were my additions to the Wild Mass Guess entry on this topic.

Any one of these on its own is pretty easy to blow off. After all, man is career military, and knows All this Shit is Weird. I also like to think of Sensitivity as a spectrum and not a switch. If all life is connected by the Force, then all life would be Sensitive to some degree or another. It’s just a matter of to what degree. It’s only as the list gets longer and longer does the case start looking damning...

What are the odds of surviving that attack on the Endar Spire, getting to the escape pods, sharing the last escape pod with the mindwiped Sith Lord, piloting through the chaos, landing in what passes for the "good" part of town, remaining uninjured, pulling the badly injured mindwiped Sith Lord from the wreck, evading Sith detection while all this is going on, and just happening to find a dump of an apartment where the landlord's not asking questions? That is one amazing string of coincidences and good luck. Get that many in Star Wars, and it's definitely The Force sticking its nose in things.

Piloting the escape pod to land in the Upper City, piloting the Hawk through the Sith Blockade of Taris, the random Sith patrols, the escape from the Leviathan, and the fleet around Lehon along with the crash landing that left the ship easily repairable. Now, compare to Atton who we know to be an excellent pilot and drawing on The Force who still manages to crash the ship at least three times.

He's a scary good judge of character if you're interacting with other NPCs. If you watch him with other NPC characters, he's got a pretty good compass as to which characters are being helpful and which ones are full of shit. The only one he calls incorrectly is Rukil, who is probably also an untrained Sensitive (the age, the "marked" comments) and half senile, which is probably throwing him.

Related to that, his distrust and wariness about something not adding up with the PC, the Jedi Council feeding the party a line of bull, that things just aren't adding up. And on all of it? Dead on. He's 100% right about the Player Character, he just expected something a little less crazy than "that's Darth freaking Revan."

If you play Female Revan, then Carth's the one who gets fried in the torture cages on the Leviathan. Saul comments how strange it is that Carth takes so much punishment and still remains conscious. Now, this is a low level thing, but in lore, Force Sensitives have drawn on it to keep them alive or conscious under duress. Explicitly, the first sign we got that Leia was a Sensitive when she withstood the Imperial torture droid.

Another of his scary ass judge of character feats? In the comics, Zayne (who is on the run from the Jedi, who framed him for the murder of his classmates) has a vision that Mandalorians are coming for Serroco. Saul? Laughs it off, throws Zayne in the brig. Zayne's own friends don't even believe him. Carth gets one of those creepy hunches and starts calling in "duck and cover" sirens as far as he can broadcast, which sends seventeen cities and millions of people heading for shelter. It saves their lives and Carth is called a hero for it. Armed with another hunch, he disobeys Saul (remember this is before Saul nukes Telos) and lets Zayne "escape" from custody. Mind you, not even the Jedi or his party members believed Zayne. Carth did.

Carth makes a lot of creepy weird offhand predictions about the future. He says he knows on some level he'll be there when Saul dies. That certainly pans out. He makes an offhand prediction that the Jedi have set the party up to take a fall. Right again. He tells a female PC that she'll have to make a choice soon, one she can't walk away from. And then we get the temple top. He even blurts out that "I sensed you would have to make a choice soon, and that was it*, I can feel it!"* If you specify a LS Female Revan, his recording for T3-M4 says he's had a hunch Revan would leave without warning. Again, spot on.

Specify a LS male Revan, and Carth will remark to Bastila that seeing the Exile reminds him "there are worse things to lose." The only other people who can see just how screwed up the Exile is are the Jedi Masters, Chodo Habat, and the Force Sensitive party members.

Specify a LS female Revan, and Carth will insist that he would know if Revan were dead (again, scary ass intuition) and that there's an "emptiness" where she used to be. Now, remember one of the things about a broken Force Bond? It would simply be "empty, a wound."

You know how your party members in KOTOR 2 feel upset or even horrified as they realize they feel compelled to protect Exile and can't being themselves to leave, even when said actions are kicking puppies? And how they swing wildly from being crazy, almost stalker level possessive of them to being scared out of their wits and clamming up when you try to pry anything out of them? And the more potent (and untapped) their Force Sensitivity, the more they get hammered with the effect? (Mira and Atton in particular) Yeah. Now, Carth's "I don't wanna talk" looks a bit different, doesn't it? It could also account for that romance arc, especially if you roll a DSF Revan and go for that "everyone dies" ending.

Again, Ajunta Pal. Seeing a Force Ghost? Yeah. Some degree of Sensitivity needed. Understanding what he's saying? Yeah. Takes a bit more than that. And Carth makes a weirdly insightful comment about the Dark Side on top of it.

Notice that this a wall o text argument already, and I'm now just getting to the "Yeah, his kid is able to throw around mid-level Dark Side powers and packing a red lightsaber." Given the jawline and the muleheaded attitude, no way Morgana was fooling around with the pizza delivery boy. That's definitely Carth's kid, and that's definitely Force Sensitivity. Now, while it can skip a generation (see Theron Shan), it tends to run pretty heavy in families.

Lastly? Gee. He comes from a planet settled by and heavily populated by descendants of Force Sensitives who failed their training. I'm also willing to bet some bastard children of Jedi get passed off as "foundlings" and "orphans" and dumped there, too. Jedi are forbidden attachments, but not sworn to celibacy, so...yeah, bastard kids are gonna happen. There's probably a Jedi or two in that family tree. It's circumstantial evidence at best, but it still supports the case.

Now, any arguments I missed? Counterarguments?

And the million credit question: If there's a character who gets to break this news to poor Flyboy, who do you think would actually take that on? How do you think Carth would take that kind of news? And what, if anything, would come of it?

I kinda figure Jolee might be the only one nuts enough to poke that with a stick...I also kinda figure "Sentinel" would fit best. Consular? Hell no. He hired Mical for that. Guardian works with the feats, but the whole "ferreting out deceit and injustice?" Yeah. That's Carth.

#KOTOR #Carth #fandom meta #Carth Onasi

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shoezuki · 3 years

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no offense but like the dteam hate on tumblr reads the same as techno hate on tumblr like it’s over petty shit that doesn’t actually matter and it’s because ppl refuse to acknowledge they have weird parasocial relationships with cc’s so they just assume they know what’s going on in the bts.

dteam is sweaty and can be toxic but they were fine this mcc. in fact they were pretty supportive of other players. dteam was really supportive of pink parrots as well as others. as well as when they are “”toxic”” it’s not with the intent to hurt ppl. they just have shitty fandoms that are too big to control.

idk like i get disliking them as streamers or whatever but the “hope they get banned” shtick is annoying. just my opinion tho

I havent seen much ppl on here tryna insist that dteam n them are genuine bigots tho. Like hatin dudes for potentionally bein poorsports is one thing. Thats individual n personal opinion. But the hatred of techno tends to be entirely bout him being a bigot in some way when hes Not. Like idk u could be talkin bout Other hatred of him on here that i dont see cuz i dont dwell out that far on here. But like most hatred towards techno The Streamer is jus falsely callin his lesbophobic n shit.

N like i still aint really seen clips. I read a quick transcript on when sapnap made a joke bout hbomb while glitching n his 'apology' right after. But generally their toxicity or harsher Jabs have had bad shit happen. Like the hbomb situation of him facing so much shit after sapnap n them watched over his pov to freak out over him 'cheating' in hole in the wall.

My 'hatred' towards that kinda shit is largely jus how they dont Realize the magnitude of what they say n their fans n how they have time n time again reacted on stream like this, leading to fans yellin at hbomb for being a 'cheater'. Like. If they dont intend it it STILL sucks n leads to some bullshit. Jus cuz sapnap mighta not 'meant' to publically slam on hbomb, doesnt mean he Didnt yknow.

Altho i meant to say earlier that at MOST being told to sit out an mcc by noxcrew would be nice if they bein toxic but generally a wholeass ban wouldnt do much good. And would be dumb ya. Altho in dream's case i know he doin better w that n shit like i had last watched him do mcc during the Iron Door incident but i recall he aint as bad w gettin toxic

#dream hate #sapnap hate #anon #also i jus dont like em personally myself like. ya idk i dont care enough to defend em #im biased. towards Not likin em.

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kitsoa · 3 years

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So. Khux final. Your thoughts?

I knew I would see you in my Inbox! Greetings, been a while, apologies, summer vacation is tomorrow and I'm finally going to re-energize my fandom spaces. Overall thoughts: It was decent. Definitely a lot of wham moments and twists I didn't see coming. The execution of the characters were satisfying to a point that my complaints are truly weak by comparison. That said... I have gripes. Gripes that may have the bias of simply liking my own theories better but I plan to get the hell over myself. Long Post under the cut

The Darkness Ugh: I haven't commented on months of updated info due to the sinking distaste I had for the entire Sentient Darknesses conflict. I don't think it properly utilizes the Nightmare Chirithy concept and Darkling ideas that were heavily pushed in the early game (all the way to the last world). Regardless of the connection between the impetus of such threats, it felt a little shoehorned to create a new emergent threat in the Darkness Creatures. Ventus gets no blame, MoM and Luxu can feign some kind of noble intention, everyone is basically guiltless when trying to apprehend and eliminate a nebulous and hard-to-kill force such as them. I'll admit that it fits really well in the convolution of the Data-Worlds. The Union Leaders are a honeytrap essentially and it seems to have at least issued a major blow to the force of Darkness. I'm just not a fan of the implications of the future conflict I guess? I'm okay with Light and Dark themes but I really want them to explore it with more nuance. "Light is not Good" kind of tropes. I can't wait to see the Foretellers as bad guys but I don't want to blame some other possessing force. I want to see legitimate error and corruption. Maybe I'm being short-sighted with the development. I'm not giving it enough credit. It still makes my head spin with ideas.

Stuff I really LIKE because it reaffirms my thoughts on fictional realities which have already been confirmed but I am excited to see how literal it can get: Real Daybreak Town glitches as it falls to darkness. It's not as 'real' as any of them would like to believe. "A land where light and darkness cannot be controlled" maybe be fictional to MoM but that sounds like the real world to me. ※ is a literal icon for 'reference' which means the world is a reference to something else. Quadratrum is a reference to ffv13 AND/OR a reference to literal Shibuya the 'heart' of Tokyo. It can literally be both at the same time. I am convinced we are approaching terminal real world through this style of world-hopping. Playernort: I am actually pretty okay with the Player Xehanort thing. I firstly think it's funny because of the 'everyone is Xehanort' joke and now WE are Xehanort. If you believe in the infinite worldline idea than every Dandelion is Xehanort in some fashion because that avatar encompasses the entire Daybreak population and assumes the role of Xehanort's past life in some variation of the world's existence. I think it explains Xehanort's obsession with the keyblade war and finding the Union Leaders while I simply assumed there was something of value within them stirring that need. Heart reincarnation is a new(er) concept that is extremely interesting. It, first of all, says the quiet part out loud and confirms that 'sleeping hearts' are fricken Dead guys. I mean we know this but I don't think we have to call it 'essentially death!' it is death. You can literally choose to move on if you don't just sleep. There is no waking the player character anymore. They are literally a different person. It also invites some musing on Ventus and Sora's connection as semi-reincarnations. It's not exact because Ven did choose to sleep but the same process that happens in reincarnation was potentially invoked during their bond. My lore brain is very happy. Where they left off:

They say that you need someone to remember you at your destination, but Marly, Larx, and Ven had no one to bring them into existence like Maleficent did. A facet to the lore that really stumps me. Is that just a factor to ensure that they have memories? I have to assume so but I have no evidence. And we don't know if they are truly alone really (ven kinda wasn't) but it makes you wonder how the recollection of them was orchestrated. Of course Skuld is omitted, though she shares the unique context of leaving out of the same round of pods as Ephemer... who I don't think left at all. Ephemer is the only one who was still in his pod when it landed meaning he didn't time travel at all. I like to think that the Scala he creates has this... final world feel which leads me to believe he somehow ended up in the final world but he clearly didn't. Daybreak falls to darkness and he's swept up somewhere to create Scala. It's just interesting that he doesn't travel. It's a little similar to Kairi's use of the pod in that it just worked between worlds instead of time. And I think that's intentional on Ephie's part (to create the memories needed to bring his friends to the correct point in time?) The entire Brain situation leaves me very confused. There's Luxu possessing him? and Then he transports ahead in time? How does he have his memories if it was decided that he would arrive in Scala. Ugh. Whatever. It's interesting but dissecting Luxu isn't my forte so I'll leave it for when I'm feeling particularly inspired. Things left unsaid: Ava. That's the point I guess. They could have explained the Keyblade War much better. Worlds ending can be extremely vague.... Also, X-blade my ASS Xehanort was drunk and needs to go home and now I'm pissed at that stupid-looking keyblade and I wish it didn't exist because it CLEARLY DOESN'T APPARENTLY. Also, attempts at convincing me MoM is good have failed and I was not digging the insistent martyr thing he had going. I just don't trust him. Like one bit. I think he's playing everyone, but the Darkness shit bothers me because its not like I think he's siding with Darkness I just don't think that makes him noble or even misunderstood. Conclusion: This isn't necessarily a bad place to leave things off. It's very intriguing and I would love to see this reinterpreted. Thanks for forcing me to put my thoughts together, I had been avoiding this.

