#GUYS SOMEONE RECORDED AT PAX

[mymp3]

RELOAD LEAKS?????

[fob4ever]

it gets worse brendon is drumming for mike viola (one of the guys who worked on viva las vengeance, also worked a bit on pax am days interestingly enough) and recorded all the percussion for viola's newest album 3 days before panic announced the split. then to promote this album viola starts touring on it and brendon goes with him even though his kid was born in like early february. i shit you not mr "i need to stop panicking at the disco to focus on being a father" was in hamburg germany playing drums for mike viola to about 50 people literally like 2 weeks after his childs birth and every time i tell someone else about this i feel like im going more insane

oh my GOD. that certainly is information thank you for relaying it to me. amazing day for nosy people (me)

[icyrambles]

right so a friend of mine gave me a massive idea for a transformers fan continuity, so i'm gonna share it!

the headcanon is plural/system optimus prime for a fan continuity i'm working on. please note that these are just my own headcanons spawned from a friend helping me out with this fan continuity. so be nice!

orion pax emerges from the well of allsparks and is assigned as a dockworker. he is the host, the one on record. the guy everyone knows about. below the murky depths of his conscious mind, a fragment lurks. it doesn't say anything, hell it doesn't even have a name or a face or an identity to call its own but it is there

after many many vorns of work, of rough, punishing work hauling cargo and shipments from the docks of the mithril sea to the majour cities of cybertron, orion is given an upgrade. he is taken in by alpha trion, the head archivist of cybertron, who had found young orion's works on the intranet and captivated by the passion of this young worker, decided to take him on as an apprentice.

orion becomes very well researched, particularly fascinated by the many datapads regarding cybertronian mental disorders, especially the ones regarding plurality and the existence of seemingly multiple mecha within one frame. he's not really sure why exactly that sort of information intrigues him so much, but he notes it for later and continues on in his work.

many stellar cycles later, orion meets megatron; a miner from tarn who rose up to become one of the greatest fighters in kaon's great gladiator rings. they bond over poetry and their vast thirst for knowledge and slowly, they fall in love. and then.... orion is summoned by the prime himself, sentinel.

megatron urges him to take the opportunity, to potentially request that the prime try to dismantle many of the oppressive systems that now shackle people like megatron and to some extent, orion (who remember worked as a labourer for a good chunk of his existence before being taken in by alpha trion)

so orion travels to meet the prime and that's when everything goes wrong. he arrives in iacon, the great shining beacon of cybertron and he is immediately ushered into a private room with sentinel. and the prime is not happy, ranting almost nonsensically about "a successor" and "it's not my time to step down, it's mine"

when orion tries to get a word in edgewise, tries to tell his prime about all the torment and suffering that mecha like megatron and so many more suffer under, how their planet is being bled of resources, sentinel dismisses him. he tells orion that the system is working exactly as intended and that mechs like megatron are but dirt beneath his and orion's pedes.

orion is confused and very angry because megatron is his lover. he knows that the system shouldn't work this way and he tells sentinel as such. sentinel opens his chest to reveal the matrix and snaps at orion that "the system is working just as intended, otherwise this would tell me otherwise. primus chose me and clearly he is more than satified with the way i've been running things"

orion leaves iacon, defeated and angry and filled with a sense of rage that feels so unlike him. megatron tells him its not his fault and the two of them agree that something has to be done.

so they visit the well of allsparks, probably the most religious location on all of cybetron. something calls orion to the well, something deep inside him. its similar to that rage he felt earlier, like its someone else in control.

my version of the matrix is unlike other continuities. it is a religious artifact that sentinel has in his possession for most of the time but he returns it to the well of allsparks for religious holidays and such. this version of the matrix selects the leaders of cybertron, tailored specifically for whatever the mecha of the planet need at that time. and they need a leader, one who will listen, one who will fight. and that mech is not orion.

the matrix calls to orion. he ignores the many guards surrounding it, almost entranced. megatron tries to stop him, tries to get him away because what good has the matrix done anyways, we don't need it. but orion ends up touching the matrix, letting its light consumes him. and the mecha who returns to the well of allsparks is not orion pax, but optimus prime my version of optimus prime is a dormant fragment that got lost in transit while orion's full consciousness was forming.

orion is the host, he's the one who was in control for most of the pre war era. optimus on the other hand, is a mech whose identity is formed by the matrix' overwhelming need for a being who will fight against the corruption that has burned through cybertron's very core. megatron, meanwhile is freaking out. his friend, his lover just vanished in a flash of light. he's being interrogated by guards when another flash of light engulfs the room and then a mech who looks similar to orion appears. he's bigger, taller, with more armour and a battle mask snapped firmly over his face plates but that colour palette and the way he speaks sounds just like orion.

"i am optimus prime." the new mech says and then he collapes.

my version of optimus and orion are a duality. i am a fan of creating themes of characters who are opposites to each other. orion is the thinker, he is the one who reads and absorbs information. he craves knowledge. optimus is a fighter. he's built to fight and is heavily armoured and is very much willing to take on the system of cybertron if it means a better future for everyone else i think that orion has a lot of identity issues when he finally comes to and is told what happens. on the one servo, that explains why exactly he was so curious about plurality and felt a kinship with many of the first hand accounts he'd read. but on the other servo. there's literally a whole other person, one hand picked by primus himself to fight now inhabiting his frame alongside him. and that's a lot to take in. my version of orion grapples with the reality that he is never alone anymore and isn't that wonderful but also it'll never be just him anymore and that's terrifying. he also has to cope with the very real possibility that optimus might injure their shared body very badly in a fight

optimus is rather confused about the whole situation. mostly because he's existed for only a few minutes as a full person, not as a random fragment floating around in the depths of orion's processor. but he knows why he's here and what his goal is. he needs to help cybertron and he's more than ready to do his duty. the handsome gladiator that his headmate managed to bag probably isn't such a bad thing either lmao

megatron probably handles it the best. he's almost entranced by optimus, someone who is bigger than orion both in body and mind, who can grapple with megatron without straining a strut with that matrix granted strength. he's down fucking bad for the both of them is what i'm saying. he helps orion through the identity crisis and is there to assure and council both his lovers through all their problems. he is a bit shaken up when it first happens because he's honestly not sure if he'll ever seen orion again.

optimus and orion exist in a state of co-fronting and only one of them around for a long period of time. when its the both of them, their identities merge and warp and become close to something like one individual for the most part. they still exist as themselves but something about having their minds so close together for long periods of time blurs the line between optimus prime and orion pax. however when it's just one of them on their own, they are very much themselves.

orion, as mentioned is a thinker. he's the strategist, the diplomat and he's the one in front for the periods of time when the army is on their own on earth. he loves the life on the new planet and he is the one responsible for charging rewind to create a detailed history of their people

optimus is the one fronting for most of the time they are fighting. in a way he almost craves it, the thrill of combat, the glory of battle. he likes to interact with the army to, he gets to know most of the soliders and doesn't shy away from getting his servos dirty. he interacts with the troops and gets to really know his soldiers on a deep personal level. he's a very down to earth kind of guy and tends to not get caught up in emotional stuff as badly as orion, though he's got a lot of repressed feelings regarding stuff like the matrix and primus but it's better for him to just not think about that kind of thing

anyways i really like thinking about plurality in transformers. i'm a singlet (so not a system) but i'm friends with quite a few systems myself (one of which got me into transformers) so making plural headcanons (and by that i mean my massive brain friends make the headcanons and i immediately incorporate them into my belief system.) i get rather nervous posting my headcanons so please be nice <3

reblogs > likes (if ya like my headcanons give em' a reblog)

[i-mean-technically]

Orion Pax doesn't become Optimus Prime. Mainly bv Megatron is tasked with journeying to the planet core and finding the legendary Matrix of Leadership to prove his claims.

So he totters into the Hall of Records awkwardly, huge and spiky, with a massive fusion cannon, and is terrified of breaking something. Or someone.

Some poor receptionist sees him, with slenderman Soundwave, and just bypasses all formality and calls for "Orion Pax to the front desk please, you have a client waiting."

Bc he's who you call when Weird Shit happens.

Meaning that when Megatron explains why he's there and asks for safe passage to the Matrix, Orion takes him down 40 levels and into a dusty room filled with miscellaneous shit.

Pulls out a dusty as fuck, banged up box. And tosses it at Megatron.

Megatron: what

Orion: Matrix

Megatron: *what*

And Orion explains that Megatron was the first to ask nicely to have it.

Thus, Megatronus Prime is born.

