#(murder on the playground) 1/2 —

[psychwardkitten]

[saramurphy]

Dan posted this video that gave us a HUGE peek into Martin's notes about episodes they're working on...

Screenshots (with about 90% ID of what's visible, bless his handwriting) under the cut! Fair warning, it's long, but there's a lot going on here, and it's so much to think about!

picture 1: ????? chicken head funnier

picture 2: (first page) Reactionator

? Speakers all over town People's phones Therapist Doof & Candace

Therapist thinks she is crazy but is tactful

The shrink is delusional ? ? exercise that is the catalyst for Cand. being delusional

Candace "It's A Wonderful Life" -- After actual bust C sees everyone doing much worse she feels sad

Family - I think you discuss it Cruise Ship - P&F Van/Doof Last chance to Candace A / Perry back

(second page) Doof's DEI W/A C's Therapist

Doof same therapist

Ferb is next a speech therapist

Doof trauma-dumping on therapist

Therapist "The real self-destruct button is in your head"

Therapist does ex(?)nemesis - therapist

Therapist sees - "WAIT, I GET IT, what Candace is doing gets taken away by what HE'S DOING--"

(note going down side of page) GUEST ON DOOFENPUSS

Doof ? regular ? ? - but she can't ? this because of C ? Confidential ALL DANVILLE Doof and Vanessa on cruise ALL CHARACTERS ? Reactionator blackmail secret I ever tell you w/Lindana whose solved mysteries

picture 3: (script on the table) (our first potential season 6 title?) PHINEAS AND FERB

"VANESSAY"

Written by Martin Olson & Olivia Olson

picture 4: Vanessay

Change tennis to playground

Roger & slushy guy not zapped

Rog. - reflects ray w/ his teeth - set up teeth first Doof: strong jaw -

Agent T thumbnotes "Up the chimney is a weird visual pun" Stacy: "You know we have a front door."

C & Stacy w/ambient sounds joke sequence - cut down?

Mono - "Four seasons of this show" Why did I ? ? ?

To Liv for Vanessay Playground - see how ? ? trap sets scene - a handled window box

Stacy: "Hey ? I ? ANIMAL NOISES!" CUT TO BLACK

Stacy pushes ? out of doorway

Dimin: after "Shorty" - No prize is worth this!

picture 5: T For Teen For Liv - SC 916 Perry leaps into air & does triple flip & lands ready to fight

Pitch n buttons for each

Exec note - Thurs - T For Teens 1:48 end of C/Stacy annual ? sudden cut to end ? w "napkins"

MEAP - PT2 S&P CONCERNS

(I cannot make this bit out to save my life. Martin what in the world my dude)

picture 6: Meap pt 2 - thumbnotes

22 to Meap - "Uh-uh! An ship ? us away!" (clumsy)

Fix pronunciation "St. Lois" joke C is shushed by Meap

Tidy up - don't have everyone say "Don't forget to flush"

C pressing red button to explode ? ship sucks

Brenda joke sexist "No one tracks you through the universe more than your wife"

picture 7: 501 PT1 Exec notes - bigger intro of Doof instead of him on yearbook 10:27 Buf. throw away Constitution Irving beat #2 too quick to nerd

Deconstructing thumbatic

Instead of "psychosis" "phantasma"

607 - Isa hair - 704 OWCA shredding SC

C feels good - "? ? that every day"

12 min: Viewers see The Murder Board

Biblio Blast anim. notes Perry incompetent - smashes into Doof's roof Cut down - plants surrounding/attacking Cut down Doof/Per table start w/Doof "We have to HIT SELF DESTRUCT"

picture 8: (page 1) song by the paver the wind makes love w/each other again

around us - it all seems so real meaning confounds us - cuz nothing's revealed we're SW in love w/each other again

Middle 1: From nothing we hustle Towards each other again Our love seems to circle Without any end

V3: The cloud of unknowing has such beautiful colors But where is it all going ? towards one another? we're SW - in love w/each other again

Middle 2: We seek out each other Every time we appear Sometimes we find another Before we disappear

INSTRUMENTAL W/DANCING SKELETON

(page 2) Middle 3: The breeze says to hug her And show how we feel Slowly healing each other Every turn of the wheel

Repeat V1: So basically - We're SW Along by the river We sit on a porch and The wind makes us shiver We're SW in love w/ each other again We're SW in love w/ each other again

JOSH - The paver of

picture 9: While Dance

says to hug her how we feel healing each other turn of the wheel

Repeat V1: (So basically)

We're SW Alone by the river We sit on the ? and The wind makes us shiver We're SW In love w/each other again

picture 10: Swampy

is trapped

back build something

element

State Triangle

"It's like the Berm[uda Triangle] totally different

(Teen lounge) & P&F build

too much like

Dan wants PLANE to

Doof is the ship

Jon said we turn strong where Doof is in the clouds - there's

picture 11: It's a whole new summer Perry (reblog if u cried)

Earthquake

Mom is laughing so hard she can't look

Staring contest - Try not to laugh

Candace has to be ? at Jeremy's larping tournament but she laughs

picture 12: Perry sick, "Can you take

Candace P&F canoe race

Laughtrack-inator Start ? - reveal Doof hits them w/a Doof keeps cranking it up

Doof rises wall of ? behind at ?

Laugh-inator Cut to surgeon heart

Norm: Good mg. sir Doof: But I programmed you to

picture 13: (this is another view of the page in picture 2, but this one reveals slightly more at the bottom, nothing too noteworthy added except for this)

LINDANA 80'S COP MOVIE - GUEST ON DOOFENPUS

[hyuuukais]

⋆.˚𖦹°‧✮‧°𖦹˚.⋆ ERROR 404

pairing ~ yang jeongin x fem reader

synopsis ~ y/n starts getting messages from an unknown number after buying a used phone for cheap. as she finds out more about the boy she's talking to, it turns out there's much more to this than a wrong number --- he died, and she's talking to his spirit, yet he has no idea what happened to him. will y/n have what it takes to solve the mystery of his death? or will the boy's spirit remained trapped in his phone?

warnings ~ framed suicide, murder, drug mention, kidnapping, abuse, blood/injuries, addiction, use of alcohol, swearing, ghosts, minor character death

taglist ~ 18+, no ageless blogs

MASTERLIST

🎬ROLL CALL !

CH 1 ~ UNKNOWN NUMBER CH 2 ~ THE PLAYGROUND CH 3 ~ LAKE HAVEN CH 4 ~ ENERGY CH 5 ~ FAMILY TIES CH 6 ~ RELIVING THE PAST Ch 7 ~ WHAT HAPPENED TO HAN JISUNG? CH 8 ~ SELF-DEFENSE CH 9 ~ BLACKMAIL CH 10 ~ THE FINAL ACT

[xandermatthews2290]

FR Though, Ace’s murder plan sucked

-He used drop hanging purely to frame someone else, dramatically shrinking the list of suspects to 4 people ❌

-He used the grippy tape that only 3 people could have feasibly grabbed ❌

-His murder method involved using a stretch band, that there was exactly 1 of, that 2 different people knew he had. Implicating himself completely.❌

I can’t even begin to describe how terribly overcomplicated he made this goddamn murder, he is the next Kirumi Tojo and Mitsuhiro Higa, deciding to setup the body in a stupid fucking way only to incriminate yourself more than if you had just left them where you killed them.

Had he just literally strangled Arei in the playground, there would have been literally nothing anyone could have used to pinpoint him as the killer.

Like I appreciate the murder plan but…dude there aren’t style points involved

🤡L murder plan

[scary-grace]

Enough to Go By (Chapter 2) -- a Shigaraki x f!Reader fic

Your best friend vanished on the same night his family was murdered, and even though the world forgot about him, you never did. When a chance encounter brings you back into contact with Shimura Tenko, you'll do anything to make sure you don't lose him again. Keep his secrets? Sure. Aid the League of Villains? Of course. Sacrifice everything? You would - but as the battle between the League of Villains and hero society unfolds, it becomes clear that everything is far more than you or anyone else imagined it would be. (cross-posted to Ao3)

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

Chapter 2

When the ER doctors ask you how you got hurt, you lie. You know you shouldn’t lie, know that Tenko’s dangerous, know that his quirk, whatever it is, is deadly on contact. Some part of you thinks you should be scared of the possibility that Tenko will come back to finish the job. But at the same time, you know you’re the one who chased him. You’re the one who wouldn’t let him go. If you hadn’t run after him, none of this would have happened.

This, it turns out, is a wrist that requires a specialized healing quirk to fix, and a bruised larynx that makes you sound like you’ve been deepthroating a lead pipe. “Whoever you’re protecting, you shouldn’t,” an old, sort of grizzled nurse says severely after the fifth time you’ve repeated your lie. “Another few pounds of pressure on your throat and you’d be dead.”

Tenko was fine with killing you, at least at first. You’re not sure what changed his mind, or why he let you go, and in spite of the fact that he gave you injuries severe enough for an overnight in the ER, you can’t help wondering what happened to him. The friend you knew was nothing like that. He got frustrated sometimes, like everyone else, but he was kind. And hurting people? He wouldn’t. His older sister did more playground fighting than he did. In fact, when you think about it – you close your eyes against the fluorescent lights in your hospital room and try to fend off the memory. You can’t quite do it, because it’s crystal clear. Tenko spent more time getting hurt than doing the hurting.

If Tenko and Hana got out the door first on school days, they’d wait outside your house on the sidewalk for you to come out, so you could all walk to school together. If you were ready first, you’d wait for them. One morning you were waiting, tapping your feet, fiddling with your umbrella because the weather looked like rain even if the forecast didn’t say so, when you heard voices. One raised grown-up voice and one small anxious one, from inside the house.

You didn’t want to eavesdrop, but you didn’t know how not to. Hana had a cold, so she was staying home. Tenko had wanted to say goodbye to her before he left, but their dad said no, and when Tenko stuck his head in the door anyway, his dad yelled. And was still yelling, over whatever Tenko was trying to say, until Tenko stumbled out onto the sidewalk, without a raincoat or an umbrella and scratching the skin around his eyes.

Or wiping his eyes, maybe. He started scrubbing at them frantically when he saw you. “Don’t look –”

You turned around, and as you did, you felt the first drops of rain. “Are you okay?”

“Hana’s sick.” Tenko sniffled. “I went in her room when I wasn’t supposed to.”

I heard, you almost said. But you didn’t. You just asked again. “Are you okay?”

“We have to walk or we’ll be late.” Tenko started walking, past you, and you followed him. The rain was falling harder, spattering Tenko’s shirt and his backpack. “It wasn’t supposed to rain.”

“Here.” You put up your umbrella and hurried to catch him, holding it over both your heads. You didn’t have a choice but to look at him now, and you saw how puffy his eyes were. “I bet Hana was happy.”

Tenko nodded. He wiped his nose on the back of his hand and sniffled again, and when his hand fell back to his side, it brushed against yours. Tenko cringed. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” you said. You linked your pinky finger with his. “I swear.”

Tenko’s finger hooked tighter around yours. “Only since you swore.”

He had a cold the next day, and so did you. You cried until your mom went over to his house to apologize for you getting Tenko and Hana sick. So this isn’t the first time you’ve lied to protect Tenko. It might just be the first time you’re getting away with it.

You’re out of the ER at eight in the morning, and by nine-thirty you’re at work. You’re a medical assistant in a network of urgent care clinics that serve low-income people, uninsured people, or people who don’t want to risk going to a standard hospital. Your friends call your workplace Villains, Inc., and you’re not going to say you haven’t met your share – but you also meet a lot of people, and you think it’s good for you. Sometimes it feels like there are two Japans, sharing space in the same territory. One full of pretty, shiny heroes and happy, law-abiding civilians and uncomplicatedly evil villains, where everybody has a quirk and everybody’s always doing their best. And then there’s the other Japan, populated by everybody who doesn’t belong in the first one.

They say one in five people are quirkless, but you see at least fifty people a day at work, and the number of quirkless people on your side of Japan is a lot higher. Quirkless children have the school system to nominally protect them, but there��s no such system for quirkless adults. A lot of them are pushed to the margins, losing jobs to those with quirks, even if their quirk is useless for the jobs in question. Even when quirkless people can get work, it’s at a lower level than a quirked person could get. Your applications to nursing school were rejected, even though your grades matched the standard. You’re lucky that you’d already found an apprenticeship, in a workplace willing to sponsor your education and train you on the job.

You’ve been working here for two years, part-time as an apprentice and CNA in high school and full-time since you graduated. You’re a medical assistant now, which means you can do a whole bunch of things – take history, check vitals, draw blood, give vaccines. You have a specific exam room you work out of, and the newest workers, the ones still in high school, bring patients from the waiting room to you. From there, you figure out where to route them. To an exam room with a nurse or a physician, to the lab for blood tests, to Imaging, to the ER if their injuries or illness are too severe to be treated here. You’ve only had to route somebody to the morgue once.

You’ve just delivered your most recent patient to an exam room with a doctor, and you’re in the process of documenting it in the chart when a message pops up from one of your coworkers at the front desk. FOF. Can you handle it?

FOF – freak out front. You don’t love that acronym. How F are we talking?