#long post #kingdom hearts #khux spoilers #kh theory #kh speculation #kh analysis

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thingismyson · 3 years

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Hi since I’m the phone guy lover I just wanna say I REALLY like the phone guy from the Five Nights at Chuck E Cheese Reboot... he’s a breath of fresh air tbh. In fact I will write a long post as to why I like him and WHY he’s a breath of fresh air... all of that (and spoilers for the game) will be under the cut

To start off with, we all know that the phone guys from the main fnaf games AND fangames are all very chill, but helpful guys. They’re all great, every fnaf related game needs a good phone guy. However, where they fall short is one characteristic

Humanity

Some phone guys straight up are just Tips galore, or just dump lore at your feet, which, yeah, that’s their purpose, but it can really be off putting if it’s just a guy giving TONS of lore exhibition each night, all just... emotionless in a way (not 100%, sure some fangames May have this, but that’s probably just because of the VA)

Not to mention how many are just so casual about the fact you can DIE in these shifts! For Fazbear’s, yeah, shit hits the fan AND it’s apparent of the animatronic programming to Put Endoskeletons back in their suits, and they think you’re an endoskeleton (allegedly), but for other fangames it’s just kinda?? Bro how are you so nonchalant about this. How can you tell me a game mechanic and add on “or else So-and-so will... uh... probably kill you!!”

With the CEC Phone Guy... he’s different! Sure he does give you tips and lore, but not in a FORCED DOWN YOUR THROAT kinda way! Not to mention he’s?? Not very chill about the animatronics glitching out???

He’s very sympathetic towards the player, he mentions how he COULDNT imagine being in Fred’s shoes when faced with the animatronics, he’s worried about the fact Chuck E had to be BOLTED back to his stage! On night 5 he mentions the animatronics glitching severely... doing things they weren’t programmed to do... saying things they weren’t programmed to say... and how they had to close up early. Phone Guy murmurs something along the lines of

“Is this what you had to go through..?”

And then he ends by saying he’s quitting.

Holy shit! Ok! Look at him go! He’s afraid, he’s worried, he’s downright expressing human emotion to the weird shit going on! Narratively, this makes sense, given the animatronics are only now doing this and how severe it’s gotten in only a few days, but still! He tries to laugh these things off, but when shit gets serious? He jumps ship!

He literally tells Fred he won’t have to come back for night 5, but when Fred does (because he requested it to management), he’s confused! He’s like “??????????” He DOESNT understand why someone could be so chill about this!

He’s got emotion, humanity, characterization

He’s more than just a lore bucket or a tip machine.

And that’s why he’s the best Phone Guy.

#I... yeah didnt think I’d get this analytical about a fangame based on Charles orphan dairy

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profdagon · 3 years

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Back when creepy pastas were all the rage i attempted to write my own. None of them were very good, but this one troll pasta I'm still proud of.

It was a normal day off much like any other I’d ever had, save for one small thing: I was feeling a bit nostalgic. Ages ago, I had played a small Game Gear game called ‘Sonic Labyrinth’, and I remember never having gotten to the end, but really close once, getting to the boss of the third zone. (keep in mind, there are only four) but my game gear had broken ages ago, I sold off the games, never planning on getting a new one. But they were cheap enough now I figured I could hit a few garage sales and find a copy.

It seemed like ages before I got my hands on one I was willing to buy. The old man running the sale had been a bit creepy and cackled as he gave it to me for free. I knew I was inviting trouble but this was the sixth time this had happened and I had refused all of the others. My choice seemed to be: take a possibly haunted copy for free, or give up and let the game win… ‘course it's only now as I write this I remember emulators are a thing, so I suppose that was an option.

I got home some time later and flopped on my couch with the Game Gear, hitting the power button and getting ready. The classic Game Gear start up happened, but slowed down considerably. With a heavy sigh I accepted my luck was bad enough that of course it was haunted and cursed under my breath. Setting down the hand held I pondered what to do next. After all, if I kept playing some monster might come out and try to eat me. Then again, what kind of lame ghost would possess a Game Gear game? It might be fun to find out. And if it did try to eat me, I could definitely beat the shit out of any demon who was pathetic enough that he needed some almost obscure handheld console to haunt people.

Picking up the Game Gear again, I got started, the first level going normally… save for the lack of baddies. That made the game very dull… though I don't remember the controls being so clunky. Perhaps the game just sucked and I was only now remembering it. The first level was done and the next one was covered in blood. Maybe ‘subtle’ doesn't exist in hell… this level was a pain, the game was about precisely aiming Sonic to where you want him to end up, but the gore of the level made the floors slick. Quite frustrating, but without any hazards it was over and done with quickly enough.

Next level was ‘glitched’ up so the color palate only consisted of blood red and various shades of grey. It would almost not be worth mentioning, however this is where I got the first glance at my demonic opponent. Simply put, it was Eggman with blood dripping from his eyes and coating his mustache. His skin was a dull grey and he sat inside a pod shaped like a skull. the evil Eggman sat in the background of the map, just kinda watching like a creep. Oh, and let's not forget the spooky message, when I beat that level the score counter for between levels had some kanji I didn't know. Lucky for me the game let me pause and hop online to get a translation. ‘Always looking at’ or maybe ‘always watching’, either way it was japanese and it was funny.

It was time for the first boss battle, evil Eggman in his skull pod. More japanese filled the screen before the battle could begin.

“I only can read english.“ I grumbled to the game. It must have heard because the kanji translated itself for me. ‘you will suffer Daniel!!!’ it claimed.

“It’s Cole actually.”

‘...What?’

“My name is Cole.”

‘Not Daniel?’

“No, I’m pretty sure I know my own name.”

‘I… I spent all this time, so much effort and I got the wrong kid?!?’

“I’m thirty two, I don’t think I’ve counted as a kid for a long time.”

‘... I… I don’t even know what to say at this point.’

“Sorry. Any chance you can get out of the game so I can play it normally?”

‘Oh, yeah sure… Sorry for taking up your time.’

“Wait, before you go.” I scratched my chin thoughtfully. “I have a proposition...”

After that we had a long talk, became good friends and I learned a bit about his (it is a he by the way) abilities. With my help he has spread to all of my consoles and we spend the days playing video games together. Since he can manipulate the code any way he wishes it has essentially made every game I own infinitely replayable. We even can play single player games like Skyrim together. Speaking of, he currently is challenging me to a match on Fall out so I have to get going. Morale of the story, if a creepy guy offers you a free game you might just find your best friend in it. Never found that Daniel kid though...

#creepypasta #trollpasta #writing #lol #funny #first draft #sonic #sonic labyrinth

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takeflight-hermitcraftau · 4 years

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Chapter 2-Two Brain cells with a Death Wish

Grian looked back at Mumbo, the words resonating in his head for a second. “Well… You see.” He started out softly, sitting up straighter and wrapping his wings loosely around himself. “In my other world, Evolution, We started finding these pillars. These symbols made of bedrock and obsidian. If we did good deeds, if we followed what they told us to do, we were rewarded. Any sign of selfishness or cruelty was punished.” Grian scratched at the back of his neck, looking at Mumbo for any signs of annoyance.

“So they were… essentially the gods of your world?” He asked, Grian nodded.

“Essentially yea. They watched over us and made sure we got through updates at the pace they wanted us too. Everyone on the server told me my wings were because of them, that I should be happy, and that I might be like them. But I don’t wanna be. It seems so boring. You build the same pillars, the same towers, without any change. You don’t seem to have any worldly ties. It seems… lonely. Besides, with my nature I’m pretty sure they hate me.” Grian curled up into himself a bit, his voice trailing off into a mumble.

“You’re nature? You mean your playful and silly attitude? You mean your work ethic and your willingness to try new things and learn?” Mumbo asked, a small and comforting smile pulling onto his face. Grian looked up at him, almost confused by what he said. “Do you not believe me?”

“No, yes- i mean-! I don’t know. I’m not used to all this. Everyone back home kinda just ignored me until I decided to blow up their base or steal diamonds. When they needed me to rebuild or replace stuff. People usually didn’t call me over to just have a chat.” Grian said, sighing as he shifted to face Mumbo. “But what about you? What about everyone else here? Why do you all have wings?”

“Well… I shouldn’t tell everyone’s stories. Some are a bit personal. But I believe most of them come from a glitch. Something happened and we were spawned in with them. We don’t really question it.” Mumbo shrugged, “But people like Doc and Cleo have a bit more of a troubled history with their glitched parts. Not to mention they were already player hybrids to start. But hey, those sorts of things are in the past, and they make us look bloody cool don’t it?” Mumbo grinned, listening to Grian’s high pitched laugh as his head was thrown back.

“Right. Now… just cause i’m curious. How fast can you go?” Grian asked, trying to change the topic. Mumbo perked up proudly.

“I’d say a solid 50 blocks per hour.” He said, the feathers of his wings ruffling a bit. Grian just laughed.

“Only 50? I can get to a solid 100 without breaking a sweat!” Grian challenged. Mumbo stood up.

“You wanna test that mate?” he asked. Grian stood up as well.

“First one to the fantasy district and back wins?”

“Deal.” The two shook hands, readying themselves at the top of Mumbo’s base, hands firm against the white concrete, legs bent and ready to snap at a moments notice. Their wings were open, Mumbo’s only slightly so he didn’t slam Grian into the ground on take off.

“Three…” Grian started, a grin pulling at his face.

“Two…” Mumbo glanced over to the dirty blond, not liking the look on his face. Chaos was aflame in his eyes, and it was almost unnerving.

“ONEGO!” Grian yelled, his feet pushing against the concrete as he launched himself into the air. He sped off, leaving Mumbo screaming in the distance. “EAT MY TAIL FEATHERS MUMBO JUMBOLIO!” Grian yelled behind himself, before looking straight ahead. He expertly dodged mountains and tall trees, hands out in front of him and helmet secured tightly to his head.

Wind whipped passed him, and he had to yell an apology to Scar for nearly crashing into him, but the two narrowly avoided each other. Grian smiled widely as the smell of the ocean faded into grass and trees, then back into that salt like scent. He saw the starting of False’s base, the start of the fantasy district. “HEY FALSE!” Grian called out to the building blond. He landed on top of her little mountain, grinning widely. He couldn’t even see Mumbo.

“Oh! Hey Grian what’s up?” False flew over to him.

“Oh I’m just beating Mumbo in a race. I’m waiting to see him before i bolt back.”

“You cheeky sod.” False laughed, and Grian joined in. “Oh I see him now!” False pointed out, and Grian just waved to Mumbo happily.

“See ya!” Grian laughed, taking off once more and blasting past Mumbo.

“You little bas-!” Grian didn’t hear the rest of Mumbo’s sentence, laughing hysterically has he flew onto Biffa’s mountain. He landed carefully.

Or tried too.

He screamed as he was flying far too fast, collide face first with the ground.

Grian experienced kinetic energy

Docm77: gg

MumboJumbo: hA

MumboJumbo: OHNO

MumboJumbo experienced kinetic energy

Grian respawned inside of his shipwreck, laughing wildly. He held his stomach and laughed until he fell out of bed.

