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cowgurrrl · 2 years ago

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BWFW

Pairing: rockstar!joel miller x actress!reader

Summary: You and Joel call a truce [3.8k]

Author’s note: dude I’m having so much fun writing this (PS this song is named after BWFW by Blunt Chunks)

Warnings: smoking (don’t smoke kids (drunk cigs don’t count)), Joel being an asshole momentarily, spicy thoughts (no smut), enemies to ???

Joel Miller Caught Kissing Actress After Date: Everything We Know About Her

Hollywood's Newest Power Couple?

Joel Miller Has A New Boo, And We're All A Bit Jealous

Who is Joel Miller's Newest Girl? Everything Their Waitress Told Us About Their Secret Romantic Date

Pictures of you and Joel making out against your front door are everywhere. You can barely log onto Instagram without being bombarded with DM's, comments, and tags in news articles about you two. Melanie even texted you with several headlines attached and a "Great job, kid!" Even your mom texted you about it. Granted, it was a screenshot of a Buzzfeed post, and all she sent you was a bunch of question marks, but she texted you. You try to put it out of your mind by leaving your phone in your trailer when you go to set instead of handing it off to a PA.

You decide that Joel Miller isn't worth more brain power than absolutely necessary. He has his own life, and you doubt he's thinking about you, and if he is, it's probably plotting his next reputation-saving move. The only thing you can do is work, make the best movie possible, and move on with your life until he summons you for another contractually obligated date. It's only a few months. You can make it, right?

You were asking the director about a scene, script in hand, when Ryan strolled up to you with a mischievous look. You ignore him and listen to Greta give you notes and ideas for the next movie sequence. He waits for you to be done with the conversation, like a third grader, before grabbing your arm and pulling you toward him.

"Why didn't you tell me you were seeing Joel Miller?" He asks, and you laugh. He walks you to a more secluded part of set, hiding from eavesdropping extras and chatty interns as they set the sound stage for the next scene.

"It didn't seem relevant to work."

"Not relevant? This is huge," he says, somehow more excited about this than you are, and you cross your arms over your chest. "You haven't dated at all since you made it big."

"Okay, that's not true."

"Really? Before last night, when was the last time you went on a date with anyone? Famous or not?" He asks. You open your mouth to answer, but your brain short circuits as you search through your memories. You're ninety percent sure that your last date was with the guy you had a showmance with before you moved to California. He was tall, handsome, and full of himself just like every other actor. You vaguely remember telling him you booked your first movie with A24, and he said you didn't have the "right look" for A24. Last you heard, he was living with five other roommates in the Meatpacking District back in New York.

"Okay, so maybe it's been a while," you admit, and he raises his eyebrows at you. "Please, don't make this a thing. I've already had enough people clawing at me for answers about it, and I'm exhausted."

"Fine, fine, but you have to promise you'll go out for drinks with me and Carolina on Friday. She's been dying to make couple friends, and I need to make sure he's good for you."

"You don't need to do anything, but sure. I'll talk to him and see what he thinks." You say, and he smiles. Before he can grill you any further, your names are called over the intercom, announcing that they're ready for you, and you silently thank whatever god is out there for getting you out of that situation. You and Ryan walk back to the sound stage and get flanked by people from makeup who need to touch you up and frantic ADs who repeat the same notes the director already gave you. You swear if their heads weren't attached to their necks, they'd run around looking for them at all hours.

You do several takes of the same scene, yet another scene of your characters arguing, this time about what they'll do now that your character is pregnant. Ryan progressively gets more despondent as he sinks into his character, frustrating you as his scene partner and the pregnant woman you're playing. After about two hours of running the same scene over and over again, you're at your wit's end and need to do something different. Everyone on set freezes when you shove at Ryan's shoulders and force him to look you in the eyes for the first time since you started filming. The entire scene shifts as you continue to push at him, tears unexpectedly falling from your eyes as you beg him to say something. It hurts more when he walks out the door without looking back. When Greta cuts, Ryan all but runs back in the door and wraps you in a big hug.

"You're gonna break my heart if you keep doing that!" He says, and you laugh as you wipe away your tears. You watch the scene back together, and jump up and down at how much better it flows. It feels like you're watching magic. Times like this remind you why you became an actor in the first place.

You film a few more scenes before breaking for the night. Your body hurts from carrying so much emotion as you walk into your trailer to gather your things to go home. You barely grazed the door, dinner plans already filling your head, when your phone buzzed in your back pocket. It's a text from an unsaved number, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out who it's from.

The lipstick on the collar was a nice touch, he writes, and you sigh.

That almost sounds like a compliment, Miller, you shoot back.

You're not even halfway to your car when your phone buzzes with another text from Joel.

Paul is really happy with how everything's going. He said he wants us to see each other again before I go back to Texas.

Good timing because my costar practically begged me to go on a double date with him and his wife.

We're already in double-date territory? How official.

Har har. How's Friday night sound?

Sounds like Paul is going to be very happy.

That makes one of us.

The rest of the week flies by with you dodging the online chatter about you and Joel somewhat successfully, but Ryan keeps reminding you how excited he is to hang out with you and your new "boy toy," as he has affectionately nicknamed Joel. You hate it, but he thinks it's funnier that way, so he just keeps calling him that. You swear Ryan was your annoying older brother in another life.

You're curling your hair when he texts you a cute picture of him and his wife in the car with the message, "Ready to interrogate JM." You laugh and return to messing with your hair, mentally going through every possibility that tonight could bring. You're wearing a pink tank top and jeans with pink heels. Nothing super fancy, but it's definitely more dressed down than your first date with Joel. You debate on which necklace to wear and wrap the final piece of hair around your curling iron when your front door opens.

Joel calls your name as he shuts the door behind him. You almost throw the hot iron down as you step into the hallway to face him. He's wearing a black shirt with a matching black leather jacket and jeans. He looks you up and down unapologetically, and you roll your eyes.

"Who told you you could just walk into my house?" You ask as you duck into the bathroom again. He leans against the doorway, crossing his arms over his chest as he watches you spray your hair to help it withstand the California heat.

"Hello to you too, darlin'."

"Don't call me that."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want you to."

"So, what can I call you?" He asks with a smirk pulling on his lips. You grab your bag off the counter and move to leave the bathroom, but he doesn't budge. You huff as you look up at him.

"Move."

"Answer the question." He says. You think about pushing him out of the way, but he's broad and has those strong guitarist arms and probably wouldn't even flinch. You copy his stance as you rack your brain for an acceptable answer.

"Well, you could start with just my name," you say, and he laughs. "But other than that, I don't know."

"Baby?" He suggests, and you almost gag.

"Absolutely not."

"Which do you hate more? Darlin' or baby?"

"Baby."

"Alright, then, darlin'," he says, stepping out of your way. You scoff and walk past him into the hallway. "You know, you really should get a dog or somethin'. It's not safe for you to just leave your door unlocked like that."

"Oh, with all the psychos running around my neighborhood? I can handle myself but thank you for your input." You say, and he laughs as you do one last sweep of your living room to make sure you didn't forget anything. Once again, Joel opens your front door and the passenger side door of his car for you. You can say many things about Joel Miller, but one thing you can't say is that he's not a gentleman. You think it has something to do with his Texas upbringing, or it might just be a testament to the kind of woman his mother is. You don't say anything the whole way to the restaurant, saving up your mental energy to deal with him for the whole night, and he doesn't fight you on it.

When you get there, you can see Ryan waiting near the host stand through the windows, obviously ready to escort you and Joel to the table. You're surprised that the sidewalk isn't flanked by photographers, but you take it as a good sign. Joel parks the car and reaches for your hand as he locks it. You almost smack it away before remembering you're in public and take it in yours. The smooth ring on his middle finger is cool and smooth, a stark contrast to his calloused palms. Ryan lights up when you two step through the doors, and he quickly wraps you in a warm hug. He introduces himself to Joel and holds his hand out for a handshake which Joel reciprocates.

When he walks you to the table set for four, Carolina smiles and stands to hug you and Joel in true Carolina fashion. Joel doesn't hesitate to pat her back and smile as Ryan jokes about having two of the prettiest women in the restaurant sitting at his table.

"Sorry, I'm a hugger," Carolina says as you sit across from them. Joel lays an arm across the back of your chair like this is a perfectly normal thing he does all the time.

"That's alright, ma'am. I don't mind." He says, and Carolina gives you a look.

"Ma'am? I like him already." She says, and you laugh.

Joel settles into the dynamic between the three of you easily and listens as Ryan tells stories from set and press events. It's no small feat that you let Joel meet two of the most important people in your life, and even though you didn't tell him to be, he's on his best behavior. He doesn't try to annoy you or do anything inappropriate in front of them. He compliments Carolina, calling her ma'am even after she told him he didn't have to, and exchanges dude-bro stories with Ryan all night. Except for the arm on your chair, he doesn't make any affectionate moves which you're grateful for.

With Ryan and Carolina there, it almost feels normal. It could also be your third glass of wine helping you relax too. Ryan makes a snarky comment about your drinking, to which you flip him off. "I'd be drinking too if I had to work with you all week!" Carolina says. Ryan feigns a blow to the chest, and she smacks his shoulder. "Did he tell you that Elizabeth started calling you Ryan's movie wife?" She asks, and you laugh.

"God, I hope she doesn't repeat that at school. Otherwise, you," you point at Ryan. "Are going to have a lot to explain to that poor teacher."

"Who's Elizabeth?" Joel asks as you take a bite of food. You hum to let him know you'll answer in a second, but Carolina beats you to it.

"Elizabeth is our daughter."

"And my goddaughter," you jump in. "She's the best kid in the world."

"Well, of course, you think that because you're not there for bedtime," Ryan says, and you roll your eyes.

"You're just mad because she's as stubborn as you are."

"That is... not entirely untrue."

You spend the rest of the dinner laughing and messing with each other. You even catch yourself leaning into Joel's side because he's so warm and comfortable, and the wine is making you deliriously happy. When the bill is placed on the table, you all fight over who gets to pay until Carolina chucks Ryan's card at the waiter. Joel holds his hand over the table, and Ryan shakes it in a form of masculine affection. "You really didn't have to do that, man," Joel says. "Next dinner is on me, alright?" He could be saying it to save face, but the idea that Joel likes Ryan and Carolina makes something in your chest feel warm and fuzzy.

Ryan practically carries Carolina to the car so they can relinquish the nanny for the night, but you and Joel go upstairs to the rooftop bar. You reason that it's high enough to hide from paparazzi, and you also needed an excuse to get some fresh air. You both order water and perch on a couch in the corner. At first, you don't say anything. Not because you're mad at him but because you're worried you'll ruin the night if you do. However, you don't need to exchange words for Joel to see you shivering and put his jacket over your shoulders. You smile and turn to look at him.

"This is the second time you've given me your jacket."

"Want me to stop?" He asks, genuinely curious, and you shake your head. A soft smile takes over his features, and you have to look away before you get sucked in.

"What'd you think of Ryan and Carolina?" You ask as you take a sip of water. His arm rests behind you again, and he adjusts to get more comfortable.

"I really liked 'em. They seem like good people."

"They are. Ryan and I were friends before I even moved to LA," you say. "I think they liked you too."

"Yeah?" He asks, and you nod. You meet his eyes again and hope he can see your sincerity.

"Yeah. Thanks for not being a total dick to them." You say, and he laughs. He puts his water on the table in front of you before reaching across you to dig into his jacket pocket. This close, you can smell the detergent he washed his shirt with and see the freckles faintly littering his skin. He doesn't break eye contact with you as he pulls a pack of Marlboro Reds and a lighter out of his jacket before relaxing into his spot again. Maybe it's the wine in your system or the joy from the night still filtering through your skull, but you don't take your eyes off him as he lights a cigarette. The ember glows brighter as he takes a drag and turns away from you to exhale. His jawline is sharp, and his neck looks especially pretty as he takes a breath.

"What're you thinkin' bout, pretty girl?" He asks, breaking your train of thought, and you smirk as you lean forward. His eyes drop to the neckline of your tank top, giving you the perfect opportunity to snatch the cigarette out of his hand and put it to your lips. He watches as you take a drag, your lipstick staining the filter, and exhale with a sigh.

"Thinking bout you."

"Me?" He raises his eyebrows as you pass him the cigarette back. His thumb traces your lipstick stain before he puts it back in his mouth. "What about me?"

"About how stupid this whole situation is," you gesture vaguely around you. "About how we really shouldn't be so mean to each other."

"You're a sentimental drunk," he says, passing you the cigarette without acknowledging it, and you smile. It really wouldn't be that hard to pull another cigarette out of his pack for you, but he doesn't. Your fingers graze his as you take it, flicking the ash to the side. He waits until you blow smoke out of your nose to mess with the sleeves of his shirt and nod. "But, maybe you're right."

"Oh, say it again." You say, and he gives you a look. You pass the cigarette back even though about half of it is burned down from you two sharing it. His long drags don't help salvage it.

"I really shouldn't have said what I said bout you sleepin' with people to get famous. That was really fucked up, and I'm sorry."

"It was really fucked up. And unoriginal. And fucking stupid. And completely untrue," you say, and he looks a little worried. "But, thank you for apologizing." He nods and offers you the last little bit of glowing cigarette.

"Can we call a truce?"

"A truce?"

"Yeah. We'll stop goin' out of our way to make each other's life fuckin' miserable and move on. Maybe at the end of this, we could even be friends." He says, and you take a deep breath as you take the cigarette from him.

"You always make peace agreements with nicotine?"

"You're my first, pretty girl."

There's that fucking nickname again. It's better than darling, and you should hate it, but the way he says it makes your head swim. You inhale the last drag and stub it out in the ashtray next to your water as you try to get your thoughts under control again. You catch the bartender looking over at you and Joel, and an uneasy feeling crawls up your spine. You swallow it down and look at Joel.

"I'll agree to a truce." You say, smoke leaving your mouth as you talk, and he smiles.

"Should we shake on it?" He asks. You glance between him and the bartender and scoot closer to him. His eyes flick from yours to your lips and back up to your eyes.

"I would say yes," you whisper. "But, I think that bartender figured out who we are."

"So, what should we do instead?" He asks, his voice so low that you almost miss it over your own heartbeat. You want to roll your eyes at how stupid his question is but kiss him instead. His hands come up to your jaw, and you wrap your hand around his wrist to keep him there. There are traces of nicotine and tequila on his lips, but you can't focus on it too hard before his teeth graze your bottom lip. He swallows your gasp and soothes the sudden pain with his tongue. You would push him away and yell at him if it didn't feel so good. You can’t help but wonder what his mouth would feel like on your neck or your thighs. You wonder what pretty girl would sound like in between pants and broken moans. You wonder if he’d leave bruises on your inner thighs for you to find in the morning. The thoughts startle you out of the moment, and you pull away from him, turning to kiss the inside of his wrist.

"'M getting tired. Can you take me home?" You ask. He looks like a kicked puppy but nods anyway. He holds your hand the whole way down the stairs, through the restaurant, and to the car. You make shitty small talk the whole way back to your house like nothing happened, but you're grateful to have moved past the suffocating uncomfortable silence. He taps on his steering wheel again and changes the station when his own song comes on the radio, making you laugh. When he pulls into your driveway, you linger for a moment and look at him through the darkness. "Thank you for being so nice to my friends."

"I really did like 'em," he says. You pick at your nailbeds as you try to find a way to apologize for abruptly ending the evening. You feel bad for some reason. You were actually having a good time together, and then you made it weird. "Can I walk you to your door?" He asks, and you take a deep breath.

"I think I can get myself inside. Thank you, though."

"Welcome." He says as you unbuckle your seatbelt and open the door. Joel's jacket shifts around you, and you suddenly remember that you're still wearing it.

"Oh, here. Let me give you your jacket back before I forget."

"Don't worry about it." He waves you off, and you furrow your eyebrows at him.

"What do you mean don't worry about it? I'm not gonna steal your jacket, Joel."

"You're not stealin' it. You're just borrowin' it, right? I bet tabloids will eat it up if they see you wearin' it," he says. "Besides, it looks better on you anyways." You laugh and shake your head as you adjust your purse on your shoulder.

"Goodnight, Joel."

"G'night, pretty girl." He says. You shut the door and walk up the sidewalk to your front door, secretly cursing that stupid fucking nickname and how weak in the knees it makes you. His car lingers in the driveway until he sees you unlock the door and flicker the front lights at him, letting him know you got in safely. He honks twice before pulling away and driving off into the night.

You make a point to lock your door behind you and lean against it. You let out a shaky breath like it will expel his voice from your head and jump when your phone buzzes in your back pocket. When you pull it out, a bright text from Melanie stares back at you.

Two dates in a row?! You're killing it! This will be over before you know it <3

And attached to her scarily cheerful text is a picture of you and Joel kissing. It's blurry and obviously taken from far away, but it's there nonetheless. You pinch the bridge of your nose and send her a thumbs-up emoji before sending Ryan a "made it home" text and turning your phone off. The image of Joel's teeth scraping your bottom lip burns into your eyelids as you close your eyes and try to figure out where the fuck you go from here.

#one for the money two for the show #the last of us #joel miller #joel miller x reader #joel miller fic #joel tlou #the last of us x reader #joel miller the last of us #joel miller fluff #joel miller au #the last of us au #tlou au #joel x reader #joel miller drabble #joel miller x female reader #rockstar!joel miller

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tirednotflirting · 3 years ago

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hello tumblr! in all of the bs that has been the last 168 hours, it slipped my mind to tell you all my dumb ass story of my 5sos tickets idiocy last week. can i share it with you now? oh thnks cool

(tried to add a read more here but i’m on my phone at work and it didn’t work so sorry, just scroll for now and i’ll fix it later x)

let’s begin with the fact that the austin date was already chaotic ticket-wise from the day they went on sale. like they barely announced this shit, right? like i was initially made aware of this show existing At All from mili (i think it was mili) saying something in the 5sos chat in the club like maybe an hour before they went on sale im fairly certain.

brb going to fact check that. one moment

okay i’m back. i was half right, it was a few folks who posted about the extra NA dates. also this was on their anniversary so all of this and THEN the 10 year show? i was Insane on this day and so were the boys for doing this (also lol that it was still the no shame tour at this point) pls enjoy some of my insanity in the screenshots below

it was a whole thing.

seats i bought for roomie and i were pretty damn good (in the furthest left section? so michael’s side but like left of the stage itself). that extra ticket (it was in the section like directly in front of michael?) accidentally bought bc ticketmaster is a demon sent to torture us all got sold to another friend who rlly digs them. all was well

and then last friday i chose chaos

so our boy, mr ryan fleming, posts this video of the venue in austin and i send this video to roomie who responds like this (pls note the time)

but i’m not a quitter so i decide to go back to see our friend, the demon ticketmaster. for some reason there’s a bunch of normal seats (not resale) in w bunch of the closer sections that are like, less than what they originally were face value. for a few minutes i’m like…halfway considering this. and THEN. i refresh the page and the two seats next to that extra ticket i accidentally bought? that had been showing as sold for over six months? yeah those seats become available and i type in my credit card number faster than u ever have in my entire life. not a single moment of hesitation, y’all i think i blacked out. pls see the order of events below

roommate wasn’t immediately responding (bc she was getting ready to uber to meet me at the show i think) so i called approx 10 seconds after that last message

and then we get to the show and THIS was our view (roomie said it was the closest she’s ever been to the stage for the show and the look on her face in that moment as she sipped her twisted tea and the absolutely stellar view we had as shown below was Absolutely worth the way i cringed when paying my credit card balance this morning)

in conclusion: last friday i felt quite possibly the lowest and highest i have in actual years and you should absolutely keep an eye on ticketmaster the day of your show just in case

thank you for coming to my ted talk

#this is 100% just for me but i wanted my crazy day on here #this was such a good night #jesus christ i’ll never forget this day

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tatertotthethot · 5 years ago

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The Doms Next Door 2.0

THIS IS A TEMPORARY REUPLOAD FOR THIS CHAPTER CUZ TUMBLR IS RAN BY A BUNCH OF BOTS. 2.1 HERE

Warnings/AN: frequent, casually cursing; comical, gay Jimin; insecure reader; steamy flirting; tattoo/sexualized Tae 🙃. Enjoy~ (TAEKOOK EDIT ABOVE IS ARTKOOK DONE BY NONCONMAN ON INSTAGRAM)

_________________________________

Your tires came to a stop outside of the tattoo shop you've seen online— a brick building, covered in spray paint and street-style art. A sign buzzed over the awning of the entrance doors, with the built-in UV lights and graffiti-styled font displaying the name of the place in neon-red letters. Kink For Ink! The name alone was what first caught your attention last week, when you Googled "Tattoo shops near me" and it pulled up a list, with "Kink For Ink" being the first option. It just seemed so uncanny and fitting at the time, considering the previous run-in you just had with the sex-crazed neighbors a couple nights before. You couldn't help but to click the link to their Instagram.

A profile came up with 53.4k followers, which immediately blew your mind... but you quickly saw why. Every tattoo and piercing, no matter the body-placement, skin-type, or quirky design, was vividly appealing— certainly done by the articulate hands of certified experts. Even in the comments of the piercings that were posted, people were praising them for the "minimal" amount of pain they experienced, despite the fact that some of piercings were done in places you couldn't even fathom the thought of having a needle jammed through.

It said in the bio that the shop is owned by the two artists that work there— Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jungkook. You couldn't find out much about them, all their pictures showed was their work. You even went back to search for a personal account of their own, but nothing came up. You then went back to the bio and clicked a link to the official website, hoping to find out something, but you were met with a disclaimer rule at the top that automatically deemed your chances of even getting your piece done by them, slim-to-none.

• No walk-ins allowed.

• Every request/idea must be sent in through the DMs of our Instagram page. You will only be accepted only if it spikes our personal interests.

Yikes; You were instantly discouraged by this. The piece you wanted was something so common and cliché, that you actually got the image out of a child's coloring book.... It was the cartoon layout of the glass vase and enchanted rose, from the Beauty and the Beast movie. Cheesy, yes. But it was something of personal, nostalgic value. You remember when you were little— roughly around 3 or 4 years of age— when your parents started fighting and would spend all day screaming and throwing things at each other, putting you in a constant state of anxiety. But then you'd go to bed at night and pop the VHS tape, and the movie never failed to put you in a peaceful state of mind— a hopeful one. It's remained as your all-time favorite love story throughout the years. Which, is ironic, considering that the relationship itself was different, but almost as dysfunctional as your parent's. However, the fact that even the Beast was capable of change, and everything wound up so perfect and happy in the end, makes your heart happy. And even now, at age 19, it still puts you in your feelings. The previous remake of a movie is what actually inspired you to get the enchanted rose as a tattoo, after seeing it in 3D not too long ago. But you're only willing to shell out up to $200 for it, at most. You've just started college, and even though Jimin's parents own the house and let the two of you live there, rent free, you're still responsible for half the utility bills from month to month. Blowing every bit of money you have saved up, right at the start of the semester, would just be irresponsible. But $200 was manageable, and you're looking for anything that'll give you a little extra "oomph" to break you out of this introverted shell you've always known. Pushing it off would just delay it, and you were ready for change. The nose piercing you want is just a small little thing that'll hopefully add a bit of flare to the features of your face. These two guys could probably do the piercing/tattoo with a blindfold on and a hand tied behind their back. So, if it meant that you'd be able to get these things done in confidence, without having to worry about the outcome, you figured it wouldn't hurt for you to at least ask, even if they straight-up ignore you. So, after spending an unnecessary amount of time overthinking the wording of your text, you finally constructed a message in your notes and DM'd it to business page, after sending them a small, simple outline of the cartoony rose, and pressed send.

• You: Hello! I've been wanting to get this tattoo done for a very while now, and was hoping one of you will be willing to do it for me... along with piercing my nose? I know it's a very mediocre and cliché piece, and a nose piercing can be done anywhere. But I'm new to the area and I've never gotten a tattoo/piercing done before and I haven't really checked out any other places either because I found this page first. And from what I can see, you guys are pretty efficient and CRAZY talented. So, I trust it'll get done right.... only if you want to! I'm willing to pay $200 for this, but if it costs that much for just the outline I've sent then that's fine as well. But I understand if neither of you want to do it cuz that is really cheap compared to the ones I've seen lol. But either way, thx for ur time 😁

A few minutes went by and you had just unlocked your phone to check the message again, when the word "seen" popped below the message. You held your breath for a second— but seconds turned to minutes, and time went by with no reply, what-so-ever. You figured maybe you sounded a little too immature to take seriously; kind of like a prepubescent 12-year-old asking someone out for a dance... and you blew it. Which was disappointing, but predictable. So fuck it. Maybe it's a sign; you shouldn't get it after all.