Creepy-looking + mean. The new kid messed up, but not that bad.

You’re not in the mood for difficult patients today. Your throat is sore and your wrist is itching and the turtleneck you’re wearing to cover the bruises on your neck is a little too tight. But you’re the most senior medical assistant working today, and even if you weren’t, dealing with difficult people is sort of your specialty. You did a great job last night right up until you decided to chase after Tenko.

Nobody’s perfect, and you learned your lesson, didn’t you? You sigh, wincing at how it feels, and respond. Send them over.

You go back to your chart, trying desperately to finish it before the new patient arrives, and you’re just about to send it to your supervisor when the CNA knocks on the door. “Come in!”

The door opens and the patient steps through, shutting it behind them. “Just a second,” you say, deciding you’re going to finish your documentation if it kills you. “You can have a seat and I’ll be with you as soon as I just –”

“Your voice sounds weird.”

You almost choke on your own spit. You look up from your computer and find Tenko staring at you from across the exam room.

Between the fluorescent lights of the convenience stores and the shadowy darkness of the street, your encounter with Tenko last night had the sense of a fever dream or an acid trip – shiny around the edges, not quite real. Seeing him in broad daylight in your dingy exam room is unnerving beyond words. He looks even more like your best friend than he did before, but there are more differences, too – a scar over Tenko’s mouth, another scar over his right eye. Whatever skin condition he had around his eyes as a child, it’s gotten worse, so much worse that it’s obliterated his eyebrows and spread to his forehead. He’s wearing a black hoodie, maybe the same hoodie he was wearing last night. And he’s staring at you.

You thought there was no way he’d come back to finish the job. You thought you were safe. You thought wrong. Your voice comes out in an airless whisper, like you’re still sprawled on the concrete with his arm across your throat. “What are you doing here?”

“It says outside you have to treat everybody. Is that true?” Tenko’s voice is abrupt, bordering on rude, and he doesn’t wait for an answer. “Your voice sounds weird. And that shirt is stupid. You wouldn’t sound so weird if the collar wasn’t –”

He’s reaching towards you, and you’re frozen, even as your mind screams at you to get out of the way. Tenko’s index finger hooks into the collar of your turtleneck and pulls it down. His eyes narrow at first, turning his expression sharp and mean. Then they widen once more, past where they were before, until he looks more like the Tenko you knew than you’ve seen yet. “Who did that?”

You don’t remember your best friend being this stupid. “Who do you think?”

“I didn’t do that,” Tenko says, but his eyes dart to one side, the way they used to do when he knew he was wrong. A second later he changes his tune. “You made me do it. If you hadn’t chased me –”

You shouldn’t have chased him, but he didn’t have to choke you and burn the skin off your wrist. You look Tenko over and change the subject. You don’t want to argue. You don’t want him to get mad. “Aren’t you missing something?”

He gives you a puzzled look, and you mime a hand covering your face. “Father,” Tenko says. He calls it Father? That’s – weird. “He’s here.”

He unhooks his finger from your collar, reaches into his hoodie pocket, extracts the hand, and secures it over his face. It should look ridiculous, but instead it’s terrifying. “I can’t wear him in daylight. Master says he’s too recognizable yet.”

None of those words make any sense, and you’ve lost your ability to speak. “It says you treat everybody here. You have to. Right?” Tenko asks. You nod wordlessly. “So treat me.”

“Um –” You get the syllable out of your mouth, watching Tenko’s shoulders stiffen at the sound of your voice. “Do you have your intake form? They would have given it to you when you checked in.”

Tenko’s mouth twists. “The brat at the front desk didn’t give me anything. She said she could fill it in herself, since she knew I was here for dermatology.”

You think back to your coworker’s message. You’d say the new kid messed up pretty bad. “I’m sorry. She shouldn’t have made that assumption.”

“You did too. Didn’t you? I bet you thought I came in here for help with my disgusting skin.”

“No,” you say. “I think you’re probably coming in for your wrist.”

It’s the only thing that makes sense to you, short of him tracking you down to finish the job, and when he’s reached for you or taken the hand out of his pocket, he’s used his left hand. If your memory’s correct, Tenko’s right-handed. “It looked like you hurt it when you fell,” you continue. Tenko stares at you. “Are there any other issues you’d like us to investigate while you’re here?”

Tenko shakes his head. Okay. Nineteen-year-old male, here for suspected injury to wrist. What’s next in your exam workflow? A process you run through at least a hundred times per week has exited your mind completely. You glance around the room uselessly and your eyes land on your blood pressure cuff. “Okay. I’m going to take your vitals.”

“Why do you need those?” Tenko looks suspicious. “Stay away from me.”

“I need your blood pressure, your pulse rate, and your pulse oxygen level. None of those are invasive tests.” Not usually, anyway – given how Tenko reacted the last time you came anywhere close to touching him, you’re pretty sure that pushing the point here could get you killed. “Or just the pulse oxygen. That goes on your finger.”

You take it out, only to remember about Tenko’s quirk. Tenko notices your hesitation. He sneers behind the hand. “Don’t worry. It only works with all five fingers.”

Good to know. You clip the pulse oxygen monitor onto his middle finger and turn back to your computer. Even without looking at his wrist, an x-ray is standard protocol, and you need to get Tenko into the queue right away. The less time he spends here, the less danger everybody else is in. It might be too late for you already.

“What do you think?” Tenko asks. You look at him. “The quirk.”

“You’ve got one.” You’re not really sure what else to say.

“And you don’t. Still?” Tenko raises his eyebrows. You nod. “And you still don’t care.”

“No,” you say. “I never cared about not having one. Only about how people treat me.”

“I bet they treat you like shit,” Tenko says. He sounds gleeful, but his expression doesn’t match his tone of voice. It’s weird. “If I ask you why you’re here instead of some fancy clinic on the nice side of town, you’ll probably lie and say you love it here. But you’re here because nowhere else will take somebody who doesn’t have a quirk. Isn’t that right?”

“I do like it here.” You aren’t lying. The pulse ox monitor beeps and you take it back from Tenko, recording the reading on your computer. “And I’m here because nowhere else will take me. Let me see your wrist.”

Tenko’s had his other hand in the front pocket of his hoodie this whole time. He draws it out slowly and extends it towards you. You’re not qualified to diagnose anything, but you can see that it’s bruised and swollen, and the skin is hot when you touch it. Tenko hisses as your fingers make contact. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to see if there’s an obvious break.” You shouldn’t – he’ll be headed to Imaging no matter what – but you don’t want anyone else to come into contact with Tenko unless they have to. Tenko’s wrist is swollen to the point that you can barely feel anything beneath it. “Were you resting this last night? Or using it?”

“I had games to play.”

Tenko’s a gamer now. Huh. “That’s probably why it’s so sore. And so swollen. No more gaming with that hand until it heals.”

“You’re not a doctor. Don’t tell me what to do.”

“The doctor’s going to say the same thing.” You glance away at your screen, checking your position in the Imaging queue. There’s a chest x-ray ahead of you, with a sick kid, and those always take a while. “I’m going to get you some ice for this. It’ll help with the x-rays if the swelling goes down. Stay here.”

“No.” Tenko gets to his feet, pulling his wrist out of your grip, grimacing as the motion jars the injury. “You think I don’t know what you’ll do? You’re just dying to go to the cops.”

“I had a chance to go to the cops. Last night, when I went to the hospital for this.” You gesture at your throat, and Tenko’s expression twists behind the hand. “I didn’t go then. Why would I go now?”

Tenko stares at you. You hold his gaze. You’ve never lost a staring contest in your life, and you’re not planning to start today – and after a long moment, Tenko averts his eyes. “You can go,” he says shortly. “But I won’t use it unless you get some for your neck.”

Does he feel guilty? Is that why he’s saying that? You decide not to think about it too hard. He’s your patient right now. If this is what it’ll take for him to ice his injury, you’ll happily slap a bag of ice on your throat.

But once you’ve brought the ice back, and you’re holding yours to your throat while Tenko applies his gingerly to his wrist, you’re out of other things to do. It’s just you and your best friend, who tried to kill you last night, sitting in a room together. Tenko still has the hand over his face. Your wrist is still itching. Before last night, when you still had the luxury of imagining what it would be like to meet Tenko again after all this time, you didn’t imagine it would be like this. It makes you sad.

You’re expecting silence until Tenko gets called back to Imaging, but to your surprise, Tenko speaks up. “Your parents had three more kids,” he says. You nod. “Why?”

“To be fair to them, they thought they were only having one.” You don’t like being fair to them about this, given what happened afterwards, even if there’s no way they could have known. “It was triplets, and they were pretty sick. They got the same kind of quirk as the rest of the family, so they made us all feel how they felt. Which was – bad.”

Tenko doesn’t say anything. You shouldn’t be talking about your family, not when his family is dead. Does he even know what happened to his family? You’re not going to ask. “Sorry.”

“Did you have to take care of them?”

“What?”

“The stupid triplets. Did you have to take care of them, too?” Tenko glares from behind the hand. “I remember you always had to before. You never stayed as long as you wanted to.”

“Oh,” you say, startled. “No, um – I had to get home. I wanted to.”

“My birthday party. Your mom came to get you early and you said you weren’t crying but you were.” Tenko is still glaring at you, and you find yourself shrinking back in your chair. “I remember. Don’t lie.”

“You didn’t remember last night,” you say, but he must have remembered something, or he wouldn’t have spoken up when you mentioned how many siblings you have. “Tenko, what –”

“That’s not my name. Anymore.” Tenko scratches at his neck lefthanded. “Master gave me a new one. Tomura.”

“Tomura,” you repeat. “Is that what I should call you?”

Tenko – Tomura? – keeps scratching, clawing up red scrapes in his skin. Then his hand falls back down. “Tenko. You should call me Tenko.” He averts his eyes from yours again. “You knew me before.”

Before what? You can’t decide whether to ask, and Tenko makes the decision for you. “I knew you before, too. When you were a kid whose parents wouldn’t let her stay long enough at a birthday party for a fucking piece of cake.”

“You brought me some. The next day.” Your voice is small. “I remember that. It was the nicest thing anybody ever did for me.”

Tenko’s shoulders stiffen. “That’s pathetic.”

“It was the nicest thing back then,” you say. “Nicer stuff has happened since then.”

Has it? It probably has, but right now your mind is full, all your memories of Tenko flooding to the forefront. There aren’t many. Not nearly enough. Three years at most – your memory is good enough to pick up some things from when you were a toddler, and you and Tenko met when you were barely old enough to speak full sentences. But you talked. You always talked. You talked to each other about everything. Right now it feels like there’s nothing in the world you could say to each other, and it breaks your heart.

Your computer pings, snapping you out of it and giving you something else to fixate on. “They’re ready for us in Imaging. I’ll walk you.”

“What, you think I can’t walk by myself?”

“I want to keep an eye on you,” you say, and Tenko scoffs. “Come on.”

He takes the hand down off his face and tucks it away again before exiting the exam room. He pulls his hood up, too, shuffling along at your side too close to be a shadow. You pass more than a few of your coworkers, all of whom give you pitying looks. They feel bad for you, but they don’t know enough to feel bad for the right reason. It makes you angry, just like it made you angry to hear Tenko’s father shout at him, a useless anger that felt too large for your tiny body. You couldn’t protect him then, and he wouldn’t let you do it now, but the urge is there, as insane as it might be. He almost killed you last night. And here you are wanting to save him.

The x-rays go quickly. A few different angles, and then you and Tenko stand there while the doctor on shift interprets them. “No fracture,” he reports. “Just a bad sprain. We’ll send you home with a brace to wear. Just take it easy for a few days.”

Tenko jerks his chin downwards. It would be charitable to call it a nod. The doctor makes a quick note in his chart and turns away, trusting you to dig up a brace and conclude the visit. Tenko won’t ask, so you will. “What about for pain?”

The doctor turns, raises an eyebrow. “The patient didn’t ask.”

“The patient wouldn’t have come in if it didn’t hurt.” You’re insane. You must be, to help someone who hurt you, except you’re not thinking of last night, you’re thinking of today – of your best friend, who’s not your friend anymore, but remembers you enough to be angry on your behalf. Who brought you a slice of birthday cake the next day because you couldn’t stay long enough to have one. “What would you recommend?”

“Ice it at least three times a day, and double up on NSAIDs,” the doctor says finally. “The OTC brands will be fine. If you rest it properly it should be healed by next week. Is there anything else?”

You glance at Tenko. Tenko shakes his head. “Feel better soon,” the doctor says. “Come back for a follow-up if anything worsens.”

Tenko trails after you as you retrieve a brace from the supply cabinet. “What the hell were all those acronyms?”

“NSAIDs – nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs,” you explain. “Things like ibuprofen and acetaminophen. OTC means over the counter – things you can buy without a prescription. Any convenience store should have them.”

You find a brace in the correct size and turn to find Tenko already holding out his arm. It surprises you, to the extent that you freeze for a moment, but then you snap out of it and secure the brace around his wrist. It’s simple to avoid his quirk, now that you think about it. All you have to do is make sure all five fingers don’t touch you at once.

Tenko grimaces as you fasten the last of the Velcro straps on the brace. “It’s tight.”