(Courtesy of a discussion in discord, thanks for listening guys! @justawannabearchaeologist helped a lot with some Hot Takes XD)

[swooshywoo]

okay pax post time i suppose. i went friday - sunday but sunday was also the travel back day

so friday we (me and my dad) wake up 6 am and we get our vaccine wristbands and day passes, and we were waiting in the annex at like 9:15 lol. which. the convention hall doesnt open until 10. there were soooo many people ive never been to pax before (ive been to other cons) and just wow. and the cheer when the doors opened and everyone flooded in. it felt like home ngl. me and my dad headed straight across the sky bridge to the other side where the more indie booths were to escape the crowd, and we just toured the expo floor checking out everything. my dad is a game dev and worked with indie devs + pax in the past so we just chatted with a few of them while playing their games. very cool to get that insight into the games industry. we showed up to the end of a panel to meet up with some of his friends, and then made dinner plans with a bunch of audio guys.

saturday was the day we (me) were here for because it had the tf2 reunion panel!! i cosplayed scout for that, saw 2 other tf2 cosplayers on the expo floor while we killed time, then showed up an hour early to the panel. and as we waited in line, so many people showed up it got capped 15 minutes before it started •_•. and like 6 people wanted photos of me too it was so fun. there were multiple medics and scouts, there was a demoknight, pauling, blu engineer, blu spy (wearing a heavy disguise), and a pyro. i was at the start of the line and got second row seats, the panel was amazing (theres an official recording somewhere idk where tho :( ). and then we went to the board game floor, found two people looking for players with a game we knew (and loved) already, and that was amazing those two were perfect matches for us.

sunday last day, went to the expo floor again (i was scout again too), played a game, talked to more devs, and killed time until the tf2 autographing. had lunch with a cosplayer id seen around the floor every day, they were super chill and also a father/son nerd duo which was cool. in the line for that i chatted with someone behind me and we played mario kart until it started (we were an hour early again, the line filled up in 25 minutes). got a PW Kaz 8x10 signed by Robin, got the script they read yesterday signed by all 4 of them, and my dad got a Portal 8x10 signed by Ellen. And then it was travel back.

It had been 6 years or more since i was last at a con, and im actually old enough now to appreciate them and feel the happiness that i felt this time. I had like 10 people total take photos of me, and easily twice as many shouts/compliments, and im definitely making my costume better for whatever next con i go to (props basically).

images under the cut

morbius

i did not know there was a etg arcade game?? based tho

the atrium at 6pm (when the expo floor closes (not the rest of the building tho))

THE ONLY SNAKE COSPLAYER!!! we both agreed we have to keep the fandom alive. im putting together a (tpp) kaz cosplay for next con as well.

maid master chief, amongus, and may (?) from it takes two

the only jojo cosplayers!! there was one more jotaro actually but he wasnt a part of this group.

pizza hill. the weapon was a pizza spatula thing (i forget the word)

neuron activation. it was so bad passing by this booth every time

[polyhexian]

Optimus Prime: Still Orion Pax in his head. To this day, Whirl calls him captain. Or he would, if he ever spoke to him. Suspects Optimus really and truly hates him to this day and desperately doesn't want that confirmed.

Springer: he can't think about him for more than a second without it overwhelming him. Whirl barely wants to live as it is, his ability to empathize is destroyed. He looked at a comatose springer, draining resources they didn't have, and believed he wouldn't want to live that way. No one else could pull the plug and live with themselves, but whirl is used to being the bad guy. It was supposed to be an act of mercy, but it all went wrong. One day springer woke up, too. Whirl never had the opportunity to speak to springer again and suspects to this day that springer well and truly hated him. Wishes desperately he'd been alone the day that Springer sent out his final message. As it stands, he was with ultra Magnus at the time, another once wrecker. Whirl secretly suspects that springer only sent his message to Magnus and not to him, but he'll never know for sure. Thinking about springer for more than thirty seconds usually leads to a good skull bashing against the wall.

Rotorstorm: lucky. More than whirl ever was. Born s helicopter and happy to be one. Became the subject of a younger whirls overwhelming self loathing, projected. Did not learn to regret this sin for many years. Rotorstorm was chosen specifically to replace whirl on the garrus-9 mission. Whirl has never received a solid answer why he was pulled from that mission, one he should have been made for. Blames himself for rotorstorms death, regrets not being able to make something right with him. Warning: saying "rotorstorm" within earshot of whirl is likely to lead to a rampage

Valve: an enemy once. Easy to fight. On the wrong side, or an idiot with feelings when whirl wasn't. Today, if he put a gun to Whirls head, he's not sure he would move.

Kroma: someone who never quite understood what whirl was. Underestimated him. Looked at whirl and thought he had been broken. Could not possibly fathom the depths of resentment he had stoked. Killed by whirl as soon as he got out of prison.

Drift: a regular around the station. Whirl had no issues hassling local addicts for his own benefit. Made drift's life hell, but rarely actually arrested him. Drift still really despises him from this time, but will never acknowledge it, because he knows he became something no better.

Ratchet: once upon a time a back alley doctor patching up empties in the dead end without permission. Unwanted. Outlawed. A pre-cop guttermech brawler Whirl was sent to drag him off for an empurata for daring to defy his function and the functions of others. Allowed to escape, but when he saw orion's great big speech later on tv, he would convince himself it was a fluke, or maybe someone else. Meeting whirl again after the war and seeing how he really is, he can no longer deny reality. Owes him a pair of hands.

Rewind1: something of a friend. He puts up a performative argument when asked to film his escapades, but goes along willingly. Whirl is the only non-minibot allowed at minibot movie night before it's opened up to other people. His extensive recordings cover more than people often realize, because rewind is polite, and not stupid. He knows when he's not supposed to know something. He knows what empurata is, and he knows anyone who still has claws four million years later has his reasons. Rewind gets the same questions as to why he hasn't changed his frame in just as long. He's seen whirl, in old videos, and he knows what his face looked like, but is good enough not to say so. His death was the first one to hit whirl in awhile, his spark hardened against such things, and he was not foolish enough to befriend the next Rewind he met.

Sandstorm: a once and current wrecker who was not on the garrus-9 mission only because he was otherwise engaged at the time. Did not and does not agree with Whirl's veto. Knows better than to say so.

[mk-wizard]

Proof that the Autobot Way is Flawed

Now, before I start exploring this Transformers theory, I want to make it clear that I do not think that Autobots are secretly evil. You can be part of a flawed system and be a good person. Heck, you can be part of a flawed system and even be aware of how flawed it is. Autobots have long since proven that they are good, well meaning people who want to keep their society clean and want to do good for the world, but it is NOT a perfect society. It has flaws that are glaring, feudal and in fact holding Autobots themselves back. And there are many instances which show that the Autobot way has flaws. Also, many of them are from Animated which I give honours to @auraturner for bringing up in her article here as many others did too. Here they are;

If you want to live in an Autobot society, you MUST identify as an Autobot yourself or you are not truly a part of the society and cannot live among Autobots. - Ever noticed that on Cybertron, EVERYONE identifies as an Autobot? And I recall in the G1 series, when Spike and Carly were given the ultimate honour among Autobots, what was this honour? Being called an Autobot. In other words, they were not true allies or equals up until that moment. While we would find being an Autobot cool as a kid, as adults, this feels off and kind of disturbing. Then there was the issue of Jetfire in G1. Why should he HAVE to be an Autobot to prove that he is good? He was good even when he identified as a Decepticon! He could have kept being a Decepticon and just fight alongside the good guys. What if a Decepticon wants to continue being a Decepticon, but just doesn’t agree with tyranny or Megatron’s way? What if a Decepticon was a good person, wasn’t even a fighter, had no criminal record and only wanted to live a quiet private life on Cybertron? Unless that Decepticon is willing to change their faction, the Autobots will deny them the right to live on Cybertron.

They have no trouble conscripting and imprisoning kids. - While we find it cute that Bumblebee is a young teenager, this implications here are actually very dark. What is a teenager that young doing in the army and going to war? Also, in the Animated series, Wasp was arrested and sent to the stockades and he was no older than Bumblebee. This is not ok. You do not give a kid and adult sentence.

Autobot society works almost like a hive mind or at least under the thumb of the Prime. - While Optimus and Rodimus were good and kind Primes who care deeply for others and allow personal freedoms, a large majority of the Primes were not like this. It is implied that Autobot society is a borderline communist society in which everyone plays a role to keep the system as it is forever and it is very rigid towards new ideas and such. This is why Megatron resorted to war in the first place. Nobody would listen to him. They listened to Optimus (as Orion Pax) in Prime, but the problem with this is that Megatron knows the problems better and knows the solution cannot be negotiated. Optimus doesn’t get that because he hasn’t walked in those shoes. Might I also add that the Autobots shot and used aggression first when Megatron start proposing change. That doesn’t look good. Moreover, you all have to believe in the same thing without question. Nobody is allowed free speech and speaking out against the Prime is considered as stepping out of line and if you question the Autobot way or point out that it has flaws, you will be accused of heresy.

While the Autobot faction came to be, their ancestors deleted a lot of the records. - This chilling fact is official in the actual Allspark Alminac. I don’t think I need to say much on this one. Anyone who throws away part of their own history is obviously hiding something.