Docm77: GG

Falsesymmetry: Omg i caught that on camera.

Grian clutched his stomach, his head thrown back in wild laughter. “Oh my god. That’s too perfect!” He stood up slowly, rushing over to Mumbo’s base. He swam up onto his platform and took off. He was still laughing by the time he got there, Mumbo standing frazzled by his bed. “Oh my god that was too funny.” Grian wheezed, landing on the little treehouse Mumbo had made. Mumbo just burst out laughing as he realized what exactly just happened.

“Oh my- Oh my god. That was perfect. I should’ve been recording!” Mumbo laughed, the two just sitting on the platform and taking deep breaths to calm themselves down. “Soo i totally won that.” Mumbo grinned, yelping as he was hit on the shoulder.

“No you did not! If we hadn’t died I totally would’ve won!” Grian protested. He stood up. “Come on lets go get our stuff back.” He took off quickly once more, never seeming too loose his energy. Mumbo smiled at the new hermit as he flew off, sighing softly. Just another day in the Hermitcraft world.

Grian landed on top of the mountain, quickly collecting his things as the sun went down. He pulled on his armor, held his sword in his hands and went back to his base after he messaged Mumbo that he’d be going to bed. He dived down into the ocean, using his wings to propel him underwater. His wings were sleek and rather small, nothing compared to people like TFC and Doc. His wings were built for speed and agility. He swam in through the neck of the bottle, popping out into his cramped base. He pulled a nametag out of one of his chests, and quickly took out a marker, writing ‘TAG’ in large and bold letters over it.

He pulled out his camera again, starting it up and going to record. He explained the rules of his new game, writing them down in a book as he did so. He was grinning like mad, a fire in his eyes he didn’t even know his soon to be chaos was fueling. Grian was giggling to himself as he wrote everything down, quickly flying out of his base and onto the little platform. He shook out his clothes and wings once more, taking flight and rushing over to Mumbo’s base. He looked onto his communicator, finding Mumbo’s gamertag and noticing he had went afk for a while. He groaned loudly, just for now hiding in a corner and watching the chickens that had suspiciously filled Mumbo’s base.

Grian ended up perching himself onto Mumbo’s enchantment station, one knee to his chest while his other leg dangled off the bookshelves. He kept throwing eggs everywhere, the occasional chicken spawning in. He hummed softly to himself, and was rather surprised that he had the patience to wait for Mumbo instead of just flying off to get someone else.

Docm77: Does anyone have a few books to spare? I only need l 3.

MumboJumbo: Oh yea! Just come into my base and snag them.

Grian pressed himself against the wall, hiding out of Mumbo’s sight just in case. He went to peak around the wall, only to find he was still afk!

Being afk was a sleeplike state that was induced after a few minutes of standing completely still. For some people it allowed them to retreat into a mind space, for others it was just like meditation. But it allowed mobs to spawn near a player, or for machines to continue working. It was bad edicate to do anything to people while they were afk.

Grian sighed, deciding to go for Doc instead, hiding next to Mumbo’s ladder and sitting there, waiting for the player hybrid to climb down the ladder into the place. He groaned loudly, walking over to Mumbo and poking at him.

“Mumbo jumbo you are afk.” He sang boredly, “I’m gonna take your mustache away-” He puffed out his cheeks as he got no response. God. He felt like a needy girlfriend. But he was so bored! You can’t blame him!

A loud squeak rang past his lips as he heard a accented voice complaining faintly, the sound hovering above him. He quickly rushed back to his spot, practically bouncing up and down as chickens walked around the whole place. He heard a loud explosion, before a death message popped up. Shit. Grian quickly climbed up the ladder of Mumbo’s base, quickly getting Doc’s scattered things and rushing to put them in a chest before everything despawned.

It was normal practice for him, as it had been mostly ingrained into his head that because of his speed he needed to help others with when they inevitably died. He sighed softly, making a sign and putting it on the chest, giving Doc directions to Mumbo’s base. He quickly slipped back into Mumbos base, and waited another ten or so minutes before he heard Doc’s grumbling as he climbed down the ladder. He pressed his wings into the wall behind him, seeing the creeper hybrid walking towards Mumbo. He rushed him quickly.

Grian reached out a fist, punching Doc in the shoulder, threw him both the tag and the book, before bolting back up the ladder. “I GOT YOU!” Grian yelled in victory, laughing hysterically as he quickly climbed. Doc didn’t even manage to get a word in before Grian left, but he started laughing as well, rubbing his shoulder.

“What the hell?” He asked, looking at the book that had been thrown at him. “A tag game hm? Interesting.” His voice drawled menacingly, and he looked over at Mumbo. He took the items he originally came for, and left. Hey, he might be an evil genius but he’ll play by the rules.

Grian landed on his platform, laughing hysterically. He let out a small sigh to calm himself down, fluttering his wings a bit to let out some pent up energy. He plopped down onto the cobblestone ground, looking up at the sky with a wide grin. So far he wasn't getting any typing in the chat from Doc. So he knew the other wasn’t angry at him for being hit.

He stretched out his wings, looking to them. His wings were small compared to Doc and TFC. But he was pretty damn confident he could out fly either of them. He hasn’t been able to talk to Stress much, but he’s pretty sure her wings are smaller than his. It really didn’t matter though. What did matter, was that they were a group of people, all who had been deemed out-casts by others, or felt as such. And they found a home with one another. He found a home with them. And frankly, he kind of didn’t want to go back.

#Hermitcraft #Take Flight au #Winged au #Avian #Grian #Hermitcraft Grian #Mumbo #Mumbo Jumbo #Shenanigans #Fluff #Tag #Grian and Mumbo have on braincell and its Iskall's

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phorgstuck · 3 years

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@commanderkarkat HELLO

I'm mod Aseret, aka @lucifurlaurens, but you can call me Laurens or Idate

Phorgstuck is a roleplay that I created on Discord which consists of 4 bards, 4 thieves and 4 princes who received a copy of a game they never heard about before (read: SGRUB)

This blog's other mods are the roleplayers! Not everyone is here, but we have a pinned post talking abt the kiddos.

The troll who sent those, Aqtufi, is a fuchsiablood from a doomed session who wanted to give to their kind a second chance. They picked this three classes specifically because of their now gone friends, who were murdered or died during the game.

Things started to "go down", you could say, after the Prospit Ball, an event hosted on Prospit as a celebration with both dream moons. There was an attack in middle of the event, and many of the dreamselves were killed. Some also went to prison (but they escaped because Love Wins). After that, tension began to build up, and both moons declared war.

The session also began to "glitch", as the game was severely damaged. With that, a player which didn't take part of the original session joined them; their name being Luxioh Viridi. Even tho he didn't receive a SGRUB copy nor did he plan on participating, the game's failed system made him appear there.

Some players (Baylie and Leviat) also died. Baylie's dream self was killed by a Prospit guard, as they were a Dersite who went to their moon to find their friend (Leviat), unaware of the declarations of war and the other moon's rage. Their "real" self war killed by one of the consorts, which claimed that the Prince of Breath could bring

Leviat's Prospit self died trying to protect/wake up one of their friends. They freaked out after remembering that irl (while they were on Achlys' house), they died while fighting with Lillie, a friend and also one of the trolls in the session.

But Leviat is a dual-dreamer so there's a chance of them coming back if they god-tier.

mEANWHILE Zinkaa, our Time player, realized that oh shit ectobiology is a thing and asks for Luxioh and Camrin to help her out with it. The three are vibin on da meteor and doing that shit.

There is more but I don't think that I'd manage to get everything here.

Unfortunately, the rp has kinda died now, but it is super fun and I love it. I'm still making other discord fansessions tho, like Naturally Chaotic, but we need a bunch'a more peeps for it ahah.

Shameless advertising, if anyone wan join Naturally Chaotic, here's a link.

https://discord.gg/YEvSEVYV63

#Mod aseret #@ other mods if you guys are reading this edit the tags and say hi to our friend

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turqrambles · 4 years

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The Five Worst Things About Digimon World

I did it.

It took 20 years but I did it.

I finally beat Digimon World for the Playstation 1, a game that has haunted me for most of my lifetime, and I did it with a Phoenixmon, the reason why I use “Turquoisephoenix” as a handle!

This is who I used to beat the game, named after an obscure Ratchet and Clank character because that’s just how I roll. The final boss battle involved a lot of Prominence Beam spamming and med recovery floppy spamming but I did it fair and square.

Before I get into what I thought about this game as a whole - and I do have a lot of good things to say about this game since I obviously enjoyed it enough to get to the end - I gotta talk about my least favorite things about this game. In a concise, Buzzfeed-esque list because I like writing things in easy to digest chunks.

Because, like most charming yet difficult games of the late 90′s, this game is very flawed and the flaws are pretty annoying!

1. Care Mistakes

The three emojis - Smile, Cool, and Poop.

Okay. This one - my least favorite part in the game - is going to take a bit of explanation.

First off, I don’t actually hate care mistakes existing as a mechanic. I think it’s a cute, virtual pet-y way to add a different wrinkle to evolution requirements, even if I think it’s a bit counter-intuitive to have to suddenly abuse my little companion once they reach Champion just because I want them to evolve into a floating metallic ball with a chainsaw.

My problem with care mistakes is that there’s literally no way of telling many care mistakes you have on your given Digimon.

Literally everything else in this game is concisely recorded and easily displayed on your Digimon’s stats screen. You can see how much your Digimon weighs. You can see their Happiness, their Discipline. How much Life they have left. Their Age. Even how many poops they need to make before they digivolve into a sentient pile of feces.

But Care Mistakes? Naaaaw, you just gotta remember every single thing that you did to your Digimon from the moment it evolves in your fallible human brain. What’s that? A good portion of this game involves grinding in the Green Gym and it’s really easy to make a Care Mistake there without knowing you did so because you mashed A too fast like the stat-grinding numskull that you are? Well, that’s just too fucking bad for you, then! Enjoy not getting some of the best evolutions, you piece of shit. You stooge. You moron!

This game, multiple times: You know who I hate? The player.

Care Mistakes are such an invisible mechanic that, to this day, there are many guides with misleading info about what counts as a Care Mistake and what doesn’t, which...really stinks for a game such as this where you will be using a guide pretty extensively to get the Digimon you deserve. And you know why that is? Because we don’t get any indication as to whether or not some random event counts against you when raising your Digimon.

And honestly, having one of your main mechanics of the game being entirely invisible to the player is a terrible idea. Just put a little number in my profile that says “Care Mistakes: 0″ in there. Let me know this information without guessing.

2. The Glitches

Pictured: Something that will CRASH YOUR GAME if you try it on a physical copy.

Let me start with a disclaimer that most of the glitches I’m going to complain about were added into the game when Digimon World was localized and therefore aren’t the original intent of the developers. There are certain versions of Digimon World that are more stable than others (The English PAL version is the best version to play because of this) and, if you play this game via “certain methods”, there are patches to circumvent some of the bigger problems.

That being said! Boy! Isn’t it ironic that a game where I’m exploring the digital world is plagued with so many annoying, game-ruining glitches? Especially if I’m playing this game on a physical 20-year old copy like a dunce?

“Ohhhh...so Agumon thinks that they can block the Digimon game with their big fat Digimon-blocking head, do they?!”

The NTSC version of this game has a jukebox that will crash the game if you try to use it, keeping you from ever using a bonus feature meant to be a fun little reward for completing a certain dungeon, but that’s not as heinous as the Spanish, French, German, and Italian PAL versions of this game locking a good portion of the game to players because they forgot to make the Agumon in front of Ogremon’s Fortress an object you can interact with.

So that means, if you happened to get this game in one of four lucky countries, you can’t complete the Ogremon mission, you can’t recruit Whamon, you can’t recruit Shellmon, you can’t recruit anything tied to Shellmon’s bulletin board (which means no Vademon or Skullgreymon), and you can’t go to Factorial Town and recruit Giromon, Andromon, or Numemon. Ogremon is a key part of the Digimon World storyline and causes so many different things in the game to change, meaning that it should’ve been imperative to make sure this part of the game works!

But no. Instead this one little bastard Agumon keeps most players from finishing the game, because it starves players of those PAL regions of a bunch of Prosperity points, the main source of progression in this game. That means that Mt. Infinity and the final boss is just that much harder to unlock. It’s doable, but it’s more grueling process.