“It needs to be tight to support your wrist,” you say. “If it hurts, loosen it a little bit, but not so much that it slides. Do you have questions about anything else?”

Tenko shakes his head. “He didn’t say I couldn’t play games.”

“He said you had to rest your wrist,” you say. “You can play point-and-clicks. With your other hand.”

Tenko snorts. “I’m not playing point-and-clicks.”

“Better than nothing.” They’re the only type of video game you’re good at. Sometimes you and your friends make a drinking game out of them, doing a shot every time you find a clue or solve a puzzle. “If there’s nothing else, I can go ahead and walk you out.”

It’s quiet for a second. Tenko is looking at you, and you look back, unsure of what else to do. Part of you wants him gone as fast as possible, but it’s a smaller part of you than it should be. The rest of you wants your best friend, who remembers the things you don’t talk about, who saw you through the smile you knew to paste on even at five years old. You want to find out what happened to him. You want to know where he’s been. You want to know if he knew you were here, if that’s why he came to this clinic instead of any of the others. You want to know if it’s going to be another fifteen years before you see him again.

For a moment you think Tenko will say something, will come up with something else to stretch this out. Instead he glances left, then right. “Which way do I go to get out of here?”

“I’ll walk you out,” you say again. You lead him down the hall to the door that opens onto the street, fighting the lump in your throat. There’s a spiel you’re supposed to give to patients as they leave, but you can’t get it out of your mouth.

Tenko stands there a moment, then pushes the door open lefthanded, and something inside you snaps loose. You catch his sleeve and he turns to stare at you, a sneer already beginning to twist his features. You’ve got maybe three seconds before he hurts you again, and you have to use them wisely. “I won’t ask about the rest of it. I’m not going to follow you again,” you say. “I know we won’t see each other after this. I just need to know. Are you okay, wherever you are?”

You’re expecting him to mock you, but instead the sneer falls from his face. He looks like himself again, the part of him you knew best. He doesn’t ask why you care, and you realize it’s because he knows. He knew last night when he let you go instead of killing you. You’re his best friend. Of course you care.

“Yeah. I –” Tenko coughs, clears his throat. His voice is back to its usual rasp when he speaks. “I’m okay.”

You know he’s lying. You think he might know that you know, too. But he pulls his arm away slightly, not yanking it from your grip but making it clear that he wants to leave, and you let him go.

The door swings shut behind him, and you turn and head back to your exam room, working on documenting his visit in the chart until your eyes go blurry. You didn’t sleep at all last night. You won’t sleep well tonight, either. You know already that you’ll be up late into the night, retracing every second in your head, trying to figure out what went wrong. Trying to guess what happened. Wondering, like you always wonder about Tenko – if he’s alive, if he’s all right.

You have answers to the first two questions now. Other than that, the things that keep you up tonight will be the same as they’ve been since you were six years old. Other than the scar around your wrist and the bruises around your throat, nothing’s changed at all.

[aqil-drawisy]

Hola! Espero q estés bien! ^^

Queria preguntar ¿Cómo era la relacion de murder y swap? Y también, ¿Cómo sucedió en sí su relación? xq vi q fury y sprinkle fueron como los "últimos" en "nacer" dentro de los dos grupos, o sea q dust y swap fueron los últimos en juntarse)? Por asi decirlo.

Let me explain for you A until Z because I have updated new characters and story tooo ✨️

Déjame explicarte de la A a la Z porque también he actualizado nuevos personajes y la historia ✨️

The Character Children

Dust has 4 sons namely Dedge, Sprinkle, Fury, and MurderMoon. He never took care of all of them. (what a bad father XD)

Dust tiene cuatro hijos: Slash, Sprinkle, Fury y MurderMoon. Nunca los cuidó a todos. (¡Qué mal padre! XD)

Dust Relationship

First! Dust true love is Swap ,He love Swap so much, Second Fell is Friends not love and the last one, Nightmare is his evil boss, the person he hate most like he hate Chara

¡Primero! El verdadero amor de Dust es Swap, a quien ama muchísimo. El segundo, Fell, es su amistad, no su amor. Y el último, Nightmare, es su malvado jefe, a quien odia tanto como a Chara.

The Story

His story is related to Ink Child, my story before that where Ink tried his experiment, which is called a mixture of two gens like Gradient Sans. So Ink wanted to try it on another Sans, and he tried it on Dust and Fell.. Dust's blood and Fell's ability were mixed, and Boom was born as small as Dedge Sans.. Dust didn't want to take care of the child and just gave it to Fell. Slash didn't know Dust because he didn't grow up without him ..Dedge stay in Underfell with Fell Sans.

Su historia está relacionada con Ink Child, mi historia anterior, donde Ink intentó su experimento: una mezcla de dos gens, como Gradient Sans. Ink quiso probarlo con otro Sans y lo hizo con Dust y Fell. La sangre de Dust y la habilidad de Fell se mezclaron, y Boom nació tan pequeño como Dedge Sans. Dust no quiso cuidar del niño y se lo dio a Fell. Dedge no conocía a Dust porque no creció sin él. Slash se quedó en Underfell con Fell Sans.

After that Dust left the Nightmare group and joined Star Sanses because he couldn't stand his life being tortured by Nightmare. While he was in the process of recovering his mental health. He fell in love with Swap Sans because Swap always encouraged him and always helped him recover his mental health. They fell in love and had two strong sons haha.

Después de eso, Dust dejó el grupo Nightmare y se unió a Star Sanses porque no soportaba ser torturado por Nightmare Mientras recuperaba su salud mental, se enamoró de Swap Sans porque Swap siempre lo animó y lo ayudó a recuperar su salud mental. Se enamoraron y tuvieron dos hijos fuertes, jaja.

After 3 years, Fury was only 1 year old, and Sprinkle was 2 years old. Dust took his son to the playground to have fun spending time with his family. Dust and Swap were enjoying their time watching their sons playing in the park. Suddenly the sky turned black, the wind blew hard.. They were surprised to see Nightmare coming. Nightmare was very angry and came to take Dust and join his team by force. Nightmare used his son as blackmail. That's how Fury got a scar on his mouth. Dust didn't want his son to be killed, so he followed Nightmare's instructions..when he got to Nightmare's castle. Nightmare used Dust's blood to create Nightmare soldiers in the most painful way..

Después de 3 años, Fury tenía solo un año y Sprinkle dos. Dust llevó a su hijo al parque para divertirse con su familia. Dust y Swap disfrutaban viendo a sus hijos jugar en el parque. De repente, el cielo se oscureció y el viento sopló con fuerza. Se sorprendieron al ver venir a Nightmare. Nightmare estaba muy enojado y vino a llevarse a Dust y unirse a su equipo por la fuerza. Nightmare usó a su hijo como chantaje. Así fue como Fury se hizo una cicatriz en la boca. Dust no quería que mataran a su hijo, así que siguió sus instrucciones al llegar a su castillo. Nightmare usó la sangre de Dust para crear soldados Nightmare de la manera más dolorosa.

Swap felt sad and he couldn't trace where Dust was. Dust was in Nightmare's castle being tortured by Nightmare.. After 4 months passed and it was the new year. After the birth of Merciless, Killer almost died he lost a lot of exp and blood..his son Dark Moon, Nightmare's first creation, rebelled and attacked Nightmare because he saw his mother almost die..The situation in the palace was chaotic, the night was completely unpredictable, Dark Moon used forbidden powers to kill Nightmare but failed because the Positive chain was still stuck on him, So Dark Moon wanted to stop Nightmare's plan and opened a portal telling Killer, Horror and Dust to escape. The Murder trio ran to save themselves to a random portal without know what Au is that ??.. After the Murder trio arrived in the unknown...they were trapped there forever because they were unable to open the portal...no one knew their location...

Swap se sintió triste y no pudo rastrear dónde estaba Dust. Dust estaba en el castillo de Nightmare siendo torturado por Nightmare. Pasaron 4 meses y era año nuevo. Tras el nacimiento de Merciless, Killer casi muere, perdió mucha experiencia y sangre. Su hijo Dark Moon, la primera creación de Nightmare, se rebeló y atacó a Nightmare porque vio a su madre casi morir La situación en el palacio era caótica, la noche era completamente impredecible Dark Moon usó poderes prohibidos para matar a Nightmare, pero falló porque la cadena positiva seguía atrapada en él. Entonces Dark Moon quiso detener el plan de Nightmare y abrió un portal diciéndoles a Killer, Horror y Dust que escaparan El trío de Asesinos corrió para salvarse a un portal al azar sin sabre qué Au era ese. Después de que el trío de Asesinos llegara a lo desconocido... quedaron atrapados allí para siempre porque no pudieron abrir el portal... nadie sabía su ubicación.

Original idea by Novel di sebalik dinara and Underwent04

Dedge Sans- pepper-mint/ Sprinkle and Fury - 6agentgg9/ MurderMoon- went

[neverending-poolrooms]

may we have a level 2 with all addons pretty please? we'd love it if it was based on horror mainly, but if u know cc!slimesicle we'd really love it to be mixtive. if ur not a big slimesicler, then just horror is good. we've been a bit hyperfixated on slimesicle lol

-🫓

## LEVEL 2 ; DIVING SUIT

>>> cc!Slimecicle with Horror themes Requested by ; 🫓 anon

Why are there lockers here...?

Level 1 ; Poolrooms

Name : Charlie , Charles , Slime , Slimecicle , Syd , James , Max , Carter , Sam , Scream , Murder , Victim , Butcher , Fright , Terror , Dread , Chase , Shatter , Splitter , Sacrifice , Witness , Maggot , Fester , Massacre

Pronouns : It/Its , He/Him , Goop/Goops , Slime/Slimes , Game/Games , Vid/Video , Video/Videos , Stream/Streams , Thrill/Thrills , Hunt/Hunts , Hide/Hides , Run/Runs , Slash/Slashes , Rot/Rot , Kill/Kills , Blood/Bloods , Blood/Bleed , Blood/Shed/Bloodsheds , Gore/Gores , Gut/Guts , Gut/Gutz , Horror/Horrors , Fight/Fights , Sur/Survive/Survives , Fear/Fears , Slaughter/Slaughters , Corpse/Corpse , Death/Deaths , Dead/Dead , Heart/Beat/Heartbeats , Dec/Decay , Decay/Decays , 🩸/🩸s , 🪓/🪓s , 🫀/🫀s , 🔪/🔪s , 🥩/🥩s , 🪚/🪚s , 👁‍🗨/👁‍🗨s , 👁️/👁️s , 🩻/🩻s , 🦷/🦷s , 🦴/🦴s

Age : 25

Orientation : Horror Attraction , NBLM , NBLNB , Demisexual

Gender : Male , Agender , Bxy , SLASHERVAL , RED HERRING , Gimmirian , PiCKYWOUNDiC , Fearinic , Finalthing

Species : Human

Roles : Comedian , Socializor , Masker

Source(s) : cc!Slimecicle

Level 2 ; Diving Suit

Likes : Dad jokes , Puns , Problem solving , Exercise , Acting , Kids / playground games , Horror games / genre , Murder mysteries , Video games in general

Dislikes : Stressful situations , Harmful pranks / jokes , Losing things , Ragebait , Needless drama , Confusing directions

Fronting Triggers : Thrills source , Exercise / Physical activity , High energy , Horror games or movies , The system needing to mask (especially to finish a task or in front of a stranger)

Typing Quirk : Uses uh, um and oh lot. Doubles exclamation and question marks and will sometimes use simple faces (:P , :/ , :| , ect.). Typing sporadically changes from no caps to all caps >>> oh!!! the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog!!!! :] THATS SO COOL!!! :3 uh. sorry!!! :( um. i guess??? :? YEAH!!!

Basic Personality : Nervous , Jokester , Goal driven , Ambitious

Faceclaim : [1] ★ [2] ★ [3]

Add-ons ; Abyssal

Hyperfixations : Cannibalism , Angel Hare , Horror themed TTRPGS , Stages of decay

Special Interests : Anatomy , ARGs / Unfiction , World Chase Tag , Slasher films (Scream , Friday the 13th , Nightmare on Elm Street , ect.)

Kins : Final Girl conceptkin , Jester conceptkin , Corvus Cladotherian , Belgian Sheepdog Therian , Greek Harehound Therian , Ball Python kin

Titles : The Last One Standing , [prn] Who Is Covered In [Blood / Gore] , [prn] Who Fears For [prn]s Life , [Prn] Who Survived , The One Who's Hunted by A Killer , The False Killer , [Prn] That Slaughtered Them All ,

Stimboard , Moodboard or drawing / doodle by us!

Source ; [1] ★ [2] ★ [3] ★ [4] ★ [5] ★ [6] ★ [7] ★ [8] ★ [9]

We tried our best to just do a vague horror theme, but gore may be very GenLoss or final girl coded on accident... Oh well.

We hope you like him nonetheless!!