11pm rolled around, many hours later. You were now hiding beneath your covers, beginning your "amateur threesome" exploration on PornHub. You were ready to see what this whole "2 guys, 1 girl" thing was all about. But just when you were about to type it into the search bar, you were interrupted by an Instagram notification dropping down from the top of your screen.

"KinkForInk sent you a message."

You audibly gasped, eyes turning to saucers as you clicked on the notif and switched over to the Instagram app.

• KinkForInk: Hi (Y/N). This is Tae, one of the artists of the shop. The tattoo you sent in is worth roughly $100... but I want to run an offer by you in hopes that you'll be interested.

— Your brows scrunched in oddity, stomach fluttering. An offer? For you?

• You: Okay, sure. What's that?

• KinkForInk: I've been looking for someone willing to showcase the custom design I've come up with, specifically for a much more... exclusive version of the Beauty and the Beast tattoo you sent. And if you'd be down for letting me and my partner put it on you, it'll be free. No charge. BUT you'll also have to sign a contract saying that you'll do a little bit of modeling for us once it's done. You think you'd be in to doing something like that, even if you get it?

— Your head spun for a second, reading the message over and over again until you could fully wrap your mind around what he was saying.

• You: Hold on... YOU wanna put a tattoo on ME so that I model for you? And it's FREE? Are you sure about this? I'm not even model material lol.

• KinkForInk: Yes, yes, and yes, you are. You'd be perfect for this.

• You: How do know that? Is it a face tattoo? Cuz I only have 6 selfies on here and you can't see anything past my shoulders.

—"Seen" came up as soon as you hit send, but a couple of minutes rolled by with no reply to the message, nor was he even typing. Maybe you came off a little rude. But it was already sketchy and it was a logical question.

— An image suddenly popped up: a screenshot of your Facebook profile. Then another— and much to your horror, it was the photo Jimin tagged you in last week, when the two of you were swimming at a local community pool. You were wearing a simple two piece, sitting at the foot of the lawn chair Jimin was also sitting in, as his legs were visible on either side of you and his lap was practically framing your ass. The photo was at an upward angle and looked so scandalous— but really, you had just asked Jimin to put sun screen on your back and he didn't want to stand up because the pavement was too hot against his bare feet. But you actually liked the picture at the time; it was just a silly joke and your ass actually looked quite nice from that angle. Plus, everyone knows nothing sexual actually goes on between the two of you, for obvious reasons. But Taehyung doesn't, so you couldn't help but dreadfully cringe when you saw the caption of the screen shot.

"Babymama 💦🍆"

• KinkForInk: Is this you??

• You: Yes, that's me. The caption is a joke tho... pay no mind to that. But this is like, really happening? You really think it'd look good on me?

— Why that picture though? You couldn't help but wonder.

• KinkForInk: Yes. Like I said, you're perfect for this piece. Are you down to at least see what the tattoo will look like? We don't expect you to be experienced with modeling or anything, but if you listen to us and cooperate, you'll do just fine.

• You: Yes I wanna see, and I'll do the best I can if I decide to get it... I'm just a bit shy, is all.

• KinkForInk: You'll be in good hands. I promise.

• You: Okay... are you going to show me??

• KinkForInk: Can't send it over a message, I don't want it plagiarized or the concept stolen. But the piece itself isn't necessarily crazy or anything, just more creative. I'd be more than happy to show you at my shop some day this week, if you'd be willing to swing by.

• You: Yeah, I can do that. When should I come?

• KinkForInk: Are you available after 5 tomorrow?

• You: I am, I get off at 4:30.

• KinkForInk: Great. Be here by 5:30, and make sure you've eaten in case you like the piece and wanna get started. It's pretty big for a first timer and gonna take a lot of time and patience. It'll have to be done in sessions but I hope you have a fair enough pain tolerance to at least get the outline of it done first.

— It can't be any worse than a bikini wax, you thought, shivering at the memory. That a story for another time. You decided on an alternative scenario.

• You: I give blood from time to time... but that's easy and doesn't really hurt that much. I think I can handle it though... maybe. I honestly don't know lol, I'm sorry 😣. But I can try my best. Can I ask where it's supposed to go?

• KinkForInk: That's okay, I'll work with you. It's supposed to go down the middle of your back. Starts between the center of your shoulder blades, and trails down the length of your spine to your lower lumbar. You'll see how it looks once we transfer a template on your back. But if you don't like it, there will be no hard feelings from my end. I can still do the tattoo you want if that's the case, free of charge just for your time.

• You: Oh no, you don't have to do that! I'd still pay!

• KinkForInk: Not if I don't accept your money. Trust me, I'm not worried about it. The nose piercing is gonna be $30 regardless, though. JK isn't so lenient.

• You: Of course. Will I have to take my shirt and bra off for the tattoo?

• KinkForInk: Yes, and for the pictures once it's done.

— Your mind blanked at that; thumbs froze over the keypad. He was typing again.

• KinkForInk: Don't let that discourage you. Again, you're in good hands. You can bring something to cover your chest. And the pics will be if your back as well.

• You: Okay, I can handle that. So 5:30 tomorrow?

• KinkForInk: Yes, please don't flake on us!

• You: Lol, I won't. I'll be there.

"They're gonna knock us the fuck out and sell our organs to the black market," Jimin declared. He had parked next to you outside of the shop, and was now sitting in the driver seat of his car with his door locked and windows all the way up, refusing to get out. You were standing right outside his door, still having to talk on the phone. "And is this Tae-guy an AllState representative or something?"

Jimin is petty. You wanted him here for moral support— which he's usually reliable for— but this time, he's just plain salty right and doing everything he can to remind you of that. Reason is, he's been begging you to get a matching tattoo with him ever since your 18th birthday, and you've always refused because of what he wanted to get.

Cupcakes. Jimin wanted to get matching cupcake tattoos... in honor of Cupcakke the legend. Sorry, but H E L L no.

You rolled your eyes, growing frustrated. He only has enough time to pop in and confirm that these two aren't gonna kill you, and then he's gotta head home to get ready for work. You were already supposed to be in there. It was 5:33pm, 3 minutes past the time.

"Jimin, you're the one that insisted on coming along! And now you're making me late!" you ranted. "I'm going in without you."

"Hold your horses, hoe! I'm finishing my blueberry slushie," He retorted, sassily bringing the straw to his mouth and loudly slurping it into the phone. He then abruptly flinched away from the straw with a disgusted expression, nostrils flared, body locking up; lips drawing into an air-tight knot that was so extreme and unnatural, it caused an ugly snort to break out of your nose.

He smacked his lips in exaggeration to the taste, face falling back into stone as an eyebrow arched over the top of his aviators; unamused and saltier than before... Like you were at fault for that, too.

"Or... Blueberry-ass, I should say."

That forced another giggle out of you as Jimin stiffly rolled his window down, phone still pressed to his ear and eyes still scowling at you behind the inspector shades. He bit down on the straw and withdrew it with his teeth before dumping the dark-blue contents of the drink out of the window, making it a point to shake the styrofoam cup empty of every drop before tossing it over his shoulder and into back seat. He then spat the straw out of his mouth with an audible "PLUUUUH!" of a French accent, and waited until the window rolled all the way up again, just so he could hang up the phone. You scoffed at this as you shoved your phone back into your pocket, scornfully watching Jimin exit the car and slam the door behind him. He snatched his glasses off his face as his cotton-candy hair swayed in the breeze, revealing his scornful eyes right back at you as he gestured for you to lead the way in exasperated manner— as if you were the one wasting his time now.

"Go on, lead us to the grave," He shooed, a snippy little shit. You sauntered away, walking up the side of the shop, then paused just before reaching the glass entrance door, when you remembered how much of a coward you are. You've never even stepped into a parlor before, and supposedly, this was a famous one. Which makes it more and more surreal when you think about it.

"Are we doing the mannequin challenge now? Is that what we're doing?" Jimin sardonically inquired.

"You go first, I'm nervous!" You whisper-hissed.

"You don't want me to go in there first— I'll show out," he reasoned, simply stating a fact.

"Please don't," you whined.

"Then, again, I'll show out?" He reiterated, as if to say duh. "How else am I supposed to break the ice? I look like Timmy Turner's Fairy-Gay- Parent."

You gave him a wary look... he's right. You sighed, slightly kicking your foot in distracted defeat. Fuck, you hated making an entrance to new places—

"Hold up— is that Drake?" Jimin suddenly blurted, holding his hand up to silence you. You honed in on the muffled track playing from behind the glass door, and Jimin's face soon light up like a Christmas tree before he spun around you, unstoppable.

"Jimin, NO—!"

"KIKI, DO YOU LOVE ME—?!"

It was already too late. The door was flying back behind him as he Milly-Rocked his way into the shop, leaving you no choice but the chase in behind him.

"—ARE YOU RIDING? SAY YOU'LL NEVA-EVA LEAVE FROM BESIDE ME— hello there."

You were panting, coming to a stop right behind Jimin, where you instantly latched on to the back of his shirt as you met the face of the man behind the studio counter. And, as corny as this is gonna sound: the world actually stilled for a solid beat... or maybe you were in the verge of cardiac arrest.

A pair of glossy-Black eyes looked up at the two of you; A series of silver-studded earrings trailed along the outer cartilages, peaking out beneath a head of soft, layer-swept hair. It was a Carmel-tinted blonde in color— thick and shaggy, and neatly spilling in waves around a headband that proudly sported a high-dollar brand-name you've never seen anyone wear in person before. G U C C I, it read— Meaning that the headband alone was probably worth more than some of your college text books, put together. It sat just a few inches above a pair of dark brows, that oddly brought out the shape of his cat-like eyes— irises like polished marbles. His ample lips had a sharp, well-defined Cupid's-bow, and a natural shade of pink that fit the porcelain appearance of his melanin-kissed complexion, to the finest degree.

And here you are, looking like an actual bum. You had just enough time to clock out of work and head straight over here to make it in time. You didn't even have any makeup on, and the only thing hiding your raggedy hair from those captivating eyes is your old baseball cap from high school. It took a second for him to take the bold presence that was Park Jimin— who was also frozen to the spot as he openly checked the guy out. He was hunched over the counter, a v-neck hoodie covering the rest of him with a thin, loose-fitting material. It was Black and allowed a full visual of his tan neck, and prominent collar bones. And it certainly didn't hide the fact that he had a pair of wide-set shoulders, either. A pencil sat in his hand— one that was laced with masculine veins, and lot of decorative ink. There was a silver ring on his thumb.. and a very heavy-looking Rolex watch.

The man cracked a grin at Jimin— a boxy one that dimpled in at the corners.

"Love the hair," he humorously began, twisting a quirky eyebrow at Jimin. You subconsciously snagged the bill of your hat as your eyes went a little wide at how mature the man's voice was.

"Love the watch," Jimin retorted, then reached around and gripped you by the wrist before pulling you into full view beside him. "You wouldn't happen to be Taehyung...?"

"Mhm," the man hummed, absentmindedly moving his wrist at the mention of his watch. His eyes cut over to you, and you swore you could see a minuscule reflection of yourself in his eyes, before they flashed back at Jimin and blinked. "You must be the babydaddy?"

Blood rushes to your ears. It's really him... a guy who looks like a high-dollar model himself, asking you to be his canvas model. Your own conscious didn't even know what to say right now. So you stayed quiet and still as Jimin took charge... which was a mistake.

"She wishes, but no. I'm the best-friend— and a gay one, at that," Jimin replied, and you knew he did that for his benefit. Thot. "I'm just here to make sure you're not gonna sacrifice her to Satan, or anything of that nature. I need her around in case I ever forget the Netflix password."

Taehyung chuckled at that, mouth opening to reveal a row of teeth shinier than Chip Skylark's. But then, you caught something behind his teeth that caused your gut to leap. A silver ball... a tongue ring. Your thoughts clouded over for a second.

"Well, I can assure you, she's safe with me," he said, looking over at you again. You blinked, nothing more. His brow arched at your lack of response, but this time, it was done more handsomely as he was still smirking at you. "Still, you don't look too thrilled to be here... You sure you wanna do this?"

"She's just nervous because you're really fucking hot," Jimin announced, unyielding. "You should feel how sweaty her hand is."

"Don't listen to him— I'm gay too," You lied in panic, trying to defend yourself from the absolute truth Jimin spoke just then. You snatched your hand away from him and jutted a finger at the door, eyes beading and lid twitching as your nerves ran amuck. "Goodbye, Jimin."

"She's a lonesome hetero," Jimin told Taehyung, assuring him with a face that showed no bluff. "One look at her camera roll, and you'd see for yourself—" You were yanking him away by the arm now, in a tug-of-war game that Jimin obviously could've won if he really wanted to. But he figured you suffered enough and eventually let you drag him out of the shop, waving bye to Taehyung before turning to look at you with beading eyes.

"I think he wants to fuck you— text me as soon as you can," Jimin uttered with unmoving lips as before he walked to his car. You stopped for a second, noticing he was actually being serious. How could he possibly think that he wants to fuck you, just from that small encounter? And what is the odd sensation currently coiling in your stomach? Things grew awkward again when you re-entered the shop, coming to a stand at the same spot... only alone now. He was still amused, it seemed. And so calm and cool despite this odd, intense look in his eyes. It gave him a Casanova effect, where all he had to do was give you that look and it'd instantly make you blush.

"He seems like a fun person to be around," he noted, somewhat honestly, but more so making fun of the red-hot appearance of your face.

"He's a pain in the ass," you muttered, trying to conjure up a smirk but hardly even able to speak properly from how dry your mouth was. It felt like there was a white-hot iron expanding in your throat. "I'm really sorry about him."

"Don't be. I'm just glad you're here— thought you'd chicken out." You nervously wiped your clammy palms over the back pockets of your jeans as Taehyung got up from the barstool behind the counter and approached you on the other side of it, a whole head-and-a-half taller than you. He was wearing black cardigan jeans and matching combat boots.. his headband and jewelry the only thing not black on him. And oddly enough, he made it look fucking fantastic.

"Mh-mm," You hummed, not trusting your voice. You've never needed a sip of water so bad in your life— he even smelled expensive.

"Well, It's very nice to meet you," he formerly began, and you mustered up the normality of placing your (dried) hand into his much larger one, as he held his out to you in greeting. And boy, was he close. So close that the heels of your spine itches to lean back from the proximity.

"It's nice to meet you, too. I'm really sorry if I'm acting weird. I'm just nervous." — Your mind struggled to stay focused on your words, arm tensing at the skin-to-skin contact. You were extra-effected by the firmness in his grip. You really wanted to look down at all the bold ink you saw dashing across the veiny surface of his tanned hand, or see if those were images or scripted letters on the knuckles of lengthy fingers... But you were held captive by those God-blessed eyes... And that fucking tongue ring. It was infecting your head in ways that weren't necessarily healthy for your current state of mind, as you saw it peering in and out at certain words.

"And physically shaking," Taehyung pointed out, brows twitching down at your trembling hand in his as if he was concerned for it. But his smirk gave off an odd sense of fascination to the involuntary symptom, like it was cute or something? Hm. He glanced back up at you, causing your dehydrated throat to bob as his other hand came to clasp over the rest of yours, swallowing it completely from the wrist down. "Intimidated?"

"V-Very," you spluttered, a small slither of saliva copulating down your throat as you looked back up at him. He absentmindedly rolled his tongue ring over the button row of his teeth as he watched you with tainted eyes— undoubtably getting cocky with that damn grin of his and proudly teasing you about your reaction to him. It gratified the effortless sex-appeal he had. You were even beginning to imagine that tongue ring elsewhere, and you literally just met him. Then, as you felt the band of a ring move along with the pad of his thumb as gently ran it across your trembly knuckles, chills shot up all the way to your shoulder. Oh... oh wow. You glanced down at his knuckles on reflex this time, and saw a four-letter word scripted in black ink across the bottom row of his knuckles, and another word scripted on the middle section of his fingers. A silver band on his naked thumb. STAY TRUE, it said.

"And why's that?"

"I.. feel like you're a celebrity," you sheepishly admitted, your other hand wedging into your back pocket as you had to stop yourself from reaching for the bill of your hat again. Is he flirting? The words seem too innocent for the way he was making you feel. It was getting so hot in the oven of his massive palms, and he wasn't even squeezing you hard enough to cut off any circulation, but yet your fingers were beginning to tingle.

"Mm, no. Just a little popular, really," he granted, teetering his head a little as he pondered the thought. You could see his vocal chords contract in his sleek neck as they project his smooth, pungent voice. "You still trust me?"

"Mhm," was all you could muster. He'd gotten even closer, to where his hand had gone into a prayer stance around yours. You were aware of how wide your eyes had gone from the awe you... you knew this was just the beginning. He was going to be very handsy throughout this whole process. But in a very twisted way, you were more than okay with that. Even if it meant you were at risk of fainting from actual dehydration. Maybe you were in over your head. But you couldn't will yourself away from this now. And then, just as a wide, heart-stopping smile edged out on that mind-numbingly handsome face, the door at that back of the room swung open, and heavy-metal rock blasted through the quiet vibe of the scenery and caused you to jump a little at the disturbance. Taehyung shot a wicked smile over his shoulder, and his next words nearly knocked you out right then and there as you beheld yet another, breathtaking sight.

"Oh, there you are," Tae eagerly acknowledged, one hand still holding yours as he walked around to grab your with the other, presenting you to the.. hulking presence in the room. "This is (Y/N), our next little experiment."

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stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 5 years ago

Text

TWDG: The Final Season | Character Discussion | 1/2

Part 1 | Part 2

“Everyone’s counting on me to step up. Be the leader they need me to be... I really want to be that for them.”

So.... let’s talk about Marlon.

I mean, let’s really talk about him. Ever since I started this blog, some common questions I get revolve around Marlon- “How do you feel about Marlon?” “Do you think he deserved a redemption arc?” “Why do you think he was sent to Ericson?” “In your opinion, is Marlon a bad person?” and many others.

Some ask with expectations that I’ll express a distaste or hatred for him, while others ask with a more sympathetic approach. If you know me, if you’ve been here for a while, then you know that I do indeed like Marlon as a character, and today I want to talk about him from my perspective while playing this game.

And with that comes a seemingly unnecessary disclaimer, but one I feel I need to add in order to make it abundantly clear: I will be discussing MY thoughts, experiences, and feelings about Marlon within TFS and give my take on his character. Because we’re not the same person, you may have a different opinion or perspective on his character, you may disagree with something I say, and that’s perfectly okay. You’re entitled to your opinion as I am mine, and I do encourage you to join in on the discussion and express your thoughts about Marlon, but I also want to let you know that you can do that without attacking me or anyone else.

Really, this is pretty much me looking at Marlon’s role and arc within TFS, discussing points of his character that I find interesting, exploring the why’s and how’s of his actions, maybe coming up with a couple theories as to why he was sent to Ericson, and basically giving a lot of personal opinions of him. It’s a discussion meant in good fun, that’s all I’m saying.

Before we dive right in, I do want to thank @pi-creates for providing me with most of the screenshots used in this. I appreciate the help! If you haven’t already, go check out Pi’s blog for some of the best screenshots and model swaps in the TWDG community! Thank you, thank you!

[First and foremost, y’all are sleeping on Ray Chase’s performance as Marlon and it really shows]

“Looks like I was announced as Marlon, the central focus in this first episode of The Walking Dead Season 4 coming in a few weeks. I've been playing this series since the beginning, and it was a real honor to be a part of the canon. I hope you enjoy!“ - Ray Chase’s Twitter account | July 26, 2018

I want to start this off with praising Marlon’s voice actor, Ray Chase, for doing such a perfect job of bringing Marlon’s character to life. Every emotion and infliction feels genuine, and there’s isn’t a single moment where I don’t “see” Marlon, y’know? I mean that in the sense that every line delivered is believable and doesn’t break my immersion with, “Oof, they really used that take?”

I know we throw praise upon Melissa, Tayla, Sterling, and Gideon [and for good reason, they’re all fantastic, too!] but even with them there are a couple of lines that I notice have a lack of flow or sound just a bit off. I’ve played TFS how many times? And not once have I had that issue with Ray Chase as Marlon, so bravo to this man. Credit where credit is due, his performance is damn near flawless.

Especially in the confrontation scene at the end of Done Running. I’ll get into that scene as a whole later, but just looking at the performance and the intense, impactful emotion brought to that scene, just..... *chef kiss*

Thank you, Ray Chase.

[What’s up with your haircut, Marlon?]

“Uh, I look cool... I say, I look cool.”

Lemme talk a little bit about Marlon’s design- I think he looks great.

I love the little details in the Ericson varsity jacket he wears... including the fact that it looks just a tad bit too snug on him. Like, either the boy doesn’t have another jacket or he’s grown so attached to this one that he’s not willing to admit that he’s outgrown it a bit.

I’ve had a lot of people point out that it’s nice to see a teenage character in these games with actual acne since most media pretends that acne just doesn’t exist, and I agree. We all know that if this were more realistic, then everyone would have terrible, greasy, dirty skin but... y’know.

And y’know what? I like the mullet! It’s unique! And I choose to believe it’s a representation of Marlon’s past with bad decisions he’s too stubborn to admit were bad decisions... I mean, he’s had it since he was a kid and hadn’t grown it out or cut it off [to our knowledge, I suppose] sooo... there’s that.

Or maybe he does actually think it looks badass. Either way.

Hell, my biggest complaint about Marlon’s design is that I wish they kept more to this concept art attire:

Because Marlon looks super good in this concept art. I love the headband with the mullet and his clothes actually look more comfortable... but like, it’s fine. He still looks great in the game, his little jacket’s cool, bringing back the mullet...its fine. I’m just sayin’. He looks great.

[Marlon’s introduction in TFS]

“It's our little kingdom. I just do what I can to keep the peace. Wasn't always like this, though. There used to be a lot of us, but...you know how it goes.”

Let’s talk about how Marlon’s introduced.

We get our first look at him after Clementine and AJ crash their car during the walker attack. A bunch of arrows come flying, hitting walkers attempting to get ahold of them, and as Clementine glances over she sees a figure pulling AJ out of the car. And even though you can tell it’s Marlon, this closer shot from Pi-

-100% confirms that it’s him. Not that you had any doubt, but still.

What’s interesting, though, is that while snooping around for some insight about Marlon from the writers/devs, wandering around reddit, replaying the game myself, and even glancing over the all-knowing wiki that’s never wrong ever, it seems agreed upon that Marlon wasn’t alone, despite no one else being specifically mentioned to have helped Clementine and AJ.

Which makes sense that that’d be the case, but I did come across a handful of people who are pretty adamant that he was alone, which is an interesting take, though I disagree.

I’m pretty sure most people do, too. I mean, Marlon says, “It's good we found you when we did. It wasn't easy getting you two out of that wreck, and walkers were on the way.” So I don’t even think that was the writers’ intention of it being solely Marlon who saved them.

What’s funny is I came across a post Instagram [I know, the most legitimate source for info and thoughtful opinions] that was surprisingly trying to redeem/defend Marlon rather than chastise him by claiming he’s a hero who saved Clementine and AJ by himself.

The thing is, they’re both unconscious after the wreck, so unless Marlon has super-human speed to grab AJ, zip around the car to grab Clementine, and then uses super-human strength to carry both of them AND their belongings all while killing any threatening walkers coming after them with his bow... I’m gonna have to press [X] Doubt.

Besides, I like the idea of it being vague. I like to think that was the intention. “Who was Marlon with? A hunting party! You fill in the blanks!” That sort of deal.

With everything that we know about Marlon and the safe-zone, it does lead to questions about why he and whoever felt they had to go outside it to see what was happening. Marlon points out in his conversation with Clementine that they “had to work fast. I don't know what would've happened if we hadn't seen the smoke...” And later Violet mentions an explosion, so I think it’s safe to say that they heard the explosion and followed the smoke to the location.

If you don’t know about the raiders and the twins [like it’s your first time playing] then you probably assume that Marlon and his group were being kind in rescuing them, which I don’t doubt but it does make you wonder about things from Marlon’s perspective, y’know?

This is one of those “shhh, don’t think, just go with it” moments. If I had to give a reason, I’d say that the group he was with didn’t think twice about checking it out and even if Marlon did protest, he didn’t have much choice but to follow. Then, seeing that it’s Clementine and AJ, I believe he genuinely wanted to save them.

“All alone with the kid? Not a pleasant thought. I've seen some rough scenes. But that one would've been up there.”

We get our second and more official introduction to Marlon after Clementine escapes her dorm and confronts Tenn... and it’s pretty fucking good. I mean, everything from him being hidden in the shadows with his bow drawn, to the clear concern yet sternness in his voice as he assures Clementine they’re not going to hurt her and to put the knife down, to his sympathetic apology for scaring her is just an A+.