Autobots have no respect for other factions or beings. - While the Autobots showing a lack of respect for the Earth or Decepticons is played off for laughs, such things are actually quite despicable. When Autobots mine for energon rather than produce it using alternative sources (like the Decepticons did in G1), it does a heck of a lot of damage to the planet. And you know what else does damage to Earth’s property and environment? The Autobot’s war and often at times their own clumsiness. I recall one episode in RID where the Autobots carelessly destroyed and entire golf course in seconds while duking it out amongst themselves and while this moment got passed off for comedy, I didn’t find it funny. It takes a lot of work to set up a golf course and even more to build a building, make a car and don’t get me started on how many injuries bystanders can endure. It is any wonder Prime’s Agent Fowler didn’t like them? I would be mad to if I gave amnesty to people who showed a lack of gratitude through a lack of respect for my home. Also, since the days of G1, the Autobots have mocked and objectified their prisoners either by taunting them or by taking pictures with them. Moreover, Autobots call Decepticons racist terms like “Con” or “Decepticreep”. I have never seen a Decepticon mock a captive except for Starscream and Megatron chastised him for it calling him childish and saying he shamed himself. Also, I have never ever heard the Decepticons call the Autobots a racist slur. Heck, Autobots including Optimus himself have used the term “Decepticon” as another word for “evil”. I also want to throw out there that Autobots do not take prisoners very often nor do they show a lot of mercy. Yes, Starscream is a sadist and a half, but the other Decepticons will not kick someone when they’re down or kill if they don’t have to. In fact, sometimes, their honour drives them not to. As for Autobots, they are not so nice and sometimes, even the noblest ones (including Optimus himself) have been known to take getting even too far.

They do not allow alt mode autonomy. - If you don’t know what that means, it means you are not allowed to choose an alt mode you want. It has to somehow relate to your job or the Autobot way. I know this is all fiction, but wouldn’t the right to choose which alt mode you want be a form of bodily autonomy? And how does your alt mode relate to your job especially when you can only do your job in robot mode? We see Autobots sneak this lack of letting a bot pick and choose the alt mode they really want even in Rescue Bots. When Blurr and Salvage join the team, he takes them to a hanger full of vehicles that are exclusively trucks or automobiles of some kind. In other words, everything four-wheeler. And even in Rescue Bots Academy, this sneaky tactic of guiding the bot’s hand towards a specific alt mode is still there. The bots play up how much the recruits admire them and almost all of them choose alt modes that are similar to their teachers. In the episode where Hotshot choose a fire truck, if Heatwave was a bigger bot, he would have encouraged Hotshot to stick with the rocket like he wanted to be because there’s a reason he wanted to be that and he already changes into a four wheeler of some kind. I think Autobots only allow dinosaur forms because they have proven to be useful, but if you compare the amount of diversity of alt modes among Autobots to that of Decepticon, it’s a night and day difference. I mean... they allow a warrior Decepticon to change into a CAMERA (REFLECTOR) and no one mocks or judges the guy. Now that I look at it, how many Autobots out there change into things that are not trucks or automobiles? Not many. In fact, even Blades wasn’t originally a flyer. It worries me to think what would have happened if a jet flew by in the air and Blurr requested to change into it as it is fast. Or if either he or Salvage didn’t like any of the trucks or automobiles.

They delete feelings and memories. - This is just creepy and the more I think about it, the more it frightens me. A society that considers amnesia acceptable as way of coping with trauma makes me think this society is very crooked and only looks at short term solutions. Not to mention, the concept of dealing with problems is by forgetting them is also telling. It makes me wonder if they apply this as a treatment for all trauma victims or anyone they consider as a heretic. And by any chance, do they use this as a means of ensuring that a former Decepticon becomes a proper Autobot? Holy cow, this is scaring me... And it’s making me wonder how many Autobots were actually once Decepticons, but even they themselves don’t even know it because their entire identities were deleted?

They don’t allow misfits and freaks. - The most disturbing aspect of all. All Autbots are physically perfect and none are beast types with the exception of the Dinobots who are also deemed openly as the exception. I also don’t notice many handicapped Autobots with the exception of Fixit who became handicapped after his accident. I highly doubt he would have gotten a job if he was handicapped from before and even currently, he is treated like an invalid even though he isn’t. They won’t even allow him to fight or inform him of his fighting capabilities even after discovering that he can hold his own. As for Decepticons, you will see tons who do not fit into some perfect mold or have ailments like having psychological issues or other handicaps, and most importantly, you’ll find diverse beast types. It is not for nothing that a large majority of the misfits of society rebelled against the Autobot way. The Autobot way outcasts the flawed and imperfect.

[tfw-no-tennis]

mtmte liveblog issue 9

back at it again, and its time for the shadowplay arc, HELL yeah

oh I'm so excited i love this arc lets DO this

oooh its nightbeat and quark!! way before they become relevant, which is so cool

‘one of those recepticon fanatics’ lmao imagine if they were...the recepticons. just doesn't have the same ring to it 

god i fucking love all the politics of mtmte. i love how they’re talking about the senate here before we really get to See how bad they were (we heard a bit about it from whirl a few issues ago, and now here)

love how nightbeat is pretty much agreeing with the decepticon ideology here, even if its clear that he isn't Actually a decepticon - it just drives home the fact that, in this story, The Decepticons Were Right About A Lot Of That Stuff (or at least, they had a reason other than ‘destruction’ for rebelling). 

AND THEN THERES RUNG!!!!!!! WITH HIS MODEL OF THE LOST LIGHT....god i fuckgin LOVE the continuity in this story bc the first time reading this ur like oh ok rung is old yea makes sense...but then later all the time travel stuff happens and then its like OHHHHH 

damn poor rung nightbeat can rlly tell he's lonely just by looking at him vbhjdkdfhbjsjkdf geez. also nightbeat that's ur mystery stick bf from the future js!!

quarks extreme POV on all of the stuff is so interesting, and makes so much sense bc of Course he would think that as a non-combatant scientist who, due to his functional value in current society, wouldn't really benefit much from a revolution - in fact, he’d probably lose a lot. and that’s the sort of thing where you’re like, ok well think about everyone else dude, have some perspective - but at the same time, quark did suffer a pretty terrible fate, so his fears weren't entirely unfounded...augh, its so fascinating...im sorry I'm not gonna shut up about space robot politics this Entire time

HOW did nobody notice that dead body before now

ratchet spray-painting the hands he stole from pharma to match his own paintjob is like...kinda gruesome if you think about it hvbhsjkdfbkjdf

i love rewind sooo much oh my god 

he rlly stashed rung’s comatose body in a wheelchair behind the bar hbkjdhfbshjkdf rewind 

rewind and chromedome’s tag-team explanation....ough hhhhh THEM 

wait a sec, rewind, you have medical records in your database? that is, at least according to regular medical laws, very illegal lmao. my favorite long-running theme in mtmte: the fact that hipaa and osha laws on cybertron are either basically nonexistent, or just universally disregarded 

what the actual fuck is up w/cybertronian time units. that shit is wack as hell 

ooh i love how chromedome looks different in the flashback - no shoulder tires! - that's a cool detail

how come prowl just said ‘minute,’ rewind was busting it up w/all the wack ass fantasy time units just a second ago. geez

also goddd i love the scenery of pre-war cybertron, its SUCH a cool setting like, visually and aesthetically and politically

like, i adore details like the sign in the bg that says ‘everyone’s shape serves a purpose.’ really adds to the ‘society on the precipice of civil war currently controlled by an increasingly-desperate faction who are doling out propaganda like crazy in an attempt to maintain their image and control over the populace’ vibe

good ole murder mystery setup. love it!

pre-war prowl is such an interesting character. actually prowl in general is such an interesting character...I kinda wrote him off during my first read of mtmte (and even a little during my second readthru) as just this dude who’s an asshole (espec bc my prev tf experience involved watching tfa as a kid, and this prowl is very different from tfa prowl lol)...but prowl is SUCH a multi-faceted and interesting character, even in the relatively little we see of him in mtmte 

plus it was interesting to learn later that prowl was one of the characters that jro wanted for mtmte and didn't get, and MAN i wish he got prowl bc I would've loved to see what jro would've done w/prowl on the lost light, that would've been amazing. like, just imagine the arc he would have...I have no idea what that arc would BE, but I know it would be awesome. plus I’d be really interested to see how prowl would factor in, relationships-wise, amongst the crew of the lost light. so much potential!

anyways. I'm in a very talky mood tonight it seems. its currently 4 am so that kinda explains it. ok, moving on!

chromedome and prowl bantering....in their own morbid forensic-cop way...

skids bvhjdbsfjasf. speaking what we’re all thinking: is prowl gonna keep showing up in mtmte despite not technically being part of the cast??