Credits ; [Top Divider] ★ [Water Dividers] ★ [Bottom Divider]

[moxie-girl]

DRDT EP 13 theories/predictions

figured I should collect all my thoughts in one place b4 the new episode drops…

Levi’s Secret

I don’t think Levi is the killer, especially not after the last episode. Given how he apologized for being unhelpful + derailing the trial, he knows what he’s confessed will cause a big stir but he’s confessing it to be helpful in some way, possibly one or more of the following:

1. He knows talk will turn to motive secrets soon with alibis exhausted, and wants to stop people from thinking whoever’s secret Arei had was the one to kill her before that discussion takes up too much time.

2. He wants to change the topic to motive secrets because he thinks one of the other unrevealed secrets relates to Arei’s murder.

3. The murder he committed is similar in some way to Arei’s death and he needs to confess his secret in order to share what he knows.

4. Or, because of the murder(s?) he committed, he knows more about bodies than Arturo and wants to share what he noticed (Levi autopsy guy from now on??)

While Levi’s almost definitely off the hook for Arei’s murder, I’m still a little worried for him though…

Ace’s (Almost) Murder

I’m really hoping we address this sooner rather than later, especially because I think it has to be relevant to Arei’s murder, since the common consensus is that they were both hung? I’m also a firm believer of the theory that someone else (coughcoughHu) tried to kill Ace and Nico walked in on it and saved him…

The Murder Method

I’m not going to go into a deep analysis of the evidence here, especially since other (smarter) people have already analyzed the crime to hell and back - I just figured I’ll put this here too with the rest of my thoughts. I believe that Arei’s murder was almost definitely done through a complex sort of Rube Goldberg machine, utilizing tools like the playground spinner (hence the tape) and heavy jugs full of water (hence the fish)… I don’t know who this implicates, but hopefully we’ll get more clues soon!

The Possible Culprits

I’m not listing off who I think it is based on who could have committed it and how or anything, rather, this is who I think is narratively the most suspicious right now, in no particular order:

Rose

I really don’t want it to be Rose!! But she’s been acting super super suspicious in the current trial and it’s hard to ignore:

- continuously pushing for people to vote/‘just want this trial to be over already’ (paraphrased)

- hasn’t fallen asleep once, I don’t think?

- keeps repeating ‘I was definitely asleep at that time’ when asked for alibis, instead of just saying no

However, there’s like no reason or motive for her to have murdered Arei, so maybe there’s another explanation…? (Accomplice!Rose??)

Hu

I’m convinced she was the one who tried to murder Ace, with good intentions, so it’s possible she switched targets to another bully? She’s definitely latched onto Nico as someone she needs to protect, whether or not they want her protection…

I know she has an alibi, but she brought it up a little out of the blue, possibly also to protect Nico, and Nico barely agreed with her (it’s also been shown that Nico will fake an alibi so as not to be suspected, which is technically fine since they weren’t the murderer so it just means they aren’t falsely suspected? But it also means they might just agree to Hu’s false alibi to get Ace + the class off their back, which Hu could be using to her own benefit?)

Overall, I’m still not sure about the possibility of this once since if Hu really did murder just to remove someone she saw as a problem, considering what we think her secret is, it seems more likely that she’d give up immediately, “sacrificing” herself for the “greater good”…

Whit

Honestly, I don’t really think it was Whit, but by GOD is he suspicious right now. But then again, he’s always suspicious, and it doesn’t feel like in a murder way? I almost don’t want to suspect him of being the mastermind… it feels more like a red herring (ba-dum-tss)

Other Misc. Thoughts

Secrets

I agree with the common theories on whose secrets are whose, especially since one of those theories has already been proven correct. I do wonder whether any of the other unrevealed secrets will prove to be related to the murder in any way, or if they’re just still unrevealed for personal reasons. Also, as much as I want David to reveal that his secret is surely actually Teruko’s, I think narratively he’ll probably hold on to that for another chapter or two (it’s not like anyone can disprove him…)

Ace

Given that Ace has been oddly quiet the last episode, plus I’m sure his reaction to Levi’s secret is gonna be… something, I think it’s leading up to one of two things:

1. Ace passes out from blood loss and talking putting too much strain on his throat.

2. Ace has a full-blown anxiety attack as the stress of the whole situation finally gets to him.

Teruko

I’m excited for Teruko to school us all on… something! Likely the murder method or the secrets… however, since this episode is the 13th episode, releasing on Friday the 13th, it also seems likely that something really unlucky is about to happen :(

☆ ☆ ☆

Anyway, that’s all! Actually wait hold on I should make a bingo card or something…

aaand here are some cards! totally didn't take me like an hour to figure out how to make or anything lol...

[the-catboy-minyan]

If a child was murdered and and an Israeli did NOT rush in to make excuses to why you aren't allowed to be mad at their killers otherwise you're anti-semitic........did a child REALLY die that day?

if a terrorist organisation indiscriminately attacked a country for an entire year and - among other casualties - murdered 12 children by hitting a playground with a rocket, but those children were Israeli, did children REALLY die?

1) nobody knows who attacked

2) the attack was aimed at Hezbollah members, a terrorist organisation, you remember the meaning of terrorist, right?

3) where's the same additude towards the 1400 Israeli victims of October 7? or do they not count as people?

no anon, you're not antisemitic for not praising the attack on Hezbollah, you're a terrorist supporter for treating it as an attack that purposefully targeted civilians. stop reading Al jazeerah.

[mrsaguapapi]

Ch 1  Ch 2  Ch 3  Ch 4  Ch 5  Ch 6  Ch 7  Ch 8  Ch 9  Ch 10  Ch 11 Ch 12  Ch 13  Ch 14   Ch 15 Ch 16  Ch 17

Chapter 18

My Sunshine

The Vibe:

Corinne Bailey Rae 11. Seasons Change

"Wanda is dead. I saw her die" Stranges says pacing away in his office. Looking absolutely ridiculous with his lounge clothes and a cloak.

"She's alive Stephen." I say exasperated

"Okay, I'll play. Let's say she's alive, which she's not. Why of all people would you go to her?" he gestures to himself, "I can help you."

"I'm not letting you anywhere near my memories thank you very much." I scoff at him, "I don't have time to bring you up to speed, I need to speak with her, and considering with what happened in Westview and your little multiverse incident, I don't know where her head is at mentally. All I'm asking is that you watch my back and be on standby" I plead

"Look I want to help you but that last thing we need is to instigate another fight with Wanda Maximoff, IF, she's even alive," Strange says. "If she's alive, I theorize she won't be happy seeing me, so no, I'm not going with you," I roll my eyes and stand up, ready to walk out, "I didn't say I wasn't going to help you," he says stopping me in my place

"Okay well, Stephen can you just spit it out some of us have shit to do," I say holding my hands out annoyed

He rolls his eyes and pulls out a display and uncovers it revealing a floating crystal ball, "This is the Orb of Agamotto. This allows me to monitor the universe and other surrounding dimensions. With the ability to 'Livestream' other planets and pinpoint magic users anywhere, except for those with the power to block its view. I can use this to watch you from a distance and if anything goes wrong, I'll portal to you and help"

I take a moment to think about it, "Fine, you have a deal" I say holding out my hand to him

He shakes my hand and smiles, "Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

"Ugh and you ruined it," I say, dropping my hand, rolling my eyes, and grabbing my sling ring, "For the record, I never really blamed you, and neither does Peter. You just happen to have an annoying face and that I can't forgive" I laugh to myself," Give me your phone" I say to Strange. He hands me his phone and I put my number in it and call myself so I have his number, "When I get there I'll call you and have you in my ear." I say putting an airpod in and giving back his phone. Pausing for a moment I take in a deep breath and exhale allowing myself to relax before opening a portal to the shuffling streets of Sokovia.

I step through turning to look at Strange, "If she's alive and as powerful as before she could easily sever my connection. Just keep that in mind." He warns. I nod my head and close the portal.

"Okay let's get this show on the road," I say to myself walking the down the city streets

----------------------

After getting some food and thinking about the next approach I decided instead of using a locator spell and exposing her safe space, I figure I'll summon her to me. So I picked the most public place I could think of.

A playground

Sitting on the bench watching the children play, I say in my head, "Wanda, I need your help" I call out to her making sure my intention is clear and that I mean no harm, "That should do the trick" I whisper to myself. I pull out my phone to call Strange, "Hey, she'll be here any minute. Can you see me?"

"You chose to bring 'The Scarlet Witch' to a playground?"

"She won't hurt the children," I say

"I once thought that too until she tried to murder America Chavez in front of me" he quips

"Yea well this time will be different Stephen," I say annoyed "Have a little hope will ya?"

He sighs, "You never told me why you need her specifically."

"I was told by my dead mother to go to her directly. She didn't say why, but I trust her judgment. Wanda may also have some info on someone else I'm looking for." I say rather quickly and annoyed

"So the short answer is you don't know," he says

"I've been on the phone with you for 2 mins and I already want to kick your ass," I say making us both laugh

"What's so funny?" I hear someone say near me, causing me to damn near jump out of my skin. It was Wanda sitting next to me in civilian clothes with her hair dripping wet.

"Good lord girl. You don't have to be so creepy" I say clutching my fake pearls

"You started It. I heard your little whispers in my ear while I was in the shower. I thought you had the drop on me." she laughs under her breath, "So why are you here? Don't you know I'm 'dead'? I'm sure Stephen told you. Right Stephen?" She asks a little louder

She knows

"Did you think I wouldn't know?" Wanda Asks

"Millie she's blocking me, I can't see you anymore," Stephen says in my ear, "I'm coming to you"

"Hold off Stephen," I say out loud, "It's okay" I pause looking at Wanda with a small smile, "Do you blame me? If I didn't come with some sort of backup, I'd be pretty dumb don't ya think?"

She looks at me for a while like she was searching for something in my face eventually looking away and letting out a large exhale, "I have been a real witch lately" she says causing me to laugh, "You said you needed my help and I could really use a distraction right now, so what can I do for you?"

"Hey, Stephen you still there?" I ask

"I'm still here. You still alive?" He asks

"Yep. I'm gonna let you go, I'm okay" I say to him

"Are you sure?"

"Mhmm, I'll text you later," I say before hanging up on him, "Let me buy you a drink. We've got a lot to talk about." I say standing up and holding out my hand to her

"One drink isn't going to cut it," She says taking my hand "Might have to buy the bar," she says making us both chuckle.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wanda and I have been venting and drinking for an hour or so at this dingy little bar in the middle of town. We both are sitting in a booth in the back of the room effectively away from the other patrons.

"So," I say before throwing back another tequila shot, "So out of grief you kidnapped and brainwashed a random town in New Jersey, Created a fake husband and children, and then traveled through other universes, blindly looking for said fake children?" I ask

"Well," Wanda taking a sip of her bourbon, "I feel like you're oversimplifying it a bit. Westview wasn't a random town, Vis bought us some land there to build us a home and my children are only fake here, they're very much real elsewhere, but... essentially yes you are correct." She says finishing the drink

"Wanda," I say rubbing my head from the sudden rush I'm feeling, "That like really sucks"

"I Know right? "Oh and let's not forget Pietro, my dead twin brother," She says nonchalantly

I burst out in laughter, I couldn't help myself at her candor, "I'm sorry that was so mean" I said trying to control myself.

Surprisingly Wanda joins me, "You are fucked up, you know that?" She says laughing with me

"I know! I know! I'm sorry, it's either you laugh or you cry and I'm tired of crying" I say catching my breath from laughing

"Couldn't have said it better myself" Wanda says collecting herself from laughing with me"So enough about me and my lifetime of trauma, fill me in on what's going on; why do you need my help?"

"Can I just so show you? It will be quicker" I ask holding my hand out to her

"Is it going to hurt?" She asks hesitantly

"No. I mean no one has complained before?" I say smiling and shrugging. She places her hand in mine and I use my memory transference on her filling her in on everything; my ghost mom and her past with the darkhold, the books from Wakanda, how peter found me in the lake, and my lack of memory.

"Wow," Wanda says taking her hand back, "You've got some serious power Millie, your magic is vast." She says rubbing her hand "Unpredictable too... It's very familiar."

"Well that wasn't ominous at all," I say a little creeped out, "Can you help me?"

"Yes, I think so. We'll need an open field and it's probably going to hurt" She says standing up "Come on we should get going"

"Fine," I say standing up and throwing some cash on the bar, "But can we not skip over the whole 'it's going to hurt thing"

"I imagine being struck by lightning doesn't feel good," She says walking out

"Well Fuck" I say following her

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Vibe:

Bishop Briggs - Lessons of the Fire: Official Lyric Video | Devil In Ohio | Netflix

Wanda takes me to this field on the outskirts of town. It was surrounded by overarching trees and we were in the open center. When I look up I see nothing but a full moon and stars. The air was cool and the energy surrounding us was peaceful. Wanda had set up several candles around me in a circle and stepped out leaving me alone in the center

"Explain it to me one more time, " I say a little freaked out

"You need to summon the lightning to strike you"

"Okay but why?" I say a little freaked out

"The connection you and your ancestors have with nature runs deep in your blood. Channeling the weather seems to be something engrained in your DNA, specifically thunderstorms and lightning. A storm woke you up in that lake; you were struck by lightning. I'm hoping that with almost the same conditions, it could do the same for your mind. Make sense?" She finishes

"Yes, it does, I think. I'm sorry but I am scared the last time this happened it left me with a giant scar across my body." I say unconsciously rubbing my scar, "Are you sure you can't do some kind of spell?"