One thing this season does exceptionally well is introducing its characters. Marlon has such a confident yet chill way about him when you first meet that it’s actually disheartening to think that in two hours he’s gonna be pulling a gun and MURDER....

Sigh.

Let’s not jump that far ahead yet. I’m not ready.

What I find appealing about this next part is Clementine’s reaction to seeing the inside of Ericson for the first time and how taken aback she seems by it. I also love how easy and comfortable it is to talk with Marlon as they’re walking through the yard even though we just met him.

I enjoy that you can tell he’s trying to get a better idea of who she is without pressuring or overwhelming her and doing his best not to offend. And even when Clementine questions if he doesn’t think she can handle herself, he’s decent about apologizing and explaining that’s not what he meant. But he’s also not afraid to be upfront about AJ’s behavior since they brought him here, either.

He does come off as annoyed when talking about AJ being a handful. We don’t know how long Clementine’s been passed out or how long they had to deal with AJ after he woke up, so who knows how much of a little terror AJ was before they either dumped him with Louis or Louis decided to take him to the music room to chill... where he then bit Ruby.

Anyway, the first impression I got of Marlon is that he’s genuinely friendly, trying to help Clementine and AJ even if AJ’s been a nuisance, and he’s confident in the system he has in place for them. He is rather forward and proud about being the school’s leader when first telling Clementine.

Having played through the whole season several times and knowing how Done Running ends, it’s interesting to look at Clementine’s first conversation with Marlon with that all knowing perspective- knowing what he did to the twins, knowing that Brody’s involved and that Marlon’s going to eventually kill her, going to try and frame Clementine for the murder, knowing that he was planning on giving Clementine and AJ away...

I can definitely look at this conversation with a more skeptical lens and say he’s more so trying to sell the idea that he has everything under control in this kingdom for kids and he’s a proper leader with a system in place despite being so young with no adults around. But hey, that’s the natural progression- Ericson is a perfectly chill safe haven and the Ericson crew get along swell... except no, the cracks slowly begin to surface as the episode goes on until all hell breaks loose with Marlon at the center.

[Rosie is best girl]

“You said dogs brought back bad memories. I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were so scared of them. But I swear, Rosie's not as frightening as she seems...See? She's harmless. She just needs to get to know you, is all. Here. I'll show you. Do you trust me? “

I’ll be completely honest- the thing that initially sold me on trusting Marlon the first time I ever played this episode was his relationship with Rosie.

If you know me, then you know that I love dogs. I have a pup named Piglet that I adore, I’ve grown up with dogs my whole life, and I have a huge appreciation and soft spot for animals. I’m one of those people that can’t stand others who are mean or cruel to harmless animals. It’s different if you’re hunting for food or if an animal attacks you and you’re defending yourself... but I’ve known people who have gone out of their way to hurt animals. I’m out in a country area with a lot of dangerous roads for wandering animals, and the amount of people I’ve driven with who’ll swerve to hit a squirrel, a cat, a dog because they enjoy it is too many. After those incidents, I cut those people out of my life. If you don’t have that love and appreciation in your heart, then I want nothing to do with you.

So when I saw that Rosie, while the school’s dog, is more portrayed to be Marlon’s dog above everyone else, I remember thinking to myself, “Okay, I trust him. He clearly loves this dog, wouldn’t mistreat her, and that’s a step in the right direction.”

While I wasn’t skeptical of him and his intentions before, it really was that natural relationship he held with Rosie that kind of sealed the deal for me- “I like Marlon! He’s probably going to die because he’s the leader and they never last but when it does happen, I’m gonna be super upset about it.”

And well, to be fair... I was super upset when he died, just more so than I originally planned because there was also that element of betrayal mixed into the pain, y’know?

Speaking of trust and Rosie- My second favorite Marlon scene is the office scene. But let’s talk about the Rosie bit specifically. After Tenn leaves and Rosie comes in, she scares Clementine and brings back those traumatic memories of when Sam attacked her.

Marlon comes in and cools the situation, and I love the way he talks to Clementine in this moment.

I love that he doesn’t immediately turn to Clementine like, “What’d you do?” but recognizes that she’s afraid of Rosie due to her previous experience, one that he remembers her mentioning. He also knows how well trained Rosie is to recognize scents and people, which explains why she’s behaving that way- she doesn’t know Clementine.

I feel like I’m using this word a lot, but Marlon’s approach to helping Clementine with her fear of dogs feels so genuine. He holds his hand out and waits for her to accept, and if she does, he walks Clementine through what to do, beginning Clementine’s bond with Rosie.

“Get down on her level. Let her get your scent. It's okay. She's not gonna hurt you.”

It’s incredibly sweet and humanizing to see Marlon like this.

The best part about this scene, though, is that you can reject Marlon’s offer and he won’t be upset.

“No problem. I'm not gonna pressure you.”

And he doesn’t. He doesn’t get annoyed, he doesn’t press, no questions asked, and he doesn’t say anything to make Clementine feel bad for her decision. He respects that she isn’t ready to get close with Rosie.

The reason I love this is because how many times have we made decisions in this game, big and small, and had the other characters get annoyed or try to guilt us? “Oh, you don’t want to bond with the dog? Rosie’s the best, everyone loves dogs! What’s wrong with you?” None of that here. That’s something I appreciate about Marlon in this moment.

It shows that when he wants to, he can listen and understand those around him... something he clearly struggles with when it comes to certain members of Ericson.

I’ll swing back around and talk about that entire scene in a bit, but one last thing about Rosie... can I just say how heart breaking it is to hear her whine at Marlon’s funeral? Solidifying that she was definitely Marlon’s dog more than anyone else’s? And the way Rosie lays on his grave several times in episode 2?

Oof.

[Ericson’s perception of Marlon prior to the final confrontation and after]

“...when the world went to shit, he bailed. All the other adults did. Left us behind to fend for ourselves... Now it's just us kids left.”

I want to touch on how the Ericson crew seem to view Marlon as a leader before and after the final confrontation.

When looking at and discussing a character, it’s important to not just focus solely on them. You can gather a lot about a character based on how others respond and perceive them.

Not everyone expresses something towards Marlon within Done Running. Y’know, like Omar or Ruby, for example. Though we do get a bit more from them after Marlon’s death, their perception of him is different now that they’ve learned what he’s done and witnessed his murder.

So we don’t know how Ruby, Omar, Willy or Mitch viewed his leadership prior to those events, y’know? It’s safe to assume that they’re fine following him as a leader since they’re background characters at this point and make no objections to his leadership at any time before the confrontation. But, after learning the truth, they turned against him.

Then things get complicated when Marlon’s murder traumatizes them.

What a mess.

But for this section, there are two characters I want to get into specifics about. They’re worth talking about because they further Marlon’s character, but they’re not the most important, y’know? Characters like Louis, Tenn, and Brody will get their own sections.

The one I find most interesting among side characters is Aasim. Right off the bat, you get a feel for what his relationship is like with Marlon:

Marlon: “How'd it go out there?”

Aasim: “How do you think it went?”

Brody: “Be nice, Aasim.”

Aasim: “The safe zone's nearly dry. I could barely find enough for tonight. We're gonna have to scout out further if we want food for the winter.”

Marlon: “We'll talk about it later.”

Aasim: “Bullshit, we should talk about this right now-”

Marlon: “I said later, damn it!”

So... they’re not exactly besties. The game makes a clear point that Aasim is more vocal in his disagreements and concerns towards Marlon than the others. They even reiterate it when you talk with him later:

“He keeps pulling back the safe zone. We have fewer and fewer places to hunt. Which means we're gonna have fewer and fewer things to eat.”

No one else opposes Marlon like he does, not counting Brody in the basement since that’s a whole other thing and Brody will get an entire segment to herself later.

It’s pretty clear that this isn’t the first time they’ve had this conversation, but because Marlon’s in a place of power, Aasim doesn’t have much choice but to go along with it. Because no one else is speaking up, he doesn’t have anyone to back him up, and you can tell he goes with it reluctantly. He also voices annoyances when it comes to how Marlon treats Louis if you go hunting.

Knowing this, you can infer that Marlon doesn’t want to hear what Aasim has to say, and he doesn’t appreciate someone questioning his leadership. When Aasim steps in Marlon’s path and says, “Bullshit, we should talk about this right now-” what does Marlon do?

He shoves his shoulder into Aasim’s as he pushes past, and in a louder, commanding tone, replies, “I said later, damn it!” which leads to Aasim glaring after him... but he doesn’t pursue. Marlon has a hard time with someone like Aasim and his response is to shut him down rather than stop, listen to his concerns, and address them.

That’s something Marlon struggles with as a leader- control and listening. Control over his temper and anger, listening and addressing the concerns of the people he swears to protect.

The reason I bring this up is because Aasim is our first indication that the image Marlon was giving off previously isn’t as spotless as he wants us to believe. Aasim plants a seed of doubt, y’know? He gives an argument that the player can get behind.

“Yeah, why not extend the safe zone? If food is really as bad as you say it is, then what other choice is there? Just be extra cautious so no one gets hurt,” which can then lead to thinking, “Why is Marlon so insistent about the safe zone? Is he hiding something?”

Once that seed is there, it grows.

Now as for how Aasim’s view of Marlon changes during and after the confrontation, you can see that he’s one of the few that wants to hear Clementine’s side to things, and he steps forward after Louis/Violet intervenes.

Then after Marlon dies, Aasim is... well, he’s rather neutral? And I say that meaning he’s more in a middle ground between Louis and Violet, who are on extreme opposite ends. Aasim isn’t okay with Marlon’s death, nor is he okay with AJ killing him, but he can see that kicking Clementine and AJ out isn’t the best solution. Hence why he voted for them to stay.

You can see he’s still angry at Marlon for what he did during the funeral scene, but the game doesn’t care to show more beyond that. Which, in my opinion, was a missed opportunity on their part.

And because I’m me, I also want to add that this perfectly sets up the idea of Aasim taking over once Marlon died and the writers shot themselves in the foot for wasting him like that. Good job.

Now let’s talk about Violet. People love when I do that.

Marlon and Violet don’t interact too much prior to the confrontation. The most we see them together is during the card game, and they’re chill. Violet makes fun of his hair, he says he looks cool, they’re decent to each other, it’s all good. They’re on friendly terms.

Which I do find it interesting that she seems like she’s chill with Marlon, but she has such a hard time with Brody. Granted, that’s because she was supposed to go with them but asked Brody to cover her, and then when the twins died, she felt guilty. But you’d think that she’d also have some issues with Marlon, given that he was also there and, like Brody, unable to save them.

You could argue that because Violet and Brody were friends before it had a stronger effect, whereas she and Marlon weren’t ever that close, so it didn’t strike as bad, y’know?

Though this does kind of get explained later if you choose to stick with Violet through ep4. Well, sort of? A little? She tells you:

Violet: “...I remember how Marlon described it, what we were gonna turn Ericson into. It's not the way any of us pictured it.”

Clementine: “How did you picture it?”

Violet: “I guess I couldn't. I just listened to what Marlon said. How it would be a home, a real one. But I couldn't really wrap my head around it.”

And when she talks about people who cared about her that she pushed away, she does list Marlon as one of those people, which is super interesting given all the loathing she’s done towards him after the truth came out.

It could be that in the past, she saw Marlon as the leader and why would he lie? He’s the one who stepped up, promised that they’d made Ericson into something special, into a brand new home... what reason does she have to distrust him?

So when she finds out the truth... well, that betrayal completely shatters everything she has for Marlon, going as far as for her to believe that AJ was justified in what he did and shit talking Marlon in front of his mourning best friend.

So her reaction to Marlon after this makes sense, but what does this tell us about Marlon himself?

Again, depending on how you view him, you can look at this idea of Marlon being kind to Violet and them being on friendly terms after what happened to the twins a few different ways- Marlon was manipulating Violet solely for his sake, or Marlon felt guilty that something he did hurt her this bad and tried to make Violet feel better, or both.

I think it was both. After the twins died, we all know the amount of guilt Marlon carried with him, so having to be confronted with the fallout of that in the form of someone like Violet... he had to be careful. I don’t doubt that he cared about Violet or that he tried to reach out to her, but he also had to protect himself for the sake of maintaining his leadership and control of Ericson. So, of course, he had to lie to her which manipulated her feelings about him and the situation.

I believe Violet recognized it, too. When she says they should’ve asked more questions about what happened, I think that’s her being more pissed with herself for trusting Marlon and not questioning him further, for taking his word for it.

I’ve come across theories suggesting that Marlon actually manipulated Violet into placing blame onto Brody rather than him, which is why she is on friendly terms with him but not so much Brody. And that’s a valid interpretation. There isn’t any solid evidence of this within the game to suggest either way, but I can definitely see how someone would come to that conclusion. Especially after the confrontation.

Now let’s touch on Violet if you appeal to her, because Marlon does something that makes me go “Hmmmm...”

Clementine, when she appeals to Violet, say, “Violet you have to believe me.”

To which, Marlon immediately steps in and says, “You don't. You met her, like, two days ago!”

He doesn’t even give her a chance to speak.

With Louis, he’s so overly confident that he has him completely wrapped around his finger that he doesn’t feel the need to say anything. He feels he has control over Louis. But with Violet, he feels his control might not be as strong, so he needs to remind her that she just met Clementine, whereas she’s known him for years- something he uses against the whole group.

And when Clementine tries to talk to her, Marlon takes a low blow and it’s super shitty.

“Don't let her get in your head. Hey, what would Minnie want you to do? She was my friend, too. So was Brody.”

He’s desperate to crawl out of the grave this situation has put him in that he’s willing to go this low, doing everything he can to make sure Violet doubts Clementine... and y’know, whose to say this is the first time Marlon is using Minnie to manipulate her? And when it doesn’t work, he gets frustrated like “Violet being difficult. Why am I not surprised?” which could suggest that it hasn’t always worked.

It goes back to what I was saying- Marlon tried to get close to Violet and she never let him. She was difficult to be around after the twins died due to her grief and Marlon struggled with that.

When he finally comes clean, this is where the real shift happens with him and Violet. You can see the hatred burning on her face every time the camera pans over to her now that she’s felt betrayed by him and his actions.

Right before Marlon dies, if you choose to say nothing, Violet will step forward and start saying that he doesn’t get to stay, but gets cut off when AJ shoots him.

All in all, Violet is a big case against Marlon and a showcase of how far his manipulation as gone within Ericson.

[Marlon’s office and foreshadowing of motivations]

“Whenever someone goes outside the safe zone, bad shit happens. People die or disappear. I just... I could really use the help, Clementine. Taking care of these kids, it's not easy. I'm worried that if I don't figure something out, if...if I don't fix our food situation... I can't lose anyone else. We've already lost so much. Friends, siblings... I can't let another kid die. It could break us.”

Swinging back around, let’s talk about the rest of the scene in the office.

First off- it’s implied that Marlon uses the office as a bedroom given the mattress on the floor and some of his personal belongs laying about. Like the photo he keeps of him and Louis.

The bed isn’t for Rosie, we assume, since we later see her sleeping outside while chained up. This might be just because they wanted Rosie present for the confrontation scene but didn’t want her loose, so they put her outside when you’d think that she’d sleep inside with everyone else.

Or, maybe she just prefers to be outside when the weather’s nice, or they keep her as a guard in case something were to happen, that way she can alarm them.

Anyway, why does Marlon potentially sleep in his office rather than in a dorm? Or does he have a dorm that he’ll sleep in, but keeps the mattress there just in case?

Well, a show of authority, for one. Even if he does keep a dorm room, it’s likely that he made the office his own as a way to be like “The headmaster is gone, this is my office now. I’m in charge.”

Which makes sense.

And when you think about what Louis tells us about Marlon having all these sleepless nights and tough calls, it’s not hard to imagine him spending late nights in his chair going over different plans and stressing over the food situation/safe zone, as well as letting the guilt of the twins weigh on him to the point were he’s too exhausted to even leave.

Moving on to the actual conversation between him and Clementine. He does show a vulnerable side to her, which I like. He can feel the pressure he’s under and sense the loss he’s suffered. But...like before, looking at this knowing what I know, it’s not hard to see certain things in a different light opposed to what you’d see as a new player.

What’s interesting, though, is while I do enjoy this conversation and the bits of insight it gives to Marlon’s character, there is this subtle, slightly off undertone of the whole scene after the Rosie bit.

At this point, we’ve talked with Aasim and he’s planted the seed of doubt.

We’ve heard the story about the twins. Violet came and talked to us about it, we could visit their graves and learn that they died at this time last year. Anyone who has played any game or heard any story can pick up on that the twins are important. They’re not going to use these girls as some throw away lines. They’re going to come back one way or another.

We’re literally living in their dorm. The dorm that Marlon put us in. They’re heavily connected to Tenn and Violet, two important characters I previously discussed. Then, Violet comes barging into our room and talks about them some more.

It makes the gears turn, y’know?

And with Marlon being very insistent that they stay in the safe zone, it’s not hard to question the story about the twins. I went through and skimmed a couple play throughs on youtube to this scene and a lot of them were theorizing that the twins weren’t actually dead or something wasn’t right, some cracks are starting to show. Why else bring it up? Marlon being the one to push the dangers of the safe zone and everything with Aasim... it’s not hard to pick up that he might be hiding something.

The thing I find fascinating about people’s perception of Marlon is how they interpret his motivations when it comes to Clementine and AJ, and that can be tracked back to this scene.

We all know that he’s planning on giving them to the raiders if they come back. It’s a hard fact. Brody warned us before she died, and dialogue during the basement scene backs it up.

But the question I’m curious about is... when did this motivation begin?

When did Marlon decide that he would give Clementine and AJ to the raiders if they ever came back?

Because the text doesn’t tell us anything until Brody’s death, I feel like we all have a different moment where we believe that became Marlon’s secret motive, y’know?

In all my digging, I’ve read posts about this idea, people giving their thoughts on when they think Marlon secretly turned on us, or if he was ever really on our side.

One has people theorizing that Marlon saved Clementine and AJ with the intention of giving them away from the beginning.

So he saw taking these two in and earning their trust as an opportunity to save everyone else at the school [the people he cares about] rather than have to sacrifice anyone else like they did with the twins. Clementine and AJ were just a means to an end if the raiders came back.

Which is a rather sinister way to look at it and puts quite a negative spin on Marlon’s actions towards them - like how he’s willing to let them stay at the school not out of kindness but out of bad intentions, and every kind thing he ever did was to win over their trust so he could lure them out into the woods and do a trade if necessary.

The line “Take this. I don't want you gettin' lost.” gets pointed at a lot due to how Marlon says it, the infliction of it, and it’s theorized that the hidden meaning behind it is “Take this, if you get lost then I can’t make the trade.”

Same thing with “Just remember to stay in the safe zone. We need you to come back home in one piece.”

Which isn’t a wrong interpretation of this. You can totally look at this conversation between Marlon and Clementine as Marlon subtly foreshadowing his turn, or betrayal, at the end of the episode.

“...It's how we've kept ourselves from unwanted attention for so long. Well... For the most part, anyway.”

“I can't lose anyone else. We've already lost so much. Friends, siblings... I can't let another kid die. It could break us. Sorry. I'm just... There's a lot of pressure.”

“What, did you think I was gonna throw you out?“

Then there are the middle ground people who believe Marlon didn’t save Clementine and AJ with that intention in mind, but it started to appear as an option to him either a bit before or during the office scene. Y’know, it came as a passing thought that ended up lingering until he acknowledged it as a solution to a potential problem.

Again, pointing at the dialogue from before- him suggesting that he’ll do whatever it takes to keep his community alive... just like he did before.

And while he gets along with Clementine and AJ [or as some would suggest, he appears to be friendly], they’re not his family. He isn’t close to them the same way he is the rest of the school. and if he has to give anyone away, it’s going to be them, whether he wants to or not.

Marlon didn’t want to give Sophie and Minerva away, and he’s carried that with him up until this point. We see it manifest to a breaking point that lead to Brody’s death and, eventually, his own.

Finally, there are the people who believe that the idea of giving Clementine and AJ away didn’t occur to him until after the incident with Abel. After Brody panicked and told him about getting robbed, then Clementine claiming they met a man with different colored eyes who wanted food, and the realization that the raiders could be back.

This is where I personally stand when it comes to this idea. I believe that Marlon didn’t decide on this until he heard about Abel, and solidified it during the fight with Brody down in the basement.

But what about the dialogue in this scene that potentially has double meanings? Well, I believe that’s the writers suggesting Marlon’s turn and motivations rather than Marlon himself, if that makes sense. Like I said before, you could take nearly everything Marlon says as some sort of foreshadowing or suggestion of what happened to the twins, what his true intentions are with Clementine and AJ, and what will happen to him at the end of the episode.

That’s the thing- Marlon doesn’t ever go on a mustache-twirling monologue about how he knew he could use Clementine and AJ as trade if the raiders came back and that’s the real reason why he saved them, nor do we see him come up with the idea on the spot.

Hell, Marlon never admits to the player that he was going to do that. The most he says is, “Shut your fucking mouth! I made the right call. I saved the lives of everyone in this fucking school! If they came back... I'd do it again!”

Brody is the one who told us everything, and every time Clementine throws it back in his face, he tells her to shut up and threatens her with the gun.

But from what I’ve tried to gather about what Marlon and Brody talk about in the basement before Clementine gets down there...

Marlon: “Why can't you just do what I ask you to do?”

Brody: “Because we caused all this, and now we have to deal with it!”

Marlon: “I am dealing with it!”

Brody: “By tradin' more of us away? That's not fixin' the problem, that's runnin' away from it!”

[I’ll come back to this full conversation later when I go over the basement scene by itself. It gets pretty dark.]

Which.... yeah. So, I’m not trying to say Brody was lying or anything just because Marlon never flat out admitted it to us the player, I’m just saying that we don’t know for sure when he made up his mind about this since the game never gives a clear suggestion for the sake of his dramatic turn from friend to antagonist.

Did he have this idea from the start or did he come up with it during this conversation?

We don’t know, but it’s interesting to look at the different views surrounding this question and how it applies to Marlon’s character. Because yeah, if you truly believe that Marlon had this intention from the start, it makes all of his actions in this episode pretty scummy. And again, that’s not wrong because there isn’t an answer here.

I choose to believe that maybe the idea came as an unwanted thought in the beginning, but manifested into something real when he heard about Abel. He shared his plan with Brody, who didn’t want to go along with it.

And y’know what... let’s finally get into the basement scene and Brody...

Continued in Part 2/2

#twdg marlon #twdg character discussion #twdg clementine #twdg aj #twdg louis #twdg violet #twdg aasim #twdg ruby #twdg mitch #twdg willy #twdg omar #twdg brody #twdg tenn #twdg sophie #twdg minerva #marlon character discussion #twdg #long post

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heraldofzaun · 4 years ago

Text

Hi. We’re doing this again. I’ve already spoken a little bit (well, a great bit) about how old lore Viktor wasn’t a stereotypical evil villain, but I keep seeing this interesting trend crop up - especially in the comments of analyses on Viktor’s character - and so I’m going to write about it. That trend is the fact that people seem completely and utterly convinced that only old Viktor “augmented without consent” or “didn’t respect free will” or similar mad-scientist-adjacent claims. This isn't true. The inverse is true, actually.

What follows is the entirety of Viktor’s old lore (I’m using the first - the second variant is the one that snips out his going to the Institute of War, I’m not trying to pull a trick on you or anything), his lines upon release (which are still technically canonical, even if many people believe them to be outdated - whether that is due to Riot still believing that they’re accurate to his character or, more likely, Riot not caring to replace them, I don’t know), and the accompanying blurb to his release comic. I am also including Jayce’s second lore, the one which Riot wrote after Viktor fans pointed out that Jayce’s original lore was contradictory to Viktor’s character. (Which is mentioned in the post I linked above. TL;DR: Viktor fans made such a fuss that Jayce’s lore got changed to paint Viktor as less of a villain, which again points to the fact that old Viktor wasn’t necessarily perceived as villainous by his fans. Of course, fan perceptions can be wrong - but canon was changed, so...)

This screenshot is missing his pick/ban quotes (“Join the Glorious Evolution.”/”Inferior constructs.” - ban quotes were added after his release, so they recycled one of his attack lines) and the quotes for Chaos Storm (“Obliterate!”/”Consume!”/”True power!”/”Behold!”). This is because it didn’t fit on my computer screen nicely.