This really is a problem with the translators and really highlights a lack of general care with testing this game. Why this game was allowed to be shipped with such glaring bugs is anyone’s guess, especially in an era where you couldn’t release any patches over the Internet to fix retail versions.

3. The Monochromon’s Shop Minigame

Ohhhh....this one was so close to getting the top spot. When I first wrote this draft, this was the top spot.

Monochromon was only spared of my true ire on account of the fact that it really only exists for one part of the game (rather than being a constant problem like the Care Mistakes and the Glitches are) and you can easily cheese it by sleeping in front of the store so that you can save scum your way to victory. Like a true Digital Champion!

At one point in the game, you gotta help a entrepreneur dinosaur rhino man make a profit, because he was stupid and put his convenience store in the middle of a giant canyon next to a gaping chasm. So you play a little game of haggling, where you try to ruthlessly oversell a bunch of random items to customers until you make enough of a profit that this talking dinosaur tells you that you passed his secret test of character, abandons his store, and moves into File City.

There’s just one problem with this minigame - everything is decided by RNG.

“Get the hell out of my shop”

This minigame hates you. It wants nothing but to see you fail and to waste your time. The difference in profit margins of the three items (Meat sells for 50g, Portable Potties sell for 300g, and Medicine sells for 1000g) are so stark that, if you get too many customers asking for Meat, you might as well just reset the game and start over because it will be literally impossible to meet the requirement even if you busted the customer’s proverbial balls and squeezed every last bit out of their cutesy penguin faces.

Oh! It’s also RNG as to whether or not your customers will take your asking price or storm out of the store without buying anything!

It’s all the fun of working at retail! In a video game!

4. Three on One Battles

What you see before you is a battle system that is really fun when it’s one vs. one, manageable at two vs. one, and downright unbearable at three vs. one.

The battle system works for the most part. You don’t have full control of your Digimon (and yes, you only have one Digimon with you at one time, so you can never stack the numbers in your favor) so you shout commands at it, commands that the Digimon’s AI are pretty good at following, and hope for the best as you chuck healing items at it.

It’s not the best battle system, but it’s fun. And it definitely reinforces the whole “this is a pet you’re taking care of with its own thoughts and feelings” atmosphere that this game is going for.

However, nothing can protect your Digimon from enemy fire concentrated on them, especially if you did the thing that most players do and equipped your Digimon with the most powerful attacks that also happen to have slower cast times than the faster, weaker attacks.

What then happens is your Digimon’s Health is slowly whittled away as you are powerless to stop it, watching as your digital friend is straight up bullied by enemy Digimon as they keep falling to the ground over and over and over and over again.

The one saving grace is that Friendly Fire exists in this game so that oftentimes the enemy Digimon will damage each other in their mad dash to ruin your day, but that seems more like a band-aid than an actual fix to this system.

5. Fishing Seadramon

“Hi, kid. Let me guess - you also thought you had to talk to the Tankmon in Factorial Town in order to unlock me, huh.”

This one is a lot less of a pain than the other four and it’s only a little annoying but boy...getting Seadramon kinda sucks in this game.

It took me almost a goddamn hour to catch Seadramon. One hour of gameplay devoted to catching one fish. Just like real fishing!

I will say, besides Seadramon, the fishing minigame in this game is pretty competent. It’s just that Seadramon is very elusive, showing up at only two hours in a 24 hour day, and is a very finicky fish that won’t take your bait even if you literally placed it in front of his dumb fish face.

Don’t be fooled by this screenshot. The heart just means you have the right bait. The heart means that you didn’t actually get within range of hooking him.

IT’S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!!!

Seadramon is also subject to almost as many gaming myths as the Care Mistakes are, due to how elusive he is, but that’s less to do with poor communication (the game does at least explain multiple times in multiple places how to find him) and more to do with the fact that catching him is just such a goddamn chore to do that players of this game always assume they’re doing something wrong.

When in reality, Seadramon is just a picky little bitch.

Next time I discuss Digimon World, I’ll talk about things I liked, don’t worry. I just had to get all of this negativity out before discussing the full game proper.

#Digimon World #Turq Reviews #Turq Plays a Game

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bigskydreaming · 3 years

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meowmeowmeowkins Are you enjoying the show? :) It’s one of my favs. The books don’t read... all that great imo. Did you read them?

Yeah I like the show, its actually one of those rare adaptations where I think its better than the source material. I’ve read the books and I’m like.....eh, they’re hit and miss for me. The earlier books were better but the more the authors widened the scope of their narrative, the worse their characterizations got overall, I think. They traded strong character work for ambitious storytelling and I mean, it wasn’t without dividends, they definitely manage a “holy shit” factor at times, like I did NOT see that ending with Earth in Nemesis Games coming despite the writing being on the wall in hindsight. But I think the show actually has so far managed to balance the scope of the story with more contained, concentrated character work in ways the books haven’t.

That said, there’s still some elements of the books that have an edge over the show for me.....like the way they brought Havelock back from a bit character in the first book to being a major player in Book Four.....and then they went and cast Jay Hernandez as Havelock in S1 and I was like yesssssss because I thought he did a great job with the character despite it being a relatively small part.....and he’s a big enough actor that casting him for that role really only made sense by factoring in that he had a major role upgrade coming once they got to the storylines of Book Four....except by the time they DID get there in the show, like, they’d lost Hernandez to his own show as he was off starring on Magnum PI by now, and that’s just the downside of casting a bigger name with an eye towards the future but the possibility of him moving on before then. They took a gamble with that casting and lost, which meant Havelock ended up left out of the Ilus stuff entirely, which was kinda a bummer but like. The book version still exists so its all good.

And then there’s some parts where I’m like, I enjoy the show and I enjoy the books but in totally different ways. Like book Bobbi and show Bobbi come across extremely different to me but in very hard to define ways....its more of a feel than anything....but I like both versions just in different ways? Like Bobbi’s dynamic with Chrisjen on the show is similar to their dynamic in the books but also with its own ticks and nuances on the show, and I just appreciate both versions for entirely different reasons.

I actually have always really liked Thomas Jane though, so I think they really lucked out by getting him for Miller on the show, because Miller is just UNBEARABLE for me in the books, lol, like I can not stand the guy and have wanted him to die since book two, which is awkward because like....he did. And it, y’know. Didn’t help. hflakhflahflafhal

But Jane brings just enough of like....idk, maybe even self-deprecation to the role? Whatever it is, its enough to make his scenes kinda more poignant than just omg can this be over already, can he be gone now. Like, those moments where he kinda glitches and you remember that for all his romanticized soliloquies, he’s not really MIller, he’s just a kind of self-aware program that remembers being Miller even though he wasn’t ever really? Ouch. And those moments would never land like that for me in the books, like I think Jane really did just bring something to the role that then informed how the writers wrote his depiction of Miller moving forward. And I really enjoy when an actor’s performance like....then feeds back into how a show’s writers write future material for them. Gives the role a life of its own beyond what the source material ever envisioned for that specific character.

Also, the show does a good job of not over-using the character, which I think goes a long way towards making his appearances actually resonate. Frankly, I think the books’ writers are just too in love with their version of Miller and took full advantage of the narrative loophole that basically made him damn near accessible for every part of the story even when he reeeeeally didn’t need to be there, and like yeah.

But yeah, I like the show, and its had enough near misses with cancellation that I’m really glad its been planned to end with season six since before season five even started, because it gave them two full seasons to work in everything they needed to give the show a satisfying ending instead of just a cliffhanger cancellation. That said though, I really have no idea how they intend to fit the rest of the major storylines into just this last season now, like, they’re going to have to trim some fairly sizable plots, I just have no idea what they’re gonna pick to do that.

Like, Season 5 isn’t over yet, and the finale has the fairly ominous title of Nemesis Games, and is written by the book’s writers so I think its safe to say at least what the S5 cliffhanger will be.....which makes me think that S6 will mostly be a mash-up of Babylon’s Ashes and Persepolis Rising.

And so I’m tempted to think that like, maybe they’re planning on just ending it there, instead of trying to bridge the practically seismic shift in tone from Persepolis to Tiamat’s Wrath? Because I mean, in the books, Tiamat’s Wrath basically completes the gradual evolution of the series from nearish-future space exploration to full-on space opera. Like.....Leviathan Wakes is space opera in the sense that like, Battlestar Galactica was space opera, but Tiamat’s Wrath is space opera more in the sense that Star Wars is space opera, y’know? Like, they’re both space opera but in ENTIRELY different ways and with completely different feels.

And so I’m wondering if the show’s plan is to like just end things with the conclusion to Persepolis and like, set up the potential for the later books like lay stuff with Duarte in motion, etc...but then try and springboard that into another project entirely, like a sequel show? After all, there is a thirty year gap between books there so there’s a built in development breather for production to almost take a break and then try and come back later with a successor show that picks up with Tiamat.

The only thing keeping me unsure about that is like.....in the books, the threat from whatever destroyed the Protomolecule Builders, like....still very much has not been shown or dealt with as of Tiamat, and its pretty much a given that final conflict will be the focus of the upcoming final book, Leviathan Falls......so there’s no way to end the show with a potential bridge to be crossed later with a sequel about Tiamat’s Wrath, etc.....unless you leave the Who Killed the Protomolecule Builders mystery still unsolved as well. And I don’t know if the show’s going to want to do that, because that will leave some very dissatisfied fans....but I mean, the show does like to take risks so maybe that is the plan. I don’t know. I’m definitely interested in seeing what they decide however.

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thewhaatever · 4 years

Text

BE MORE CHILL LONDON

My brain was very bad at processing things that day but seeing the show on Saturday was honestly the best experience of my life and here's why:

First of all: Joe Iconis was sitting two rows in front of me.

I was freaking out a little and my friend was laughing at me but I didn't want to annoy him so I tried to chill

But then he was standing behind us in line for merch (he was buying a whole bunch of his own merch which was kinda funny) and some other people talked to him so I did too and I'm not entirely sure what I said to him but he was SO nice and then I got a picture and... yeah I was just really happy.

Now to the show:

The set was incredible. Absolutely amazing.

The screen was used so perfectly and made everything seem like a videogame, honestly.

It was basically the only set. The only furniture they had was a desk for Jeremy's room, chairs for the school and some other minor things (I have to say it did seem a little bit empty at times and I wish that would have used a bed at least - didn't make sense to me that Jeremy falls asleep at his desk - but I'm probably just too used to the Broadway set)

More Than Survive was SO good! Scott puts so much emotion in his portrayal of Jeremy... I can't really describe what exactly he did but something about his Jeremy felt so real and yeah I might have cried a little... (I honestly think he’s my favourite Jeremy so far)

Also: Blake's Michael is very different from George's but in such an interesting way. I loved him the second he entered the stage. He really did capture the "Doesn't care about what anyone thinks, but deep down he does a little" - Energy.

Play Rehearsal was.... wow.

Miracle's Christine had no chill. At all. She was so unbelievably weird and quirky. (Also, she seemed much colder / not interested in talking about anything except theatre and when she didn't want to talk about something she was really showing that by acting uninterested... I thought that was an interesting take that definitely worked for the character) Every normal person would have been a little freaked out by her energy during the song probably but Jeremy was just staring at her the whole time with heart eyes it was really cute.

Favourite part was how Jake said: "Rich is doing it cause he's MY BOI!"

Squip Song was great, his VOICE!! WOW. I love James's Rich. Like, you could really see that even though he's the school's bully, there's something underneath that's not right. Everything he did felt very forced and I loved it (also, I told James at the stage door that Rich is my favourite character and that made him really happy apparently)

Now that I am thinking about it, I think they changed that scene a little and Rich didn't pee (so that conversation was missing) but that was probably due to the set bc the toilets were just projections on the screen so it would have been weird if he pretended to pee on the screen 😂

Also really loved the use of the screen during that whole scene, it was flashing and glitching when Rich's Squip was acting up

They brought back the bean bags for Two Player Game!!

The staging for this was so cool because at the end when Jeremy and Michael were dancing the screen made it look like they were the characters in the game (but differently than on Broadway) and I loved it (I'm sorry I'm really bad at explaining this)

Also, Blake's 'Is it really true, I'm your favourite person' was so funny, he did like a model pose or something and was sliding off the bag.