"I can't. Quite frankly I'm afraid too"

"What does that mean?" I scoff

"You possess multiple forms of magic. It shouldn't be possible to have more than 2 or 3. Millie, from what I felt from your hand and what you've shown me in your memories, you seem to possess 4. I'm afraid if I go poking around in your brain that you will unconsciously retaliate and that's the last thing we want to do."

Why is she being so cautious?

"What forms do you think I possess?"

"1 being eldritch magic, which you learned from the sorcerers. Accessible by humans, eldritch magic can be properly controlled by those with highly disciplined minds who have been trained in casting spells. Your ancestor Ayesha was a sorcerer supreme, so it's only natural that you have an affinity for this form. " Wanda pauses, I can tell she's a little hesitant to continue.

"Go on it's okay, I can take it," I say trying to convince her, and myself

"The second being Dark Magic, also known as Witchcraft. An extremely powerful and difficult type of magic used by sorcerers and witches to achieve their goals through morally questionable means.

"Morally questionable means? I would never hurt anyone.." I begin to say

"You wouldn't now, but what about you before your memory loss? Who's to say you weren't a bad guy? In your memories when your mother died you were taken by a coven of witches led by Agatha. Agatha isn't exactly a good witch; she's ancient and she's evil. I wouldn't be surprised that her influence on you wasn't positive, especially considering that she's also possessed the darkhold." Wanda sighs. "She was a pain in my ass, I'll take you to her after this."

She has a point, what if my memory comes back and I still have an allegiance to her? What If I lose my feelings for my current loved ones...

"Anyways" Wanda continues pulling me back from internal panic, "Dark magic can be combined with other types of magic, which leads me into your last 2 forms, darkhold and chaos Magic. When your mother was using the darkhold while pregnant with you, a portion of its power embedded itself in you.  I am almost positive that's why are you able to use magic just by mentally displaying your intent."

"I can understand why I may have dark hold magic but chaos magic feels like a stretch. Due to its very nature, chaos magic is extremely unstable and requires a massive amount of energy and control to master it; I don't feel I'm at that level. I would have noticed by now right?"

"Like me, you were born with latent magical abilities, yours coming from your ancestors. Your generational power bestowment has given you vast immeasurable strength that was the perfect breeding ground for chaos magic. Let me ask you, have you been losing your temper or lost control of your powers lately?"

"Yea I have been losing control of my powers," I say thinking back to the incident in my bedroom and outside of the royal palace in Wakanda, "I also almost killed a man yesterday. Honestly, I think I could have done it if I wasn't stopped."

"Key signs. I knew your power felt familiar, I felt the chaotic energy pulsate through your veins; You're like me. If I fuck anything up messing with your memories you could go crazy destroying everything in sight. Do you get it now?" She says to me very seriously

"I do" I pause lost in my thoughts. After a few more seconds I hear a loud beep come from my pocket. I pull out the source of the noise and realize it was my pager.

It was a new voice message from Namor, I hold it to my ear and listen, "I miss you more Ki'ichpan"

Through messages and he still makes me swoon.

Feeling a little relaxed, I take in a deep breath, "What do I need to do"

Wanda holds out her hand, "Give me your beeper and your cell so they don't get destroyed." Doing as she says I throw my things in my sling bag and hand it to her, "Okay do what you need to do, to feel as connected to the nature surrounding us"

I take off my sneakers and socks linking my feet to the grass, "Okay" I nod to her

"You can already control the basic elements correct?"

"Yes," I say

"What are the conditions needed to cause a storm?" She asks me

"Storms form when warm, moist air rises into the cold air," I respond

"Make that happen," She says plainly

I silently nod my head and close my eyes; my feet are firmly planted on the ground and my hands are open at my side. I begin to box breathe:

In 1,2,3,4

Hold 1,2,3,4

Out 1,2,3,4

Repeat

Eventually, I feel myself relax, I'm only focused on the surrounding sound of the night; the wind around me was nothing more than a breeze. I was in a total moment of zen and for a while it was quiet. After minutes of silence, the wind around me began to dance and I feel the hair on my arms stand, "It's coming I can feel it" I said as the wind begins to pick up rapidly.

I open my eyes and lift my hand to the sky calling the lighting to me. I see storm clouds forming over us almost fully blocking out the moon, nearly leaving us in total darkness if not for the candles, "Come on" I yell to the storm. For a moment it grew eerily quiet but suddenly flashes of lights began to paint the sky; it was my lightning. Just as I began to smile with pride from the storm I created, a giant bolt of lightning makes it's way down, connecting to my hand and making my whole body seize.

The pain I feel is almost indescribable; not only did my body feel like every inch of me was on fire but my head felt like my brain was boiling inside my skull. For what felt like an eternity, but in reality, it was only a matter of seconds, the pain stopped and I fell to the ground. The only thing I remember before fading away was Wanda rushing to me, "Millie Wake up" she says, "Millie don't g-", was all I hear before slipping away.

----------------------------------------------

The Vibe:

Breathe me -- sia

It's dark and quiet. I can't feel anything. I can't move.

"Mom.." I hear a males voice whisper

Who's voice is that?

I hear the voice speak again, "Mom I-" he coughs not being able to finish his sentence.

I know that voice.

"Momma I can't move" he speaks clearly before coughing and gurgling. That voice is so familiar. It's warm like the sun. The sun...

You are my sunshine

My only sunshine

You make me happy

When skies are gray

You'll never know, dear

How much I love you

Please don't take

My sunshine away

I love the sun. My son. I named him after the Sun God; the creator of the universe. He's my sunshine, my world, the center of my universe. My Amun.

"Amun!" I yell jolting up. When sitting up I instinctively grab my stomach in utter pain. Looking down I see I'm bleeding, I'm assuming a stab wound. Looking around I see I'm back at that same awful place. Kissena Park.

"Mom," Amun says

I hear my son call to me again; I snap my head in his direction and I see my son lying on the ground covered in blood, "No!" I scream crawling to him, "No, no, no"

When I reach him and scan him a little closer I can see he was stabbed like me but it must be somewhere fatal spot because he was coughing up blood, "He stabbed and knocked you out" he says in between coughs, "I tried t-to protect you but I wasn't strong enough, I'm s-sorry Mom"

"Hush now baby," I say panicked and in between tears, "I can heal you," I say holding my hand over his wound.

"You're too w-weak, you'll die," He says

"I don't care. You are my son, my life means nothing without yours. Just breathe baby" I say trying to calm him and myself down

"Momma, who is that? Sh-she looks like you" He says looking past me. I turn around and see no one.

"Amun baby no one is there," I say

"Momma she's so warm. I think- I think I'm going to go with her" Amun says to me

No.

"No baby stay with me. Don't go." I say my voice begins to shake, "Stay with me, I can fix you, Please" I beg

"It's okay momma, I'll be fine." He says before looking behind me and nodding his head.

I turn around and still see nothing, "What am I to do?  How do I breathe without you?"

Amun takes my hand and squeezes it and smiles before taking his last breath. His hand relaxed in mine, and his eyes glossed over. As he took his last breath he took a part of me with him. I pull my son's body to me holding him tightly never wanting to let him go.

"Well that was dramatic" I hear a man say from behind me, "It was a shame he went down so fast, I expected more from him considering his lineage."

I gently put my boy's body down leaving a kiss on his forehead before standing up and turning around. It was the faceless man in the black suit, "Bring him back"

"Like mother, like daughter. What are you willing to trade for his life? Your mother gave me her power. What do you have to barter?"

"Take anything, my power, my life, my soul. I don't care to take it all"

"No" he responds, "Why would I bring him back? I was the one who killed him."

"Y-you attacked us?" I asked. My voice was shaking; I was filled with not only grief and sadness but an overwhelming sense of rage, "Why? We lived in peace, I have atoned for my past. How did you even find us, we were so careful for years."

"Your family has always been on my radar, But you should thank your friend Agatha, she pointed me in your direction." He smiles as my heart drops

Agatha why?...

"I knew one day eventually one of your family's descendants' power would rival mine and I just can't have that. I figure it's time to end the whole bloodline. You should take some pride that it ends with you, you are the strongest and with more time you could have been more powerful." He steps closer placing a hand on my cheek. I look at him where his eyes should be, "It'll be easier if you just surrender Millaenyia"

"All chances of me surrendering left when you Killed my son." I sneer

"So be it," he says disappointed. Before I knew it his hands were hovering at the side of my head, he was draining me of my power and my life, "Don't worry this won't take long" he says softly

I fall to the ground, no longer able to stand up. If I don't act quickly, I will die.

Maybe I should let him.

I ponder on that thought for a while and just as I was about to accept my fate the man speaks up, "Almost done, you'll soon be with your son"

My son. He killed my son.

I snap out of it, realizing I was about to let my son's murderer roam free, I quickly devise a plan.

I'm too weak to kill. But I think I have enough in me to trap him.

I look up and see the man holding his head back as he was draining me, he wasn't paying attention to my hands. I lift my hand out toward the tree behind him; I use what's left of my powers to form an opening in the tree that was big enough to hide a body within it. Once done I call to the roots and branches of the tree, willing them to slowly creep up behind the man and gently wrap around his legs and arms. He was so focused on the feeling of this newly acquired power of his, that he didn't notice he was being detained until it was too late.

"What is this?" He says seeing the branches wrapped around his hand, "What are you do-" the man says before whipping back into the tree. His arms were now behind his back being thoroughly wrapped in roots followed by the rest of his body. The only exposed part of him now was his neck up, "This won't hold me, you child"

I stand up and walk to him, "You will rot in here" I sneer before wrapping my hand around his neck quickly taking back my power and life force. "All you care about is power right?" I ask knowing the answer, "I'll take that too" I say now draining him of his energy and power, leaving just enough to keep him alive so he can rot here for the rest of days.

"Let me-" he struggles to say "Let me ou-" The roots cover the rest of him effectively muffling his words. I step back holding my hand out to the tree and use my powers to close and seal it shut. I place my hand on the tree and close my eyes:

To be Seen or Unseen.

Never in the focus of one's eye

Of nature's age, it does defy

To be Seen, or Unseen

With this spell, this tree will never age. It shall never be directly seen but it will always be here.

Once done with the small runes are now etched around the tree sealing his fate. I walk back to my Amun and look at him one last time.

I need to bury you, my love.

When I go to pick him up I see he had the journal he made of me tucked away in his jacket. Not wanting to leave the journal behind for someone to find and use, I grab it and bind it to my wrist before I pick Amun up. I walk towards the lake and will the water to separate allowing me to walk down to the center of the lake. Once I make it to the spot I place Amun down. I kiss his forward one last time, "My sweet boy" I say before I hold my hand out and use my power to have him sink into the dirt, fully burying him.

I lay beside him now, with the intention of ending my life and resting beside him for eternity. But I couldn't bring myself to do it, something was stopping me like there was someone in my ear telling me no. So, still intending on resting beside my son, I decide that if I'm too cowardly to end it now, I don't deserve to remember him in case I wake up:

Forget me not

Forget me now

Forget the past

Forget the sound

Forget the memories

Forget the love

Forget it all

Forget it now

As I finish the spell, I feel myself begin to fade away and sink to the ground. The water released and is slowly filling the lake back up; I find comfort in my last lingering memory of my son's laughter before I'm completely asleep.

---------------------------------

The Vibe:

Labrinth & Zendaya - I'm Tired (From “Euphoria” An HBO Original Series – Lyric Video)

"Millie wake up!" That is all I hear before I feel water being poured on me.

The sudden feel of cold water all over me jolted me awake. I sit up completely dazed; my eyes were fuzzing and my ears wear slightly ringing. Eventually, the ringing faded and my eyes clear up. I look around and see Wanda sitting next to me, looking like she has seen a ghost, "Are you okay?" She asks, "Fuck you are still steaming, does that hurt? I thought the water would help," she says concerned.

"I'm okay," I say plainly.

"Are you?" she says. I look to her with expressionless eyes and nod.

My body feels numb, it's because of the lightning... No, I remember...

"Did it work? Do you remember?" She asks

"I remember everything," I say beginning to cry, "My son..." I say holding my stomach, I feel like I'm going to throw up, "Oh god my son" I say sobbing

[possumcollege]

Tumblr just fed me a repost thread where someone responded to a meme that said "The Right gave us the Klan and the Left gave us weekends" with this extremely broken nugget of US history. 👇

🌈 This is horseshit.

1: In the 1860s, under what US historians call the Third Party System Republicans were what we would call "progressive" and Democrats were the "conservative" party.

Lincoln was a Republican, as were many Americans who called for the abolition of slavery. Lincoln stated that he was not personally in favor of total abolition and emancipation but he did believe regulation of slavery was a power of the federal government as opposed to state governments. Democrats of the Reconstruction Era favored strict moral legislation against race mixing, opposed citizenship and voting rights for African Americans, and largely opposed the expansion of Federal powers over the individual states.

It's honest-to-god not that hard to understand that American political parties haven't always been the exact same parties they are today. I can't help it if no one ever taught them this but it isn't an obscure or contested piece of information. Anybody trotting this shit out as a dunk on contemporary Democrats is either wrong or lying.