This was written alongside Viktor’s teaser comic. (I personally really like the teaser comic, even though I’m concerned about Viktor cutting a hole in his laboratory wall.) It is, technically, non-canon material as it was posted on the now-defunct forums rather than anywhere on the client, but as we’ve seen a recent trend of Rioters Word-of-God’ing facts about canon, I may as well include it. There may be more Word-of-God confirmations on those forums as well, but the backup site that they’re currently hosted on doesn’t allow for searches as the original site didn’t either. You can find this on the “Development” tab of Viktor’s wiki page, if you’re curious.

Is there anything in here, besides “Submit to my designs.” and a few other of his voice lines, which should be taken with the context that they were a) written in 2011 and are thus not the highest examples of character-focused writing and b) written under the context of these being things he is saying to opponents on a battlefield, that says “Viktor augments people who are unwilling”? I don’t see it. He isn’t an angel, sure, because he wrecks Jayce’s lab after the man doesn’t want to work with him, but… He’s mostly alright, at least when it comes to the claims I’m investigating. (Also, note that his acolytes are not specified as being under his control or anything like that - they very well may just be people he’s helped, who don’t want a strange man smashing up the lab they were helped in.)

An interesting side-note: Jayce’s first lore does seem to imply that Viktor murdered people, as he “staged a deadly raid on Jayce’s laboratory”. This is concerning. There’s still somewhat of that implication in the second lore, considering the whole “incinerating the lab’s meager security force” line, but I’ve never seen anyone in fandom over the years use that as evidence for Viktor being a murderer, which is interesting. There’s actual textual evidence you can point to to say that Viktor’s a morally awful dude, and yet no one pointed to it when it was canon...I’ve never seen it cited in any character analyses for Viktor, nor have I ever seen anyone make the point that it’s people that Viktor’s incinerating. Food for thought, I guess. Anyways, my personal take is this: it’s security systems, not people. It doesn’t quite make sense, in-universe, for Viktor to murder a bunch of redshirt security guards but only blast Jayce aside - and leave him with no lasting injuries, obviously. Out-of-universe, you can say that it’s because Jayce is a champion, but still… It really doesn’t fit. Of course, I’m an old lore Viktor fan and this is entirely me trying to justify that he’s not a bad guy, so you can definitely take my words as biased. As we’ll see later, even if you take this as proof that old Viktor’s a killer, it doesn’t mean new Viktor is morally spotless.

Also, if you speak a language other than English and want to kill time, feel free to write in with what Jayce’s old lore says he did if you can find a translation of it. (If you go to the League wiki you can find other language versions of it, and from there you can poke around on Jayce’s page to see if it even has his older lore at all.) The Polish version apparently doesn’t imply people, but the Russian version uses “guards”... or so I think, my knowledge of Russian is pretty small so it was me and Wiktionary against the world. I think that League lore translations, especially from 2011, aren’t exactly the best material for textual evidence, but it’s an interesting curiosity. (I’m genuinely fascinated on how this was never a point of argument, and also to the fact that it was made much more ambiguous in Jayce’s post-outcry lore… but not removed.)

Anyways. Of course, you can take his lines and general character to a logical endpoint and say that it is implied that he doesn’t care much about whether or not people consent to the Glorious Evolution, but at that point you’re arguing interpretation and need to say as such. The cases I’ve seen in which people say that old lore Viktor was lopping people’s limbs off without consent or what-have-you just say that, without citing any textual evidence or saying that it is possibly implied by his character and lines. It’s pretty hard to take those claims seriously when there’s much more textual evidence that current-canon Viktor doesn’t seem too keen on respecting autonomy. Let’s begin with his own lore, which is written to favor his perspective.

Please keep in mind that this Viktor got his start selling automative technology to businesses in Zaun. The Zaun that is full of corrupt chem-barons. But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he only sold to good businesses. (Also, fascinating that a common complaint about old Viktor is that his status as a pioneer of his field is that he’s “unrealistically accomplished”, and that other people would have figured out the same technology - just as it seems to be the case in current lore, with the Church of the Glorious Evolved existing pre-Viktor (except that it probably didn’t at the time of this lore’s release, as there’s a paragraph later on in his lore that talks about a “quasi-religious cult” that is unnamed but… Who else would it be?) and augmentations being common on the NPCs on the Universe page. Yet someone who’s 19 having their inventions be commonly used in Zaun long enough for the term eventually to be used in reference to the next stage of their life is perfectly acceptable. Anyways…)

What we see from this is clear: even if there is a “good” reason to control the divers, there is no mention of them consenting to the procedure. Considering the previous quotation, Viktor seems to deal more with the bosses than the workers and doesn’t seem to consider the potential job-removing impacts of his work (how many people lost jobs due to being rendered obsolete?), which doesn’t bode well for him caring much about what the workers think. But of course, this aside about dealing with bosses is all interpretation, so you can ignore it if you’d like. There still is, however, actual, textual evidence that new Viktor does not care about consent if he believes his idea is what’s best for you.

Ignoring the writer misusing the term “psychotics” - par for the course in fiction unfortunately - here’s Viktor kidnapping people “for their own good”. Nothing is said in his lore if he’s contracted to do this, or if he’s just Zaun’s version of a Good Samaritan out and about chloroforming people. While I’m not saying that the moral choice is to not intervene, he is drugging people here and performing brain surgery on them. Please note the “in a manner of speaking”. What does that mean? Is it in reference to them having permanent brain damage? Or is it in reference to him being all well-and-ready to transfer their bodies into robots that presumably weren’t designed for them? (Speaking of, if Viktor can transfer the consciousnesses - or at least brains - of people… why is he still in a fleshy mortal body? Yes, it would require a VU to update him to be fully robotic, but none of his written media seems to imply that he’s on his way. His color story has him integrating technology directly into his arm, for example. Why aren’t you getting into the robot, Viktor?)

Anyways, two options here: either the automatons had enough of their former programming to react to Viktor giving a kill command, or the consciousnesses of the people Viktor is “saving” are in these robots and are under his sway enough to commit murder. Either is bad (and negates any moral superiority over old Viktor’s maybe-implied-canonical-murder), but the second is horrifying. And, obviously, non-consensual. (Because the damage is reversing, I don’t believe there’s room for a justification of the second option in which these people are still violent and dangerous.)

Anyways, last bit. It’s pretty bad when your ethics are panned in Zaun, the nation host to rampart corruption and also people like Singed. Let’s now move on to his color story, which is what a lot of fans point to as evidence for new Viktor having a heart or a moral compass.

Yay! Moral win: your cyborg isn’t cutting off the head of a child without his consent. (Also, again, is this proof that Viktor can put brains or consciousnesses in robot bodies? Admittedly, he might be joking since this Viktor is a little softer than he is in his biography.)

Moral… win… your cyborg is augmenting a child… Anyways, joking aside, this is unethical. How’s Naph supposed to consent to something like this? I know that we can’t expect fictional characters in a fantasy setting to abide by modern ethical standards, but I think we can critique them from an out-of-universe context. This is bad. Viktor gives very little context, could very well be lying (he isn’t, hopefully), and sends the kid off with his version of a pat on the back and tells him to come back if he wants more. (The “Oh yes” is also… creepy.) A kid’s decision-making abilities aren’t developed to the extent that they can be reasonably expected to understand or consent to a procedure that removes a pretty crucial emotion. If Naph comes back and wants his fear gone permanently, will Viktor oblige?

Also, fear is something that is very important to survival and judgment calls. Without fear, a kid in Zaun might take dangerous risks that could end up with them dead. I can’t really see how people interpret this as a morally sound decision - Viktor’s pretty much giving mood-altering drugs to a child and telling him to come back if he wants another hit. Just because he got Naph’s okay doesn’t mean that he got informed consent.

Let’s now turn to the black sheep of Viktor content: his Legends of Runeterra lines. There’s two of interest.

Armed Gearhead’s card art is of a man whose only augmentation is his arm, which he says he broke in another line. (I suppose he didn’t want to wait for it to heal?)

Viktor is talking about messing with his head, here, because Armed Gearhead is… too emotive, I’d guess. He is “not yet complete”. A statement which Armed Gearhead seems rather apprehensive about, if you listen to his response.

I know that LoR Viktor is one of the more “comically villainous” depictions of Viktor we’ve seen, so if new Viktor fans would like to ignore his lines I have no issue with that. But these lines certainly seem to imply that what Viktor sees as Armed Gearhead’s end state isn’t necessarily what he sees as his, and should be considered if people want to take them as canonical.

Not necessarily needed, but here’s Jayce’s present lore. One of them is definitely lying - Jayce’s lore says that he doesn’t strike until after Viktor gives the kill order, and Viktor’s says that he gave the kill order in response to Jayce smashing up the lab. Either way, Viktor is ordering automatons (that, in this version, are outright stated to be housing the brains of the people Viktor is trying to keep alive) to kill Jayce. Not a good look.

Viktor’s new lore gives significant textual evidence that he doesn’t care for whether others willingly consent to his ideas, so long as he believes that his ideas are for the greater good. This is in contrast to the vagueness of his original lore, meaning that any individual who speaks about how current Viktor is someone who cares for consent in contrast to the “unethical mad scientist”ness of old Viktor is unfortunately mistaken. I have to imagine that general fandom interpretation, combined with the fact that his bio and color story are very tonally different, have made it so people believe that this version of Viktor is much more ethical than he canonically is.

Interpreting Viktor as sympathetic and actually morally grey is fine, of course! Riot wrote his narrative very poorly when he was updated, which is why I’m still finding bones to pick with it in comparison to his original and more open-to-interpretation lore. The issue is stating that this is canonically the case, which it isn’t, and/or stating that the current iteration of Viktor has the moral high ground over his previous incarnation, which he doesn’t. I think that much more interesting character conversations can happen if people acknowledge that Viktor as he’s currently written is roundly unethical - how can that be improved upon for a more complex character, does that mean that Jayce’s behavior was right, etc. For all my dislike of new Viktor, I’d be genuinely curious to read a take that actively acknowledges his pre-college work in automation and how that affects his standing in Piltover and Zaun. (Is he well-known in industry? What do workers think about him? And so on…) And, well, on a personal note: I think that acknowledging current Viktor’s moral failings would be nice, because it would mean that people would stop using old Viktor as a strawman.

Anyways, I suppose that’s the post. Thank you for reading!

#headcanons | beneath the mask #//back at it.

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fandom-sheep · 4 years ago

Text

Fundy Dream SMP Chaos 01 APR 21

Delayed Liveblogging Part 1/1

I’m late cause I was on Wills stream.

He was laughing and complaining about not being able to burn things.

He’s happy he made a thing.

Oh no. Why is he tnting the castle and arsoning?

Why is Fundy causing problems on purpose?

Fundy honey please don’t break the holy land.

Oh it’s supposedly a fake server.

I need to read chat more to learn what is happening.

I guess I trust chat with fake smp?

OH WAIT! It’s April first!

I expected Fundy to prank us but I’m honestly too stupid for my own good sometimes.

Alright install hacks. Let’s go.

Chat has been burned before today.

Just casually looking at the reach mods.

The reason I don’t trust this is be a fake server is because he was on the real server earlier.

Fundy honestly might just be trying problems on purpose and it wouldn’t surprise me.

Sneaking under the half door! Oh wait never mind.

Oh no. Not memory dream stuff. Please your chat will cry.

Arson the Tommy house.

Arson the trees.

Oh an awesome old house.

Ah yes more tnt.

Fox boy has had quite the explosion obsession lately.

Upwards MLG. So talented.

I still don’t trust this not to be real. Because Fundy very well might explode things.

My dog is laying on my foot.

Lots of explosions.

Making more tnt nice.

Fundy gets banned arc! Let’s goooo.

Ok I want to see Fundy make this shot.

Explosion hour!

You can do it!

Chat is so divided between encouraging chaos and desperately hoping this is an April fools prank.

It’s still April first over there isn’t it?

1000% cannon

I love how Fundy understands that people do what they are told not to. So he tells them not to prime.

So close.

Come on! Explosion!

FOR THE PRIMES!

Yesssss!!!

MLG Fire. All the talent of this man.

I was so excited for Pokémon cards. But no face cam.

Wait don’t do Pokémon cards. We can’t see. 😢

Ah yes, Pokémon card asmr...

I wish I could see the cards. I love Pokémon cards.

I don’t know what some of these Pokémon he is vaguely describing are.

Oh wait! What was the last one???

Oooo what is it? What is it?

Rainbow glitter doesn’t limit it.

I could not understand that name. I can’t tell if it’s good.

Also Fundy. Time to look at this card.

Quit retaking the picture and just post it.

I swear he is enjoying toying with us.

We’re being shot while he’s trying to take a picture.

Ok time to check the bird site.

I have replied to the tweet with the requested phrase.

I don’t believe it’s worth a lot but it’s pretty.

Finally we’re done being stabbed by the skeleton.

Skeleton coming into close shot range.

Please don’t drown sir.

He’s comin’

Anyway back to causing problems.

Or you know back on memory lane...

Oh wait nevermind. Problems on purpose.

Really cool idea?

Another lovely ranged shot.

Aww. Didn’t quite make it.

Again didn’t quite make it.

Lazy way now.

“Eek” -Fundy

That’s one way to get revenge.

Chat keeping on calling for the death of Michael.

Casually sneaking into creative cause he’s out of tnt.

Tnt balloon launcher!

Oh Fundy planning on causing trouble at the other prison.

Tnt launcher let’s go.

Oh a being donated 100 lovely.

They deserve to have a tnt launcher named after them.

The chests being full has me suspicious but I still doubt the boy is truly causing problems on purpose.

Tnt launcher did not work.

L the streamer.

Oh Niki is going live on the smp. I suppose that’s one way we can find out if it’s the true smp.

Off they went. But it’s not accurate.

We’re just working with Fundy to cause trouble.

Nope. He just can’t do it.

Wow he’s flying like magic! (And covering that with tnt)

Making homemaker a bigger target isn’t going to work.

He’s gathering so many arrows.

Not a single one hit. Awesome looking but a lovely failure.

I tried to check on Nikis stream but the only thing that happened is I had to watch an ad to get back to Fundy.

Also Niki was hosting Minx. I missed her.

Awesome explosion Fundy.

Ah. Auto build.

Oh we auto built a bunch of signs. And none of them have the message.

Fungi grave. With diamonds. Lovely.

I am enjoying this even if I know better.

Ah. A lovely pile of tnt.

Poof!

Someone should have let Fundy have tnt sooner.

Casual flight.

I always love the music on Fundy’s streams. Just That lovely nostalgia.

Just piles of tnt by the hotel.

Chat is so panicked.

I don’t think most of them know it’s April first.

Oooo are we gambling?

Nope not gambling. But it did work gorgeously.

I’m not a griefing kind of person, but this does my heart good.

Enjoying problems.

“Oh what’s this place” adds tnt “gone” -Fundy

Come on chat people. Just encourage him. Quit saying check the date and that it’s a fake server. Just role with it.

Oh that was a very pretty explosion.

Exploded early but it worked (stupid egg bits)

A gorgeous sideways explosion.

We still aren’t destroying... oh wait. We are exploding. No sign.

No escape. But he survived. And the prime bell is still safe.

Castle explosion time.

I’m kinda sad about the castle I’ll admit. But I’ll still up for a good explosion.

Made the lil house and now he explodes things.

Chat blowing up the rainbow castle isn’t homophobic. Hush.

Oooo shaders. That’ll look pretty.

Cant wait to see the pretty screenshots the artists use.

Probably a back up. We’ll see.

Oh I’m also a bit sad about the museum. But you know. If we gotta explode things we gotta explode things.

I can’t wait to see the shaders with this.

Struggling to explosions.

Oh pretty. And the hotdog survives!!!

Cinematic. Beautiful.

Donos playing along saying he’ll be banned. Or donos just confused.

This boy truly pretending he hacked his way into creative on the smp.

Ok that was a pretty cinematic shot.

Holo mellons

Sniff raid! Lovely!

Also the person telling them to check out foolish’s stream. Hush. Let us worry people.

Oh did Fundy build the funky cube thing? I doubt but still.

Prison time.

Oh got to get the skeppy and bad house

And whatever that pit building is.

Everyone still talking about how it ain’t real. Quit it y’all. Come on. Join the joke.

Our dearest mods trying to keep everyone from spoiling it.

The prison is a really pretty build. And it does look explodable.

Explode the prison. Yes and 5up is hot is what are winning.

The no’s can’t catch up. It’s fire time.

You can tell the prank has failed, but it’s still good for the heart to see it explode. It is still a game after all as emotionally attached as we have gotten to it.

A small thing. A small explosive thing.

Everyone changing lag already.

Everyone already ready to fight Fundy if he were to blow up Michael.

Button time.

Oh we even have the cool undertake music.

And the cannon didn’t reach.

Auto build plus lots of tnt.

This is the grand finale of the prank I believe.

I might to go foolish after this. Get some chaotic building man.

Prime bell!!!

Poof and pop.

Oh that was pretty.

Wait... inner wall...

Well. Lore people take your notes on prison construction.

This knowledge will help you on your quest later.

Prison couldn’t even be broken by a fox with a tnt canon.

Phil Raid! Hooray!

Please be a real raid. I want the extra half hour of chaos.

Even though the fox should be yelled at to go to sleep.

Oh. Was it a real Phil raid? I half expected it not to be.

The chat is both confused and chilling.

You get that hype train rich people.

Walking around trying to pretend we haven’t been blowing everything up.

Casually walking around showing off his destruction.

It’s not even April first over theee anymore is it?

Ah. Yeah it is April fools joke.

Ah. Is Fundy actually coming clean about his stuff.

Ah no. He’s continuing to pretend nothing is happening.

Lots of tnt.

Gorgeous. Magnificent. Fantastic.

I love tnt particles for whatever reason. They always look so good.

That actually did a lot.

Yes join the fox discord! Yes follow the fox Twitter! I’ve already done both. I don’t really check either but still.

Showing off his explosions.

Oh we’re doing a reenactment.

Let’s gooo.

L’manhole v. 3 (4?)

Lots of tnt. Always good.

Oh. Oh no. It’s lagging bad.

The tnt. Isn’t going.

Ah now the true lag.

“Cool guys don’t have the frames to look at explosions” -Fundy

That was a good explosion. How deep did it go? No very probably.

TNT parkour! We love it!

That didn’t work but that was a nice explosion. Plenty of bedrock.

Good job with the hype train rich people.

We enjoy our streamer causing problems.

And the sign has changed again. You know the one. “You heart...”

Trying to fill the orb thing with tnt.

That was a very contained explosion.

Good explosion time.

Ok. We’re talking concrete replacement.

Blood vines exploding this early again.

Casually exploding the tiny Eret.

Everyone convincing him not to blow up the tiny Eret.

I love how those who watch one watch the other.

L’manburg yeah explode it. Eret? No.

Oh wait don’t look at the spoilers.

Secret Base Here.

Ahh. Blowing up his tower as well.

Nevermind. We like the tower.

Reasons. Mhm. Didn’t plan on that when he set this up. (In relation to snowchester)

Boy’s tnt penmanship is like that of a toddler.

Great explosions.

Oh we’re poofing the Targay next.

I love the two types of people. People like me, playing along, and the people who are panicking and praying it’s a copy.

Love the mods telling everyone it’s real.

Aww he died.

It’s ok. We respawned.

Defiantly cannon.

We don’t want it to be? That’s worrying for future lore.

But we’re not talking future lore. We’re doing therapy explosions.

Oh an ad. I didn’t get it. I won’t complain.

All the levels gone so sad. Not like they can spontaneously appear.

No. We aren’t going to snowchester. Too far away.

Where is the next level?

Random fire arrows???

Yes we are question marking.

Coder boy? Minecraft commands?

Run command?

Execute command?

He’s typing. I understand none of it.

Oh it’s peaceful.

There it goes.

Withers our favorite thing

Withers and chickens.

Oh. We stuck. We lagging bad.

Let me join the L group really fast.

The game crashed and now he’s trying again.

Wait all the damage reset?

Oh wait no we’re on the real smp now aren’t we!

Maybe not... we’ll see.

It never saved?

And here is the April Fools reveal.

Oh hooray sub goal and piano tunes!

Oh American roadtrip by Fundy!

That’ll be fun! It’ll be fun to see the vlogs and the like!

Raise that sub goal! Get that fun adventure!

It’ll be a month but it’ll be fun!

Ah he is telling them it was a real April fools steam.

But this is a cool idea! I hope the boy gets to come here on an adventure.

Why do many New York and New Jersey people? Also hooray 5up!

I hit the text block limit. Good song time! Banger tune time! Oh that’s neat! FundyJam! Another? I could make a part 2 to this instead of cramming, but that’s too much work. GOOD SONG GOOD STREAM! I love Fundy streams so much. Very therapeutic explosions. And the raid went through. 15TH FOR MAIN CHANNEL VIDEO!!!!

#fundy #april first #dream smp #kinda ish #it’s close enough #delayed liveblogging #spoilers #Fundy spoilers

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gabriel-agreste-has-no-rights · 5 years ago

Link

Rating: G

Chapter Summary: Nathalie and co. crash the party. This time, Alya is the one with the backup plan. Meanwhile, Ladybug and Adrien are both stupidly in love.

Word Count: 4294 | Chapter 4/4

Notes: Last chapter of the fic for @marinetteplztakeabreak commissioned through @mlbforblm! The drive is over, but please check out the blog to see what everyone else has created and how to stay involved!

XXX

“I am telling you! If you did not RSVP, you do not come in! That is the rules!” Philippe spread his arms wide, blocking the entrance to the rink. Nino could barely see him through the crack in the double doors. Philippe was a cool dude, but he wouldn’t last long against Nathalie, Adrien’s bodyguard, and tablet-Gabe himself.

Nino was tempted to go out there and turn the tablet’s power off, just to see what Nathalie would do. But he didn’t want to get Adrien grounded for the next millennium.

Plus, he wasn’t supposed to be seen at all. Kagami and Wayhem were on stalling duty with Philippe. Nino just had to make sure that Nathalie wouldn’t find any trace of Adrien when she eventually forced her way in.

“They’re gone. Finally.” Chloé reported.

Nino nodded. He’d seen a red blur leave through the window.

“Rose, Juleka, and I hid the presents behind the skate rental booth,” Alya said. “Kim ate the rest of the cake, and Luka took XY to make out in the bathroom. That should cover all the loose ends.”

“Why are you telling us that?” Chloé gagged, and Alya rolled her eyes.

“Because XY’s obviously the weakest link here. You said you caught him posting photos on Insta, right?”

“I did. It’s a good thing you put me on the job.” She flipped her hair.

Not that it mattered in the end, because Nathalie had found them anyway. But the rink looked about as innocent as it could get. With the presents hidden, the laser lights turned off, and generic pop music playing, they could’ve been a bunch of dudes on a regular Friday evening.

“Anyway, we’ll all be safer if XY isn’t here to spill our secrets for a little while. You better go too, babe,” Alya said, squeezing Nino’s hand.

“Go where? Apparently Luka and XY called dibs on the bathroom.” Besides, he’d planned this party, and he was going to see it through. It was time to break his three-year-long failure streak.

Alya sighed. “I’ll be ready to pay your bail, then.”

He gave a weak grin. Like Adrien, he was still seventeen. They couldn’t actually arrest him, right?

Considering the Agrestes were loaded, he wouldn’t take his chances.

The doors opened. Nino did his best not to scowl at Gabriel’s face on the tablet.

“What gives?” He asked, pretending like he hadn’t put weeks of planning into this moment. “Did you get mad we didn’t invite you to our sweet party?”

“So you admit it,” Gabe said coldly from the screen. Nathalie remained as still as a statue, like she was only there to display her boss’ face. It was pretty creepy, honestly. Adrien’s bodyguard was normally silent anyway, so that wasn’t as unnerving.

“Admit what? That we know how to have a rad time, and you don’t?” Nino put his hands on his hips. His tone might be pushing it, but if he acted too nice, Gabe would never buy it.

“That you threw a birthday party for dsfkslksdkfklfdfk when I have repeatedly sdlfdsfsllkdf express disapproval.” Gabriel’s face glitched out a few times, his voice blurring to something like a keysmash.

Nino bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Man, he owed Max big time for this.

“Birthday party?” Wayhem frowned. He was a better actor than most of them. “I didn’t hear anything about a birthday.”

“Today is my son’s sdsaskdlfirthday.”

Wayhem’s head tilted. “You have a son?”

Nino choked. Okay, maybe Wayhem was trying too hard, but the look on tablet-Gabe’s face was priceless. If only he could convince Nathalie to take a screenshot.

“It’s Adrien’s birthday, dude.” Nino punched Wayhem’s arm. “We just couldn’t invite him, remember? ‘Cause his dad’s a buzzkill.”