Scott was basically sitting on the floor the whole time because he somehow didn't manage to properly sit on that bag

Also, I think they changed the dialogue about Jeremy's mum a little bc when Michael asks him if he's heard from her Jeremy said "A little" and I'm pretty sure he didn't say that before

I feel Blake's Michael is that kind of person who's really bad at expressing how he feels... like, you could see in his face that he didn't like Jeremy's idea about going to the Payless and that he was genuinely scared about being too uncool for Jeremy afterwards but he really tried to say the "will u be to cool for... videogames" kinda jokey and yeah I'm overanalysing but I loved it

One thing in general: Everyone seemed really young on stage, definitely much younger than the Broadway cast. Especially Jeremy and Michael. I really believed that they were teenagers!! And I really love that.

Scott was fidgeting a LOT with his hands and I feel like that was very in character for Jeremy. I thought so often that he would drop things.... (like the money in the scary stockboy scene.. it took him so long to give it to Michael)

Jakes favourite restaurant is Pizza Hut now

When the Squip was activated Scott was screaming and rolling across the entire stage and it would have been funny if it didn't look like he was actually in pain

Because the stage was different the Squip had to walk on for his entrance and somehow that was incredibly funny to me but I can't explain why

Stewart Clarke. Holy shit. I'd totally swallow a supercomputer if it looked like him! I loovveeed his take on the role. I've seen interviews with him where he was talking about how he has to think of so many weird questions like how does a computer act, does it feel, how does it feel etc. And I really saw that he was thinking about those things. At the beginning his Squip was very robot-ish, simply focused on making Jeremy cool, without any secret plan or anything. But throughout the show, the Squip clearly evolved and became more... human, I guess? Like it was showing more and more human traits/emotion which peaked in The Play (later more on that)

In conclusion: I loved the Squip so so much

Squip: "Everything about you makes me wanna die!"

Jeremy: "Uhhhhhh this is intense!!"

The Brooke/Chloe scene in the mall was so funny and the part where the Squip tells Jeremy what to say (u know, in bmc pt.1) might have been my favourite part of the show. Scott looked so awkward and confused by everything but he did his best to mirror the Squip (they did identical movements the whole time which I don't remember from Broadway but my memory is shit so...)

Millie's Chloe was so over the top I love it.

They changed the dialogue a lot here, so that there's no mention of Madeleine at all so Chloe wasn't pissed or anything (I'm not sure if I like that) Jeremy just said something along the lines of "Oh you wouldn't know her because she's French" and that's where Brooke picks up her trying to speak French- thing

I THINK (not 100% sure tho) that Millie said "Jeremy?" Instead of "Jerry" At the beginning of that scene and that Scott was a bit confused for a second but he just continued with "It's Jeremy" and then Millie had to duck away because she was laughing (but maybe she did say it right and was just laughing at Jeremy in character idk)

I loved how Eloise's Brooke was so awkward. From the second that Jeremy noticed her she tried SO hard to impress him and it didn't work very well but it was so cute. Chloe tries to show her the whole time what to do but that doesn't make it better.

During Do you wanna ride, Jermey got so scared of the girls that he climbed onto the table with the t-shirts (actually now that I'm thinking about it he was climbing on things a lot)

Guy That I'd kinda be into was so cute!! I never particularly liked that song but Miracle somehow gave it a very different flair and I loved that. They changed the staging a bit and there weren't other people with hearts (there were hearts on the Screen) but at one point Rich was coming on stage with a helium heart balloon for like a second and then he disappeared again 😂 that was a bit weird but...

now lets get to the Act 1 Finale which was SO GOOD

Okay, so they changed it up quite a lot: After the whole "Eminem is dead?!" The Squip tells Jeremy that Brooke likes him (and Christine doesn't, yet) and Jeremy is so shocked that he turns to Brooke and says "You like me?" And she's like confused but nods and he's like: "Why???" (I loved that, Scott delivered that line really funny) and then Brooke explains the whole thing with Chloe, that she always gets noticed first etc. (That whole scene was really cute Jeremy and Brooke really seemed to actually like each other and I was really able to relate to Brooke - good Job Eloise!)

Then Brooke starts singing the "I'm tired of being the person that everyone thinks that I am" Jeremy repeats it and then she starts Upgrade with the tres magnifique bit. It's like on the OBC until Jake's and Christine's part. They do their verse but run off after "Gotta get an upgrade" (Miracle was singing this up the octave which sounded SO cool) so they didn't have their conversation about Jake's parents (I did miss this a little but I get why it was cut) and then Jeremy ran back on stage followed by the Squip (you can see in Stewart's performance that he's already much more persuasive in a human way than before) who starts to sing the aggressive "C-c-c-come on Jeremy can't you see we got a plan, now be the man..." From the original cast album (I loved this SO much). Everyone came on to sing the "Christine" part in that and was surrounding Jeremy. He then shouts "Arghh too many voices in my head" the Squip leaves, Michael comes on, they do their "Jeremy that's amazing" dialogue, the Squip explains optic nerve blocking and says that he has to cut Michael off if he wants to be popular (Squip: "Cut your ties... or you'll both drown" I remember that because it sounded so unbelievably dramatic), Michael asked "Are you coming" and leaves the stage for Jeremy to sing Loser, Geek, Whatever.

I loved all of that so much because Scott puts so much emotion into this song, it nearly made me cry!! He really conveyed Jeremy's inner struggle without making him look like an asshole, more like a stupid kid that's going to make a really stupid decision

The second verse and chorus of LGW were cut (the "Dad taught me follow your instincts..." part) which I really liked (I never enjoyed the chorus of this song tbh).

"THE PROBLEM HAS ALWAYS BEEN.... .... me" the way Scott sang that truly broke my heart.

AND THEN (Loved this SO SO MUCH) after "ever agaaiiiiinnn" He went straight into that part that I guess you could call an Upgrade reprise from the Original Cast album ("And I wasn't sure before but now I wanna go all the way and more so give me that upgrade" etc.) AND it tied in so perfectly with Michael then asking again "Are you coming" and "Optic nerve Blocking on" and as much as I loved the "I'm tired of being the person that everyone thinks that I am" chorus, this was SUCH a great way to end act one, I might even prefer this.

I just love how they mixed in the old parts from this song that I was really missing on the OBC.

When the Squip came out in his first dress (is it a dress?) Costume people were cheering, loved that. (I mean that costume IS gorgeous and Stewart Clarke looks absolutely fabulous in all the costumes)

That was Act 1!! (I am so sorry if you actually read everything up to this point...)

Act 2

Halloween had such an amazing energy!!! The dances!! Ahh

At his "I don't have a machete but a loaf of bread will do" line, James threw the bread up in the air but didn't catch it and just hit his head as he went to pick it up as if he was blaming his Squip (not sure if that was supposed to happen but I loved it)

I loved how the Squip joined the dance, it looked so fancy with his costume 😂 I know he did this on Broadway too and I never really understood why (the others can't see him after all) but there it kinda felt like it was hinting at the fact that the Squip was becoming more human-ish??? (I'm definitely overthinking this) Like he was having fun maybe??? Idk

Millie's Do you wanna hang was so hilarious!!!

Like I said they didn't have a bed so she was just dancing around him (which looked good but I missed a bed here tbh) and they added a bit of dialogue (I think, maybe it was in the Broadway version) where Jeremy asked her "Are you jealous of Brooke??" And she was like "I'm not jealous I just don't understand why everyone likes her and no one likes me." (Or something like that) and the way Millie delivered that line really gave Chloe a whole lot of character depth. She sounded so heartbroken, I just wanted to hug her.

When the Squip shuts off (it looked really funny), Stewart just trust-falls backwards off stage and someone has to catch him and I was just thinking what if whoever catches him forgets about it??? 😂😂 (No seriously, dear catch person, don't forget this, ever... we need him as a Squip)

And now, the moment we have all been waiting for. MITB

Ahhh I was having so many feeling during this scene. I already told you that I love Blake's Michael and I really loved how rational and smart (?) He sounds in the scene before the song compared to Jeremy who kept insisting that the Squip isn't bad.

They added a bit of dialogue here too I think, because Jeremy said something along the lines of "You said technology isn't dangerous-" "Yeah unless someone uses it like you do!" (Something like this), really loved that as people somehow keep insisting that this is a show about the dangers of modern technology (It's definitely not).

Blake and Scott both did such an incredible job in this scene (and overall obviously), you just knew something bad was about to happen...

At the "Leave me alone" (not sure if that's what he's saying) line Jeremy steps reaaalllyy close to Michael (like there noses were almost touching close) and he looked so intimidating towards Michael and Blake sounded actually a bit scared when he says "Or you'll what?"

Then they just stand there for some seconds, not moving, before Jeremy says the "Get out of my way, loser" and Scott says this with so much hatred, my heart was actually hurting. Michael then just steps away and he looked sooo sad I almost cried.

MITB was absolutely amazing. Again very different than George's version but with just as much emotion and Blake's voice was sooooo beautiful, I can't!!

He sang the last "Michael in the Bathroom by himself" a bit different (can't really describe it but the note on "bath" was higher than usual? I don't know much about music sorry) and I loved loved loved that

The scene with Christine and Jeremy was so sweet. They were so unbelievably weird, I love them.

When the costumed person between them leaves, Christine pulls Jeremy across the stage by his legs and places them on top of hers (like in the promo pic) and it looked so cute!!

After that when Rich comes on and says the "I'll burn you out" I was soo sure somehow that there used to be a voiceover of his Squip but I can't find it anywhere so idk I'm confused... But it's definitely not there anymore.

Smartphone Hour. Holy shit, that was SO good. Renée Lamb's voice OMG!! Absolutely incredible.

(I just had to notice once again how much I hate the costumes in this scene... like the colours are great but what teenager wears THAT to sleep???)

The screen was so cool here again!! It obviously showed Jenna's selfie with the house (which I want printed to hang on my wall tbh) and then at the end it was full of fire that changed its colour and all of that was so fitting for the colour scheme!! The entire set design is just so incredible.

Also, Brooke is eating a banana when Chloe calls her and when she tells her about the fire Eloise just yeets it across the entire stage

They all looked like they were having so much fun!!

Back to Jeremy: For the scene with Mr Heere, Scott was switching back to total asshole mode... Internally I was like "Uhh that little shit" but yeah, great acting!!

I LOVE the pants song! It's so underappreciated!

The "You're burning incense" line got a lot of laughs

"Say it like you're in the army!"

"NO, SERGEANT, SIR!!!" *salutes*

Loved that

Pitiful Children was actually SO intimidating!! The use of the screen here and in The Play was almost overwhelming but like in a good way, I really felt the seriousness of the situation.

Again great acting skills from Scott and Stewart. Jeremy was so torn between giving in and knowing that it's wrong and the Squip really felt humanly evil at this point.

Renée Lamb's riff!! Omg! She did it very different than in the press videos but it sounded so cool!!

Also, I felt so bad for Jenna. Her "No one's ever asked me that before" really hit me.

"Michael makes an entrance!!!!!" was perfect, I love Blake!

The fight between Jeremy and Michael looked SO violent 😂 at one point towards the end Jeremy punched him and he was just lying there on the edge of the stage for some minutes and only woke up to join everyone screaming at the end.

I loved how everyone acted when they were squipped!! They were very obviously not themselves.

Especially Christine was acting very very differently. Her voice sounded completely different and you could see that Jeremy made his decision to give her the mountain dew red the second she opened her mouth.

Jake's "God I love me!" Was just really wholesome. He sounded so surprised about that.

They didn't have the "My Squip says I can go all the way to Broadway" :((( but I can live with that...

The part where the Squip “Died” was SO good!!! This was really the moment where the Squip felt very much like a human being. He was screaming and begging and sounded actually terrified. His acting here was absolutely incredible. I almost, almost felt bad for him a little.

Also, the projections were amazing, it looked like the screen shattered when the Squip died.

Again, one thing that really bothered me: What kind of hospital doesn't have beds??? Jeremy and Rich were just sitting in wheelchairs which was fine but like... Why no bed???