2: The Klan was never a "Leftist Anarchist alternative to law enforcement"

The concept of organized State law enforcement was barely a thing in the South at that time. Most southern law enforcemement consisted of slave patrols mustered from state militias, tasked with finding and capturing runaways, and preventing large-scale slave rebellions like the French experienced in the Caribbean. Slave patrols were abolished after the Civil War and officers were instead charged with enforcing "Jim Crow" laws under Reconstruction. Many of the Klan's tactics were literally the unofficial, vigilante continuation of practices that were legal for slave patrols. At no point were organized "law enforcement" and the Klan working at cross purposes. They both sought to maintain the social order through violent enforcement of a system where black people had no rights, the klan just wasn't an official agent of the State.

Anarchists may seek to operate without centralized state authority, but vigilantes are not inherently "Anarchists" just because they're ungoverned. By that reasoning, children fighting on the playground are Anarchists.

White Supremacy is itself antithetical to central Anarchist principles, which call for a society based on voluntary participation, free of social heirarchy, or rule-by-force.

3: Whether they know it or not, when someone says that the Klan formed as any kind of peacekeeping force, they are parroting Pro-Klan propaganda.

There are 3 distinct, widely accepted eras of organizations calling themselves the KKK. The first is the most relevant as it formed during Reconstruction in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War. It began when a number of young Southern men and Confederate veterans took it upon themselves to terrorize and intimidate newly-free African Americans by raiding homes and businesses, destroying property, harassing black communities, and murdering black leaders, organizers, and their allies.

The first iterations of the Klan were heavily influenced by a growing fascination with fraternal orders and secret societies in America during that era. They cribbed heavily from another secret society, the Knights of the Golden Circle, (the Klan's name came from the Greek word for "circle") who hoped to establish a new county around the legality of slavery. This country would've included the states of the CSA, Mexico, Cuba, the islands of the Caribbean, and parts of Central/ South America.

Claims that the Klan existed to oust Scalawags, Carpetbaggers and other Northern opportunists (often said to be Jews and Catholics) who rushed in to fill the vacuum of deposed Southern leadership doesn't emerge until 1868-69 when Nathan Bedford Forrest was formally elected as their first (holy fucking shit 🤦‍♂️) "Grand Wizard."

(this absolute dipshit)

These retroactive narratives were further amplified in the 1880s-90s as Lost Cause rhetoric began to gain momentum among those sympathetic to the confederacy, white supremacists, and those seeking to profit off the continued disenfranchisement of African Americans as cheap prison labor.

These tales of masked men protecting downtrodden southern whites from the grasping, predatory Yankee Carpetbaggers were further enshrined as founding myths of the second Klan, in Georgia in 1915. It remains a popular Whitewashing narrative to this day.

I do not give half a proud southern shit what the guys who were scamming their buddies into buying official Klan dishes in the 20s said the Klan was about. Those actually existed btw. I don't have to give Forrest's claims any more weight than I give Spencer's claims on the motivation of neo-nazis.

Spencer got exactly what both of them deserved when he got socked in the head on TV.

[cleolinda]

Silent Hill 2 commentary: Wood Side Apartments (2)

PREVIOUSLY ON: My Favorite Monster, mannequin moves, lots of Mary symbolism, and the coin puzzle unveiled.

Spoiler policy: Just about anything but That One Big Thing near the end of the game, particularly information about characters, their motives, and their dynamics. The game’s eight endings may also be discussed. Content notes are below the cut.

Content notes: For this post, we get the handgun and meet Pyramid Head. We find a body--covered with a sheet, but a lot of blood visible; I mistake it for a suicide in the video, then discuss it here as a murder scene.

The combat involves body horror, some particularly gruesome lying figures, acid vomit, realistic amounts of blood, and some oversized insects to crush. We start out with a wooden plank, then get the gun.

36:45: Here is the origin of James’ beef with an eight-year-old: Laura, the sassiest orphan to ever stomp on your hand. Suffice it to say: 1) she runs around Silent Hill like she owns it, and 2) she knew Mary. Laura, Angela, and Eddie (we’ll meet him soon) are the only other "real" people in town besides James—and sometimes I wonder about Laura. Half the time I think she might actually be a ghost; other times I think she must be as alive as James is (whatever that's worth), and it sounds like this was the game's intention (she came to Silent Hill with Eddie?). 

39:00: Laura has opened a door, maybe not for us, but it helps. Did not mention: I point out that she’s having a grand time while the rest of us are fighting for our lives, but what I don’t go into is the fact that everyone seems to see Silent Hill differently. Everyone has their own demons—literally, their own monsters. But I don’t think Laura has any. I think she’s here because she has unfinished business (a long story for later, but: Mary was never able to adopt Laura the way she’d hoped to), not because she has any wrongdoing on her conscience. So, for Laura, Silent Hill is just one big playground where sometimes adults start freaking the fuck out about nothing. 

Something I only realized later: the banging noises in the hall are a lying figure trying to break out of room 106. 

40:00: Regarding Laura, I’m looking for Apartment 107. 108 is not 107, but it does have a blue-flowered sheet. You’ll see this one sheet over and over through the building (and also in the combat tutorial house, I think), and I’d thought it was one from James and Mary’s home—but we see that one later, and it’s not the same print. So I don’t quite know what to make of the persistence of sheets with blue flowers. 

Apartment 108 is actually more important than 107—it has a golden apple door handle we need for 208. Ian has an “Adam and Eve” idea/motif that he expands on in his third stream. (But also, he notes, a golden apple in particular could evoke the Apple of Discord from Greek mythology—who is the fairest, Mary or Maria?) I’ll just go on and point out that the coins we’re looking for are the Man, the Woman, and the Snake. 

41:32: The wardrobe has a white dress inside; people tend to assume it was Mary’s wedding dress, but I’ve heard one or two people say it has something to do with SH1. I asked Ian—maybe the final boss, he says? "Wedding dress,” in conjunction with a “wedding handkerchief” in 201, is more likely, but I'm throwing it out there. 

44:45: Finally, I remember we’re here to pick up the key that Laura kicked out of James’ reach. 

Did not mention: Here’s how smart I am: the first time I played the game, I saw that James drew a “!” on the map, where the hall is blocked by bars. I assumed the “!” meant “THAT’S WHERE THIS LITTLE SHIT KICKED ME, DON’T GO BACK TO THAT SIDE,” and that the key was on the other side of the bars. So I spent I don’t even know how long AVOIDING that side of the hall, increasingly frustrated that I couldn’t find the key. Yes, this is the same building where I got lost looking for canned juice. Yes, I do have neurological damage from long covid, and we’re all going to make a study of how the fuck my brain works now.  

45:00: The lying figure has broken out of 106. I spent two videos scolding these monsters, but in Wood Side, they do funny little boogies when they’re blocked into one place, and… I’m starting to become fond of them? 

Did not mention: After I recorded this, I had one of those random shower thoughts: all the lying figures’ other features/behaviors either threaten James (combat moves, body horror) or seemingly mock what he might like to look at ("sexy" legs and platform shoes). Why does the game take the time to have them do a gyrating little dance?

We end up at a strip club later. Is the "boogie" meant to be… a parody of pole dancing?  

46:30: Apartment 106: After seeing it in Eurogamer's "What Was Life Like in Silent Hill 2 Before Its Downfall?" video, I was determined to show it to y'all. There's a young family (evidenced by children’s toys) in this apartment; a note left behind asks someone (maybe one parent to the other?) to check on "Mrs. Milley" in Apartment 102. She seems to be a recent widow: "She’s been cooped up all alone with his belongings for days on end." I knew exactly which apartment Eurogamer was talking about—but it's this note in 106 that adds the context that Mr. Milley has passed away. 

Meanwhile, we get bitten by creepers, to my irritation. "I'M TRYING TO READ!" 

49:30: "Are you gonna get back up? WHOA!! OH MY GOD!" Like, I knew the lying figure was still out in the hall, but I didn’t realize it was going to be standing there STARING AT ME. New Game+ hits different, apparently.

50:45: A different lying figure’s gurgling draws my attention to a first-floor wing that’s now unlocked. 

51:00: Apartment 102, where the Milleys lived. We can tell an elderly couple lived here by the:

Walker in the bedroom (the main detail I'd noticed)

Accessibility handles by the toilet and in the shower

Rolling TV tray they ate from 

Vintage wedding portrait on the wall, and a photo of an older couple (I think?) on the nightstand

There's also that blue-flowered sheet again, which I'm still convinced symbolizes or alludes to Mary, even if it's not The Sheet. More importantly, there's a Strange Photo (again, credit to u/DaleRobinson on Reddit): "Valentine's Day."

And it's a picture of a bouquet we'll see in Apartment 201.

All images are ©2024 Konami Digital Entertainment, and captured from my gameplay in January-March 2025.

I'll go ahead and say here that I'm convinced that 201 either has features from James and Mary's home, or it is wholly their home manifested into Silent Hill. And I'll point out all the decor that makes me think so when we get there. But what the Strange Photo does is tie 102 and 201 together (and notice, the numbers are the reverse of each other). I think 102 is here to say, "This is the elderly couple that James and Mary will never become." I think it's also notable that it's Mrs. Milley who's grieving her husband, flipping the genders from James grieving Mary; it shouldn't have been Mary who died. (We'll talk about it later.) Whether it's James' subconscious projecting all these things, or Silent Hill pulling them out of him, I feel like the overall message here is regret. Remorse, even. 

55:50: Outside, there's a particularly gruesome lying figure in wait, with a long cut down the middle of its body. My first thought was some kind of autopsy imagery to match the "body bag" inspiration, and then I remembered that we see bodies slashed like this much, much later in Pyramid Head's "inner sanctum." 

58:00: I can't remember what I'm looking for next. "'Where are we going?' is a very authentic SH2 experience."

58:40: Up to the second floor, where we meet… Pyramid Head. "Oh..." 

I posted some rough voice audio on Patreon from the first time I played the game ("JAMES. GET THE CAR"), but here is the clip from this commentary. I don't think I can really say it more concisely than I do right there:

[Tiny meek voice:] Oh... Hey. How ya doin'. What's good…?  I was truly not afraid of Pyramid Head before I played this game. I'm not even sure I was afraid of Pyramid Head when I watched other people play it. It just.... he freaks me out. All I knew about Silent Hill was that, oh, Pyramid Head, guy with a pyramid, I don't know why, it seems fine. You know, for some 20 years, and then I play this—oh, okay, it's fine, guy with a pyramid, ehhh, it seems fine. He scares me so bad because he's just implacable? You can't talk to him. You can't beg. He's not... like, a human villain—since I recapped Hannibal, if you're confronted with Hannibal Lecter, you could at least try to talk to him. You could at least try to get him interested in, like, 'Oh, I'll just play with my food for a while, you're fine, okay, you can live a little longer.' Pyramid Head doesn't give a shit. He doesn't care. He doesn't have any human [facial] features, like no face, eyes, mouth, ears, nothing. He does not care. He is here to kill you. He is not going to stop. It's very... Terminator energy, it's just... And like, what's... what's going on with him? Like, what's the black substance that was on the doorknob, and it's all over him, and... why are his fingers melded together? Where does he get gloves to fit that from? Isn't—isn't the pyramid helmet heavy? Like does that not... bother you at all? I don't know, he freaks me out so bad. This is why I had to fight him an extra 12 times. Because it was just upsetting, and I literally started having panic attacks. Okay, you just hang out. Um. That's cool. 

1:01:30: Ian actually found an interview with Bloober designer Monika Chmura about recreating this moment from the original game; she talks about how this first appearance sets off a chain of events that the team wanted to keep intact, which both Ian and I will discuss at length. And the next step in this sequence is some very strange, foreboding music, mostly distorted tones that repeat, and Ian goes full music theory with the keyboard overlay around an hour into his stream about what this is, how you can drop the pitch of samples to create a completely different sound, and why this works psychologically. Which I appreciated, because over on my video, I'm just like "IT'S SO FUCKED UP, I DON'T KNOW WHY."

So while the tones are intoning, we're going to take a good look at the current state of this apartment. According to the Dan Allen Gaming video, the Glimpse of the Past here (an empty, scraped wall) acknowledges that the clock puzzle, which we'll see it at the end of this video, has been moved. 

1:03:20: Way off in a corner, there's a book lying around titled Pets Under Our Garden. Again, I'll just transcribe what I said:

So here's some fucked-up book. I don't know what this is about. By "Pablo Gato"—"gato" means cat [in Spanish and Portuguese]. There's a cat on the cover, which is doing some kind of weird time travel loop, black hole thing—not "black hole," but you know what I'm getting at. [Did I mean "wormhole"?] Like, what's going on with that cat? And it's called Pets Under Our Garden? Like... what in the Pet Sematary is going on with that? That doesn't sound good—like it's one thing if they're saying, oh, earthworms would make wonderful "pets" for your garden, the "pets under our"—no, it's got a cat on it. They're talking about... pets you might bury. 