“I took him out for birthday orange juice to cheer him up,” Kagami told Wayhem, but her words were really directed towards Gabriel. “A poor substitute for a party, but it was the best I could do.”

Gabriel’s eyes flickered, as if scanning as much of the rink as his screen would allow.

“Search the area.”

Adrien’s bodyguard nodded once, not that Gabe could see him from his angle. Then he went off to inspect the rows of chairs. At least he wasn’t starting with the skate rental booth.

“Be careful with my rink! Don’t step on the ice without proper skating equipment!” Philippe shouted.

“Weren’t you listening? He’s not here, dude—sir,” Nino corrected. Not that it mattered much. He’d already been as disrespectful as he dared.

Gabe’s face glitched again. “Where is my son now, then?”

Alya shrugged. “Probably on his way home, right?”

“Alone?” He practically snarled. The tablet froze for a moment, catching his mouth open in an unflattering frame. Maybe Nino could sneak his phone out and take a picture if he couldn’t get a real screenshot. “Why wouldn’t he call his bodyguard? Have you all dslkfddfsjljfdls irresponsible—”

“He’s with Ladybug, dude,” Nino interrupted. Adrien’s bodyguard was getting close to the skates; he couldn’t afford to stall too long. “He can’t get safer than that.”

For some reason, that only seemed to make Gabe seethe more. But a neutral expression quickly replaced it, so maybe Nino was just imagining things.

“If sdlfkdfs your idea of a trick, you’ll have to—”

Kagami’s phone dinged. Silently, she held up her screen to the tablet. Nino couldn’t see what it showed, but Gabe’s mouth finally shut.

“Nathalie. Return home at once and sdlfjkdssdls Ladybug has delivered my son safely.”

Nathalie’s expression changed for the first time, her eyes widening. “But, sir, aren’t you already at—”

“Kskdlfskfl at once.” The screen went dark.

Nathalie sighed, like Gabriel had taken the last bit of her composure with him.

“Enjoy your not-birthday party,” she said in monotone before exiting the rink, her heels clicking against the concrete floor with each step.

Adrien’s bodyguard jogged after her. His face was bright pink—he’d just come out from investigating the boy’s bathroom. XY must have been useful after all.

Nino whistled once the adults were gone. “What did you show her?”

Kagami held up her phone for him. Adrien’s face was squished next to Ladybug’s in a selfie he’d posted to Instagram. Her smile looked a little more hysteric than Alya’s Ladyblog photos could capture. Actually, it looked kind of familiar.

But Nino didn’t think too hard about that, considering the caption Adrien had typed.

Escorted home by my favorite superhero! I couldn’t ask for a more miraculous birthday present!! <3

If Ladybug looked awkward, it was probably just embarrassment at how cheesy he was.

“How did you get that so fast?” Nino frowned.

“I messaged Adrien while you were stalling. Unfortunately, he’ll have to return home to maintain the illusion.” Her brows pulled into a scowl. “I should have created a contingency plan for this.”

“What?” Kim shouted. “But I haven’t even won my bet!”

Alix cackled and stretched out her hand. “Pay up, loser.”

Juleka ran her fingers comfortingly through Rose’s hair. Max frowned down at his computer screen. Others were murmuring to each other, looking downcast. All of them knew how much work Nino and Kagami had put into this party. All of them knew how much it meant to Adrien.

“Come on, we’re not giving up that easily!” Nino insisted. “There’s gotta be some way to keep fooling Nathalie. What if Max hacks the sound system again? We can make it sound like he’s in bed snoring, or something.”

“Guys?” Alya stepped up, waving her phone at the two of them. “I have a better idea.”

XXX

Marinette.exe had stopped working. Thankfully, Ladybug.exe could still run on backup power. She tried to keep her cool as she swung them up onto the roof of the rink.

“Wait,” Adrien said before she could cast out her yo-yo again. His breath was close to her neck, ruffling her pigtails. She did her best not to shiver.

“We need to get you away from here. Just in case,” Marinette said. The silver limo was still parked below, but she had no idea how long it would take for Nathalie and Adrien’s bodyguard to leave the rink.

“They won't see us up here. I can’t leave without making sure Nino is okay. Last year, my father almost got him arrested.”

Marinette winced. Of course, Adrien didn’t know that “Ladybug” was there for his previous almost-birthday-party, close enough to see the bruises on Nino’s arm.

“I hope he’s alright too,” she said quietly before gently setting him on his feet. His arms were still secure around her neck, and his ring was a shock of cold where it brushed her skin.

His ring. She’d never seen him without it.

“I—sorry!” Adrien practically yelped when she did shiver. His arms slapped back to his sides.

She couldn’t do anything but stare as red spilled across his cheeks. It was him. It had to be him.

Ladybug.exe was beginning to shut down too. Maybe Max could reinstall her software.

“Ladybug?” Adrien swallowed. “We should probably hide a little bit better…”

“R-right!”

She let him pull her flat against the roof. They laid there on their stomachs, her arm pressed to his, their fingers still twined together. His silver ring gleamed against the red of her suit.

How was she supposed to breach the subject? “Oh, by the way, I know you’re Chat Noir?” It was his birthday. He deserved a perfect identity reveal, not just her stupidly blurting whatever came into her head.

His phone beeped, startling her.

“Sorry. Kagami said to keep my ringer on in case of an emergency.” He fished the phone from his pocket and set it on the roof. They were close enough for Marinette to see the message from Kagami on his screen.

“She needs us to take a selfie?” Her brow furrowed.

Adrien shrugged. “It must be important.”

They sat up, still holding hands. Her blush probably matched his by now, but if he hadn’t let go, why should she?

She shuffled closer to him, until her chin was resting over his shoulder. Just so they would both fit in the camera frame, of course. Not because she wanted to press her cheek to his, feel his blush on her skin.

Yeah, she wasn’t kidding anyone. Except maybe him.

“Smile!” He said, holding up his phone.

As if she could not smile when breathing in his radiant, carefree, dreamy scent. When she knew more than ever that they were made for each other.

Her grin still looked a bit too wide in the photo, not like his perfect, brilliant smile.

“You’re still that happy?” She couldn’t help blurting. She had his model smiles memorized. This wasn’t one of them. It was too genuine, much more so than her tense grin.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” He looked up from where he was typing out a caption. “I get to spend my birthday with my—with my favorite superhero.” His smile twitched, almost becoming a familiar smirk.

She blushed, even though Chat Noir had said more flirtatious things to her than that.

“But your party might be over. You didn’t even get to open presents.” Which reminded her, she still had his present in her yo-yo. Now didn’t feel like the right time to give it to him, though.

“The best present is how much my friends thought of me.” He squeezed her hand. “And I wouldn’t worry yet. Nino and Kagami probably have a plan for this.”

His phone rang. Nino or Kagami already? Was the coast clear?

But the contact on the screen wasn’t either of them.

“Alya?” Adrien asked after picking up. “Is everything okay? Nino didn’t do anything crazy, did he?”

Marinette strained to pick out what Alya was saying on the other end, but it was too muffled. Adrien’s eyes widened.

“Uh…” To her surprise, he held out the phone to her. “Alya wants to talk to you.”

Marinette blinked before holding the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

Alya didn’t waste time with introductions. “Sorry to interrupt your date, but I know a way we can save Adrien’s party. Can I borrow the fox miraculous again?”

XXX

Alya played a few notes on her flute, and brilliant light streamed from the end. It coalesced into Adrien’s sleeping form, nestled beneath the covers. So realistic. His back even rose and fell with the illusion of breath.

“Amazing,” Marinette whispered as she crouched in Adrien’s windowsill. She tried not to fidget as she kept lookout—not that Nathalie should show up anytime soon. Even though Marinette had stopped to pick up Alya’s miraculous, they’d easily left the Agreste limo behind in the Friday evening traffic.

Alya strapped her flute to her back and nodded. “Probably a waste of effort. I doubt Nathalie will even pay attention.”

Marinette sighed. She was probably right. If only she could take Adrien away for longer than one evening, one birthday party…

Soon. Even if Adrien had to spend his days here, she would make sure his nights were full of freedom and laughter.

Full of love.

Just as soon as she found out the best way to reveal her identity. It was only fair, now that she’d figured out his. And then everything would be perfect, and they’d go on dates in the park, and she’d sew him sweaters to wear over his suit, and he’d crack puns and she’d pun back, and—

“You alright there, Ladybug?” The faux eyebrows on Alya’s mask drew together.

“Yep! Doing great!” She grinned, face heating. She had to be careful. If she daydreamed too much in front of Alya, her friend might puzzle out her identity, too.

“We better go then. Don’t want to leave your boyfriend waiting.” She winked.

Marinette gaped. “What? He’s not—I mean, I wouldn’t mind if he was, but—”

She couldn’t date Adrien as Ladybug. She’d known that even before she agreed to come suited up to his party. But she hadn’t realized just how much of a mess it would be if Alya thought Ladybug was dating Adrien, and then Marinette showed up with him at school.

“It’s okay. Practically everyone’s had a crush on Adrien at some point. But Ladybug?” Alya stepped close, then swung her legs over the windowsill so they were sitting side by side. “If you really want to be with him, you’d better love him, okay? At least as much as my best friend does. And I’m not sure that’s possible.”

Her face heated, but from what? Embarrassment? Intimidation? She was being ridiculous. Alya was comparing her to herself!

“I—I promise I’ll take his feelings seriously,” she said quietly.

Alya nodded. “Well then, let’s go.”

With that, she leapt off for the next rooftop. Marinette lagged behind for just a moment, though, glancing back at the illusory Adrien.

“He means everything to me.”

XXX

Adrien paced on the roof after Ladybug left. He wasn’t sure what she was doing with Alya, or how they were going to keep Nathalie from realizing he wasn’t in his room. She was Ladybug. She always had a plan.

He did kind of wish she’d remembered to take him back inside first, though.

“So you’re just gonna sit out here? You’re missing your own party!” Plagg said, flying out of his hoodie.

“It’s alright.” He swung his legs over the edge of the roof, kicking slowly back and forth. The party had been amazing, and while he did want to be back inside, this was nice too. The evening air, the bright moon, the phantom memory of Ladybug’s hand in his.

Did she actually like him? Him? No way. She’d said she didn’t want to kiss him, and she’d acted a little bit off all night.

Maybe that was why he waited up here, rather than transforming and climbing down. Somehow, he felt that if he could see her just one more time, he’d be able to understand.

His phone beeped. He checked it immediately, heart pounding. Was Ladybug okay? Had her and Alya’s mysterious plan failed?

No. It was Kagami, just checking on him. He breathed a sigh of relief and began typing a reply.

“Boring.” Plagg sighed. “Wake me up when we get back inside. I didn’t even get the chance to check out the cheese table.”

Adrien smiled and patted him as he snuggled back in the hoodie pocket.

I’ll be back soon, he typed. Just waiting on Ladybug.

She left you up there? Kagami sent back. I’ll come get you. Philippe is showing me a way up.

His eyes widened. That fast? Well, Kagami was never one to hesitate.

He didn’t even have time to write a reply before Philippe’s head poked up through a hidden trap door.

“Ah, there you are! The man of the hour!” He smiled. “Your friend is looking for you. She’s waiting below.”

“Thanks. I’ll be down in just a second.” He waved back, then turned his gaze to the horizon.

“Don’t take too long. She’s very concerned about you.”

Kagami was always looking out for him. It warmed his heart, even as he felt guilty for missing the party she’d planned.

“I won’t; don’t worry.”

Philippe disappeared down the hatch, and sure enough, Ladybug didn’t keep him waiting much longer either. She dropped Alya off at the front door before swinging up onto the roof.

“You should be safe now,” she said with a smile. “Your father will never know you’re here.”

He smiled back, suddenly overwhelmed with just how much he loved this girl. Not only had she come to his party, she’d gone out of her way to make sure he didn’t get in trouble.

Of course, Alya had helped with that too. He’d have to thank her when he got back inside.

“Thank you, Ladybug.” He fought back the urge to take her hand again. He didn’t have an excuse this time. Besides, he was around her all the time as Chat Noir; he should have enough practice keeping his hands to himself.

She just smiled back, looking as strained as before, like a balloon about to burst.

“Are you okay?” He asked, reaching out vaguely before letting his arm fall back to his side. Hands to himself.

Because she didn’t like him. Probably. Even if his love was like a drum beating its way out of his chest, so loud she’d have to be deaf to ignore it.

She laughed with her head in her hands. “Why does everyone keep asking that?”

“Um… because you’ve been acting a little bit weird all night, and if I did anything to make you uncomfortable, I want to be able to fix it.”

“You?” Her head popped back up, revealing wide eyes. “Worried about making me uncomfortable?”

“Uh… yeah?” He wasn’t suited up, and “Adrien” didn’t have years of familiarity to fall back on. Each casual touch could be misconstrued.

This time, her laugh was real, echoing over the traffic below.

“You’re too nice, you know that?” She finally said.

“Um… thanks?”

Real eloquent, Adrien. He was pretty sure he’d started the last three sentences with some variation of uh.

“I mean it. You’re always too nice, and you’re always here for me, and I—I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.” She hiccuped, and—and was she crying?

“My—” he cut off before he could say my lady.

But she just smiled, even as tears trickled down her mask.

“Your lady. Yeah.” She giggled, though a wet sniffle interrupted it. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all emotional. I planned out a whole speech on the way over, and then I saw you and it just—woosh! Gone.”

Your lady. His… but then she…?

“You’re so cute when you figure things out,” she said, reaching out to take his hand. “I hope you’re not disappointed. I wanted to give you a more dramatic reveal, but I—I just love you so much, aaaaaaand I wasn’t supposed to say that yet either.”

She smacked her forehead with her free hand. He was still gaping, his soul practically leaving his body.

“How could I ever be disappointed with that?” He breathed, looking between her eyes and their joined hands. He gave hers an experimental squeeze, and found that she squeezed back. Sparks went off from his fingers to his toes. “My Lady, this is the best birthday present ever.”

That was a lie. She threw her arms around him, and that was the best present ever. Every heartbeat was better, and better, and soon he was laughing and breathing in the scent of her hair, and she was laughing back and squeezing him so tight he could burst.

“I love you too,” he said against her neck. “Obviously.”

“Obviously,” she huffed. “It wasn’t obvious to me.”

“Well, I’ll make sure it will be from now on.” He pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against hers, to stare into her eyes. A few freckles spilled out from under her mask. He’d never been close enough to see those before.

“I’d appreciate that.”

He could’ve asked when, or how, or why she’d fallen for him. What happened to the other boy she used to talk about?

But that all faded in the face of her lips brushing his. Hesitant at first, then wanting, needing. This was better than anything he could’ve asked for. A giddy laugh burst from his lungs to hers, and she pulled back.

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. You probably weren’t supposed to laugh in someone’s mouth while you were kissing them. “I got a little too excited.”

“Adrien.” She cupped his cheek in her palm. “Never feel sorry for being happy. Or excited. I’m so excited I could die right now.”

“Please don’t.”

She chuckled. “Anyway, as much as I just want to keep kissing you, I should probably give you your real birthday present.”

He blinked. If she had more in mind for him than that, he might actually die.

She flipped open her yo-yo and pulled something from inside. A little vial?

“I remembered you saying that you hated Adrien: the Fragrance,” she started, rolling the glass between her fingers. A pinkish liquid sloshed inside. “So I found out some scents that you like, and I put something together. Making cologne is a lot like making the potions for our kwamis.”

“You… made this?” He accepted the bottle, unscrewing the top to take a whiff. It did smell wonderful. Like roses and strawberries, with just a hint of rain. Was it magical, like the potions she could create? “This is amazing, my Lady. But… when did I tell you I hated the fragrance they made me advertise?”

She smiled. “That’s the other part of your present.”

His eyebrows creased, but before he could ask for clarification, she whispered, “Tikki, spots off.”

He stared wide-eyed as pink light washed over her. When the sparkles faded, he gasped.

“Marinette.” Her name tasted sweeter than the smells she’d mixed just for him. “Marinette.”

He couldn’t say anything else. His face was sore from smiling so much, but he couldn’t stop. Ladybug was Marinette, and she loved him!

“That makes sense,” a voice said from behind him. He almost screamed, but Ladybug—Marinette—slapped a hand over his mouth first.

“Kagami?” She gaped. Her hand fell from Adrien’s face, giving him room to turn around. “What—what are you doing up here?”

Kagami crossed her arms over the lip of the trap door. “Adrien didn’t come down. Philippe told you not to take too long. But I understand why you did.” She nodded, as if thinking to herself.

Adrien locked frantic eyes with Marinette. Just because she was okay with revealing her identity to Chat Noir didn’t mean she’d be okay with Kagami knowing too.

“You… um… so how much did you…?” He trailed off.

“I was waiting for you to finish kissing. I’m told it’s impolite to interrupt.”

His eyes widened. She’d been watching for that long? He hoped she wasn’t upset. Even if she didn’t like him romantically, it might still be awkward to watch him kiss someone else.

Marinette was bright red, but she cleared her throat. “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

“About your secret identity, or about kissing Adrien?”

“My identity,” she said quickly, looking more and more mortified by the second.

Kagami grinned. It was a rare expression on her, but all the more special for it. “I was only teasing. Of course I will guard your identity with my life.”

Marinette smiled gratefully. “Thank you, Kagami.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll tell the others Ladybug dropped you off, so you were able to make it after all.” She took a step down the ladder, before pausing and poking her head back up. “And Marinette? Thank you for taking care of him.”

“Of course. He means everything to me.”

His heart warmed at the praise, at the way she said it so matter-of-factly.

Kagami disappeared back down the ladder, leaving him and Marinette in silence that somehow felt both comfortable and vaguely awkward.

“So, uh… you don’t mind if people know that we kissed?” He asked cautiously.

That finally made her laugh again. “Of course not. I was… well, I was hoping you were going to be my boyfriend.”

“Yes,” he said quickly, as if she’d change her mind. “I mean—please let me be your boyfriend. That would be the best birthday present ever.”

She took his hand again and squeezed it tenderly before slipping his cologne vial into his hoodie pocket. He’d dropped it at some point while they were kissing. Plagg, blessedly, did not complain, even though the little bottle probably bonked him on the head.

“Then happy birthday, boyfriend.”

#fic tag #miraculous ladybug #ladrien #ladybug #adrien agreste #kagami #alya #nino #tali writes #what an ice surprise #mlbforblm

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tickle-her-senseless · 5 years ago

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Important

Hey all. Just wanted to respond to questions from members of a couple of Discord servers run by the same person following a chaotic couple of days. I’m putting all the info and screenshots (minus names, pics and locations) here, so I can just direct people to this post if they have questions.

I had been intending to just head back here to Tumblr and let the situation lie, but unfortunately the reason given by the automated bot for my ban mentioned “crossing consent multiple times”. Today, friends have been sending me worried questions relating to this, so I’m concerned that the server owner may have made a similar claim in public. Now I pretty much have to say something as that’s such a serious thing to say about someone, particularly on any kind of kink scene.

The mention of consent actually relates to the server owner. Near the beginning of the lockdown, she and I were speaking a lot, she began to tease me in DMs, I responded with a piece of writing dedicated to her, we exchanged pictures - and eventually confessed a mutual attraction. We made plans for the end of lockdown, she talked about driving through Europe and showing me her favourite places. Although her English is perfect, I began learning her language through an app as I wanted to make the effort (Brits are renowned for being lazy with languages), and kept it up every day for months, amusing her with my clumsy pronunciation on calls. Sometimes she would send me explicit comments/thoughts, although I was always nervous to initiate that kind of thing.

One day she sent a message saying that she was still coming to terms with the end of her last relationship and would need to take things more slowly, as she was finding romantic sentiments (as opposed to kinky ones) hard to deal with. Naturally I replied “Of course, in that case I’ll wait for you to initiate that stuff once you’re ready”. At some point afterwards, she sent me a message out of the blue saying “I want cuddles ❤️” and I thought “oh, this is a level she’s OK with” and responded. I think it was the following day when I tried to pick up where we’d left off (without going any further, just cuddling in bed type stuff). She reciprocated and we continued. I also (in an attempt to consider her feelings) asked her if the idea of me posting an old session video on my blog for an American friend would upset her at all. Intending to reassure her about my intentions, I mentioned ”...not wanting to tickle anyone except you and saying no to all of the other UK people on the servers who are asking about post-lockdown sessions”. I also said “I do feel a commitment to you”, which (with hindsight) was probably a foolish or misleading word to use in a purely ler/lee sense.

A week later she sent a message I didn’t immediately understand along the lines of “I thought you were going to let me initiate romantic stuff, you don’t seem to have understood me at all”. I wasn’t sure what she was referring to - the recent story I’d written for her? Use of the word “commitment”? Something else? I tried to talk with her on the phone as some wires had clearly become crossed via text, but she refused for five weeks (citing not being in the right headspace), before finally calling when I sent a message explaining that anxiously waiting to mend the friendship in lockdown by myself for over a month was having a terrible effect on me mentally, and I was going to have to “throw in the towel”, wishing her luck and every happiness.

During our phone call, she claimed that the main issue had been the fluffy cuddle messages which she took to be a serious and repeated boundary/consent violation (citing her wish to avoid romantic talk). This was the last thing I expected and really shocked me. Of course I apologised frantically, repeatedly and profusely. I also said I hoped she could see how I’d made the mistake innocently and honestly when:

- she initiated it the first time, so I assumed it was something she was happy to talk about.

- when I picked up where we left off, she didn’t say “Actually, d’you mind if we don’t today?” and continued the cuddle talk instead.

She said that because she initiated it one day didn’t mean that she wanted to continue the day after - fair enough. The difficult thing to accept was the idea that she felt so violated by the attempt to carry on the next day that she found herself frozen to the point of not being able to say “actually I’m not in the mood just now” and carried on with it, and that I was at fault regardless. She even used the word “harassing” to describe it, which I found very harsh considering my inability to read minds over hundreds of miles. Especially when I couldn’t see or hear her to pick up on body language, tone of voice etc to guess that she was saying one thing but feeling a different way. She said, word for word, “It’s like when someone’s choking you and you can’t speak, you’re literally choking me!” As someone who, as a teenager, was once choked on the ground by my own father until I blacked out and lost bladder control, I did see that as a stretch at best, but chose not to challenge it as she was upset.

I also suggested that, looking back, we probably should’ve clarified exactly what was meant by “romantic stuff” when we almost certainly had different takes on it eg. I’ve cuddled after every 1:1 session I’ve ever had, even platonic ones, purely from the angle of aftercare and a sense of having shared an experience. I was told that despite our different ages and experiences of romantic love, there was only one objectively correct definition of “romantic” - hers.

We went around in circles for over four hours - I apologised over and over while explaining how I got the wrong idea and asking her to understand and forgive, while she tearfully called me a gaslighter, a consent violator, an excuse-maker, a harasser ... eventually I collapsed into tears myself (I’m ashamed to admit), totally worn down, and she softened a bit. She finally said she didn’t believe I’d done anything intentionally, and she still wanted to spend time together in the real world. We made up, spoke warmly as friends for an hour, and I left the call exhausted but relieved. After a few days’ reflection, though, I decided against ever travelling to meet her for real, as the experience had shaken me considerably - and I figured it’d be risky to meet someone in real life when I didn’t trust her completely not to accuse me over either nothing or an innocent misunderstanding. I was still wondering how to explain this to her when things got wild on the server.

A few days ago, a Tumblr user with a stated age of 18 contacted me to say nice things about my blog, which (I hope this doesn’t sound conceited) isn’t out of the ordinary. When she told me she was English and totally new to the scene, I suggested the Discord server as a place where she might make some friends (given the large UK membership) and sent her an invite link. The rest is set out in the mega screenshot saga below, which begins in the staff chat. I’m “SwiftX”, my real name is in teal, the server owner is in blue and her friend and co-moderator is in purple. All other names and locations are in black:

Before sending the last message, I actually typed out five different versions of a counter-argument before eventually deciding to step back. Being totally dismissed and lectured by two people about British labour laws and pub ID measures by two non-Brits nearly a decade my junior was irritating, yes, but the baseless suggestion that maybe I’d done something in private with the new member and was somehow “arguing against” ensuring she wasn’t a child because of that horrified me. As if I’d allow a child access to explicit content to cover my own discomfort - and anyway, I’d done no more than exchange greetings with the girl and point her towards the server, where she was actually verified and granted access to all channels by the guy in purple, not me! After a couple of hours’ contemplation, I politely asked to be removed from the moderator staff, but a disdainful response to my request prompted me to explain it, and why I was upset. Not all of what I said was necessary to say, but all of it was true:

She immediately muted me for 48 hours - “staff disrespect and degrading comments”. Not a problem, I had work to be getting on with. Late that evening, however, her friend arrived in my DMs:

Him: ...it’s creepy that a 32 year old man is potentially teasing a minor

Me: Well I can prove I haven’t teased her, her profile says she’s 18, and the person who exposed her to explicit content was you when you verified her - despite admitting to having had doubts about her age.