I loved James' acting in this scene!!! He was a COMPLETELY different person and everyone noticed that right away. Even without the l lisp, you would have noticed simply by the way he was talking. James really did a great job with Rich!!

His "I'm totally bi now!!" Sounded so surprised and got a lot of applause.

Voices in my head is my favourite song and made me cry 😂

Christine's Squip is now Greta Thunberg!!!!

I loved how Jeremy was totally his old self again when he was talking to Christine. He was stammering and fidgeting with his hands a lot and only managed to bring out the "Bowling Alley performance art?" Because Christine kept encouraging him which was so cute. If there are somehow still people out there who think that their relationship is underdeveloped they should watch this version.

The kiss was so cute!! Miracle and Scott have amazing chemistry!

I really think that's all I have to say... It's a lot I'm sorry 😂😂😂 just had to write those thoughts down.. I hope it makes a little sense I was a bit sick in the last few days so excuse me if anything's worded in a weird way...

I loved it so so much and I'm so happy they got the well-deserved extension! I'm definitely going again sometime soon 😊😊

#long post #very long post #be more chill london #be more chill #bmc #scott folan #jeremy heere #blake patrick anderson #michael mell #the squip #i'm sorry i hope this makes sense

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vespiiqueen · 4 years

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List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the ask box of the last 10 people who reblogged something from you (if you want !! 💛💖)

Wow I rambled a lot with this but i can't add cuts bc I'm on mobile rn DHSISHSJ sorry :"))))

1. Ik Ik "haha how cringe are you" of me to say, but honestly? Homestuck. Homestuck helped me in a time of need and when i so desperately wanted something to latch onto. Finally, I caved into my friends telling me to read it-- and it's been a blast!! The epilogues / hs^2 make me feel kinda sad though, because so much of what I loved about the original was yeeted through the nine circles of hell and into the trash. I love Y/ffany's (I call her Yippi tho) design, the art is really pretty at times, Harry is a major dork, I LIVE for seeing Vrissy bc honestly?? Her design is 10/10, very early 2000s emo style and I also live for that. Tavros is cute and a nerd and I think that's swell!

But in terms of story and how any of this happens, it makes me sad to see it happen. If Vriska could return as Vrissy, why not OTHER beta trolls? Where's my Eridan fish man, writers?? Give me the boy or perish by my fury.

2. Also super "haha how cringe are you" but,,, murder cats (Warriors), esp the early 2005-2015 amvs and stuff. I remember watching Flightfootwarrior's "I Will Not Bow" Scourge amv for HOurs and having no clue what was happening, but all these edgy kitties were KITTIES! It's introduced me to a lot of music I still listen to to this very day (Imagine Dragons, Young/the entirety of Hollywood Undead, Breaking Benjamin). And yknow what?? This new arc is absolute chaos, but in the good way.

I'm an "OG Fan". I prefer the first arc, The Prophecies Begin, to almost any of the other arcs. I just could never get into the other arcs-- not to say I haven't read them, I HAVE and the Fire Scene was probably one of my favorite moments beside grumpy Jaypaw, god complex Lionblaze, and fear the gods Hollypaw. I thought the build-up for it was SUPER satisfying. Gray Wing is my baby and I fully embellish in the Gray Wing is Silverpelt theory.

This new arc is definitely something new for the universe. While I didn't read aVoS (but I may do that if i can find the files for it), and so I don't know the major events of it other than what I've seen M.A.P.'s (Multi-Animator Projects, for clarification,,, bc unfortunately that term is also something disgusting). There's fucking cat possession and all the Clans questioning their belief system, yo. Shit be on fire.

Also the Imposter is 100% Ashfur, that's canon now, yeah??? Also im sorry but fuck Root x Bristle that's the dumbest shit I have ever seen. Give me Root x Shadow or face the wrath of my dragon plushies.

RiverClan is my Clan and my gov assigned warrior name is Fireshell 🌟🌟

3. As much as I hate the author,,,,, Harry Potter. It's been a major part of my life for as long as I can remember. I can never really remember why, but I've always just loved it- the movies, the books, the extra little merch that would pop up in my local Walmart. Of course my favorite character is Draco Malfoy. I could go on and on and ON about how I think his character arc was SHIT and JKR didn't have the balls to make him a confident gay man that was always implied through the text (at least, my lesbian ass thought it was implied but i may just be projecting, idk). I could ramble about Draco for HOURS and what I think his character SHOULD have been and how his parents are horrible (more specifically, Lucius bc Narcissa [?] Actually showed a few good moments), and a child should never have to pay for their parents sins.

Oh noo, Draco's a villain because he's a victim of major abuse and peer pressure? He's a villain because a literal child can be horrible and they'll always always always stay as a horrible little fiend?? Fuck that. He's a child.

Unlike manchild grease pan Snape, who was a racist piece of shit and shouldn't have became a fucking school teacher but it's okay because he was ~~~in love~~~. No, fuck you, he was a creep. James Potter n Co may have been a little posh bitch to you, Snape, but that's no fucking excuse to continue to bluntly be a little cunt all the way into adulthood. You're an adult who flatly changed your PATRONUS to imitate Lily's. You have no excuse. And Harry went and named his child after you LIKE JESUS CHRIST, DID RON'S SISTER NOT HAVE A SAY IN THE NAMES TOO?????

I also fully adore the idea that Muggles can run into Hogwarts and their patronus can 100% be a made up, fantasy creature. Imagine you learn the patronus spell and suddenly fucking ARCEUS comes from your wand. Imagine learning the spell and CHTULU (i did not spell that right but im so tired) comes from your wand-- an entire ass fucking Lovecraftian, Eldrith horror is just the embodiment of you. What if it was a fucking Homestuck character like Vriska? How fucking METAL would that be?? Hskajssowjjsjs get on it fandom.

4. Hee hee very evident by my url but Pokemon is another major thing of mine. While vespiquen isn't my favorite (that title goes to Hydreigon), it is definitely up there!

I've ALWAYS enjoyed the idea of Pokemon. You run around, training up these fight monsters and collecting them. I remember playing my sister's Ruby version on her flip-up Gameboy. I couldn't even read but I ran around catching god only knows how many of the same pokemon wherever she was. Apparently, I had fought for hours in the same area and leveled her Blaziken up to lvl 50 something and left her lvl 30s in the dust LMAO.

I got my first game when it was Pearl/Diamond. It was Pearl, and it still holds a very fond place in my heart. I could barely read, I could barely write-- I had named my Turtwig something along the lines of "MmorpHy" and my player boy "ZbsibJ". Yes I remember the names slightly. I really didn't get far-- I barely got to the first gym but I was just so happy to play it.

I eventually lost the game, as a 5 year old would do, but I can still vividly remember what was happening when the game arrived. I had just came back from the dentist and was quite tired from fighting the dentist bc I was super scared. Mom suddenly handed me a box and said it was mine-- my overseas (at that time) dad had bought me Pearl and my sister Diamond, because I lost my shit about it when he visited one time.

Well, tdlr, I played it for about five minutes while struggling to stay awake against the loopy gas they made me take. I fell asleep listening to Twinleaf Town's soundtrack. Every time I play a rom of Pearl and I get to where the player's house fades in and I hear that first tune of the song, I get a huge smile on my face and cry-- as.. Weird as it sounds.

A few years later, I had gotten Pokemon Black bc I liked Reshiram on the cover. Now, this one I could actually READ when playing, but I don't remember a lot of things about it. I probably lost this one too, as a 8/9 year old would do. I DO remember, I chose Snivy and my sister chose Tepig (hrmm there's a theme here of grass/fire goin on......) and vibing to the music. I was so amazed by the sprites moving, I just kept getting into encounters to see the sprites move (oh boy, no one tell younger 7-9 y/o me about Zelda......oh wait....)

Playing Pokemon NOW, as a 17 year old """gifted""" chick, I stil have very fond memories. I recently beat Pokemon Black again and GOD the OTS SLAPS. I fucking adore the soundtrack-- the track that plays when you battle a trainer, the low health dings being turned into a legit song that also slaps, the battle! gym leader themes-- and oh my gOd, the legendary theme is amazing? It really tells you just how glorious these pokemon are supposed to be. It's not intimidating like Groudon/Kyroge/Rayquaza's themes. It's not action packed like Palkia/Dialga's is, it's not filled with tension like Giratina/Arceus's is-- but it radiates the GLORY that the beasts portray. And I live for that. (Also, Kyurem's version is my favorite because it glitches in the beginning and that's rly cool)

P/D/P and BW/BW2's stories, imo, are some of the greatest ones. Yeahhh, US/USUM's is cool and I haven't played XY nor SwSh-- but the ones I can find memorable are PDP and BW/BW2. I love N. I love Barry. They're my sons. Ghetsis is fucking terrifying, Cyrus needs a hug. Giratina scared the piss out of me when I was younger, which was NOT helped by Giratina and The Sky Warrior.

I think my favorite movies are the gen 4 ones. The Rise of Darkrai having a tear-jerking theme for such a mysterious pokemon (i still tear up when i hear Ocarion), Giratina being spiteful is a mood and Shaymin was cute, Arceus being angry is also a mood. Yeah, Pokemon 4Ever made me cry my eyes out over Celebi, Mewtwo Returns made me again cry because Mewtwo accepting who he is, I remember how vastly different the BW movies are-

I just. I have a lot of memories with the series, even if Gamefreak and Nintendo kinda do the series dirty a lot (your top-grossing thing and you made That monstrosity for the Switch? How dare you.). It's comforting to be stressed and pull up my roms for the games and to play them. Mystery Dungeon is incredibly fun to play, Pokemon Ranger is really fun with the concept (Shadows of Almia continues to kick my ass to this very day and FUCK the Jungle Relic, I hate the Water Challenge fucking gyarados bullshit). I remember the pokemon I got for MD (I got Time, my sis got Darkness) was Mudkip, if that is any help.

I love my little fictional pixel monsters.

5. Yup, someone told tiny 7-9 y/o me about console games. The legend of Zelda. My first Zelda game was Twilight Princess on the Wii and BOY did I play the fucking SHIT out of that game.

Honestly, looking back and looking at playthroughs now-- I still love TP. Twilight Princess is still one of my top favorite Zelda games-- yes, even after playing OoT, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, Skyward Sword, the anniversary four swords edition for the DS where you could play by yourself (Nintendo pls bring that back, I don't have friends to play it with ;-;), Phantom Hourglass- ect.

Something about Twilight Princess grabbed me by the head and yeeted me into the world. I can remember playing it for hours with little to no breaks. I, a tiny 9 y/o, had gotten the hang of the controllers and managed to get past the tutorial quite easily. And then, I was launched into the game and I wasn't stopping for NOTHING. Mom and Dad would have to force me to save and get off to go and eat dinner. THAT sucked.

I had done everything on my own up until the first temple, the forest temple. Not where/when you saved the dumb kid, but when you were saving the spirit's light. Theeeeeeennn I got stuck on the fucking Forest Temple for deadass six months straight. I'd play for hours, running around in circles, unable to figure out where to go, and because I didn't grasp the temple's purpose of being that way- I'd get angry and get off. It wasn't until dad looked up a walkthrough and talked me through what I was supposed to do that I learned how to get through temples.

I had gotten to the last little fight with Ganondorf before the Wii broke and i could no longer play. Despite the Wii being broke and we got rid of it, I was ADAMANT on keeping the game, and I kept that game for YEARS. It was an original copy out of a sealed box, and I eventually lost it when I left it accidentally at my now ex-friend's house.

She had a Wii and I went "hey I have a Wii game!" And I brought my Zelda over. Worst fucking choice of my goddamn life. Mom called me to come home and said I couldn't sleep over like the original plan was, and that was it. My ex-friend stashed my Zelda and I never saw it again. And, even if I wanted to-- I couldn't get it back, which makes me upset. We had a BAD falling out. She likely doesn't even remember it's there, or sold it to the local game junkie kid who buys ALL games.

But I still love the game. Midna was amazing, and I loved how snarky she was and she has a very cute design! The game's OST is fucking phenomenal. Midna's Desperate Hour makes me cry bc goddamn it really sells how serious that situation is. I love Hyrule Field's theme in this game. I love the Twilight Realm's song. Zant was fucking hilariously scary. Ganondorf's design in this game scared the piss out of me when I was younger.