So once again, I emailed Ian all like "CATS IN SILENT HILL???" There was only one cat he could think of, and it was [checks notes] "a fully regular-ass cat" in SH1. I can't think of any cats in the remake—as opposed to birds, dogs, or rabbits—except maybe one or two that Laura draws. At which point we're putting some kind of "LAURA IS DEAD!!!" connection on the corkboard that's just way too tenuous for me. 

1:04:20: A padlocked door on the third floor, and a notice that tells us that we can't go up to the third floor, which means we will be going up to the third floor. 

1:05:30: Apartment 217. Our first firearm, the handgun! I love shooting things from a distance and not getting vomited on so very, very much. According to Lost Memories: Silent Hill Chronicle, the fact that you find the handgun sitting openly in the middle of the room in a shopping cart (of a bright Pyramid Head red, in fact), is a "satire of guns in American society." I didn't remember that verbatim, but I don't think I was off-base in saying that it's a commentary on how easy it is to buy guns in the U.S. "I'm just like, yeah. They sell them at Walmart."

I had seen a whole theory in easter-egg compilation videos about an "accidental misfire" phenomenon regarding James' lack of trigger discipline, but it never happened for me; Ian then explained that it only goes off if you have the handgun out near the TV. And (often broken) television sets are a symbol of difficult truths in this game.

Just after that, I talk about how the Apartment Association is a bunch of liars about 217 not having any guns, adding, "Maybe the James dimension is bleeding through." But what Ian points out here, and then again for Apartment 201, is that maybe that's genuinely what's happening, and it's almost like James (or various time-loop iterations of James) are "haunting" Wood Side.

1:08:50: A strange yell; James looks around in alarm. I really don't put the importance on this that I should have. 

So I'm going to post some pictures from this scene because I think it looks incredible, but it's also The Scariest Scene in the Whole Game to me—but in a very ineffable, Lynchian way, with those tones intoning. In terms of content notes for the video, there's a very bloody body covered with a cloth of some kind—it's discreet, but in a way that might be scarier than actual gore. In the video, I discuss this as a potential suicide (I'm wrong). Right here, I just want to show you the incredible use of light and shadow:

What I say originally is that this is a version of James (the jeans and boots are clearly his, though everything else is obscured) sitting in front of a TV that's now both turned on and broken, and that he's taken his own life in a tableau very like a climactic moment at the Lakeview Hotel near the end of the game. (It's not something James actually does, but he learns a very dark truth that he has been suppressing.) And at the time, I ask, who covered his face? 

Did not mention: While I was reviewing the video to do this writeup, I noticed something: I said that the chair has been pushed roughly across the room, knocking over a table and shoving away the rug. You can see how roughly, because the chair has left broad drag marks across the floor. And suddenly it hit me: those marks are in blood. The man in that chair didn't push it himself; he was already in it, bleeding. So when you look at it from a "crime scene analysis" perspective—I am completely wrong about this being a "suicide." 

(Ian has the benefit of not being completely wrong when he goes into "CSI: Pyramid Head.")

So, in a follow-up video, I take us on a field trip back to Apartment 213 and walk through what I think happened, more or less: Pyramid Head came in, found this person (Time Loop James or not), and they were either already sitting in this chair against the wall, or he shoved them into it. The man yells out when Pyramid Head... stabs? slices? spears?... him. Pyramid Head then shoves the chair towards the television. Either he covers the man's face, or Silent Hill as a reality-bending entity (who knows) does it so that our James won't see his own face. I think the tableau is to suggest to James, You are going to sit down in front of a TV in the Lakeview Hotel many hours from now and you are going to watch it and you are going to learn the truth, or else. Maybe this truth will "kill" James' delusions. Maybe it will "kill" his desire to live. But I feel like TV sets represent "learning the truth," even if it's a broken TV and a truth that "breaks" him, and Pyramid Head, in trying to "help" James, is going to make sure that this happens. And that is a very, very different symbolic statement than a simple "Time Loop James sat down in front of this TV, couldn't handle what he saw, and shot himself (with a gun that is now in another room)." And I honestly don't know how I didn't see this, except that the record store had primed me to see "suicidal ideation" symbolism. 

Bonus: there's a ceiling fan overhead, for extra "cycles and repetition" symbolism. How many times has Pyramid Head tried to get James' attention in previous loops?

1:09:15: So this is the scariest scene in the game to me, in a very Lynchian way; between the darkness and the slow camera work and the ominous music, it feels like we are seeing something very, very wrong. I'm still not sure which David Lynch movie I'm thinking of, except maybe [something involving Diane] in Mulholland Drive. 

Anyway, we pick up the key to Apartment 212, which wasn't here before. 

Next post: Wrangling the party balloon achievement and getting out of "a prison of your own making"; "What is going on in this building! What is happening!" 

(SH2R commentary master post)

[kzhyxmi]

|Denied Feelings|

Alhaitham x F!Reader

Series Masterlist

➯「"𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆, 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅. 𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒐𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒕"

Summary: In which the top students in the Akademiya are academic rivals. One is serious and studious, though the other is a natural genius who treats the competition as a fun game. How did their arguments turn into them trying to solve a murder together?」

Chapter 1: From you

A child, wearing a flowy dress that reached her knees, and ribbons to top of the hairstyle she was wearing, was currently playing at a playground on top of a hill. You weren't completely alone, you had a personal maid who was currently buying her ice cream.

You were the only daughter of a businessman, the firstborn child to be exact. You didn't have playmates to play with; only your beloved cousin who was a year older than you. Yes, you had other cousins you could befriend, however, you were only fond of the blonde.

Your curiosity was perked upon seeing a child who looked around your age. He had gray hair, with eyes, even at your current age, you could confirm they were the prettiest you've ever seen. You stared at the boy. He was alone. Your eyes locked with his; you were then sure they were indeed the prettiest.

Without minding your personal maid's words about staying where she left you, you rushed towards the boy, a bright smile was on your face. You wanted to be his friend. Though it seems you weren't as fortunate as you thought. You accidentally tripped over a rock, making you crash towards the boy. The impact made the two of you fall.

You were fragile as a child. Upon hearing your cries, the boy stared at you with wide eyes.

The boy stood up and dusted his shorts before he looked at you and saw you were sitting down crying cause of the fall.

"Are you hurt?" He asked. You nodded, wiping your tears with your fists.

"Yes..." You sobbed.

The boy didn't know what to do. He hesitantly kneeled and patted your head. You stopped crying and looked up at him.

"It's okay. Accidents can happen. You have to be careful now." He says as he continues to pat your head.

"Y/n!" Your maid who saw what happened, came running as soon as she heard your cries. She picked you up and cradled you in her arms, caressing your hair. "Shh, it's alright now, little one."

She looks at the boy, "Thank you. I'm sorry about the fall, but if she didn't land on you, she would've probably been injured."

The boy could only nod and watch as your cries stopped. He was debating in his head whether or not he would ask why you ran towards him. "Why were you running?"

You and the maid that was carrying you looked at the boy. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Why?"

"So we can be friends."

He stared at you for a second. "I don't make friends and I don't think we'll meet again."

His words were enough to crush a child's heart. You were still processing his words, though he walked away as soon as he saw another elder whom he had with just a few moments ago.

You blinked before crying again. Your maid was quick to stop your cries. "Why doesn't he want to be friends with me?" You asked while crying.

"I'm sure he doesn't mean it that way, little one."

2nd encounter

It has been over 2 years since that happened. You were currently at the age of 7. You accompanied your parents to a birthday party. It was a rather formal event and you got bored quickly after a few trips to the snack bar that was meant for kids.

You didn't know whose birthday this was. Your father had only told you that it was the birthday party of his close friend's son. Without informing your parents, you walked away from where everyone was and went outside.

You were greeted by the cold evening wind. You walked towards the fountain that you saw. Admiring the water that was flowing in it. Your hand reached to touch the waters, before-

"What are you doing?" You were startled by a voice. You turned around and saw a familiar-looking boy.

"Do I know you?" He asked again.

You were silent before saying, "You're the boy from the playground!"

He looks at you in disbelief, "What are you talking about?"

"The one I fell on top of."

He stared at you for a while before speaking. "Oh, so you were that girl."

"I'm determined to make you my friend!" You grinned at him.

"I don't have time for that."

You looked at him with a hurt expression on your face. "Why? You're here at a birthday party, doesn't that give you time to make friends?"

"This is my birthday party."

Your eyes widened at the truth. "Really?! Why are you here then?"

"I'm tired of talking with people I don't know."

You decided to change the topic. "Why did you leave that day?"

"I saw my grandma looking for me already. I didn't want to make her worry."

And just like before, your interaction with the boy was cut short as soon as a butler came rushing in. "Young master! You must stay inside where all your guests are. What are you doing here?!"

Upon hearing the yells of his butler. The boy sighs before saying. "I don't need to make friends."

And with that, he left without saying goodbye. However, your encounters with the boy didn't end there. The two of you were surprised at how your encounters became frequent. It brought joy to you, though it brought the opposite to him. You soon learned his name was Alhaitham. The son of your father's close friend.

Every time the two of you would meet, you would always shoot your shot at befriending him.

"Alhaitham, can we be friends?"

"I don't have time for friends."

"But why?!"

"Alhaitham, You're here again!"

"Unfortunately,"

"So, can we"

"No."

"Alhaitham-"

"No."

Despite the amount of refusals you received from him, you never gave up. It was like a challenge to see who was the more stubborn one. Eventually, he gave in after a year of you pestering him. From encounters because of your fathers turned into daily playdates.

He became more than just the boy you fell on top of, saving you from injuries.

Present

You roll on the other side of the bed. 'How is it Monday already??' You groaned after you made a tweet on your Twitter account.

"My weekend went too fast..." As you were about to mutter another complaint, you received a text message. 'That's odd...Who would message me at almost 2 am'

After a few hours, you woke up to the sound of your alarm. Your curiosity about what Alhaitham was doing a few hours ago was still there. The sun was soon to rise, and so were you.

You got out of bed and started getting ready.

It was still a bit early by the time you finished. Breakfast was already served and you went back to your room right after eating to check my stuff before you headed to school.

You still felt sleepy. However, it was normal for you to be staying late even if you knew you had classes the next day. I'll probably need coffee, you thought.

You fix your tie and put on your blazer. You looked at the mirror one last time before heading downstairs again. You were informed Kaveh left earlier since he was needed for something at the Akademiya.

As you walked outside the house, you saw the car parked outside. You opened the door and were greeted by the driver. "Good morning to you too," you replied. He started the car while you turned on your phone to see if you had any recent texts.

"So Aether is with Alhaitham and Kaveh?" Dehya says as you put your phone back in your pocket. "Yes, He said they're on their way already." You both walked to class and saw that the others were already there.

You went to your table and took a seat. You were sitting near the others. They were talking while you just listened to them while using your phone. "You're awfully quiet, Y/n. Something on your mind?" You looked away from your phone and looked at them, It was Nilou who asked.

"No, I feel like shit even though I always feel like shit," you replied before burying your face with your right hand while muttering something.

Dehya snorted while the others just laughed and sighed. "Wanna hear a joke?" Cyno asked while you immediately shook your head.

"No, please, spare me." They all laughed and their laughter died down at the sight of the others finally arriving.

They walked towards us while you were rethinking your life decisions. "Good morning, Guys!" You turned your head to look at Kaveh who was beaming brighter than the sun.

"Mornings are never good." Kaveh looked at you before saying "Oh shush my dear cousin, here's your coffee that Alhaitham bought" For a moment, there was light in your eyes.

Kaveh handed me the coffee "Where's Alhaitham?" You asked, taking a drink of the Coffee.

"Missing me already? I'm quite surprised." You all turned your heads to see Alhaitham walking in with the Student Council secretary.

You sarcastically rolled my eyes "Didn't know you could dream." Alhaitham was about to say something before Tighnari butted in.

"Alright you two, stop before you guys start something early in the morning."

"What are they again?" Aether asked Kaveh who turned to him. A lot of students had mistaken the bond between you and Alhaitham. Some thought you both were enemies, considering you both have been rivaling over academics, and some thought you both were in a relationship cause of how Alhaitham could be seen treating you in a way he wouldn't treat other ladies. Not even the rest in his friend group.

"Oh? The two? Well, to simplify it, they're basically really close friends who compete with each other over grades. They've been like that since we were kids. Y/n has always been the competitive one while Alhaitham was more of the reason behind it. Even so, they still have interactions that won't make you fully think they hate each other's guts."

"I've asked about this many times already, yet I still cannot understand." Aether mumbles, making Kaveh chuckle.

"Yeah, they have their own kind of chemistry if you ask me." He says before turning to steal a glance at the two of you who were sitting next to each other while having a conversation with the others.

Kaveh, being the number one witness of the growth of your bond with Alhaitham couldn't help but smile. Time flew by fast. He could still remember how you were ranting to him about meeting a boy at the playground in your neighborhood who refused to become your friend. His reason being was he thought you both would never meet again. It seems like fate wasn't on his side with that one.

The two of you got close as time flew by. Your younger self found out that your families were close and had business connections with each other. You had only found out Alhaitham was to inherit his family business, a few years ago. He reasoned he never told you since he doesn't tell people that factor in the first place.

Most people couldn't tell if you both disliked each other or if you were close friends. Arguing with each other was a common thing to occur between you two. However, you both had your own ways of showing your care for each other.