swerves drawing of prowl lmaoooo

AND THEN REWIND IN SOME OF MY FAVORITE MTMTE PANELS....fuckgin cracks me up every time god. rewind was rlly about to flip their entire ass table just to demonstrate that prowl is a serial table-flipper...and then he cant even make the table budge and he just stares at his hands like ‘how could you betray me like this’ hvbajkhhsfdhksdf PEAK hilarity

drift hvbshfdjbasdfj his forcibly cheery expression even tho he’s being harassed by rodimus, who is a big whiny toddler w/drift lmao 

rodimus is the type of guy who, upon drift not replying to one of his texts, would post a whole twitter thread being all like ‘these days u cant trust any1 to hav ur back...u think u kno someone and then they just ghost you...(1/14)’

again, rewind, HOW and WHY do you just Have medical reports, oh my god, somebody please call a hipaa agent I’m scared, 

ratchet interrupting the story to give a quick medical PSA....that's Such an on-brand thing for Me to do that I feel like jro is assigning me ratchet kin as I read this

also, hey, its sonic and boom, those two decepticons from delphi! nice little continuity there

AND HERES ORION PAX SUPER COP

can’t believe idw made my dad optimus prime into a cop. smh. shouldn't be that shocked tho, I feel like half the idw characters are cops

orion rlly hit them w/the omae wa mo shinderu arrest strat

orion: I cant believe you're beating this guy up. anyways, now I'm gonna beat YOU up,

when ratchet puts his hand over drifts mouth and then gets spray paint on drifts face bhjdfsvsdjhfgbjdskf

pre-war ratchet and drift ;_; ratchet’s little inspirational speech...the fact that he tells drift that he’s special...the fact that drift remembered all of this even after 4 million+ yrs...it gets me bro it GETS me

ALSO the layers in the fact that drift then goes on to become a well-known murderous decepticon...so this little scene of him and ratchet in the past gives a lot of context to ratchet’s general attitude towards drift - ratchet clearly feels at least somewhat responsible for all the blood on drift’s hands, since he saved drift’s life way back in the day

the whole relinquishment clinic thing is such cool worldbuilding, bc of course that's the kind of thing that would develop in a society of robot aliens who are only allowed to work within the rigid confines of their alt mode 

I love the whole matrix thing bc its kinda like being the pope or st but also you have a ton of political sway, so its a super important position, so of Course the corrupt senate would want full control over that power, and would assassinate the current prime to try to get their own guy in 

god vhbhjsdkbgshjdf rodimus is such a dick lmao poor drift

HHHHH I love that the cybertronian version of an autopsy is taking the dudes body apart into the smallest components and laying them all out. that's so fucking cool

hmmmm chromedome maybe you should Not be interested in mnemology, how about that,

oh god. time to start being sad about op and senator shockwave. oh god

senator shockwave more like senator sexy 

also the first time I read this I thought I had just missed his name and like halfway thru the story I went back and scoured the pages looking for it hbvhsjdfbshgfdsbj then I was like oh ok so we’re maybe supposed to just know who this guy is from another comic? but NOPE it was very deliberate and I only realized very close to the end that they were setting up some sort of reveal

its funny bc normally I'm not a huge fan of stories where politics play a huge role but I fuckgin love it here, the politics and worldbuilding is all so interesting and also balanced out with a healthy dose of cool sci-fi hijinks, so

lmao there's chromedome being obsessed w/people making the ‘pfft’ sound 

also wow yet more hindsight, maybe you Shouldn’t be so interested in the Institute, chromedome, 

OHHHH shit I forgot abt the red alert stuff happening at the same time as this :( :( :( 

AUGHHH what a fucked up situation. god 

oooof i gotta continue now!! what a solid issue, I love the shadowplay arc

[smallhatlogan]

Why Nonbinary Borderlands Fans are Mad About Zer0′s Pronouns, In a Timeline

2012

Zer0 was introduced in Borderlands 2 as a character meant to be absurdly mysterious in almost every way.  Zer0 is apparently not their real name, they seem not to be human (but it’s unclear if they’re an alien, robot, or something else entirely), no one knows where they came from, etc. Still, in Borderlands 2, they defaulted to he/him, and was assumed male.  It’s worth noting that Borderlands 2 also featured Bloodwing, Mordecai’s pet alien bird. In the original Borderlands Bloodwing was referred to as he/him, but switched between games to she/her. This is explained outside the game by Burch, who says that Bloodwing’s species changes gender halfway through life.

2013

Gearbox released the Diamond Plate Loot Chest. In it was the “Pandoran Gazette” an in-universe newspaper. It included an “Ask Doctor Tannis” advice column, the last question being:

Dear Doctor Tannis,

I have heard you are acquainted with the vault hunter known as "Zer0". I have been meaning to ask - that's not really his true name, is it? Hell, maybe Zer0 isn't even a "he". Do you have any details on this mysterious figure?

- Curious in Old Haven

Dear Curious,

I am indeed acquainted with the towering stack of leather and poorly-written poetry that so many refer to as "Zer0". As you have correctly noted, "Zer0" is not the Vault Hunter's true name. Zer0's actual name and gender are (CONTINUED ON PAGE 9)

Page 9 was not included. To my knowledge, this was where it was first seeded that Zer0 may not be male. 

November 2, 2014

 In a panel titled “Playing as a female character panel - Does it Matter” during PAX Australia, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford discussed Zer0’s gender:

“The other things that’s interesting to me is sometimes when there’s characters that don’t have a gender or have an ambiguous gender I’ll choose them...In Borderlands 2 we left Zer0’s identity very ambiguous. What gender is he?” *crowd laughs* “We need better pronouns, don’t we? Don’t we need better pronouns?” (Timestamp) 

“What’s the gender of Zer0?….That says more about me than it does say about Zer0, the fact that I use the pronoun he when I describe Zer0. In fact, um, we purposely have left Zer0’s gender ambiguous. There’s a lot of folks at Gearbox that like to think that maybe Zer0’s of a particular species that doesn’t have gender- That is more androgynous.”  (Timestamp) 

(Timeline continues under cut)

November 25th, 2014

The first episode of Tales From the Borderlands was released. Anthony Burch answered this question on his Ask.fm: 

To my memory, tumblr blew up with excited nonbinary fans. Prior to seeing screenshots of this, I really didn’t have interest in Borderlands. The idea of a cool nonbinary character who used they/them pronouns, admist a virtual desert of representation, made me play through the entire series as fast as I could so I could catch up in time to see these pronouns in action. For a long time afterwards I’ve seen other nonbinary people expressing the same sudden interest in the series after learning this about Zer0. Because, yeah, it was a pretty big deal. 

2015: 

Zer0 appeared again in episode 5 of Tales, released almost a year later after the first. Their voice had changed to one that sounds more ambiguous in terms of gender, but Zer0 was still being referred to as “he/him”. Anthony Burch was one of the writers on this episode. Afterward, he answered this on his ask.fm:

Since he claimed it was honestly a mistake, nonbinary fans held out hope. There were posts going around tumblr clarifying that yes, Zer0 was still nonbinary, and still was meant to use they/them pronouns. It was just a mistake made by a thoughtless cisgender man. Of course, then some presumably-cisgender fan goes to Burch, and validates him, because clearly a character can’t just up and CHANGE pronouns! It’s not like anyone ever does that in real life! 

It’s not a fair point. It’s a dumb point from someone who has no stakes in this.  (Another thing worth noting is it has only been other characters who referred to Zer0 as he/him. Zer0 has never made a point of standing up for their own pronouns.) After this Burch just kind of gives up on the whole idea. 

This statement about characters being “progressive enough not to misgender someone” is weird, because the characters, even the sympathetic ones, in Borderlands have often blatantly failed to be progressive. The original Borderlands has the worst of it, it’s your basic 2009 edgelord shit. There’s blatant misogyny, not to mention the extremely homophobic joke surrounding Mr. Shank (and within that the transphobic joke about his girlfriend being a man in a wig). Burch only started writing for the game in Borderlands 2, however. It’s a huge step up, but there’s still a lot of bigotry. Captain Scarlett makes a “no fatties” joke. Mr Torgue fat-shames Ellie. Mr Torgue uses the R-slur. Multiple characters slut-shame Moxxi. Incest jokes surrounding Scooter, who also is implied to be a huge creep towards women.  Heck, there’s the entirety of Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt DLC is a racist, colonialist mess. Its antagonist is implied to be gay, one of two gay male characters introduced thus far, and he’s a pathetic, creepy stalker.  This is the game series where there are two common enemy types whose names are straight up ableist.  So citing characters as being “too progressive” rings hollow with this context.  Besides, trans people are often misgendered, even by people who’d otherwise be considered progressive.  Burch left Gearbox the same year, so he’s not entirely to blame for what anything afterwards. He just set a pretty bad precedent.