Him: ...I’ll drop that subject

Moderator of the year, ladies and gentlemen 🙄 Anyhoo, later that day I received a ban notification from both servers run by this owner, citing “crossing consent multiple times, guilting and being degrading along with causing several conflicts”. I was surprised to feel a flood of relief, but the consent mention really disturbed and worried me, as I’d been under the impression that the server owner had fully accepted that the earlier stuff had been an innocent misunderstanding. Later that day, good friends of mine began sending me worried DMs questioning my record and asking if I’d been inappropriate with a bunch of people, so I’m concerned that the staff may have said something that (deliberately or not) has encouraged speculation. This post is intended to be a landing page to which I can direct anyone concerned about my character so that they they can form their own opinions.

When my follower count began to take off, I became determined to avoid any kind of rift with another prominent member of the community. It’s so frustrating to watch an already niche subculture splinter into factions over needless disputes. This is why I’ve kept names etc. out of this post. If anyone suspects they might know who the server owner is, or actually knows who she is because they’re here from Discord, I would implore them not to out or target her in any way. There are two reasons:

- I don’t want to start a flaming war, I’m desperate to move on and begin improving my mental health after an awful couple of months ... I just need to protect my reputation first.

- I don’t actually think she wanted drama ... I think her genuine perception is that I’ve said something horrible to her. That’s more upsetting than the idea of her trying to smear me, to be honest. I suspect she feels like crap too, and I don’t want to add to her mental load. I honestly hope she’s OK.

Hopefully this will reassure my friends and anyone else questioning my character because of whatever’s been said in that server. I’d also hope that my history of positive interaction here, including being on great terms with everyone I’ve ever had a session with, supports what I’m saying further. It’s a shame this had to happen, but I’m trying to think positively about what lies ahead and trust in my real friends. I’d also like to thank the other members of the server staff who’ve privately sent me messages of support and sympathy having already seen the entire exchange.

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imaginetrahs · 5 years ago

Text

4. Is this a date or what?

Solana

This morning I woke up around nine o'clock and stayed in bed for a while. Oscar wasn't coming until 12:30 and currently it's only 10.

I got out bed with a heavy sigh, and walked to my closet looking for an outfit. I wanted to look good but not like I'm trying too hard. However, I don't want to look like I didn't try. I decided on a cropped thin strapped tank top with ripped jeans and a light flannel shirt. I looked in the mirror and paused thinking about the weather. I checked my phone and it said 85 degrees. I went to change my outfit, but took a picture first. I ended up trying on three different outfits, took pictures of them, and then sent them to the group chat before hopping in the shower.

Real Hot Girl Shit 🤪

Hot Girl Lana

Which one 😭

Read 10:15

Hot Girl Brae

The first one is really cute but so is the third one 😗

Sent 10:18

Hot Girl Ziy

Where are you going 🤔

Sent 10:20

Hot Girl Lana

Out with Oscar 😬

Read 10:50

Hot Girl Brae

Hot Girl Ziy

Hot Girl Brae

Hot Girl Lana

Ok it is not that serious 🙄

Read 10:58

Hot Girl Ziy

Actually it is

Read 11:05

Go with fit 3 bitch

Read 11:05

Hot Girl Lana

Thanks 😊

Read 11:08

I promise to tell y'all everything later

Read 11:10

After punching the air a few times I got dressed and put some mousse on my braids to lay down any flyaways. I didn't do any special makeup just my eyebrows, some lashes and some lip gloss. I walked out of my room to see Jamal sitting at the table eating cereal.

"Where are you going? Did you put sunscreen on because last time you didn't you got burned and then you cried and had me rub aloe all over you and I don't want to do that again." He got up to put his bowl in the sick and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Yes Jamal, damn." I walked around him to the fridge to grab a water.

"Where are you going?" He continued watching me from the counter.

"Out." I sat on the couch and turned the tv on. Reruns of love and hip hop were on so I decided to just watched that until it was time to go.

"Where?" I sighed and threw my head back on the couch.

"What is this? And interrogation?" I tossed the remote on the coffee table in front of me. "You're not my dad! You always tryna hear something."

Jamal gave me a straight face and I couldn't help but bust out laughing. He did this to himself asking all these damn questions.

"Chill out J." I giggled to myself. "I'm a big girl, I can handle myself."

He rolled his eyes and walked down the hall to his room. I stayed on the couch watching tv for the next hour. I was hungry but decided not eat because I'm pretty sure I'll eat with Oscar.

12:30 came and went, Oscar still wasn't here. I waited until 1 o'clock to text him, it's only been thirty minutes but Oscar is very punctual it's sickening. I checked my phone again and seen that my message was left on read.

I twisted my face up and locked my phone. I sunk into the couch thinking that maybe he's busy right now and him leaving me on read is his way of telling me he's still coming.

Unfortunately that wasn't the case, I've sat here for another two hours. I laid down on the couch still watching tv, upset. I heard Jamal come out of his room and into the living room.

"I thought you were going out." He came and sat on my back.

"Yeah me too." I groaned out from under him. "Do you wanna go out? Like to eat or something?"

"Really?" His whole face lit up at my question.

"Yeah," I giggled at him, "why wouldn't I be serious?"

He shrugged his shoulders and got up to put his shoes on. I squint my eyes not believing him then got up myself to put my sandals on.

Before leaving I made Jamal take a picture with me for Snapchat. I captioned it with a red heart and posted it. I grabbed my keys from the key hook and left with Jamal behind me. I waited in the car while he locked the front door and pulled out when he got in the passenger seat.

"Where to brother?" I glanced at him but still kept my eyes on the road. Safety first.

"Let's go to the state fair." I stopped at a red light and looked at him surprised.

"Are you sure because last time you told mom and dad you were going to sue them for child endangerment." I laughed and pulled off to get on the freeway.

"I'm a new man now. I'm stronger," he flexed his arms to show his nonexistent muscles, "I'm taller."

"Right." I nodded at him slowly. "We'll see how much of a 'new man' you are when it's time to get on rides."

For the rest of the drive we sung most of the songs that came on Spotify together. Moments like these are my favorite because as we get older we started to drift apart doing our own thing.

About 45 minutes later we parked and hopped out to get to the ticket booth. It was almost 4 o'clock and the park didn't close until 8 so we had some time. For Christmas last year we were gifted membership passes so we didn't have to pay as much and I'm so thankful for our rich family members.

Looking around the park we tried to decide what we wanted to do first. I haven't eaten yet and I was super hungry, like hungry hungry. I looked around for the food truck that I wanted. They served these really, really good buffalo chicken calzones and then I would just get a bucket of fries from another truck and fried Oreos from another. Be honest, who comes to fairs to ride rides because I don't, I come to eat.

Jamal and I sat at one of the free tables and he watched me eat with a disgusted face.

"You know none of that is good for you and with the pace you're eating at, you're bound to choke." He stopped talking abruptly. "I'm not CPR certified." He whispered to himself.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Oh come on J, chill out. It's like I have to constantly tell you this. Enjoy and indulge in this while you can because once we go back to school it's back to eating prison food."

"I'm pretty sure school food is better than prison food." I huffed and stopped eating.

"That's not the point." I wiped my mouth with the napkins I grabbed. "My point is, enjoy yourself. You're too uptight to be only 14, that's not good. It gives you grey hair early."

"Fine." He sighed and went to reach for my food but I moved it out of his reach.

"What are you doing? All of these vendors and food trucks, and you want my food?" I looked at him like he had two heads. "Go get your own, loser."

We've been at the fair for almost four hours and we've ate and played more games than we can count. So far we've won a huge unicorn, big enough for me to sit on, a huge pillow pet and just a bunch of small and medium sized stuffed animals. Since we weren't ready to go yet, I put all of the prizes in a storage locker until we left.

"You ready to go yet?" I looked at Jamal and he looked like he was ready to pass out, truth be told me too. We've been walking around for hours, bumping into people and vice versa, quite frankly I'm tired of it.

"Yeah, you?" He looked back at me and I nodded back at him.

"Let's get a funnel cake before we go?" We both stood up and walked to find the booth that sold funnel cakes. Eventually we found it and stood in line waiting for the few people in front of us.

From the corner of my eye I could see Jamal fidgeting like he wanted to say something. I could feel him glancing at me but not saying anything so I thought I should say something first.

"What is it J?" I turned to him a little, it was enough to let him know he had my full attention.

"What — I don't — what?" He stuttered out.

I pursed my lips and rocked on the heels of my feet waiting for him to tell me. "I don't believe you. So just tell me or rather, I don't know, ask me like a normal person."

He took a minute and finally asked me. "Who were you going out with today?"

I stared at him in disbelief, "that's what you wanted to ask me?" I snorted out a laugh. "I thought you were gonna ask for money 'cause you're in trouble or something. Jeez, J."

He huffed and moved up ordering the funnel cakes for us. I had a feeling he already knew the answer so I didn't bother answering it.

"Are you gonna answer me?" He handed me my cake and we started walking to the front of the fair to grab our things and leave.

"No." I led some guys willing to carry all of the prizes to my car. "I'm pretty sure you already know the answer so...you tell me." I put one hand on my hip while the other held the rest of my cake.

Once the guys were done I tipped them and got in the car. We had a long drive back home because of traffic and it's dark out and people don't know how to fucking drive.

"How did that even happen? Why him of all people?"

To be honest I don't even know myself. Yeah I had a crush on him and yeah he's attractive, very attractive whew. But, the lifestyle he lives is very dangerous, he's older than me, which isn't really a problem I'm eighteen, and he's not really someone my dad would want me to bring home.

"I don't know." I pulled onto the freeway. "It's a long story I guess."

"We got time."

We finally arrived home after I spilled my guts about my feelings for Oscar. Surprisingly Jamal didn't say anything about how I felt, because we all know he always has something smart to say.

"I know you're older and you're supposed to look out for me but, you're my only sibling," he took my hand in his, "and I just want you to be safe."

I nodded and squeezed his hand. "Of course. Always."

He nodded back at me and got out the car making his way into the house. My parents were home, I could see their bedroom light on.

I sat in the car for a little while longer not ready to get out yet. My phone went off in the cup holder telling me I had a text message. I looked at it and seen a picture from Braelyn. In the picture it was Oscar, who looked way too high to function, and a girl sitting on his lap. The picture was screenshot from Instagram and it was captioned "Mine 🤪".

I couldn't help but laugh, out of both humor and stupidity. I text back the group chat, "Lmfaooooooo. Bet.", and got out of the car and went inside. I'd get the stuffed animals tomorrow or something, right now I just want to go lay down.

"Hey babygirl." My dad hugged me as I walked in the house. "Jamal told me y'all went to fair. That was nice of you."

"Yeah I thought we should hang before school starts." I kicked my sandals off at the door and grabbed a water from the kitchen. "I'm gonna go to bed, I'm tired.

"Ok, I love you." I repeated it back and went to my room. Today has been a long day.

I changed my clothes and then got in bed. I put on Netflix for background noise and check my socials. There wasn't anything special but I watched Jamal's snap and noticed he posted a few pictures of us from the fair.

One picture stood out the most though. It was a picture of me playing the basketball game, I was mid shot with a big smile on my face. It was about 6:30 when it was taken because the sky was a pink-ish orange color and I looked like I was literally glowing. I screenshot it and posted it to my story and locked my phone.

I got another text and seen it was from Oscar. I rolled my eyes and opened it to leave him on read and went back to watching tv. I didn't have time for the tomfoolery, if he didn't want to hang today that's all he had to say instead he stood me up.

"Can I watch tv with you?" I looked up and seen Jamal standing at the door with a disgusted look on his face. "Mom and Dad are...busy and your room is the farthest."

I chuckled and made a space for him on the bed. He climbed in and we watched tv for the next 2 ½ hours. When Jamal got up to leave to his room I laid my head on his shoulder.

"You're my favorite brother."

"I'm you're only brother, Solana."

#oscar diaz #oscar diaz x oc #black girl oc #oscar diaz imagines #oscar diaz imagine #on my block #spooky diaz #spooky

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kujo1597 · 5 years ago

Text

Oh my god. This took a bit. What did I even post about in my last update?

Ah right, all the grinding I did before progressing the plot.

To Junglan Woods! Remember how I pointed out that Quaverpole statue? No? That’s okay, it’s been quite a while.

Look at this big guy!

Nope! But there’s a frog who loves how I play the Whirl Whistle.

Okay, so this is the guy who left that message on the bulletin board. He wants to judge how good I am at rhythm and music and much like Melog...

He does it through battle.

If I remember correctly, my first attempt at this battle went poorly because I didn’t know Conductor’s type. Or maybe I did and forgot what’s good against Magic.

But whatever, it was a pretty fun fight! Also, love this design! The music note for the head is just excellent.

Yes I have! I saw a lot of soulless people encased in ice because they went searching for Phangon; including one who looks just like me.

So I didn’t screenshot everything because it’s a lot. Conductor talks about how Phangon is real, and all the current legends about it are false. The lost legend talks about how there was a great calamity and humans asked Phangon for help with it, and it saved them before going into a deep slumber.

Remember that area I found? Yeah, that’s where Phangon is. Conductor wants me to awaken Phangon by defeating the three elemental dragons.

And to do this he gave me the Ancient Flute. And if you look back a few posts you’ll see that a creature at the end of the maze who hangs out with Memor wanted to see a special instrument.

I’m still sad “I don’t have a mouth” wasn’t the punchline.

Then Conductor gives the locations of the three dragons.

Pyroclastus, the flare dragon, lurks at the bottom of Mond Tunnel.

Poseigon, the water dragon, lurks in Glacier Cave.

Herderas, the grass dragon, lurks in the Junglan Forest.

Before moving on to meet up with the creature who wanted to see the flute I did some training because I got my type matchups mixed up again.

I’m not too upset though, I wanted to use Visear against a grass dragon, and I like Lupice a lot. Also, THE BABY! Voltagama! :D

*cough* Anyway, I went through the maze again and talked to the creature.

Yep!

And I knew I’d be getting directions through the maze so I got ready to take a very important screenshot.

Oh... I expected something more complicated.

So I got my grass dragon busters ready and moved on!

Teeheehee Voltagama is babey. <3

I played the flute and Herderas descended from the sky.

It’s boss time! These levels are lower than I expected. Which is good because my team is a little low leveled. I didn’t want all these experience points to go to waste.

Herderas started off the battle by unleashing its power which heals Grass creatures and damages everything else. Which makes things difficult.

Herderas also likes to poison your creatures, and boost its defensive stats. This fight didn’t go so well. I didn’t lose horribly or anything; we just ended up in a stalemate. I was only able to do as much damage as Herderas healed. So I reloaded my save and decided to train up a new team.

So I went back below the clocktower to level grind and I got so sick of being down there.

So I decided to collect the creatures I needed to complete the fusions I had.

While there I checked out the ice because it respawned ages ago and found this guy who sells Chocomallows.

And I also taught a bunch of disc moves to creatures so I could get the Sokit recipe. You only need 10 to get the recipe thankfully. I had only taught 13.

So with all my creatures all burned to disc I went back to do a bunch more fusing.

I won’t post all the fusions because this post already has a bunch of images. I’ll just show you Sokit.

I started training up a screamy plant thinking it was a Power creature and it’s very not...

So I decided to switch over to Brekya. During my fight against Herderas I had my battle speed set to Presto so I thought it was only boosting the Barrier stat. Which was a pretty big mistake to make.

Before making my next attempt I burned a bunch of creatures to disc to get the next recipe from Specks.

For this you need a specific creature from the fortune teller. I did not get it when I last checked. But that’s okay, I need to get two of the other material anyway. One to have in my Creaturepedia, and one to fuse away.

Here is my new team of dragon slayers.

I gave these guys a bunch of stat buffs, including Breakya’s attack that can increase the entire party’s Luck. Which is good for inflicting secondary effects and getting free e-Charges.

This attempt went a lot better.

Herderas turned into a green orb and floated away...

And after Herderas went back into its slumber a disc fell from the sky.

And I can make my own!

Quite easily in fact.

Anyway, my team was pretty battered and bruised so I used a Leapfrog to get back to town.

Yeah, things actually did go smoothly but I did still take a few hits. Because the boss fights are so telegraphed I knew when I could and could not heal, and at no point did I feel like I needed to heal my creatures. I knew how much damage they did and was confident I could take Herderas first.

After defeating Herderas I checked out the purple plant.

And that’s good!

Healthy plants are nice.

And I finished my session by telling Conductor what I did.

Next up is the flare dragon! That’s the other one I didn’t have spoiled other than Phangon itself. I have creatures that would probably do well against it already trained up so I think I’ll be fine to move on quickly.

#Kujo Plays Disc Creatures

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tjkiahgb · 6 years ago

Text

Listen, I got so caught up in Tyrus Week, spending hours and hours going through tags and liking posts and queuing reblogs, that I pretty much pushed everything else to the side. (Plus I’ve also been working on the next thing I’ll tell you guys about in the next few days.)

All that is to say, I got a lot of stuff in my inbox this last week, so I’m just going to tackle a bunch of them in... A LIGHTNING ROUND.

Let’s go.

And before you ask, yes, I made a graphic for it.

Looks like this Andi Mack finale party has turned into... a death party.

Would’ve been a strange choice for Terri Minsky to turn the finale of Andi Mack into a murder mystery, but if that’s what she wanted, I’d trust her.

I don’t watch that show but I know some people who do and they’ve told me it’s just light and airy and pleasant, so, yeah, sounds right up Cyrus’s alley.

You guys are shouting Lightning Round! every time the graphic comes up, right?

I, like TJ, am just some guy. I tell everyone who asks to call me Jay. Jay is long for “J”, which is short for another name that I, also like TJ, only let people related to me by blood or my soulmate know about. I will say it’s not Jagger, though. I wish.

That wasn’t my intention while writing TJ and the Gals, but as with all art, or whatever TJ and the Gals was, once it’s out of the creator’s hands, it belongs to the people.

No.

Thelonious Jagger Kippen Is A Hashtag Good Boi.

Shoutout to my FAQ page, where you can find information like this and more. Not blaming you, anon, I’ve gotten this a lot and the FAQ page is hard to find. I mostly just delete the question and let the anon live in mystery because I’m chaotic something. I’m only answering this now because it’s the

You know the shook_bitch? Thank them from me for getting Disney Channel to respond to them, and congratulate them on being the subject of the best comment the Disney Channel Instagram account ever made.

Yeah, I went back and checked and Jonah only says in 3x12 that his dad made a bad investment, not lost a job or anything.

It really seems like he’s been managing the Judy Bartholomew fortune all these years. We don’t know anything else of him other than he was once a background workout video guy and he has at least enough knowledge about baseball to coach little league.

Hopefully the new job is providing him with a solid salary, but if not, I think the world is ready for a Judy Bartholomew comeback.

Judy Bartholomew: Still Trottin’ After All These Years

I’m not entirely sure exactly which girl we’re talking about here. I think this one:

I will say, she does seem into it. She’s like, oh, things are about to get gay in here.

Honestly, there were so many background actors killing it in this scene.

You’ve got this guy...

...who hears the beginning of “Born This Way” and reacts like it’s ruined his evening. I mean, I was a little tired of it, too, when it was being played on the radio over and over and over, but it’s been some years. It’s not overplayed as much anymore and it definitely wouldn’t make me this upset. (He pops up later in the song and is happily dancing, so maybe he thought it was the beginning of a different song?)

Then there’s this girl...

...who is feeling it. She’s like, hell yeah, this is my jam!

And there’s this girl in the goggles...

...who, after TJ and Cyrus sing the “be myself, respect my youth” part, is like, okayyyy. I see you.

Here’s a fun(?) behind-the-scenes thing for this blog. A few months back, I was thinking about ways to replace “Moments” if we had, by some miracle, gotten a season four, since I would’ve run out of moments weeks after the finale. What I came up with was “The Random Andi Mack Extra of the Day.” It would’ve just been screenshots of random extras throughout the show’s run. Upon some reflection, this was a bad idea.

The first problem here is that I get the feeling those posts would’ve gotten, at most, 20-30 notes each, because no one really cares about random, out of context extras and it doesn’t seem like a thing people would want to reblog.

The second problem is, knowing myself, I probably would’ve spent hundreds of hours during the hiatus between s3 and s4 making 1000 of them in the first place, just so I could have them ready to go. I would’ve absolutely done this without testing the waters first to see if there was any interest. (Just like with the “Moments.” I made like 300 of them before I made the first post about them.)

So, the most likely scenario was going to be me, two weeks into “The RAMEotD,” looking at flopping posts, then looking at my folder of 800 screenshots of Andi Mack extras and going, “Well, what am I going to do, not post them? I already did all the work!” And I would keeping queuing them up, and they would keep appearing on this blog every day, and they would taunt me with their 22 notes. You remember the work you did? IT WAS FOR BUT A PITTANCE!

So I guess what I’m saying is maybe it’s for the best. The cancellation saves me from myself.

Hey, though, heads up. If and when you go back and watch the series again, pay attention to the extras -- the unsung heroes of the entertainment industry. There are some extras reallllly putting in work on this show. It absolutely adds to the delightful quality of Andi Mack. Every time I would spot someone in the background being goofy or really overselling whatever they were supposed to be experiencing, it filled me with joy.

It’s a fun show. Everything about it is fun, including the little details.

Ooh, a serious one. This is going to be my first ever hybrid Discussion/Analysis post.

Okay, so I think we’re talking about two different things here.

I won’t argue that I think Tyrus could have absolutely happened sooner and been explored more.

I obviously can’t say with certainty, but I assume that was at least somewhat the plan leading out of season two. The setup for their relationship was all already there by the end of it. They’d met, they had bumps, they grew really close, and they capped the whole season off with TJ looking back at Cyrus. All the elements were in place that you could jump right into this storyline in TJ’s next appearance. (Not necessarily them canoning, but at least the exploration of TJ’s feelings or some movement towards canoning.)

When Cyrus’s lookback happened, it was addressed in the very next episode (granted following a break in seasons). I don’t know that TJ’s would’ve been as immediate, but I don’t think you have him look back in the season two finale if you don’t intend on truly paying it off for 21 episodes. (Or, at least 13, if you want to say 3x13 was the real start of a storyline involving TJ’s homosexuality.)

So, yeah, look, I’m speculating wildly, but I would imagine the original creative idea was to address TJ’s lookback early in season three and start getting into it, and that, yes, that idea was likely kiboshed from above.

What I will argue is that the bench scene is subtle but not ambiguous. We’ve made the semi-joke constantly around here that there’s “No heterosexual explanation for this!” but, truly, there is no heterosexual explanation for the bench scene: two boys, one of whom has already explicitly stated he’s gay, slowly reaching for and holding each other’s hands, intertwining their fingers while they sit by the fire and stare into each other’s eyes, nervously smiling. This is something that has been built towards for multiple seasons. If you’ve been watching the show, if you’ve been paying attention to it, if you care about the characters, especially TJ and Cyrus, it’s very clear what’s happening here.

This feels like talking about people who weren’t sure Cyrus was gay after the first two times he came out because he didn’t use the word. Or people who thought Cyrus wasn’t gay anymore after he said his crush on Jonah was gone. I sympathize with some of the younger set who maybe don’t have the world sense to follow along with this, but, come on, at some point, we’re three seasons in and you have to keep up with the level of the storytelling. I don’t mean this in an insulting way, but if someone can’t get what’s happening here, then maybe this whole thing isn’t for them. Maybe if all they know right now is that Cyrus is gay and accepted and happy, then that’s good enough, and they can hold onto that idea and grow with that and catch the next train, whenever it comes along. Maybe this moment is for all the people who get it.

That’s about the kids in the casual audience. Now, if we’re talking about an adult homophobe -- one who would express the kind of outrage that we believe Disney fears -- it’s a different story. If an adult homophobe is really watching that scene and thinking, “Seems pretty straight to me” then it feels like it doesn’t matter what they would’ve done in the finale. They could’ve said “gay,” they could’ve said “boyfriend,” Cyrus and TJ could’ve lead a pride parade down the street outside Celia’s house while blasting -- well, I was going to pick a gay song here for the joke, but probably “Born This Way” would be the most appropriate one, so -- “Born This Way” from loud speakers, and that homophobe would’ve been like, “Nice parade.” As ignorant as homophobes are, even they are not that dense. An adult pretending Tyrus isn’t a couple after the bench scene requires a level of impenetrably willful ignorance.