There were quite a few misunderstandings between you and him while growing up. However, they were resolved after talking it out and a treat afterward. You could say that's a reason why you two knew each other well.

Fun fact:

Y/n started the "academic rivals" thing back when they were in middle school. Alhaitham only agreed so he could watch you get so fired up.

When the two were kids, Y/n didn't want amy other playmates besides Alhaitham.

Y/n has two younger brothers. The first one is to take after the family business since that is their family tradition. Alhaitham has a younger sister, Nahida.

A/n: my writing sucks here since I wrote this chapter when Alhaitham was first released and I wasn't serious abt this series. It improves throughout the story though. This story already has 34 chapters on wattpad, i just thought of posting it on Tumblr now

← Prologue

Chapter 2 ➜

[merrock]

event: Hallo-Week

location: all around Merrock

date & time: October 25 - November 3

ooc duration: same dates

It's time… to get your spook on! We know how much this town loves Halloween, so we've rounded up as many Merrockites as possible to get fun things happening in town, whether it be movies, spooky fun activities, party nights, or anything that your haunted little hearts desire.

Please note: for the kids, trick-or-treat will still be happening on Halloween (October 31st), so make sure that you have candy ready to go, to treat them right! Or else… you might find yourself getting a trick. You can go door to door, do the trunk-or-treat, or head to the nursing home to get candy!

Dive under the cut for a complete list of things happening in and around Merrock from October 25th until November 3rd, and have fun!

DOWNTOWN

bookends -- book sale on all horror novels

brownstone inne -- ghost stories in the hotel lobby (& refreshments)

cityview park -- pumpkin carving & painting contests, various craft stations set up (for adults and kids)

cobblestone cafe -- pumpkin spice everything

the holiday shoppe -- 50-75% off all Halloween decor

mack's -- special seasonal pumpkin menu

merrock railway -- haunted train ride

the mirage -- spooky karaoke in the speakeasy (come in costume!)

mods -- flash tattoos & face painting for kids

stubs -- nightly Halloween movies (see below!)

touchback -- spooky cocktails & drinks

town hall -- Halloween safety demonstrations

vibrations -- monster mash party night all week-long (come in costume!)

STUBS:

All movies will be available on the Stubs app, as well, for you to watch at home! There is a small charge for each film, but the money goes straight to the theater. Early films will play at 6PM, late at 9PM.

October 25 -- Casper, Friday the 13th.

October 26 -- Beetlejuice, Pet Sematary.

October 27 -- Addams Family, Nightmare on Elm Street.

October 28 -- Scooby Doo on Zombie Island, Psycho.

October 29 -- Nightmare Before Christmas, Scream.

October 30 -- It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Carrie.

October 31 -- Hocus Pocus, Halloween.

November 1 -- Coraline, Child's Play.

November 2 -- The Haunted Mansion, The Exorcist.

November 3 -- Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Craft.

ALSO AVAILABLE: Monster House, Halloweentown, Goosebumps, Practical Magic, Sleepy Hollow, What We Do in the Shadows, Ernest Scared Stupid, Scared Shrekless, The Witches, Death Becomes Her, Poltergeist, Happy Death Day, Jennifer's Body, The Crow, The Lost Boys, Rosemary's Baby, The Conjuring, The Invisible Man, Trick 'r Treat, Totally Killer + more.

COASTAL AREA

anchors away -- seasonal drinks and pumpkin beer

breathe in -- yoga & pilates with the Sanderson Sisters (come in costume!)

cassidy's candies -- mega discount on all Halloween candy

from brush to canvas -- autumn/Halloween paintings exhibited

the lighthouse -- ghost stories at the top of the lighthouse

the marina -- haunted boat rides (murder mystery style)

mawk tales -- seasonal spooky mocktails all week

sea breeze -- special Halloween flavors available

SUBURBS

aster playground -- pumpkin painting, various kids games set up

benny's -- massive Halloween decor & costume sale

children's museum -- various halloween-themed activities

community center -- costume closet open for takers

the creamery -- black & blue milks available, halloween ice creams

cul-de-sac diner -- halloween-themed meals (& specials for kids)

flour co. -- decorate your own pumpkin cookies

the fun spot -- horror skate nights (come in costume!)

the great escape -- horror escape rooms

memorial library -- spooky story reads, horror book displays

pinecrest cemetery -- cemetery tours (not haunted; respectful)

treasure chest -- 50% off all fall and Halloween decor

COUNTRYSIDE

the barn at lake malory -- haunted houses; family friendly (for kids & easily scared adults who want to take it easy), supernatural/fantasy (medium), slasher (scary).

handpick'd -- specials on seasonal wines

harmony ranch -- haunted hay ride & corn maze

hideaway market -- trunk or treat sponsored by takato's (come in costume!)

lavender lane -- pumpkin, mums & fall favorites on deep discount

little chapel -- ghost stories (with surprise haunting)

north shore -- trick-or-treating with senior citizens (come in costume!)

paradise gardens -- seasonal fall/halloween displays

pet haven -- free treat to all pets that show up in costumes

pine grove gardens -- true merrock horror / scary stories

state park -- spooky walks along the trails (very kid friendly)

the wheel -- 50% off all halloween related items

ADMIN NOTES: have at it! If you want to post costumes, they can be done any time through the week, whether you're partying at Evolution, dressing up to work at your business, or just want to get spiffed up for actual Halloween. Please tag them with #merrockfashion. Socials can be tagged with #merrocksocial, as well. Please do remember to tag anything with trigger warnings if it veers into triggering things, such as excessive blood! You can do other things for Hallo-Week, like having a slumber party and watching movies at home with your bestie, roasting pumpkin seeds, going out to toilet paper someone's house (please have permission), this is the perfect time to just have fun with anything that has to do with Halloween! <3

[thelostbaystudio]

The Lost Bay - First Look Release

Your one-way ticket for the 90s that never were.

Today is the day! after countless play tests and tweaks The Lost Bay - First Look has been released digitally. In it you play as a young person touched by the Weird, an ancient force that gives you supernatural powers. You roam the Bay with your gang, its malls, arcade games shops, skateparks and beaches, and fight the Horror that has awakened.

Key features of the game:

1. You play Vibes. Each vibe has a distinct flavor and set of powers. You can play as Splinter, Screamer, Scanner, Firestarter, and many more. Vibes are granted custom growth opportunities: every time they fail at using a power they get a Scar, and this can include getting new powers, or discovering something about the Bay.

2.The lore of The Lost Bay is spread throughout the ruleset, tables, and game procedures. You’ll discover it as you create your character and play, without having to read boring lore text blocks. The lore of the Bay is embedded in the items, powers, Scars and NPCs you’ll encounter.

3.Open and play. Three attributes, two resources to manage (Heart and Weird), one mechanic to rule it all: a D6 dice pool. If you have a basic knowledge of tabletop RPGs you’ll need fifteen minutes to familiarize yourself with the ruleset.

GET THE LOST BAY FIRST LOOK

4.Weird is cool. And there’s a lot of it in the Bay: cults, curses, relics, and Living Saints. The Lost Bay is both a familiar playground and an uncanny world that portrays an alternate version of the 90s. It’s wicked enough to give you the chills, and it’s open enough for you to expand it the way you like.

Why the 90s?

Because they’re a decade where the ancient analog world mixes with the modern digital one. This mix creates infinite clashes and conflicts, ideal to spark tabletop RPG adventures, and horror stories.

The Bay itself is the incarnation of this contrast. Ancient creatures and forces dwell right next to modern technology and buildings. Even the playable characters embody this duality: they are archetypes inspired by the late 80s/90s media and culture, but their powers derive from the ancient and mysterious forces.

What you’ll get in the First Look edition? 

Spooky Locations

Scary MOFOs

Supernatural Horror

Powerful Vibes

Loads of items

Relics

Living Saints and immortals

Story sparks

VHS, arcade games, skateboards, evil cults, demons, ghosts, blood and fear.

You can get the First look edition right now at an affordable price. The game PDF is updated on a weekly basis, and its price will increase as new sections are added. Meaning that the earliest you get it, the less you’ll pay for it. Pretty neat right? Funds collected will allow commissioning more art from Evangeline Gallagher and to pay for editing.

Have you ever wanted to play a zombie or a ghost? Now you can!

This week’s update features two new Vibes (playable character classes): the Half-Dead, and the Spirit. To unlock them you have to die first, and if you’re lucky enough you’ll become a Reborn. You might even get a Zombie cat pet.

MINIDUNGEON

If you have little time on your hands and are looking for a ready to play horror adventure compatible with The Lost Bay check UNIT DH-17. This suburban horror mini dungeon has been updated to fit The Lost Bay ruleset.

You can also get them both as a bundle with a 20% discount here https://itch.io/s/99423/the-lost-bay-rules-adventure

Weird is beautiful

Want to know where this game comes from, what it’s really about?

I grew up in an environment where toxic masculinity was the rule. Both at home, and outside of it. And by toxic, I mean horror-movie level toxic. Murders, blood and all. That was just the way things were, the world of the grown ups. Normalcy. I didn’t find that normal at all! I was pretty scared most of the time. But I was lucky enough to be part of a gang of kind souls. We loved each other and helped us survive the harsh world of the Bay. We were Geeks, Punks, Queers and Dreamers. The normies called us Weird. At first that felt hurtful, and it took me years to understand that being “Weird” is more than ok, that “Weird” is beautiful. Eventually, I made “Weird” my one-word motto, and used to wear a Why be normal? pin. I was proud of my Weirdness. Things felt better, the Bay was my playground, I loved its marshes, forests, beaches and skateparks. I was happy.

Then one day, something unexpected happened. I had to leave the Bay, without notice. Like in the movies. At dawn, hiding, in secret. I didn’t come back for more than 15 years. During that exile the Bay grew in my mind like a place of fantasy, and actual memories blended with fiction. The Lost Bay became a dream, partly familiar, partly alien, a place of wonder shrouded in a terrifying mystery.

TAKE ME TO THE LOST BAY

The Lost Bay - First Look is the travel guide to this wondrous and wicked place I’m offering to you. If you accept the invitation you’ll play beautiful and powerful characters, you’ll fight the horror in breathtaking combats, and rewrite the Lost Bay’s history.

[evlynmoreau-blog]

TROUBLES in the BASE

I am still thinking about this part but I want a mix of troubles that run alongside each other so that players can focus on the troubles that interest them or are more related to their replika functions. But I need to playtest to see how it goes, if it create and interesting pressure or if it just distracting from the main themes. Depending how it goes I may have to simplify or cut those moves, which would mean reworking some other moves as everything is interlaced in a PbtA design. I may also use another word than « trouble » as I am uncertain if it is the best fit.

End of Cycle Move

At the end of each cycle the highest ranking character make a +0 roll (some playbooks moves may apply)

On 10+: morale is good and the base marks progress in one trouble, push the base personnel to mark another progress (if so, everyone takes 1 stress).

On 7-9: morale is getting low and one trouble get worse, take 1 blame. Or the base personnel can be pushed to advert this (if so, everyone take 1 stress)

On a miss: Achtung! Emergency! A new trouble arises or one trouble must be solved now!

Solving a trouble

When the group tries to solve a base trouble, they appoint a lead character who will roll + the number of progress accumulated - the trouble rating (usually around 6).

But first allow the group to discuss together out of character to suggest a solution to the trouble. If they have found clues about the trouble and include them in their solution, count them as progress marks.

On 10+ the trouble is solved, the group clears all stress or marks progress into another trouble. The acting character awards a recommendation to the MVP.

On 7-9: trouble can be solved but a complication arise and may require to act up or tempt fate. If the group solve the trouble everyone remove 1 stress.

On a miss: the trouble solves through a catastrophe, adds 1 to all other troubles and a blame must be assigned. The GM has a golden opportunity to react with a hard move.

Different kinds of troubles

The main trouble that the characters have to care about is the reclamation of the base (from a previous incident) to make it operational again.

I am separating this objective into the levels of the base so that the group start with a smaller playground.

Reclaiming Level 1 (trouble rating 4)

Reclaiming Level 2 (trouble rating 5)

Reclaiming Level 3 (trouble rating 6)

And so on, up to level 6 (the GM can also craft a smaller base for a shorter campaign)

The other function of that main trouble is to provide a very broad goal that every replika can contribute to.

Some more specific troubles that the GM can pick from :

Generator failure (6)

Red eye meme (8)

Computer glitches (6)

Stranded units (5)

Food poisoning (4)

Flooded level (6)

Rust anomaly (6)

Murder of an officer (5)

Damaged antenna (8)

Ghost radio (6)

Gestalt tension (6)

So you can have a situation where the base personnel are busy reclaiming and fixing the second level of the base while a case of food poisoning and strange ghost radio emissions are complicating things. Is the food poisoning sabotage? Are the ghost emissions a strange bioresonance feedback?

If you have no idea how your actions can help with a specific trouble you can always interact with the base reclamation main issue.

I will maybe write a trouble sheet for each of them, something that feature rooms, involved NPCs and a list of clues to quickly pick from. Kind of how the murder cases are presented in Brindlewood.

Next: the survival horror...