2019:

Gearbox did seem to take the “make a new nonbinary character” thing to heart.  They give us Fl4k, again a nonhuman character, who uses they/them pronouns. And okay, I love Fl4k, but like most nonbinary people I’m tired of all nonbinary characters being robots, aliens, or otherwise non-human in appearance (a trope that yes, Zer0 falls into as well). Still, Fl4k is cute and having a nonbinary playable character who uses they/them pronouns is cool! I definitely plan to play as them. Many nonbinary fans were suspicious though, it seemed likely that Fl4k might be meant to appease us and they could keep on using he/him for Zer0. We were proven right when they released the gameplay preview on May 1st. We hear Zer0 called “he”. None of us are surprised, but it still hurts, we felt like we’d been baited with Zer0.  Besides, why can only one character at a time be nonbinary? Why can a bird change pronouns but not a person? Why was a writer allowed to go out and promise this if it wasn’t going to be followed through on (yes, he didn’t use the word “promise” but telling a marginalized group something like that isn’t something you can just “forget” without people feeling betrayed)?

And that’s where we’re at, as of me writing this. I feel like there are some comments I’m bound to get on this, so I’ll answer them here: Why are you making such a big deal about this?

Me typing a few paragraphs isn’t making a big deal. But I feel misled and baited. After a few years of no clarification after Burch promising us they/them Zer0, a lot of people hung on to hope. A lot of people became big fans of Zer0 because they’re a fun, badass, nonbinary character. Their design is really, really rad! And heck, they were (at least for a time) the most popular playable character in Borderlands 2. Telling everyone, in-game, “actually Zer0 was never really a he, they’ve been a ‘they’ this whole time” would have been HUGE. Like how Blizzard made Overwatch’s poster girl, Tracer, canonically a lesbian, and then revealed their badass gruff guy (who fills the roll of your basic FPS protagonist), Soldier 76, to be a gay man. They/them are still not widely accepted pronouns. For us who use them, it’s difficult to convince people not to default to something gendered. Especially when we fail to appear completely androgynous. I’ve been told Zer0 can’t possibly be nonbinary because they have a deep voice and “masculine” body shape. But real nonbinary people come in all shapes and sizes with all kinds of voices! 

What about Fl4k?

As I said, I’m very happy about Fl4k. They fall into some problematic tropes even more than Zer0 (as Fl4k is verified beyond a doubt to be a robot, and has an “acceptable” androgynous shape to them). I don’t know their voice yet, I wouldn’t be surprised if it also fell into the category of “acceptably androgynous”. Fl4k is new and already “they/them”. Zer0 is an established character who already has a lot of fans among a bunch of different groups of people. There’s definite value in demonstrating a character can switch pronouns, since pretty much every nonbinary person who uses they/them haven’t used those pronouns their entire life. Besides, there can and should be more than one nonbinary character.  Fl4k being nonbinary but not Zer0 kind of feels like Gearbox expects us to shut up and be happy with what we’re given.

What about nonbinary people who use he/him pronouns? Can’t Zer0 be that?

Those people are real and valid.  However, we’re talking about real people versus a fictional character. I admit I’d feel better if it was stated, in-game, “Yeah, Zer0 is nonbinary and uses he/him”. But even then, it’s REALLY EASY for cisgender people to ignore that information and write Zer0 off as male (And knowing gearbox, they’d put it somewhere easily missed. I’ve surprised so many straight people who’d played through Borderlands 2 with the fact that Sir Hammerlock is gay, simply because it was only verified in a side quest). And you know, we were promised they/them, so like, not doing that kind of sucks. Also I think it’s really important to normalize they/them.

So what are we supposed to do about this? What do you expect to change, anyways?

Honestly? I don’t expect Gearbox to fix this so late. In all likelihood, that’s way too much dialogue to re-record. But I still think it’s worth making our voices heard. We shouldn’t silently put up with this kind of thing. Other people will pull the same shit, being either unsympathetic or unaware of the harm they do. And heck, it’s unlikely, but maybe Gearbox will at least acknowledge their wrongdoing.

Also, it’s maybe worthwhile to ignore canon, and keep referring to Zer0 as “they/them”, or if this whole thing is news to you, it’s not too late to start. It would mean a lot to nonbinary fans, and make a point about how Zer0 is regarded.

[jflashandclash]

Tales From Mount Othrys

Ajax: Fidget Spinners III

           After a quick bus ride where Pax and Lou Ellen played cards and iSpy (Watch Out for Romans edition), they arrived in front of DOA Recording Studios.

         Lou Ellen figured out the Underworld’s entrance much quicker than he could have. And, she knew where Luke, Axel, and Jack had snuck off to.

         When Pax asked, she giggled. She took off her invisibility spell off as soon as the centaur left, allowing him to see her smile. “Alabaster thinks I don’t hear him cussing about doing research for Luke’s missions. He might fight with Luke, but the two work together really well.”

         That was a relief to hear. The idea of the top two badasses on the boat actually hating each other—that sounded like a formula for smithereens instead of a functional boat.

         Lou Ellen also came prepared for their up-in-coming deception. A few muttered words and she had a convincingly caved-in skull with blood in her hair. The sight upset and disturbed Pax. He and Matthias had sneaked into too many zombie films to see one of his friends as a perfect WWZ mascot. On a more personal level, he’d also seen his dad kill too many people he knew. You know, for important reasons. Like when they messed up taking out the trash.

         Lou Ellen twirled, making her hair flutter around her. The locks didn’t poof out enough, being weighted down with fake blood. “How do I look?” One of her eyes was completely busted and the other had red veins streaking the white.

         Pax swallowed, trying to give her a grin. “Like you’ve been hit by an 18-wheeler.”

         She rubbed her hands together, a little too close to Matthias’ signature move. One hand looked like it was covered in road rash. “Ready to join me? We’ll have it look like a nice pipe went through your chest.”

         Pax perked up. This part would be awesome. He closed his eyes and hopped from foot to foot in anticipation.

         She spoke a few magical words.

         Pax didn’t feel different, though his ears popped, the same way they did when Axel used magic.

         When Lou Ellen burst into giggles, he cracked his eyes open. “Lou Ellen!” he complained.

         “I—I’m sorry! It was supposed to be your chest!”

         Pax now had a massive, see-through hole in his groin. His pelvis looked like the residue of flirting with a giant.

         “Now people really won’t be able to tell if you’re a boy or a girl,” she said, gleeful tears streaming out of her bloodshot and missing eye. The watery socket made her disguise less convincing, something Pax probably should point out.

         He felt the corner of his mouth twitch. “Do you think the Grim Reaper will get angry if we mess with him?”

         They did some quick exercises to stop laughing. Mercedes had given him tips on how to stop. Sometimes, she’d sit Pax in a chair, bring Matthias in, shove some chop sticks into Matthias’ nostrils, and inform Pax that she’d tase Pax if he laughed.

         It was easier since he and Lou Ellen could move around until they were out of breath. During the training exercises—watching Matthias try to bat a stick out of his nose?—that was horrible.

         After some jumping jacks, they entered the lobby of DOA Recording Studios. Lou Ellen said this was the most conventional way to get to the Underworld. Pax wondered what unconventional ways there were. Inside, there were other dead people—real dead people—wandering around or sitting on black, leather benches. Muzak played over a loudspeaker. Everything was grey, like the interior decorator had intentionally made the place as drained of life—as would make sense, being Death’s Doors.

         There was an elevator on the far wall.

         In front of them, towards the center of the room, was a podium. Atop it, stood a handsome, African American man with bleached-blond hair. He wore a silk Italian suit that was such a dark red, it was almost black.

         The suit made Pax freeze. He hated suits like that. His father wore suits like that. So did the men that worked for his father.

         His throat constricted. There was no way his father’s influence reached this far, did it? Could his father have bribed the ferryman of the dead? That sounded like something his father would do.

         Fortunately, it was the wrong shade of red. Papa liked burgundy. Pax tried to ease his breath, and tried to laugh along when Lou Ellen burst into another fit of giggles at the hole in his groin.

         Charon, the Grim Reaper, looked very confused by their laughter. He sighed and continued to write something in a small planner.

         Lou Ellen marched up to his podium. She bit her lip to cut off the giggles. “Hi, Sir Grim Reaper,” she said. “Looks like we’re in the right place.” Supposedly, this would go faster if they called him sir.

         The man slowly set his pen down. He glanced up at her through a pair of sunglasses. He looked skeptical. “You seem awfully calm and happy to be saying that.”

         Pax slipped an arm over Lou Ellen’s shoulder, beaming at Charon and trying to ignore that red suit. “We’re Goths. This is like, the ultimate experience. And we died together.”

         Lou Ellen slipped her hand around Pax’s waist. He feared she would accidentally tickle him. “What’s not to be calm and happy about?”

         Lou Ellen would never be into Pax like that, nor he into her. They had an agreement: if he helped her get alone time with Axel, she would help him get alone time with Alabaster. Nothing had happened from it yet, but they could wear the opposing older sibling down.

         “That’s a… unique perspective,” Charon said, “How did you die?”

         “Car accident,” they said in harmony.

         Charon looked bored. “You’re too young to drive.”

         “Duh, why do you think we’re here?” Pax put a devilish twist on his smile. “Sir.”