Anyway, the truth is that angry homophobes aren’t watching the show. They never do. They like to read headlines and get mad, but they’re cowardly and, most of all, lazy, and they don’t like to put in the actual footwork. They like to leave comments on articles they haven’t read, about shows they haven’t watched. They like to post reactions to stuff they see in their Facebook feed or send one sentence responses like, “There goes Disney Channel!!!” or “What is happening to our country?!?!” And then they like to scroll on to the next thing that will feed their sad rage about how the world is changing around them.

If you want to think about Disney censorship as a way of preventing those homophobes from being outraged, it’s not the textuality of the scene itself, it’s the placement at the end. Delaying them canoning until the finale just makes for less work. Show’s over. There’s nothing to defend. No one’s signing a petition to get a show off the air that’s just aired its last episode. Most of the articles written will be about everything happening in the finale, and Tyrus would just be a part of it.

And that is more or less what’s happened. Just about every major article I’ve seen about the finale has discussed Tyrus, and discussed them as textually getting together -- again, there’s no ambiguity there -- but has also brought them up in conjunction with what happened with Andi and Jonah, with Muffy getting together, and with Andi getting into SAVA. And the articles themselves tend to largely be about the show ending as a whole and its impact. (No one needs to send me articles trying to prove or disprove this. I’ve been over a lot of them. Some are more Tyrus focused -- the ones in the gay media for sure -- and some just mention it -- more traditional media sources. This is the general gist of most of them.)

So the article headlines mostly read “Andi Mack Finale” or “Andi Mack Ends Run” or something like that. The homophobes -- who, again, aren’t watching the show and are getting all their information about it via article headlines -- see those headlines and don’t even remember Andi Mack was the show they hated from two years ago because their rage is mostly performative and short-lived. They get mad in the minute but forget about the specifics of the stuff within a day.

Like I said in the recap, I won’t argue that there’s a scene with more that wouldn’t work, but I personally don’t see the bench scene as not having accomplished everything it needed to.

Oh, that went longer than I thought it was going to be. Not very lightning round of me.

This actually got sent a while back but it was still in my inbox and I figured I’d throw it in here in case the anon saw it. Lightning round!

Sorry, anon, I wasn’t ignoring you and I appreciate you reading my old recaps, but you were the second anon to piece together that I am actually blessed with psychic powers.

I don’t really have any plans to, sorry.

I had only planned to do one set before and after the finale for Tyrus Week, but I will point you and anyone else interested in making their own TJ and Cyrus texts to this post I made that should give you the basic tools needed for the job. (Use them! You wouldn’t believe what a pain in the butt it was to get that background clean like that!)

Thank you, honestly. That’s so, so sweet. But I have no plans to do that.

Like I mentioned at the start of this post, I’m working on something now that I’ll tell you guys about shortly that’s look-backy and will hit on some stuff from those seasons. (Though not in the same vein as the recaps.)

The recaps take a long time to produce, and as much as I’ve loved this show and this fandom, I will be honest and tell you guys I am sort of planning my exit.

This blog has become something of a part-time job for me. Not in the work sense because I have truly enjoyed all this, but just in the time sense. I’ve put a lot of time in and I would like to rededicate that time back toward other things I’ve put on hold for the last year and a half.

It’s starting to feel like making you shout Lightning Round! each time was a mistake now that I’m answering stuff seriously or sadly.

I was getting emotional multiple times while writing it, because of the show, because of the fandom, because of this whole journey we’ve all been on together.

I appreciate you saying this so much because that’s what I’ve always hoped has come through in the things I’ve written about this show. That I’ll make jokes or point out holes or goofy details or whatever, but that I couldn’t do this -- I couldn’t commit myself to this as much as I have -- if I truly didn’t love the show. That everything I’m doing here comes from a place of love and celebrating the show and embracing it for its good stuff and its silly stuff.

It wasn’t a perfect show, but that was always what made it kind of perfect.

Thanks for the asks. Thus ends the lightning round.

#Andi Mack #analysis #discussion #blog stuff #LIGHTNING ROUND!

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emoshinso · 6 years ago

Text

What Makes Purple Boy so Weird?: Notes on the storytelling strategies employed in Shinsou’s introduction arc

*By ‘weird,’ I mean intriguing/interesting, but in a break-the-mold kinda way.

This really has no objective other than I wanted to break down what makes Shinsou’s intro arc so impactful. Specifically, the buildup before his quirk reveal.

As heroic and well-intentioned as our boy is, the creators do a very good job creating an air of ominous suspense before revealing his true character and quirk in his match against Deku. Up till then, it’s like they wanted us to think Shinsou was a bad guy...

Part commentary, part analysis

Just kinda… finding an excuse to rewatch the Sports Festival arc while focusing on Shinsou’s perspective.

this post goes from his first appearance in episode 15 to the beginning of episode 20

in the future, I plan on dedicating an entire post just to his fight against Deku - but in the meantime, this one centers on the buildup before his quirk reveal

So, if you’re interested, read on! If not, I understand. This is gonna be one heckin nerdy ramble. oh gosh im so excited

First Appearance: Episode 15: Roaring Sports Festival

Confrontation with Bakugo

First, some background on what’s going on right before our boy shows up: The day after Aizawa introduces the sports festival, a bunch of kids from the general studies department show up at the hero class’s threshold, right? There’s no explanation as to why. They’re all kinda just... there (psst it’s for the drama. Large crowds create intrigue.)

Dekusquad mutters collectively, wondering if the general studies kids are scouting the competition… The general studies kids don’t really answer or react. They just keep gawking awkwardly. (psst once again: it’s purely for the drama)

Enter: Bakugo. Trying to leave for the day, but those damn gen studies kids are in his way.

“Move it, extras.”

This prompts a reaction. From one student, at least.

“So this is Class 1-A? I heard you guys were impressive, but you just sound like an ass.”

First time we see Shinsou: pushing his way unapologetically through the other general studies kids. First impression: he already kinda looks like a jerk. Him being at the back of the crowd also makes me think Shinsou didn’t exactly jump at the chance to size up 1-A after school like his classmates, but eventually gave in and followed them over a bit later. Then after that “extras” comment out of Blasty Boy, he decided to retaliate. A jerk with a bit of a proud streak.

”Scouting the competition? Maybe some of my peers are, but I came to let you know that if you don’t bring your very best, I’ll steal your spot right out from under you. Consider this a declaration of war.”

What a drama queen.

That’s all he says. That pretty much concludes his first notable appearance as a character

His appearance essentially serves two purposes: 1) to (fleetingly) introduce him as a character 2) to establish how resentful the general studies department is towards 1-A

It’s important to note that he didn’t get any of those usual name + quirk tag thingies that occasionally pop up whenever a new character is introduced (or as a reminder for recurring characters)

AND he never introduces himself (he just straight up declares war and falls silent, the little shit xD)

Point being, forget his quirk, we don’t even learn his name right away. For all intents and purposes, he’s just that random purple asshole who declared war for no good reason

And as soon as Shinsou delivers his little war monologue, Tetsutetsu shows up, shouting loud and a n g e r y. His and Bakugo’s little shouting match quickly overshadows Shinsou’s cold declaration, making it even easier for both the other characters and the audience to forget about Shinsou pretty quick. Despite that very conspicuous purple hair, the chronic insomnia, and the WHITE PUPILS.

I know I kinda forgot about him - the first time watching, at least.

Sports Festival Opening Ceremony

The next time we see Shinsou, he’s walking into the arena with the other 1-C kids, who are all looking pretty dejected about being forced to participate in a competition rigged to make them look inferior:

“We’re just here to make [the hero kids] look better...”

“Yeah, I can’t wait for this to be over...”

It’s a key reminder that Shinsou is one of these kids, and by all logic should be thinking the same thing. But his expression is hard to read:

Is he bored? Tired? Ready for it all to be over like those other kids? Or is he steeling himself to make good on his declaration of war?

We don’t really get a chance to find out. Not until MUCH later...

Todoroki’s Ice Trick

The next shot we see of Shinsou is my absolute FAVORITE. After getting through the tunnel to the obstacle course, Todoroki uses ice attack. It’s super effective, but somehow there’s still plenty of students who dodged it including our boy Shinsou

A LOT is going on. We see shots of all the different students who evaded Todoroki: Yaoyorozu, Bakugo, Aoyama (lol), Ashido... the montage ends with Uraraka, who makes a comment about waiting for the right time to show off her quirk, and hence alludes to someone else who’s trying to be sneaky:

“So they are good at using their powers, huh?”

What I love most about this scene is first time watching I LITERALLY DID NOT QUESTION the fact that he was being carried by three other students

I chalked it up to him being a charismatic figure in his class who somehow convinced his fellow students to carry him as part of some elaborate grand strategy

And hey... I wasn’t wrong?

Also interesting to note how none of the three non-brainwashed students around him seem too concerned he’s hitching a free ride on their classmates... they’re all too busy dealing with Todoroki’s ice

Point being, between Todoroki’s flashy ice attack and the other students’ equally flashy evasive maneuvers, it was pretty easy for us as an audience to overlook that one purple-haired kid who decided to play cavalry battle a little early. The inclusion of the extra kids stumbling around him in the frame also helps him blend into the background. All this seems very intentional on both the animators’/Horikoshi’s part AND as part of Shinsou’s grand strategy.

Episode 15 ends with us still wondering what this guy’s deal is...

Episode 16: In Their Own Quirky Ways

We don’t see Shinsou at all this episode, which both builds up the suspense and leaves me with a lot of questions:

Q: How did he get past the robots? (Theory 1: By using other kids’ quirks and directing them like his own personal quirk army 2: (more likely) waited till a path was clear and ran through)

Q: How did he get past the chasm? (Theory 1: Again, by hitching a ride with a kid with the ideal quirk 2: Human rope?)

Q: How’d he get past the MINES?! (Theory: By brainwashing other students to walk ahead of him and clear a path)

Regardless of how he got through the course, the ONLY glimpse of Shinsou we get is when Midnight goes over the rankings in the race. Shinsou came in 27th, by the way, not that you’d even notice because the camera cuts off almost before you even see him in the rankings. (I couldn’t even pause it that fast) I have no idea if that was intentional or not, but man does it fit the mood:

This is also the first time we see his name.

But it’s so fast literally no one could’ve actually read and retained it without the help of a quirk. I know I didn’t. BUT I remember from the first time watching, this one tiny glimpse of the random purple asshole with the derpy ass smile ranking so high was enough to make me start wondering just what this guy’s deal was...

It was enough to get me curious. But I wasn’t invested quite yet.

Also, in retrospect, my absolute favorite thing about this screenshot is all the other contestants look angry/disappointed by their ranking EXCEPT FOR SHINSOU. Nope, he just looks like a smug little asshole happy to be the ONLY rep from Class 1-C.

And that further adds to the suspense...

Episode 17: Strategy, Strategy, Strategy

Once again, we only get glimpses of Shinsou this episode. But they’re crucial:

1: Him smirking as the rules for the cavalry battle are explained. Makes us wonder, as an audience: why does he look so confident when everyone else is gritting their teeth over this? What advantage does he have?

(Notes brought to you by 20/20 hindsight: He was probably so confident because he literally had his pick of teammates. As soon as he asked anyone about teaming up and they answered, boom, they were on the team. I would guess he intentionally picked teammates that wouldn’t stand out (no offense Aoyama,) so he could hang around and not call attention to himself during the cavalry battle, both from other teams and from the commentators.)

AND WAIT. LOOK HERE:

2: Once all the teams have coalesced, they’re all just kinda standing around haphazardly, or facing each other slightly to talk strategy... BUT NOT SHINSOU’S. They’re all facing the same direction he is. Yep, you guessed it... they’re already brainwashed.

At the ready with his team. This also marks the second time we see his name. But it’s not announced, it only appears in tiny letters/kanji in the scoring bracket. Also note that his teammates are definitely all brainwashed now, but we wouldn’t be able to tell unless we were looking for it. Aoyama really doesn’t look too different lol

Before the episode ends, we get our first glance at the scoreboard. The game’s already been underway for a bit by now, and Shinsou’s team is at 0 points. Which means Shinsou most likely let Monoma take his bandana to avoid being targeted later in the game, and therein, avoid attention.

End of episode 17. Still no name (unless you were super attentive), and no quirk.

Episode 18: Cavalry Battle Finale

Between the Todoroki vs. Midoriya and the Monoma vs. Bakugo showdowns, there’s so much drama happening it’s no surprise Present Mic didn’t pay much attention to Team Shinsou...

...and that really left me wondering... What were they up to this whole time?

Quick glance at the scoreboard tells us he’s still at zero, and he stays that way for most of the episode again:

BUT. WAIT FOR IT.

HERE’S THE SCOREBOARD RIGHT AFTER PRESENT MIC ANNOUNCED THERE WERE ONLY 11 SECONDS LEFT:

TETSUTETSU STILL HAS HIS POINTS.

Which means...

TEAM SHINSOU MANAGED TO SWIPE THE POINTS IN LESS THAN 11 SECONDS.

Just look how smug he is about it too:

“In third place is Team Tetsute- wait, what?! It’s Team Shinsou! When did they come back from the dead?!”

Point being, Present Mic is so surprised by Shinsou’s comeback he almost says the wrong name. Thanks to all the drama radiating off of Monoma and the Traffic Light Trifecta and Shinsou’s strategy of staying out of the fray until the last possible second, he pulled off a victory without anyone even knowing who the heck he is or what he can do.

This also marks the first time his name is stated clearly enough to catch.

Also note his confused (and frightened) teammates behind him. How ominous...

Little by little, we’re getting hints at who he actually is as a character, which up to this point, still looks a lot like ‘first class jerk’

that smug grin gahhh

Episode 19: The Boy Born with Everything

Okay, here’s where things get s u p e r dramatic.

First half of the episode is dedicated to Todoroki and Deku’s little confrontation, so gives us more time to forget about our purple son...

Second half jumps into discussing the next round: sixteen contestants remaining, waiting to be divided into one-on-one matches. Things are progressing smoothly until....

OJIRO WITHDRAWS.

Everyone’s shocked, why the heck would this kid pass up on the chance of a lifetime? Ojiro explains it’s a matter of pride for him: “It just wouldn’t be right. I barely remember anything from the cavalry battle until the very end of it. I… think it was that guy’s quirk.”

“Wait, who was Ojiro with again?”

Again, no one seems to remember. But once Ojiro points him out, the camera pans over to Shinsou, who looks away. As if he’s worried about getting exposed. Interestingly enough, however, Ojiro doesn’t immediately reveal what Shinsou’s quirk is (which also might have to do with his personal honor code), instead just presses to withdraw:

“Everyone gave their all in Round 2, but I was just someone’s puppet. I don’t want to advance if I don’t even know how I got here.”

‘Someone’s puppet’? That’s ominous as hell... but once again, it doesn’t fully reveal what Shinsou did. Ojiro could’ve been speaking metaphorically for all we know at this point. But it sure makes us start wondering what the heck’s up with this purple guy, and just what his true motives are...

Later on, once the full bracket’s announced, Izuku looks at the lineup. He’s initially more concerned about the prospect of facing down Todoroki, but then he remembers he’s got a whole match ahead of that: “First I’ve got to worry about this Shinsou guy (whoever the hell he is...)” As someone who l o v e s to collect and analyse data on heroes and quirks, it probably bothers Izuku to no end that he knows absolutely nothing about his upcoming opponent.

“Izuku Midoriya, that is you, isn’t it?”

To top it off, SHINSOU SNEAKS UP ON HIM. I mean, in all fairness, it probably isn’t even that hard to sneak up on Izuku, given how lost in his head he gets. But again, it helps build that aura of suspense: Shinsou’s the type of character to sneak up on people. He’s also the type to stay out sight, use clever strategy instead of shine in the limelight like a typical hero in the BNHA world would. In all fairness, he’s acting a lot like a villain would.

Izuku: “You’re the guy from before, from general studies?”

Shinsou: “A pleasure. So, are you excited?”

Once again. Doesn’t even properly introduce himself. What is with this guy and introductions? And before Izuku gets a chance to respond, Ojiro intervenes, covering Izuku’s mouth with his tail and leaving Shinsou to smirk and walk away.

Izuku: “Ojiro, what’s the deal?”

Ojiro: “You can’t say a word to him.”

These are the first real clues we get as to what Shinsou’s quirk actually is and how it works. but we still. don’t. get. full. disclosure.

The scene cuts to the side games / preparations of the remaining contestants for the final round:

I really appreciate the sheer amount of dread on Izuku’s face.

This is a meme. We all have Shinsou to thank for this meme. At this point, we can’t even hear what they’re discussing, we just know it’s making a nervous boi e x t r a nervous...

A few scenes later, and we finally get what we’ve all been waiting for:

“Whoa, he looks kinda scared in that picture, doesn’t he? It’s Izuku Midoriya from the hero course!!”

VS.

“Hitoshi Shinsou from general studies, who really hasn’t done anything to stand out yet…”

Once again, Present Mic reminds us just how much of a dark horse Shinsou is. Discounting a few strategic bits and pieces, two whole rounds have passed already, and we still know next to nothing about him. It’s interesting to note how Present Mic explains the rules of the match too:

“The rules are simple: immobilize your opponent or force him out of the ring!! You can also win by making the other person cry uncle. Anything goes… so don’t be afraid to put your morals aside and play dirty!”

Which Shinsou does.

He starts playing before the match even begins, already trying to get Izuku to talk:

“So you can just give up, huh?”

Izuku doesn’t respond, so Shinsou continues:

“In a way, this is a test of how strong your spirit is. If you know what you want your future to hold for you, you can’t worry about what other people think.”

Present Mic: “READY?!”

“That monkey was going on about his pride earlier...”

Present Mic: “BEGIN!”

“...but I just think he’s an idiot for throwing away his chance like that.”

Shinsou started playing even before the match began, and he started off by saying a whole lot of incendiary things:

Why would you care what other people thought of you? (In a world where pro heroes depend on popular appeal for their livelihood, that’s not something a typical aspiring hero would say...)

“That monkey... is an idiot” (insulting a former teammate... not very hero-like)

Who cares about pride? (People who say that often hint they’re willing to get their hands dirty if the ends justify the means... again, not very hero-like)

In retrospect, of course we know Shinsou’s primary motivation for saying all those things was to elicit a response from Izuku, but at the time... it just made him look like a jerk. Maybe even a jerk with a potential villainous streak...

Regardless, it does get a rise out of Izuku, and that’s when it finally happens.

We openly see Shinsou use his quirk for the first time.

Izuku freezes.

Everyone’s shocked. But even then not everyone understands what’s going on yet... even Present Mic seems confused, even possibly chalking it up to stage fright:

“Huh?! What’s the dealio? This is the first match, it should start out with a bang! The fight has just begun and Izuku Midoriya is… completely frozen?!”

AND THAT’S WHERE EPISODE 19 ENDS.

WE STILL DON’T KNOW SHINSOU’S QUIRK.

Yes, we’ve seen it in action, we can infer, but it still takes a whole episode to put a clear label on it...

Episode 20: Victory or Defeat

Way to build up the suspense with a corny episode title am I right

Present Mic introduces us back into the fray: “Izuku Midoriya is completely frozen?! He’s not moving a muscle! And what’s with that look on his face? Could this be a quirk at work? Hitoshi Shinsou seems to have Izuku Midoriya completely stunned!”

Let’s take a quick inventory on just how sh00k everyone is:

Concerned frens. I was too the first time I watched this. I think we all were. Our baby Izuku’s been frozen by the weird purple jerk who we don’t really have any sympathy for yet.

Even the pro heroes are stunned. They don’t seem to have any idea what’s going on either, which suggests maybe they haven’t seen a quirk like Shinsou’s before...

BUT what really gets me are these guys. I’m pretty certain they’re all general studies kids. Shinsou’s classmates. Meaning they KNOW Shinsou. And assumedly they know his quirk too, since that’s like the second question that comes up whenever you meet someone in this universe, right after “What’s your name?” YET THEY’RE JUST AS SHOCKED AS EVERYONE ELSE. Which makes me wonder... what if Shinsou never told his UA classmates what his quirk was?

Regardless, it builds up the suspense even more.

And at long last, as the crowd still sits stunned, Aizawa steps in to finally answer all our unspoken questions:

“Since we’re on to the individual matches, I had some information compiled about our final competitors. Shinsou failed the practical exam to get into the hero course. Since he also applied for general studies, he probably figured that would happen. His quirk is incredibly strong, but that entrance test consisted of fighting faux villains. It gave a huge advantage to those who had physical superpowers they could show off. Despite his abilities, Shinsou never stood a chance at passing.”

He never stood a chance beCAUSE...

*cue ambient unsettling music*

Izuku turns around and starts walking out of bounds.

EVERYONE FLIPS THE HELL OUT.

All Might, watching from the sidelines: “What is this power?”

And finally, thanks to Aizawa’s data, Present Mic tells us:

‘When an opponent answers his question, it flips a switch in their minds, forcing them to do whatever he says. Not every question does it though. He only brainwashes when he wants to.”

There it is.

After five episodes of ominous, behind-the-scenes buildup, we finally have it. I don’t know about everyone else, but I was blown away. Looking back, it made total sense, and I had no idea how I didn’t figure it out beforehand, (maybe someone did, lol, I am kind of a dumbass). But, main point here: Shinsou’s intro had a lot of great suspense built into it, culminating in his match with Izuku, which reveals not only his quirk but also his true character (which I’ll talk about in a future post - specifically how Shinsou’s backstory reveal completely flips our perception of him). Along the way, we had plenty of opportunities to forget about Shinsou, discount him - at least in favor of our already well-established favorites - and most importantly, type cast him as villainous. But all that turns on its head the moment we learn what he can do - and as I’ll talk about later on, when we find out his true intentions.

What a brilliant intro.

And he knows it too. Just look how smug he is.

#shinsou hitoshi #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha meta #long post #bnha anime #hitoshi shinsou #shinso hitoshi #hitoshi shinso #my hero academia #mha #mine #text post #bnha plot analysis #bnha analysis

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mvmadvice · 6 years ago

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MvM Bootcamp: Wave 666, the ultimate wave order guide

THE ULTIMATE MANN VS MACHINE, WAVE 666 GHOST TOWN GUIDE INCOMINGGG

I know it’s been awhile folks, but I’m back (briefly) with a down-and-dirty guide on wave 666.

Wave Order:

1. Crit W+M1 Pyros + Crit Bat Scouts + Crit Giant Demoknights

2. Crit Giant Soldiers + Uber Medics (one medic per soldier)

3. Giant Deflector Heavies + Giant Burst Fire Soldiers + Soldiers + Heavies

4. Tanks + Crit Scattergun Scouts

5. Giant Burst Fire Demomen + Crit Demoknights (small) + 1 Tank

6. Extended Banner Direct Hit Soldiers

7. Giant Heavies + Giant Quick Fix Medics

8. Tanks + 96 fucking Spies <----- HALFWAY POINT!!!!

9. Crit Huntsmen

10. Crit Rapid Fire Soldiers

11. Crit Burst Demomen

12. Crit Airblast Pyros

13. Crit Scattergun Scouts (not to be confused with part 4)

14. 1 Tank + Crit Heavies + Uber Medics

Yes, despite it all being one big waves, the bots still come in a specific order. I’ll organize them as “parts” (part 1, part 2, part 3, etc) since it’s all one big wave. Quick explanation of each part under the cut.

Part 1:

Aka the warm up. Just don’t let them get in close to you, and you’ll be a-okay. The demomen come in groups of four, and the little bots come in groups of I wanna say 10? I’ve never really counted because they’re not that big a threat.

Part 2:

The first time you meet Uber medics in the wave. It’ll be hard for Medic pickers to isolate the medics, since each giant soldier comes attached with one and they come as one messy group, meaning there isn’t a convenient place to put all your stickies/throw your gas to kill all the medics cleanly. Ideally, a good Sniper can take out most--if not all--of the medics. However, since good Snipers are hard to come by, you’re better off popping the medics as fast as possible. If you have a kritzkrieg Medic and a Soldier on your team, it may be worth popping kritz on the Soldier, since Soldier’s crockets can fairly reliably 1 shot Uber medics.

Part 3:

The Giants will always come as a pair. Ideally, you’ll want to kill the first pair before the second one drops, etc etc. The little bots can be annoying though, since the spam is super crazy during this part. If you have a medic, make sure your projectile shield is ready, because you can literally render all the bots useless for a short period of time. If you’re playing Engineer, move your sentry gun out of the way at the beginning of this part or get ready to wrangle it. If you’re playing Soldier, you can fire a few cheeky rockets early to try to damage the bots right as they hit the ground. Splash damage is your best friend during this part. Soldier, Demoman, and Sniper really shine here.