Midna and this game's Link and Zelda are def my favorites. Yeah yeah, Sheik is cool and all I Guess but dhsushwishs Midna holds the special place in my heart. She was totally my gay awakening BUT

For other game antagonists, I adore Ghirahim-- let's go you funky little queer-coded villain. Skull Kid was great, I love the entire dynamic of him. Prankster lost soul stumbles upon Majora's Mask and the mask makes him act out due to powers-- which, I actually took very heavy inspiration from for one of my OCs. The moon falling to Hyrule was a fucking terrifying looming threat.

But the game series holds a place, and I've yet to be able to play BoTW-- although, I'm fairly certain I'll like it. The playthroughs I've watched of it are all fairly decent! I just. Gotta save up enough money to buy it haha.

Dang guess I gotta go watch a Twilight Princess playthrough again.

Honorable Mentions:

Avatar: the Last Airbender, specifically Book 3

my OCs definitely make me happy, they're my children and I'd ramble A LOT longer if given the chance WHEEZE

My friends, but I didn't add them here bc it's more fictional stuff, I presume

Baking. I love to bake cupcakes.

Painting is fun. I'm an artist and goddammit im going to use painting as an excuse to make a mess.

Fire. I rly like fire, down to a pyromaniac level. However, i hate the fires that happened to my home town, the Great Smokey Fires of 2016-- THAT pissed me off. How dare you burn mountain landscapes to the ground. Perish.

History. I'm a history nerd.

I'm also a science nerd.

But fuck math, I cannot comprehend math to save my life.

For some reason, I rly like learning how the human body works??? like did you know, organs are actually sticky when touched by a bare hand?? Did you?? How fucking cool is that.

Bakugan. I love Bakugan, esp the DS game. I love my Darkus Leonidas. Give me back the online world, you peasants-- I want my Darkus Dragonoid. (Also fuck all my friends from when I was in kindergarten- my theory that Alice was Masquerade was somewhat correct.)

#admin ace #admin ace speaks #communistvriska #inbox tag #homestuck #warrior cats #harry potter #pokemon #legend of zelda

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existentialburden · 4 years

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all!! please talk about your ocs!!!!

:OOOO I WOULD GIVE MY LIFE FOR YOU.... (for real thank you I’m super out of it rn, assignments have me fucked up) this is goin under a read more because I am going to go OFF

who’s friends with who? what are the squad dynamics like?

okay so with my ocs let’s start with C9 in general! the entire session has a sort of tense vibe with everyone together but it’s the type where they all know if they need to they can rely on each other. it’s just the situation making them all volatile.

for squads Aila has her moirail squad with two of my pal’s ocs, Lyla and Kodi, and it’s just all comfort there. Lyla and Kodi make sure that Aila doesn’t go off and fume by herself when she’s pissed off, Kodi and Aila make sure Lyla’s not just staying in the depression hive that is her room, and Lyla and Aila make sure Kodi doesn’t hide away and sew for hours when he gets upset. it’s mostly a “get the fuck over here and socialize instead of dwelling on every bad thought” crew but sometimes it’s just about sitting in the same room as someone else. and sending memes to each other. she also considers Dukkel a friend, but that vibe is more of a “Dukkel is manipulative and Aila is too volatile to be effectively manipulated” sorta deal. they hang out though and genuinely enjoy each other’s company so I’m counting it. she’s also pals with Joel (not mine)- she does think she has a crush on him? but she’s always real unsure of these things. either way she likes being around him and he likes being around her. that vibe is “awkward but in a cute dorky way”. also friends with Hurlii (also not mine) but they’re... dating?? hate-dating??? they both refuse to pin that down but they sit under the stars and vent a little bit to each other and get out their emotions and it’s cute. I’ve written about them cuddling before it’s adorable. her and Louise swap memes sometimes so y’know what that’s a friendship too. and she talks to a group of horrorterrors who gossip about her sessionmates with her. Aila has a lot of connections because she’s the Session Leader and also she’s tiny so everyone goes “:O a baby....”. sort of the same way you let your little sibling hang out with you and your pals because they get so excited about it.

Hope is friends with a DIFFERENT pal’s oc, Kori. their vibe is also comfort and chillin. Kori reassures Hope that no, not being able to talk to people is not bad and people don’t hate you. Hope listens when Kori talks about timeline stuff and helps her take precautions to soothe her anxiety. they’re also the alchemiter squad figuring out how to make new objects all the time. they stick real close. Hope’s also pals with Kodi! Kodi actually mediates between her and Aila. Hope can cut loose a little around Kodi and ends up with a surprisingly carefree attitude around him. things are a LITTLE awkward between them but they’re buds. Kodi keeps her in check. (Hope’s also friends with Lyla, kind of? they’re hate-dating but they are so soft for each other.) she used to go play poker with some SBURB constructs but :( no more.

Fantra is moirails with Panda (just assume if they don’t end up with their own list they’re a pal’s oc okay) and they vibe. there’s a little more flirting than necessary in their friendship and they DEFINITELY cuddle. they’re actually really adorable. again, I don’t know if dating counts, but Fantra’s dating Lyla and they’re cute but still sort of figuring things out. Fantra gives Lyla all the attention she asks for and it’s adorable.

Dukkel is sort of friends with Aila but I already talked about that. she doesn’t have a lot of friends other than Ails, actually. it’s. kind of sad? but he doesn’t really go out of his way to befriend people. she has more connections, just not... positive ones.

NOT ALL OF THE ALPHAS ARE FLESHED OUT SO I SWEAR THEY HAVE MORE CONNECTIONS BUT

Mell is pals with Dott and they’re fucking chaotic. I adore them but oh jeez. Mell’s the Responsible One and she’s not responsible at all she just used to pick Dott up from parties and then hold her hostage to help redesign furbies. they’re great. actually, the entire alpha session is great because they’re all in a D&D group. Mell sometimes chats with Cole and thinks he’s alright but also a huge NERD and jokingly makes fun of him for it. Cole doesn’t mind because he is, in fact, a massive nerd. (also Mell ends up dating Lyla it’s a whole thing don’t worry about it they’re adorable)

outside of her session she’s friends with Orca in a sort of “hey this kid needs more friends. now they’re the designated little sibling of the squad” way. she teaches them cool new horrific crafts. Mell just can’t let them sit there when their two friends are busy smh come join in craft time and also here’s how to play D&D. it’s real nice!

Cole is dating Peri! they co-DM in oneshots and he fleshes out NPCs while she worldbuilds and it’s adorable. they’re soft and sweet and cuties. also chats with Mell as I said before!

ALTS: the session as a whole is messy. everything runs fine but it’s less a team and more a bunch of people forced to work together. they’re pretty good at doing things they don’t want to do, though, so gg.

Enny’s friends with Juli. Juli calls her out on her bullshit and Enny holds Juli accountable for her own messes. they’re more functional than they look. Enny is also friends with Kods (not Kodi. alt Kodi.) and they consider themselves siblings even if the specifics are a lil wild. they threaten each other but they don’t usually mean it. they care about each other. also they shared a creepypasta phase that tbh Enny never got over. she’s also kind of pals with Jess but in a “thank you for helping me keep these guys in check. in return I will not swear at you” kinda way and just. mutual understanding of being stubborn when it comes to working at things.

outside of just the alt C9 crew (and delving into SPACE PIRATE TERRITORY): Enny’s also pals with Cece (yet another pal’s OC! the only pal mentioned that technically doesn’t work on the Official C9 Stuff but whatever I love him so much. all of the ones mentioned “outside their session″ are his <3!!!!) even though they stopped hanging out as much. Cece taught her how to paint and have a decent hobby and Enny appreciates it every day. their friendship is dear to my heart. makes me feel nice. Enny is friends with Tate too! they roomed together on the spaceship and even though they aren’t too talkative with each other sometimes that isn’t necessary. also kinda pals with Jody? they don’t hang out too much but Enny secretly thinks she’s a friend. they’re the short Light player squad. too curious for their own good. it got kinda hard for them to talk to each other in person because of an incident but Enny still thinks she’s cool and nice. and there’s Echo! Echo’s her friend and therapist who taught her how to talk about her feeeeelings. which is VERY important. everyone say thank you Echo. Enny enjoys his company and y’know it’s sometimes (SOMETIMES) nice to be totally open. hard but nice. well. it’s complicated. but thank you Echo. .....ENNY IS ALSO PALS WITH [REDACTED]. in “canon” right now they’re “rivals to acquaintances” but they have pet names for each other so what is the truth. they’re very cryptic and trade information but that means Enny’s actually very honest with him so they’re. adorable. they care a lot about each other and try to help each other when they need it. it’s so cute. I’m soft for them. they’ve always had a certain level of respect for each other and I VIBE WITH THAT. love me some respect and comfort in this house. also they totally cuddle.

Deuuuux is friends with Juli. Juli may be blunt and harsh in her humor but Deux vibes with it. she knows she’s just being snarky for the sake of being snarky. they hang out and it’s all very cool and fun. also pals with Kods, but that’s a LITTLE more strained. they still hang from time to time but it’s hard for Deux to tell when he needs his space. also hate-dating Jess but no, actually, they end up being like “wait this is stupid I don’t think I actually hate anything about you. which makes this just dating. ...heck yeah.” Jess keeps tabs on Deux’s volatile mental state and Deux makes sure SHE’S doing okay. like hey take a break. you deserve good things too.

outside of the alt C9 crew Deux is close with Wynn! they have a more sibling bond than anything else. found family. added onto this because Deux actually has a real squad, holy shit, is Echo! Deux is the Official Captain, Wynn made the spaceship they’re on, and Echo is the ship advisor. Deux goes to them when she wants a second opinion on things, which is a lot of the time. Echo is constantly side-eyeing Deux’s depression. it’s hilarious and I love them A LOT. SO MUCH. Deux and Wynn are also the ship chefs, though Wynn more so than Deux. I choose to believe they work on recipes together but that’s just me. Deux is also friends with [REDACTED 2], even if it was shaky at first. they bond over their annoyance at [REDACTED]- and they both get the feeling of being overworked and then looking over at other people goofing off. like damn, a little help here please? they’re so tired. Deux is so tired. someone give her a break.

West! is not C9, technically, but they’re still mine so :P. West is best friends with Fern and they game together. they like to try and fuck up games with West posing hypothetical glitches and Fern pulling them off. also they just hang out and it’s all fun times with them. West is also kinda pals with Alex- sometimes they hang and Alex gave West his old glasses for them to pop out the lenses and wear so that was cool of him. they just vibe and Alex thinks it’s nice that West appreciates their humor.

outside of their session they’re friends with Ulfort and Hazel! they’re a squad. Ulfort is the Responsible One, Hazel is the Bad Influence, and West is the Impressionable Chaos Enabler. I love them all. they goof and have a good time but also worry about each other and that’s real sweet. also Enny and [REDACTED] but in a parental figure sort of way so I’m only including it here and not in Enny’s- also because it’s only in certain aus. also only in certain aus is their friendship with Orca. they bond over similar excitable traits and they started out a little rocky but they’re friends!

Hazeee is also best buds with Fern! sure Haze is crushing on Fern but that doesn’t mean they aren’t pals. they support each other emotionally and also they’re totally both furries. like Fern COULD show her fursona to West and they’d support her but it’s not their interest so they don’t really know how they’re supposed to react so Fern and Haze get the fun of a mutual interest. Haze is also pals with June- xe’s Haze’s right-hand. June helps advise Haze and proposes new ideas and also teases Haze for crushing on Fern. it’s all in good fun though.

Fern is just pals with West and Haze and they’re both her best friends. no she will not rank them. she shouldn’t have to.

outside of her session sheeee’s totally in love with Ulfort and Rita. interacting with Ulfort she’s likes to try and make him flustered a lil bit. with Rita she’s much more shy about it. it’s so cute. she thinks they’re both very very pretty. this is still only in certain aus because otherwise they don’t interact... ...unless? hmu my boyyyyy show me the canon we could have had/can have [eyes emoji]

June is best friends with Alex. they thrive off their differences but June enjoys getting to just have FUN with Alex and Alex loves having support from June. they hang ALL THE TIME. they support each other and tease each other and make sure they know where the lines are. June’s also pals with Haze as mentioned above!

outside of xir sesh June’s pals/something else ;) with Orca. but like. only in certain aus. they’re. how do I describe this without getting into the aus. uh. they’re cute as hell okay? Orca spoils June and June lightly teases Orca and they’re adorable. they care about each other so so much.