         Lou Ellen shoved his shoulder. “Pax!” she cried. She turned back to Charon. “He’s just messing around, sir. I’m sure our chauffeur will be here any minute.”

         They had no chauffeur, but Charon didn’t need to know that.

         Charon stared at them for an uncomfortable period of time. Pax struggled not to jump from foot to foot. Charon pointed his pen at Lou Ellen. “Cracked skull.” He turned the tip of the pen to Pax. “How specifically did you die?”

         Pax sighed, stepped back from the podium, and glanced down. “Crushed pelvis. The shock killed me before the bleeding.”

         Charon winced. “I am… so sorry,” he said.

         Pax hoped this scheme wouldn’t come across as a challenge to the Fates. He would rather keep his pelvis intact. There were some hot guys and girls out there, but none hot enough to die from a crushed pelvis.

         Charon’s terrifying gaze bore into them. “We had a security… issue recently. You two seem awfully calm for being dead, Goth or not. Are you sure that you’re deceased?” He set his pen down, folded his fingers, and leaned forward.

         From what they heard, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover snuck into the Underworld a year or two back. Pax and Lou Ellen were prepared for this skepticism.

         Lou Ellen grinned. “If I wasn’t dead, could I do this?” She reached for her nose. Though she was trying to remove that, her chin dislodged instead. She really needed to work on her aim when manipulating the Mist.

         Charon glared and pointed to a sign on the podium. It read:

         No playing with disembodied limbs in the waiting room.

         “Oh,” Lou Ellen said. She sheepishly shoved her chin back onto her cheek. “Sorry.”

         “Lou Ellen you put that back where it belongs, you disgrace.”

         Someone reached over to rip her chin off her cheek and deposit it properly at the bottom of her face. That person then slipped a hand around either of their shoulders.

         Pax felt fingers lightly touch his ear, like a reminder his ear could be ripped off as easily as whomever had altered her chin. The scent of sandalwood and incense made Pax’s head dizzy. Pax glanced down and almost gagged. A line of intestines dragged along the floor, leaving red smears along the grey tiles. All he could think about was linked cartoon sausages dipped in BBQ sauce.

         There was no way Pax could eat BBQ any time soon.

         Pax’s gaze shifted to the blood soaking the boy’s pants and shirt. The skin was ripped clean off the boy’s arms, exposing tendons better than any biology model. Nausea hit Pax’s stomach when he saw the face. It was sickly white. The brown hair was slicked to the boy’s forehead with blood or sweat. Alabaster’s glimmering green eyes and scowl were the only part recognizable.

          “You must be the chauffeur,” Charon said amicably.

         “It appears to be so,” Alabaster growled. His fingers pinched Pax’s ear. From the whine in Lou Ellen’s voice, he had pinched her as well.

“You’re barely old enough to drive yourself,” Charon said.

“Yes, hence the car accident,” Alabaster said. He released Pax and Lou Ellen to fumble around a flap in his shirt. His hand accidentally jammed into his ribcage. Finally, he produced a plastic-wrapped container and tossed it on the podium.

Charon didn’t touch the blood-soaked package. “What is this?” he asked, taking a step back and checking to assure no blood had gotten onto his shirt sleeves. Pax doubted it would show up on the red. He often wondered if that’s why his father picked burgundy.

         “It’s our payment,” Alabaster said, “We’re in a bit of a hurry.”

         Charon raised an annoyed eyebrow. “We’re in a bit of a hurry, Sir. I don’t take—”

         After examining the package for a moment, his jaw dropped. He glanced from it to Alabaster suspiciously.

         Alabaster slid the package closer to himself, out of Charon’s reach. “An Ermendegildo Zegna slim fit two piece. Limited edition silk. Your size.”

         Pax was too stunned by Alabaster’s appearance to fully understand what he said. From a quick glance at the package, it looked like some kind of clothing.

         “You’ll have to wait until the next elevator,” Charon said. He drummed his fingers on the podium. From what Pax could tell, Alabaster had Charon in the bag with whatever article of clothing that was.

         Alabaster opened his mouth as though to argue. Then he threw a hand up to his lips. He coughed once.

         Blood splattered around his fingers.

         Charon flinched backwards. He tried to snatch at the plastic wrap, but wasn’t fast enough.

         Even with his new ailment, Alabaster grabbed it. Once the suit was in his hands, he took another step back, the hacks becoming more violent.

         “Oh titans—oh titans!” Pax cried. “What’s wrong with him?!” He grabbed Lou Ellen’s shoulder, shaking her. Pax’s mind was at its limit. He hadn’t processed what Alabaster looked like. He couldn’t handle seeing Alabaster’s exposed organs tremble with each cough. This was supposed to be a fun jaunt to the Underworld to annoy his brother. It was quickly becoming a nightmare.

         Her mouth hung open. She shook her head. “I—I don’t know. I’ve heard rare stories of—”

         Blackish red liquid gushed between the Alabaster’s fingers. His whole body shuddered.

         Charon took a panicked step backwards.

         “—spirits that don’t handle being incorporeal well so will—”

         Lou Ellen didn’t get to finish her explanation.

         Alabaster dropped his hand to clutch at his leg. He threw up. That blackish liquid splattered all over the grey floor.

         Pax trembled all over. “What do we do?!” he demanded. Thoughts froze. Alabaster always knew what to do. He was the witchy one and the one who knew more about undead. Pax and Lou Ellen were learning from him. But, if he had some kind of ghost sickness—could ghosts get sick—?

         Alabaster took in a rattled breath. He raised a shaking hand to emphasize his hold on the clothing. “Let us down right now, or I’ll use this bag as a vomit bag,” he threatened.

         Charon’s flinched. “Don’t!” He began to fumble with some keys on his belt. “We—we have an emergency ride that—”

         Pax didn’t hear the rest of Charon’s sputters. He slipped an arm under Alabaster to help steady him. Although Pax’s shirt sleeve was dusted from Lou Ellen’s undead effects, he used the end of one to wipe blood from Alabaster’s mouth. Underneath the wheezes, Pax thought he saw Alabaster smirking wickedly at Charon.

         Glancing at the blood smatters on the floor, Pax suddenly wasn’t sure which person to feel bad for.

 Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed and I hope you and your families are staying safe! Stay tuned next week for Part IV to see what ails Alabaster (likely having to babysit two monsters….)

[beesmygod]

this is what riverdale is about (part 4)

part 1

part 2

part 3

i’m back, to continue from where we left off. obnoxiously, i’m going to take a minute to plug my patreon, which is primarily for my webcomic but i also do movie reviews and talk about bad books i find so if you like these posts, you’ll probably like those as well. all i ask....is one dollar a month.

anyway fuck that let’s get back into this.

images are from the riverdale wiki

SEASON ONE (PART 2):

the last picture show: immediately this show reveals that our beloved jughead has been living in a nearly abandoned drive-in that he also works at. too bad for him, because it’s closing down. hilariously, literally nobody in his circle of friends cares and call his make-shift house a crack den. owned. its revealed an anonymous buyer purchased it from the town and the mayor decided to sell it to whoever.

archie brings flowers to his teacher-girlfriend’s recital and when he and grundy (and his dad) head to pop’s for a good ol malt or whatever, betty confronts him about his relationship. betty is hurt when he says grundy believed in him when no one else did and goes home with renewed purpose: take grundy down.

veronica’s mom is caught having a heated argument with a member of the southside serpents gang next to a dumpster by cheryl who, as she delights in misery and disaster, captures it all on camera. she shows veronica, who confronts her mother who brushes her off.

betty lures grundy into a fake interview for her school paper instead of going to the police. betty seems to be determining all of this based on the fact that she didnt have any social media until a year ago, which really makes me question betty’s journalistic bonefides. its framed like this means she didn’t exist before she got a twitter or whatever. its really weird. more relevant is that the only record of a geraldine grundy.....WAS AN OLD WOMAN WHO DIED 7 YEARS AGO!!!!! she takes this information to archie as well, who doesn’t care at all. he’s way too horny to care.

betty breaks into grundy’s vw bug and finds a gun and her real i.d. with her real name. archie is still too horny to care, even though betty (again, really overstepping her journalistic bounds) says that grundy might have killed jason (BASED ON THE EXISTENCE OF A GUN BETTY!!! COME ON). archie finally asks grundy straight up what the fuck is going on and she cops to trying to escape from an abusive husband, hence the gun and fake names.

jughead finds out that archie’s dad’s construction company won the bid to destroy the drive-in. its a bad time to be jughead. he tries to ask archie’s dad not to tear down the drive-in. through this convo we learn that jughead’s dad was fired from andrews construction several years ago for theft. a scene after this reveals that veronica’s mom is facilitating the purchase of the drive-in with the mayor pn behalf of her incarcerated husband.