Part 4:

This is the easiest tank part (and also probably the easiest part of Wave 666 if your team is good at working together). If you have an Engineer, he can singlehandedly hold the bomb for the entire duration of this wave, allowing the other 5 players to focus down the tanks. Alternatively, if you either lack an Engineer or your Engineer doesn’t realize the power he has against a bunch of Scouts, dedicate ONE person to stopping the bomb. Some good classes you’ll see often that are good at watching the bomb are: Soldier, Demoman, Scout, Sniper (if he can aim), Pyro (if they’re not on the tank), and Heavy. Demoknights and Spies can also watch the bomb, but they aren’t nearly as effective. Phlog Pyros, Buff Banner Soldiers, and Carbine + Bushwacka Snipers should always be on the tank, not on the bomb. If you’re really struggling, try seeing if your team has enough tank damage. I’ll talk about tanks and tank damage more extensively in another post.

Pro tip: If you think you might be done with the Scouts and want to stop watching the bomb, press tab and see how many Crit Scouts are left. You’re done with Scouts (for now) if the number is 75.

Part 5:

The demomen (both the giants and the little ones) will move in groups of five or ten. This means that they’ll be grouped up very nicely with each other, but it also means that you can quickly get overwhelmed by 20+ giant demos all spamming grenades everywhere. They do, however, take a long time to reload, so if you want to get in a few quick Ubersaws, it’s possible with good timing (2-3 depending on how much you wanna push your luck).

This part is also pretty easy, depending on how much AOE (area of effect) damage you have. Basically, if you have a lot, the giant demos go down fast. If you have very little, well, it’s do-able, but you’ll need to be very efficient at rotating between the tank and the bomb. Oh yeah, did I mention that after 10-15 giant demomen drop, a single tank will appear? Yep! This tank has more HP than the tanks you just fought, so be careful. Ideally, your team will split in half and deal with them at the same time. If you have very little tank damage but a lot of bot damage, focus the tank first (I know, but hear me out). Since you know you don’t have a lot of tank damage, starting on the tank early will make sure you have enough time to get rid of the tank before you take on the robots. Most teams with very little tank damage will have a lot of robot damage, so you should be able to take care of the robots fairly quickly. If you have very little of either, I have to genuinely wonder how you got so far into the wave in the first place.

Part 6:

If you’re playing Engineer, you basically have to hide your sentry around corners to pick off bots before they can react to your gun. If you’re playing any other class, buy crit and blast resistance. Wave 666 is different from other modes in that you can refund your upgrades during the wave. The ending of Part 5 is very slow (a few crit demoknights filter in over a short period of time), so take that chance to get as much crit and blast resistance as you can. Let the sentry gun watch the bomb while your team goes to get upgrades. You’re gonna need it.

This part usually isn’t that hard though, overall, since most people have blast and crit resistance by now anyway.

Part 7:

As soon as the last soldiers spawn, the first Giant Heavy/Medic pair will also spawn. Try to clean up the soldiers before they drop. This is a pretty straightforward part of the wave. Kill the Medic (without letting it pop uber, or else it’ll go back to full hp), then kill the Heavy. Make sure you don’t have more than 2 pairs on the field at any given time, or your life will be hell and the wave will be over.

This part you’ll have relatively little control over, but don’t let the last pair touch the bomb. Usually, the first or second pair will be able to touch it, maybe let the third pair, but absolutely do not let the last pair touch the bomb. If they do, you risk having the bomb still in play during the dreaded part 8.

Part 8:

The spookiest and hardest part of wave 666 that everyone has told you about. Wave 666 is known for 2 things: being really fucking long and the ninety-six fucking spies that come at the same time to destroy your life.

These spies are NOT your normal support spies, which typically come in groups of two or three. No. These spies will swarm. There will be something like 10 or 20 on the map until you kill them all. They also drop money ($2 or $3, this is the part where even the best scouts will lose that A+ rating). But the most annoying, least known part about these spies is as follows:

They can cap the bomb.

You read that right. It’s extremely rare that they have the opportunity, since the tank usually gives enough time for the bomb to respawn, and the Spies will never spawn with a bomb, but if you do happen to have a bomb? Good luck winning this.

During this part of the wave, buy backs, crit canteens, and uber canteens are your best friends. If you’re a non-explosive class, you can jump on top of the tank. If you’re a Scout, please don’t do that if you already see someone up there. You can dodge spies with pretty good success, let the tank Sniper sit up there. Sincerely: a tank Sniper.

HALFWAY POINT IS OVER, SOMETHING LIKE 7 OF 10 TEAMS FAIL BY THIS POINT, SO IF YOU’RE HERE, CONGRATS! YOU’RE BASICALLY DONE!

Note for parts 9-14: These bots all come in a row, and don’t give you a break in between bot types, so you’ll often get a mix of two bots at the end of one part and beginning of the next. You might also start to lag due to the large number of particle effects now in the game.

Part 9:

Crit huntsmen. They’re pretty easy if you have a Medic and a Soldier. I’d argue they could probably hold the bomb all on their own if they don’t die. Snipers are really weak in the HP department, so they’re easy to burst down in groups. By now you should have more than enough damage.

If you’re playing Sniper, this is the last part of Wave 666 that you’ll be useful in until part 13 (since Soldier does your job better).

Part 10-11:

The Crit Soldiers from part 10 are very dangerous. You might want to dodge in and out from behind walls (the ones on either side of the main pathway are good, as well as the wall on top of the building in the middle. If you’re lucky, the bomb bot will go towards the right side (if you are looking from the hatch to the robot spawn), where there is a really good bottleneck corridor. Have a low quality screenshot from a recent game (ignore the icicle sentry buster).

This bottleneck is absolutely amazing vs the bots from part 10-12 because if you can get the bomb placement just right, all the robots will funnel in from the front.

Sometimes, you might get a cheeky flanker, but if you have an Engie or a very aware power class, they aren’t a problem.

The Demomen can be dealt with similarly as the Soldiers.

Part 12:

The Pyros are where your power classes start to falter. The best class against these Pyros is your Engineer. If you don’t have one, good luck. They’ll probably be able to push you all the way to your hatch, but if you have enough people alive (2-3) at any given time, you should be able to prevent the cap.

If you’re at the bottleneck, have one person above and the rest of the team on the ground. Ideally, your soldier(s) are smart enough to figure out that these Pyros know how to reflect and have perfect reflect timing, so they’ll position themselves accordingly.

Part 13:

The Pyros will soon trickle to a halt and some Scouts will start to mix themselves in. Be careful, these Scouts do a lot more damage than the Scouts from part 4.

Part 14:

A few minutes after the Scout’s start spawning, a tank will spawn. This tank is even tankier than the tank from part 5 and drops very little money when you kill it (but that doesn’t matter, you’re basically done anyway at this point). At the same time, the Heavy/Medic pairs will also start to drop, so it’s just a giant fuckfest of crits and panic.

Be warned: robots can cap while ubercharged. If you do not have a Demoman, Pyro, or another class that can disrupt a bomb drop, make sure to pop the medics’ uber before they reach your base.

If you’re playing Sniper, this is the part of the wave that you get to be useful again, because your charged bodyshots will 1 shot the uber medics, preventing them from popping.

If you beat all of that, then you’re done!

Congratulations!

You get to feel accomplished that you beat wave 666.

Make sure to keep an eye out for some in depth analyses of the harder parts of the wave, along with some class guides for wave 666.

#mvm advice #TF2 #tf2 mvm #mann vs machine #mann vs machine advice #mvm boot camp

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amisbro · 6 years ago

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Soooo Broccoli

Apparently the boys over at Brocc decided it was a good idea yesterday to drop some big news on us and then ,like they are apt to do, walk out of the room and leave us a speculation NIGHTMARE Fortunately for y’all...I’m here so we are going to go over the items that Broccoli mentioned and things are going to be interest going into the next DECADE and there is a phrase we need to learn the meaning of So in the immortal words of QUARTET NIGHT at the beginning of “The Dice are Cast” READY... SET... GO!!

10th Anniversary focus So according to a translation I have from a tweet here they said they will be focusing on the TENTH Anniversary which is next year. I don’t THINK they are gonna leave us hanging on the 9th because that would be pretty bunk but the big anniversary is 10 years so they are going to want to put a focus on that. If we don’t get A LOT of big time announcements this year I don’t think we need to be too upset (Like I was last year when it was all music related) but what will they announce for this Anni? WELL New Mystery game and console decision So its been announced that they have a new game coming out which...is interesting and its even MORE interesting because the console/device has not been decided. To sort of understand this we have to go back almost THREE YEARS to when Broccoli announced “Dolce Vita”. This is important because remember at the time when they announced the game on the SIXTH Anniversary the characters that would be in the game are the Senseis ,Shining and then QN and STARISH respectively right? Well when 7th Anniversary happens it gets announced that they were making an update to the cast and that update would BE...Raging Otori and the 7 “Renegade Princes” from HEAVENS so there was THAT announcement. Remember though that this was in 2017. For two years there was no update or even a screenshot for the game and I want to say when we got close to 2018 it would be announced that the VITA was stopping production in Japan. THIS is a big deal because of the fact that the game was to be on that system AND there was supposed to be a “port project” where all the games UP TO DOLCE were supposed to be released in sequential order starting with Repeat and ending with After Secret. SPOILER: That project got abandoned Well...there was a good reason...kind of We have to remember that around August in 2017 Japan was starting to get Shining Live. That game would end up coming out IN ENGLISH in 2018 in January. I remember that because it was around then that I had to get my current computer when it completely crapped the bed on me which sucks but what can you do right? Now this still led us to a situation because in 2018 we still didn’t get any update on Dolce right? WELL... 8th Anniversary becomes a thing and when it happened it was focused solely on the music (which DOES kind of make sense since the series’ literal translation is “Prince of Song”) but we hadn’t heard much about Dolce and at this point we are at 1 year since the HEAVENS announcement and 2 years since the game was announced AT ALL...what was going on? To be honest I don’t know but if I had to completely speculate what happened with the game it was a # of things and one was writing and recording HEAVENS’ parts (not sure about routes) for the game. Well during the time they were doing this Sony announced stopping the VITA and the game card production outright. Because of THIS I think this caused them to pivot and they started to figure out if they were going to take the project and move it to a console or just outright scrap it! I THINK when we get to 9th Anniversary we might learn the fate of Dolce and I think it has to do with this new game. If I HAD to hazard a guess the console it was going to be on...THAT’S TRICKY! See the PS4 is on its way out (or at least games will slow production probably for 2020) so the idea would be to put it on the PS5 when that releases BUT they also could drop the game on the switch and make the game the first that I think would be on a Nintendo system (NOTE: There WAS a theme for the 3DS but no actual games were made for a Nintendo console I don’t think) so we have to think about that. I think it would do Broccoli well to put the game on the PS4/5 AND the Switch because UtaPri has been a staple in the Sony library in Japan so if it just up and left then I don’t know how fans in Japan would feel. It would also be an interesting situation for HEAVENS fans because ,if we assume that this game will have them in it, then how many fans will get it for the switch beit domestically OR Internationally (NOTE: The Switch is NOT Region Locked so importing is easy to do) so that is something to look at. There are a lot of questions to deal with JUST on this subject and its why it took a bigger bulk of this post because of ambiguity but I am going to guess we will learn more at 9th Anniversary and I think it WILL RELEASE before the 10th Anni! Now another interesting part of the notes is that they are going to be focusing on Seiyuus and Lives...not sure what that means yet but we will find out in time This next part is SUPER IMPORTANT After the 10th Anniversary they will focus on making UtaPri “Everlasting Contents” Alright...I THINK I need to explain something I forgot to at the beginning here So when this tweet came out that someone was kind enough to translate EVERYTHING I am mentioning here was going UP TO 2022 so that’s a little over 3 years or so from now right? Things have started to get more interesting here! So NOW the question becomes this “What will the plan be as far as an Anime goes?” If I am 100% honest...I don’t know...I know what my plan would be for 2021 and 2022 if they wanted to put one final bow on the Anime and wrap it up with one more 2 season arc but MY IDEA would be drastically different probably than that of the fandom...but I’ll share it in the future. You know what’s crazy about all of this as far as the timing of the news goes? THIS It had recently been announced that ,at the showing for “Maji Love Kingdom” (Or I guess more appropriately now called “Maji Love LIVE Kingdom” if you saw the second PV) they will have the cast there for a special talk...usually when something like that is gonna happen some stuff is gonna go down and IT MAKES ME WONDER if there isn’t something behind this...could we get a 5TH SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT or could it just be for a social thing? If there is one thing I have learned about Broccoli’s methods in the years I have watched what they do with April Fools and so forth I wouldn’t put it past them to do that...it should ALSO be noted that at this time (and for the past 3 years) the 4th season website is still up! There is a part of me that STILL BELIEVES if they were done with the Anime Project they would have outright taken down the website and used the official site to redirect to the movie...that hasn’t happened yet! Now someone will say (and I can see this in a reblog ,reply or message already) that “Doing a 5th season AFTER doing the Tokyo Dome in MLKingdom doesn’t make sense from a story perspective” and I hear that...but not quite right! IF we are to assume that I’m right and they do one more two season arc what could they do? WELL I’ve been told there is a place BIGGER than the Tokyo Dome called “Nissan Stadium” and so they could do THAT but if they did THAT then the idea would be “Well next for them would be a world tour” and then you run into the idea of “Do we do ANOTHER TWO SEASON ARC (although that might be 3) or do we finally put the Anime to bed?” Remember the current plan is for AT LEAST 2022 but they ALSO want to create “everlasting content” too right? I have wondered this Since the “STARISH Solo Series” was announced was that Broccoli’s way of “closing the book” on that group? If it WAS (and I don’t think it was objectively speaking) then you could do a two season arc with HEAVENS and QN and the STARISH boys could make cameos? Hell I think I proposed an idea once where Otoya took over the school from Shining and then QN would become HEAVENS’ mentors but that part requires HEAVENS to break off from Raging and I don’t know if that would happen considering that the universe is currently built to have two different Agencies so...there IS that! Here is another interesting tidbit that might interest you I once looked up the largest stadiums in the world and like EIGHT OUT OF TEN OF THEM ARE IN THE US! YES KIDS IF YOU WANTED TO DO THE BIGGEST STADIUMS A BUNCH ARE HERE?! Gets better too because like a bunch of them were College Stadiums...ponder that! (Although real talk: I wouldn’t mind seeing UtaPri in America for an episode...THAT’D BE COOL!) So now we have to ask this question at the end of ALL OF THIS “Alright Joshua...WHAT do you make of all of this?!” Here’s my answer Broccoli has like ZERO intention of killing off the series! I know the plan is up to 2022 but I have a feeling in the next 3 years they are going to really work on building it up even more and making the Lives that they do reach farther beyond the boundaries of Japan. I think that was their plan from the start when they announced “Expanding the world of UtaPri” and they knew that was going to take some work. They are just revving up the engines and stopping it cold NOW would make a lot of people upset as far as fans IN JAPAN and OUTSIDE of the country. Broccoli HAS to know that their properties are getting popular outside because it wasn’t that long ago that they took off the lock for their YT channel in the US! I think they are starting to see the value in expanding to the west and they are now looking at what to do to keep the “Foreign Market” interested. I will also say this DON’T be surprised if the next game gets some kind of localization with how SL has done outside of Japan. Okay its about 100K people that downloaded the game in the US but that might have given Brocc some pause and go “Wait a second...maybe we got something here” And who knows...MAYBE they have a plan to get the game over here! We probably WON’T KNOW until maybe a little past 9th Anniversary but I’ve been surprised before Alright alright one more thing With Idolish7′s second season looming in the distance and with I-Chu getting an Anime Adaptation soon I could see that as a big reason that Broccoli DOESN’T want to kill off the Anime Project yet. They know their stronghold that they have and giving up the spot of “King of the Idol Anime” is NOT something you do without a fight and by God they have a plan to do it and now we are going to be in for one of the craziest 3 year periods (and beyond) in the history of a genre that I stepped into back in 2014 and now here we are in 2019 and its looking like a good fight kids...I’m just happy to have a front row seat! NOW...Imma ask you guys and gals Based on the announcements we got from Broccoli now what directions do you think UtaPri could go into and where do you WANT to see it go? I got a lot of ideas in my dome for sure but the question is...what say you Oh and I almost forgot to link the tweet that was the source of all of this so do be a friend and check out the tweet...here’s the link https://twitter.com/ohayaho_news/status/1117801981517627392 take care lads and lasses

#Amisbro #uta no prince sama #MAJOR SPECULATION POST #but its always fun to do this when Broccoli drops a lot of announcements #so here we go!

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wickedbananas · 7 years ago

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The Pro Marketer's Product Launch Checklist for 2018 - Whiteboard Friday

Posted by randfish

What goes into a truly exceptional product launch? To give your new product a feature the best chance at success, it's important to wrangle all the many moving pieces involved in pulling off a seamless marketing launch. From listing audience members and influencers to having the right success metrics to having a rollback plan, Rand shares his best advice in the form of an actionable checklist in this Whiteboard Friday. And make sure to check out the last item — it may be the best one to start with!

Click on the whiteboard image above to open a high-resolution version in a new tab!

Video Transcription

Howdy, Moz fans, and welcome to another edition of Whiteboard Friday. This week we are chatting about crafting a professional marketer's product launch checklist for 2018.

So many of you are undoubtedly in the business of doing things around SEO and around web marketing, around content marketing, around social media marketing in service of a product that you are launching or a feature that you are launching or multiple products. I think it pays for us to examine what goes into a very successful product launch.

Of course, I've been a part of many of these at Moz, as part of many of the startups and other companies that I advise, and there are some shared characteristics, particularly from the marketing perspective. I won't focus on the product and engineering perspectives. We'll talk about marketing product launches today.

☑ A defined audience, accompanied by a list of 10–100 real, individual people in the target group

So to start with, very first, top of our list, a defined audience. That can be a demographic or a psychographic set of characteristics that define your audience or a topic, a niche, a job title or job function type of characteristics that comprise the profile of who's in your group. That should be accompanied by a list of 10 to 100 real people.

I know that many marketers out there love using personas, and I think it's fine to use personas to help define this audience. But I'm going to urge you strongly to have that real list. Those could be:

Customers that you know you're targeting,

People who have bought from you in the past and you're hoping will buy again,

People who maybe you've lost and are hoping to recapture, maybe they use a competitor's product today or they're notable in some way.

As long as they fit your characteristics, I want you to have that list of those real people.

The problem with personas is you can't talk to them. You can't ask them real questions, or you can, but only in your own mind and your imagination fills in the details. These are real people that you can talk to, email, ask questions, show the product to, show the launch plan to and get real feedback. They should have shared characteristics. They should have an affinity for the product that you're building or launching, hopefully, and they should share the problem.

Whatever the problem, almost every product, in fact, hopefully every product is actually trying to solve a problem better than the thing that came before it or the many things that came before it. Your audience should share whatever that problem is that you're trying to solve.

☑ List of 25–500 influential people in the space, + contact info and an outreach plan

Okay. We'll give this a nice check mark. Next, list of influential people in the space. That could be 25 to even hundreds or thousands of people potentially, plus their contact information and an outreach plan. That outreach plan should include why each target is going to care about the problem, about the solution, and why they're going to share. Why will they amplify?

This is in answer to the question: Who will help amplify this and why? If you don't have a great answer to that, your product launch will almost certainly fall flat from a marketing perspective. If you can build a successful one of these, that list, especially if before you even launch, you know that 20 of these 500 people have said, "Yes, I'm going to amplify. Here's why I care about this. I can't wait until you give me permission to share it or release this thing or send me the version of it." That's an awesome, awesome step.

☑ List of influential publications and media that influencers and target audience members consume

Next, similarly, just like we have a list of influential people, we want a list of influential publications and media that many influencers and many of your target audience members read, watch, subscribe to, listen to, follow, etc. So it's basically these two groups should be paying attention to the media, to the publications that we're trying to list out here. Essentially, that could be events that these people go to. It could be podcasts they listen to. It could be shows they watch, blogs or email newsletters they subscribe to. It could be traditional media, magazines, radio, YouTube channel. Whatever those publications are, all of them are the ones we're trying to build a list of here.

That is going to be part of our outreach target. We might have these influential people, and some of these could overlap. Some of these influential people may work for or at these influential publications and that's fine. I just worry that too much influencer marketing is focused on individuals and not on publications when, in fact, both are critical to a product launch success.

☑ Metrics for success

Metrics, yes, marketers need metrics for success. Those should be in three buckets — exposure and branding, which include things like press and mentions and social engagement, maybe a survey comparison of before and after. We ran an anonymous survey to a group of our target audience before and after and we measured brand awareness differential. Traffic, so links, rankings, visits, time on site, etc., and conversions. That could be measured through last touch or through preferably full-funnel attribution.

☑ Promotional schedule with work items by team member and rollback plan

A promotion schedule. So this means we actually know what we're doing and in what order as the launch rolls out. That could be before launch we're doing a bunch of things around private beta or around sharing with some of these influential people and publications. Or we haven't defined the audience yet. We need to do that. We have that schedule and work items by each team member, and we're going to need a rollback plan. So if at any point along the way, the person who owns the product process says, "This is not good enough," or, "We have a fundamental error," or, "The flamethrower we're building shoots ice instead of fire," we should probably either rename and rebrand it or roll it back. We have that structure set up.

☑ FAQ from the beta/test period, from both potential customers and influencers

Next, frequently asked questions. This is where a beta or test period and test users come in super handy, because they will have asked us a bunch of questions. They'll have asked as they're playing with or observing or using the product. We should be able to take all of those questions from both potential customers and from influencers, and we should have those answers set up for our customer service and help teams and for people who are interfacing with the press and with influencers in case they reach out.

In an ideal world, we would also publish these online. We would have a place where we could reference them. They're already published. This is particularly handy when press and influencers cover a launch and they link to a, "Oh, here's how the ice thrower," I'm assuming, "that we're building is meant to work, and here's at what temperatures it's safe to operate," etc.

☑ Media assets & content for press/influencer use

Next up, media assets and content for those press and publications and influencer use. For example:

Videos of people using the product and playing with it

Screencasts, screenshots if it's a digital or software product

Photos

Demo-able versions if you want to give people login access to something special

Guidelines for press usage and citations, as well as things like logo and style guide

All of those types of things. Trust me, if your product launch goes well, people will ask you for this, or they will just use things that they steal from your site. You would much prefer to be able to control these assets and to control where the links and citations point, especially from an SEO perspective.

☑ Paid promotion triggers, metrics to watch, and KPIs

Next up, penultimate on our checklist, paid promotion triggers. So most of the time, when you're doing a product launch, there will also be some component that is non-organic, i.e., paid such as paid content. It could be pay-per-click ads. It could be Facebook advertising. It could be web advertising. It could be retargeting and remarketing. It could be broadcast advertising. All of those kinds of things.

You will want with each of those triggers, triggers that essentially say, "Okay, we've reached the point where we are now ready. We executed along our schedule, so we are now ready to turn on the paid promotion, and channel X is going to be the start of that, then channel Y and then channel Z."

Then we should have KPIs, key performance indicators, that tell us whether we're going to grow or shrink that spend, something like this. So we know, hey, the product launch is going this well, so we're going to keep our current level investment. But if we tick up over here, we're going to invest more. If we get to here, we're going to max out our spend. We know that our maximum spend is X. Versus it goes the other way and over here, we're going to cut. We're going to cut all spend if we fall below metric Z.

☑ A great set of answers and 100% alignment on the following statement:

Last but not least on our checklist, this should exist even prior to a product design process. In fact, if you're doing this at the end of a product launch checklist, the rest of this is not going to go so well. But if you start product design with this in mind and then maintain it all the way through launch, through messaging, through all the marketing that you do, you're going to be in good shape. That is a great set of answers and 100% alignment, meaning everyone on the team, who's working on this, agrees that this is how we're going to position this on this statement.

Before the product we're launching existed, our target audience, the group of people up here, was underserved in these ways or by previous solutions or because of these problems. But now, thanks to the thing that we've done, the thing that we've created and what is extraordinary about this product, these problems or this problem is solved.

If you design in this fashion and then you roll out in this fashion, you get this wonderful alignment and connection between how you're branding and marketing the product and how the product was conceived and built. The problem and its solution become clear throughout. That tends to do very, very well for product building and product launching.

All right, everyone, if you have additions to this checklist, I hope you leave them in the comments below. We'll see you again next week for another edition of Whiteboard Friday. Take care.

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