Alex is besties with June and pals with West. yes he plays favorites :P.

Theo and Fate are best friends and found-family twins and they’re chaotic as a duo. Fate describes emotions to Theo and Theo describes colors to Fate and that’s adorable but Fate’s encouraging Theo to make horrorterror deals and Theo’s like what if I abused my god tier powers instead and it’s CHAOS. I love them so much. no one else they’re all they’ve got babey!

Luca is dating Elli and Julius (who are also dating) and they’re a squad all on their own. Elli and Julius are weebs and Luca makes fun of them for it but he’s the one dating them so rip. Luca loves them both so much but him and Elli have more of a “childhood friends” vibe (because they are) and Luca and Julius have a “flirt vs one very pretty boy” vibe (because that’s exactly what’s going on these aren’t vibes these are just what’s happening). they’re all ADORABLE. none of them have any other friends but specifically Luca doesn’t because he’s mine and he’s lonely. rip.

Orca is pals with/dating June as mentioned above! and pals with West! and friends with Mell!

I’m not gonna get too into the SBURB 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO squad because the friendships aren’t entirely fleshed out but Pistol and Spike are friends and Spike’s totally crushing on Pistol and it’s cute. they’re cute. I rest my case.

I’M GONNA DO THE REST OF THE QUESTIONS IN A REBLOG BECAUSE DEAR GOD.

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pandemicthestory · 4 years

Text

13: ghosted

Emma wanders down a busy virtual street, barely able to keep her jaw from hitting the digital concrete.

She had been expecting a video game, something with pixels and glitches, but what was in front of her seems so much more real. It's almost disturbing.

Skyscrapers are tall, as she has known them to be in the real world. But here, they are round, and they aren’t perfectly straight--they are shaped like an off-balance layer cake. And the lights shine so much brighter. Holographic advertisements cover surfaces. Except, she notices that they’re not for Chipotle or cars, they’re news spots.

“The death toll in the state of California rises to 12,000, a 200% spike since last week”

She sees that holograms are delivering news from the real world.

A car zooms way too close to her, and she jumps back--shaken from her stupor. Well, it looked like a car. However, it has no wheels. Emma smirks to herself at how Madison would react: “I’m already aware that the Camaro is a piece of shit, I don’t need these turbo spaceships to rub it in my face even more.”

Emma marvels at the size of the city and the people around her. Some of them are talking on devices like the one she was handed on the beach--though instead of holding it to their ears like cell phones, it’s at more of a distance from their faces and projecting holographic video. Some people are walking in groups, conversing in a very familiar way. Some people are staring straight ahead, alone, like Emma.

Where is Isabel in all of this? And where to even start looking?

Emma thinks to herself, if she has one of these devices, her sister must have one too. There’s gotta be a way to track her.

“Thanks for nothing, Mason.” Emma mutters to herself, trying to figure out the odd contraption in front of her. She went from being intrigued by this guy, to fascinated, to absolutely fucking pissed. After she finds her sister, she’s gonna find him too. And get some answers.

Emma sits down on a bench on the side of the road, reviewing her device. While very high-tech, it’s surprisingly straightforward. She finds an option to search for other players, typing “Isabel Bradford.”

While exact coordinates aren’t provided, a green dot appears on a map of the city.

* * *

Night sits at his desk, staring at his computer screen in front of him.

He’s trying to repress the feelings of guilt that are buried in the back of his mind. Sugar will be fine. He probably left right after Night did. And anyway, Night wouldn’t have left him if it wasn’t important. He’d be having a grand time cutting class even if he was in jail. Night keeps telling himself this.

Night seems to be playing Universe without wearing a headset, merely with a 2-dimensional view of the game. This version looks older and simpler than the version that Isabel and Emma are playing on--most likely the original from the 80s.

Night stares at a map in the game and sees the red dot representing Emma lingering not far from the beach.

*ping*

He keeps forgetting to turn off external notifications, ugh. Oh. He’s just received an email from his teacher, and the beginning of the message is shown in the notification…

“Hello Night, checking in on your absence…”

Teacher would be surprised that he wasn’t there. It’s not like him to miss class, or really to do anything unruly or “wrong.” Night is expected to come and go quietly, to be somewhat odd, but overall non-disruptive. Like a ghost.

At some point, he couldn’t remember when exactly, his education had become arbitrary. He saw what was going on...building was all that mattered. All classes had been shifting their focus and slowly morphing into one industry. If you can’t code, you’ll get left behind. If you can’t contribute in one specific way, you’re disposable.

At the beginning of this school year, it had been announced that graduation from the Academy would be pushed forward one year. The board gave the reason that young people were spending too much time sitting in classrooms, gaining information they had no need for, when they could have the opportunity to “get started in life.”

Some saw this as exciting, but Night knew what it really meant. There were whispers. This change was not for the benefit of the students. It was not so students could be free, it was so they could be put to work.

Well, Night has no intention of falling in line with the others who mindlessly build. He craves other knowledge, other opportunities. And he believes that the right person can help him achieve this. Her. It’s time for a disruption.

Night sees the red Emma dot begin to move on screen. She’s walking through the streets now, heading towards the school.

The blinking dot with his name on it stalls in place. He settles into his chair for the search.

He’ll just have to meet her there.

* * *

In Zoe’s bedroom, Julian sits in a chair on the opposite side of the room from her bed, where she and Gabriel are sitting. They are at least 6 feet apart, properly socially-distanced.

Julian’s wearing a bandana that’s covering most of his face. Which is great for Zoe, who kinda despises the sight of it.

“She’s not answering any of my calls or texts. I want to know what’s going on.” Julian says to them, with his trademark entitled tone.

“Well, there’s a reason for that…” Gabriel starts. But Zoe hushes him.

“Gabe, we’re not telling him anything. Not unless it’s necessary to protect Emma, which it sounds like it isn’t. Julian, ever considered that she’s ignoring you because you cheated on her, broke her heart, and are generally kind of a scumbag?” Zoe’s temper is rising.

Julian doesn’t like this. He laughs condescendingly.

“What the hell is so funny? Wait why haven’t I kicked you out yet?”

“You think Emma’s hiding from me? You don’t know anything about what she’s hiding. Hate to break it to you, but you don’t know her like I do.”

Zoe’s about to respond, but hesitates. This dude IS a pathological liar, but, why does he sound so convincing…

“You’re lying. As per usual.” Zoe’s smart, she knows that the best way to get a manipulator to spill his guts is through manipulation. She rolls her eyes, for effect.

“Tell me what’s going on, or you’ll regret it.”

“You don’t know shit, Julian. We don’t negotiate with terrorists. There’s the door. Buh-bye.”

Julian stands up out of rage. Right on cue.

“Did she tell you where she’s going next week?” Julian spits out. Bingo.

“Um, yes, obviously.” Zoe’s lying now, but her genuine curiosity is making it difficult. Meanwhile, Gabriel lies down on the bed and rests his head on a pillow--withdrawing from the conflict.

“Yeah fucking right. And you know how I know you’re full of shit?”

“Please, enlighten me.”

“Because if you’re as good of a friend as you pretend to be, you would have tried to stop her by now. But you haven’t. And I don’t think it’s because you’re not some fucking psycho weird sisterhood obsessed, I think it’s because Emma didn’t trust you enough to tell you that she’s going to start a new life. With me. And far from you.”

Zoe sits, stunned. Julian is a bona fide liar, so why was she even dignifying this with an iota of her energy? He’s the one who’s full of shit. Obviously.

Unless. Well, there is that constant curiosity that lives quietly in the back of her mind. Emma had grown a bit different over the past few months. The four best friends knew everything about each other, to perhaps a sickening degree, but yet...there were so many hours of Emma’s time that weren’t accounted for. Not that she isn’t entitled to those hours. But Zoe does wonder.

“I...um…” Zoe starts.

“She’s leaving. And if you think you have any chance of talking her out of it, you better help me find her. Otherwise, you might just never see her again.”

“Her phone is broken. That’s why you haven’t heard from her.” Gabriel says softly.

They both turn to look at him.

“How do you know that?” Zoe asks.

He takes a few deep breaths. “Because I was with her when it happened. We broke into Best Buy because she needed gear...it was to help her sister somehow...Madison was there, she knows more than I do…”

And that’s all he has to say. Julian has heard enough to head to his next destination. He briskly walks towards the door.

“Hold on a second, what happened to working together?” Zoe asks.

Julian sighs a fake sigh.

“I think what’s best for Emma will be to have as clean a break as possible.”

He leaves and shuts the door behind him. Zoe groans out loud, furious. How could she have listened to this monster??

But then again, there’s a part of her that needs to know if what he’s saying is true. She has so many questions… Why would Emma want to leave? Why couldn’t she be honest with her best friends? What happened to Isabel? And where is Emma now?

Zoe lies down next to Gabriel and wraps her arms around him. She thinks to herself about how there were so many bad guys out there, and she had somehow scored one of the few good ones. She feels blessed yet torn apart.

“Zo, I feel like hell.” he says.

Zoe realizes the heat of his body, and puts a hand to his forehead. Burning up.

She can’t let her mind go there.

“Don’t think about it Gabe. You haven’t seen anyone except me. Okay and Emma and Madison for five minutes, but you were totally safe, weren’t you?” she asks, starting to panic.

He doesn’t respond.

“Gabe?”

“Well yeah, the only thing I can think of is…Madison wasn’t wearing a mask.”

* * *

Emma keeps walking. The Isabel Bradford dot is getting closer and closer.

She’s in such a state of disbelief that it will take a lot to shock her even further at this point.

What will she say to her sister when she sees her? Hi, what the hell is going on? Why is your limp body chilling in our house? What are you doing here?

Isabel has been acting so weird lately. But then again, her family probably thinks the same about her. They’re probably wondering why this emo introvert is even more emo and introverted than usual. Or maybe they aren’t wondering at all. And it’s the lack of wondering that has driven her to run away with someone who may or may not love her.

Where is Julian now? The eternal question. Although one that has plagued her a bit less over the past couple of days. It’s legitimately insane how much has happened in that time.

And what of Mason?

Her blood began to boil. Emma has been massively fucked over by a guy before, and she feels that it’s unacceptable for this to become a pattern. Julian cheating and lying and manipulating...ok she can chock that up to a learning experience. Right? Ehhh. But if two guys play her in a row, well than she’s a bigger fool than she could have ever imagined. And she deserves what happens to her.

For a moment, Emma marvels at the fact that somewhere, she is in a closet on a pile of laundry. She can feel no trace of that reality, only absorb every hyper-realistic facet of what’s around her. She continues on these roads that only exist on a hard drive but feel solid under feet.

Once Emma finds Isabel, who probably knows her way around this game, she’s going to force her to help her find Mason. Like a, “I saved your life, now you owe me one” type of situation. Hopefully Isabel will see it that way.

And soon, she’ll be able to ask her.

According to the map on her device, she has arrived at the school.

It’s quite tall--taller than any school she’s ever seen before. It looks more like the other buildings around it than a place where young people would typically go to learn. But this is a game, so, she’ll roll with it.

But how to get inside..? Like is there even a door? Where’s the front? Hm.

Emma rounds a corner, and realizes that this is definitely the front.

Glassy, a giant arch over massive front doors, seemingly thousands of quotations inscribed on the reflective material. It’s somehow modern yet historic. It’s incredible, and Emma is utterly entranced.

“Emma?”

Emma has a near heart attack. She is abruptly pulled from her stupor by a voice behind her, a smooth voice that says her name like it’s familiar.

She turns around to see a boy around her age. Dark hair, slim, ghostly.

#writer #writers #writers on tumblr #writing #my writing #scifi story #scifi writing #scifi-romance #gamergirl #virtualreality #vr #vrstory #pandemic #coronavirus #covid19 #quarantine #virus story #sciencefictionstory #sciencefiction

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