i’m so glad the wiki reminded me of this line, word for word: everyone (and i mean literally everyone in town) goes to the drive-in for one last hurrah, where the southside serpents are guffawing up a storm. veronica somehow silences them by saying “You know what happens to a snake when a Louboutin heel steps on it? Shut the hell up or you’ll find out.“ it sucks so bad. veronica then witnesses her mother having an encounter with the same gang member who she is revealed to be paying to drive down the value of the drive-in property so hiram lodge can buy it for cheap.

archie and grundy are caught in a passionate embrace after betty’s mom reads her diary and goes on the warpath, rightfully telling her to get the fuck out of town or she’ll reveal her to be a child molester. grundy agrees to leave and archie is heartbroken. the last show of geraldine this season is her ogling two teen boys. horrible. leave, woman.

jughead leaves his shitty home and on his way out is accosted by the same gang member who was talking to hermoine lodge and is revealed to be....JUGHEADS DAD!!!!!!!!!! whatever.

heart of darkness: the town is abuzz with jason’s upcoming funeral and the teens of riverdale are fighting over who gets to take the dead kids spot as captain of the football team in a really normal and not at all super ghoulish way. archie is working his heart out now that his favorite teacher/pedophile has fled town. he has his time wasted by a member of the pussycats, valerie, who nets him a meeting with a music songwriter who tells archie he doesn’t have time for his shit. its a weird and totally pointless scene in the long run. it doesnt matter because archie’s music thing never comes to anything. the guy tells archie later, when he returns with sheet music, that his songs suck shit and he hates his music and to get out of his office.

jason and polly’s (betty’s sister) relationship seems to be at the center of whatever happened to jason, so betty starts asking around town about her sister, by using dates as a cover to ask probing questions to members of the football team. she also tries asking her father, who explains that polly and jason had a fight, polly tried to kill herself and so was shipped off to a mental institution. learning about jason’s death fucked her up again so they shan’t be exposing her to more sordid info about the events. the only information they get is that jason was selling drugs to raise money to leave town.

betty and jughead trace this thread to find out why jason would want to leave town but veronica is already finding out firsthand after she is invited to the blossom mansion for the world’s worst sleepover before the memorial (cool timing): the blossoms are all insane. they make their money on maple syrup, using the funds to build riverdale as we know it. veronica and cheryl bond over their awful parents and versonic encourages cheryl to act out at jason’s memorial FOR SOME REASON. KNOWING FULL WELL WHO CHERYL IS.

demonstrating extremely normal judgement, betty and jughead plan to raid jason’s room during the memorial to find clues. cheryl goes full hamlet, throwing herself on the coffin and weeping during her eulogy. they use this as cover to sneak away and go commit the worst social faux-pax you truly can do. however, they are interrupted by cherly’s senile grandmother, nana rose, who mistakes her for polly and reveals polly and jason were engaged. 

betty takes this information to her father who reveals he already knows but forbid the arrangement because the blossoms and the coopers have been trying to kill each other for decades over the whole maple syrup empire thing. betty and jughead later suspect her dad broke into the sheriff's office to steal his files related to uhhh everything i guess; a hunch which turns out to be correct.

meanwhile veronica’s mom is sent a live snake by the serpent gang, calls big strong fred andrews to come save her and then asks him for a job.

faster pussycats! kill! kill!: first of all fuck, the name of this ep.

archie, for some reason because i guess he doesn’t know what embarrassment is, decides he’s going to play an original song he wrote for the school talent show. he immediately gets stage fright at the try-outs and wusses out. veronica goes behind his back to sign him up anyway. thanks, asshole!

valerie, from the last ep, quits the pussycats because josie is slightly more stressed than usual about uhhh the talent show. also because she has a crush on archie for some reason.

hermoine, while acting as fred andrews’ new secretary, realizes he’s fucking BROKE. why’d he hire her? who knows. too late now. she suggests firing some people (for example............her, maybe, fred) but fred cant bear it...and is hoping to be saved by the newest construction job he doesn’t know that hermoine is manipulating under the table. much like his son, fred is now too horny to care and they make out while veronica watches awkwardly.

the remaining pussycats try to figure out what to do about their missing member problem. josie’s mom helpfully lays out that they need a strong woman of color, but not one prettier or more talented than josie. enter...VERONICA!!! who is miffed because archie replaced her with valerie in the talent show duet. veronica is now scientifically less pretty and talented than josie by show standards, which just rules because i love thinking that there are teen power rankings in riverdale.

betty and jughead make their way to visit polly at The Sisters Of Quiet Mercy which is literally the best name for a goth cover band in the world. surprise! polly is pregnant with jason’s baby. polly reveals she and jason planned to run away together, but she was caught by her parents and sent away. she then awkwardly asks how jason is and someone has to break the news to her.

josie’s dad makes a brief appearance, which i absolutely do not remember at all. i thought he only showed up in season 3 which makes mayor mccoys character arc way more awkward. anyway, the mccoy family, the andrews and the lodges all have dinner together to discuss business and its awkward as all hell. no one at the table likes the andrews.

betty straight up asks her dad if he killed jason and her mom laughs her ass off at the idea of betty’s soft white suburban ham shank looking dad being able to kill a weed much less a human. keep that in mind.

veronica’s mom forges veronica signature on a form allowing andrews construction to move ahead with the job.

jughead and betty kiss after talking about how they arent their parents. keep that in mind. anyway, betty takes jughead to a car polly mentioned that full of EVIDENCE. they take picture of it and leave the car to go tell the sheriff because i guess suddenly no one has cellphones.  jughead and betty return with the sheriff later to find the car has been light up by an unknown person. almost immediately after, bughead tries to rescue polly at the institution only to find she’s already bailed. welp.

josie and valerie make up and all four pussycats perform. josie’s dad walks out on her performance? harsh. cool dad moves.

archie sings and the crowd loves it. who gives a shit.

a kid died, guys. come on.

[archonssun]

Don’t Take it to Heart

Chapter Twelve

WC: 1212

Prompto tried his best to hide his tears. Everyone saw them, regardless. Just listening to the sound was enough to break his companions’ hearts. That feeling was closely followed by feelings of rage, toward Pax.

Why couldn’t she just let Prompto help her?! He had just been trying to keep her safe, right?! So why did she react the way she had?!

Their questions were never answered, however, because she never returned. They waited for hours. Hours turned into days. But still, she never showed up. At some point, they had to move on, right?

And that’s exactly what they did. Noct and his companions travelled all across Leide as the Chosen King was being tested by Ramuh. It ultimately ended in a showdown with daemons in a dungeon, but without Pax … 

Ever since she disappeared, the group had lacked something -- something they had taken for granted when she was there: she had brought that little spark of life into camp. She had always been well-matched for everyone, taking no shit from either Gladio or Noctis, pitting her wits against Ignis’ on the daily.

Never in his entire life had Prompto felt such crippling guilt. When Pax hadn’t returned that night, or any of the days following, he felt something inside him break. He was no longer the sunshine of the group; no jokes or puns fell from his lips, and even his laugh had become scarce.

After only a few days of her absence, the four had reclaimed the Regalia. While it was supposed to be a joyous occasion, as now they could continue on their journey, it was a day far from filled with happiness. Especially once the guys were told what had happened in their absence from Lestallum.

Prompto sat in the front seat, staring down at his lap. For once, he didn’t feel the need to take copious amounts of pictures of everything they passed. No, his mind was preoccupied with Pax. The look she had given him before she left was seared into his brain; he saw it whenever he closed his eyes.

“Noct,” Ignis’ voice broke the blond from his musings, and he looked up to see another floating fortress. With a short nod from the prince, Ignis pulled over in Old Lestallum, dropping off Iris before the group of guys set out to take down yet another Imperial base.

***

Pax was hidden very well, considering. Her blue eyes watched as soldier after soldier passed her by, thanking the gods that she had found this spot before they had seen her. Getting into an active base was hard enough without having to think about hiding from any of the inhabitants.

Once the soldiers were out of earshot, Pax slipped from her spot, racing across the concrete with nary a sound. It was as she was approaching the Magitek generator that everything went to hell. With one explosion, her carefully laid plan had been destroyed. Anger overtook her being as she straightened from her crouched position.

I swear I’m gonna kill whoever did that, she growled to herself as she forewent stealth in favor of speed, her legs carrying her from one end of the base to the other in record time. She had expected to find some disgruntled civilians who had broken in, or even Cor and the remnants of the Kingsglaive, but the sight that met her eyes caused her to growl once more.

A mop of blond hair was flipping around the battlefield, along with someone much taller than Pax. Even with their backs to her, she knew.

“You motherfuckers!” she howled, jumping into the battle with her short swords slicing at every enemy they encountered. Her shout caused the two men to turn to her, their brows knit in confusion at her appearance. “I leave you guys for a few days, and you go and fuck up my plans!”

She didn’t wait for them to respond as she finished taking down the last Magitek soldier. As its body disintegrated, Noct came racing into the small courtyard. When his eyes landed on Pax, his body froze, a look of relief filling his features at seeing her alive and well.

“Pax,” he said, only to be hushed by the harsh look in her eyes. It caused him to stop short of what he had been about to say, but for a reason he hadn’t expected. When she had given him that look, he hadn’t been filled with fear -- not like the last few times. No, this time, it had filled him with a feeling of remorse, or something like it. But he didn’t know why. Unsure how to react to her sudden appearance, Noct could only stand in stunned silence as she approached Gladio and Prompto.

“Hey there, missy,” Gladio said, a smirk pulling at his lips as the girl approached him. Drawing back her fist, she swung, the punch landing squarely on the brute’s jaw.

“That’s what you get for interrupting, you son of a bitch!” she growled, breaths coming in heavy pants as she glared at the shield. Then, turning her gaze to the blond, she clicked her tongue. However, instead of decking the poor boy like she had with Gladio, she only walked away, presumably to get her temper under control. She couldn’t let them see her like this -- she wouldn’t.

Pax took in deep breaths, a hand to her chest as her back faced the group of guys. They could only watch as she calmed herself down, then as she approached them with a scary look on her face.

“What are you guys doing here?” she asked.

“We should be asking you that little miss runaway,” Gladio shot back. Oh, shit. Whenever the shield’s voice took on that tone, everyone knew shit was about to go down. Pax picked up on the tone and sent an amused glance to the shield. Yet she said nothing, which further irritated the Amicitia.

“What’re you grinning about?” he asked harshly. He grabbed her jacket’s collar and pulled her close to himself. “Answer the goddamn question!”

“Gladio--”

“First, you disappear on us when the kid was just trying to help you, now you’re pissed off that we ‘ruined’ your plans?! How selfish can you be?!”

“Gladiolus, I suggest you put me down,” Pax’s voice at that moment sent a shiver down everyone’s spines, it was frigid. Even the ever impervious Gladiolus Amicitia felt a trickle of fear slide down his throat. He did as she had suggested, setting her on her feet gently. Giving him a slight nod, Pax turned around just as Ignis walked up.

“Pax?” It was a sight to see. Ignis, usually so composed and cool, rushed up to his sister, engulfing her in a tight hug. With a small smile, Pax returned the hug, wrapping her arms around Ignis’ back. The two stood in one another’s arms, just basking in the presence of each other.

“Where have you been?” Ignis’ calm voice broke the comfortable silence that had descended upon the two, and the man could feel Pax’s body tense before she tried to pull away. Gripping her forearms tightly, he looked her in the eyes. “Oh, no. You’re not getting away until you tell me what you’ve been doing.”

[kaleidiope]

Story pitch for the drawings I’ve been doing.

Heads up! This is long, and i'm so sorry!! It won't be about things that go on in the story, but things about the story. If that makes sense? (Also, I apologize if there’s spelling errors. I’m not the best with spelling.) 

(And some of this might change closer to completion. A lot of it isn't set in stone. So, even though I've started writing it, it still might change a bit from what it is. It stands at roughly 10,000 words right now, and we're not even half way yet.)

This story has been in my folder by the name of, "OUL". (Don't ask!) XD And it will be on a site called, "Quotev."

Thus, that's what i'll most likely refer to it as. It will get a name, but I want to name it when it's closer to being complete. I think I've talked about it twice before? But this has been my main focus story. I've been working things out with it since, I believe it was February? A lot of it has changed, some has been the same, I've mulled over many ideas for it. And it's fantasy. No getting around that! XD It makes no sense in some parts. I find some bits of it to be silly now. But I don't like the idea of changing them.

I also took different ideas from games, and i'll referencing those games to try help get a better idea of what I mean? If you guys remember me saying it's like One shot and Borderlands. That's because there's not much more of a, (Setting? Theme? Atmosphere?) I loved more than One Shot!! I loved that game's feel! Which is why I've based it around the same kind of feel! No sun, it's sandy, so on, and such. And the two main cities, are based like the,"Refuge" (Jade), and the "Glen/Barrens" (Beryl). (The Barrens works better for the out-skirts, though. See what I meant about it being like One-shot? I kind of feel bad about it now!) And Borderlands, because those two cities remind me of "Hyperion", and "Pandora". Two cities, Well...those aren't cities...But they do kind of hate one another. And one's powerfully ruled by someone kind of bad, while the others a bit...shabby? And Borderlands just reminds me of how the out-skirts would be like! XD (That's horrible!) And no sun due to the moon, so it's like a twisted, "Majora's Mask" Moon now? XD (Sure, why not!) 

So, lore of the world. I like to consider this a whole new different place. I've called it 'Hanabano". Before, but i'm not completely sold on the name? And the moon has blocked the sun. A presumed eternal eclipse. 

Now, and I quote from the story:

"A world, Hanbano. Presumed to be, once a world of beauty, now a world of sand and sea. The small planet's moon was large enough to block the sun for decades. If not far longer. An eternal eclipse. Leaving the world to adapt to it's new conditions. For better, or worse. The world fell apart. But as all things will do, the world adapted. The people made the best of what they had. And the world didn't leave the people, truly, in the dark. "Starworms." A type of glowing water dwelling bug with bioluminescene, rumored to have magic inside their shell's, due to the evidence of life around the ponds they inhabit. They live in the water, and in the water far beneath the ground. Along with the "Starworms of the sky". A flying bug with a far fainter glow. rumored to be the souls of the dead. Other than stars themselves, they were the world's only source of light. "GlowCo." A company made for harvesting the Starworms. GlowCo took the Starworms and turned them into lights. GlowCo knew the world relied on their lights. Crazy with power, GlowCo charged great deals of pearls for their lights. Some people seen the damage it was doing, to the world, to the people, to the starworms themselves. And retaliated. They started wearing masks on one half of their face, so when there was no light, one eye would be adjusted to the darkness. The people who could afford lights rejected those with masks, and started calling them, "Off Ones". For they're seemingly "Off" logic. The Off Ones relied on the many small bodies of water about the world for light. Along with the deemed, deadly source, that was fire. The people lived in one city, but not together. Most "Without Masks" were anything and everything they dreamed of, while the Off Ones often became merchants. GlowCo was not fond of the Off Ones, They decided that if there is no natural light then they too, would have to buy their lights. GlowCo destroyed the city. And everything around it. Many things relied on the Starworms, they depleted too much, too fast. And destroyed that portion of the world. Those Without Masks moved on, and made a new city. While the Off Ones stayed. They wouldn't let GlowCo win. They stayed in and throughout the chaos. Their masks let them see, they weren't afraid to use fire as light. Both something GlowCo couldn't do a thing about. With a old city in ruins and a new city on the rise, The two groups got farther apart with growing darkness in the world. And in their hearts."

So yeah! :D I'm going to talk about the characters now.  And then i'll try to describe some things about the world.

Crimson, Cyan, and Umi aren't really in it a lot. If at all. Also, Maskless/ Without Masks, are in Jade. Off Ones are in Beryl. Jankers are in between the two cities, the out skirts, if you will.

To get a better idea of what the characters look like, I've mulled over the idea of ages for them. I've thought about making Pax young, around 11. But I feel that's quite young for what's going on in his life. I know things can't always be good. But I've thought about bumping it up to 12, or even 15? But since I've been thinking having Umber as 16, and Eben as 14. And I want an age gap between them. I don't like the idea of bumping it four years. She'd then be 20, and I do want them to be young, not kids, but, young? I just don't like the idea of those three being adults? And that Umber and Pax are around the same size, despite the age gap. Pax is a bit shorter than Umber. But I do like the idea of them being around the same size. I once, (apparently? I found it in my drawings drawer.) that I wrote down heights. But I've completely scraped that idea, because I didn't like it, and it would never come up. Thus, no need to work it out in numbers?? And it's fine just saying they're about the same size??? Just like the currency???? Since it's only mentioned once?!?!? There's a currency?!?!?!? Why did I make a currency?!?!?!?!?But all this is just one of those things i'm not sold on, but don't really like the idea of changing! 

Also, Those three are the only confirmed kids? Tal, i'm thinking about 17, 19? 15 would be nice, but I don't want him that young for what he does. Pax being 11 works pretty well for him, Tal I feel needs to be a bit older. I think of Indigo being 26, 28? And Cyan being 32, 36? Crimson has the same deal as Tal, so 17, 19-ish. And Umi doesn't ever show. Tobias I think about 23, 25-ish. I haven't thought about it with them as much. But I do know Indigo's a pretty tall guy, like, ridiculously tall.  :\

Eben, Umber, and Pax are the only ones in this story that aren't merchants. (Well, Eben and Pax are, but not professionals.) And the only ones without a full face mask. Tobias isn't an Off-One. So he gets his own look to him. Full face masks are worn my traveling merchants to hide their identity. As for, they go back and fourth from Beryl to the out-skirts of Jade to sell whatever it might be they have. (Every Merchant specializes in a different skill.) So, Cyan, Indigo, and Crimson (And Tal, too!) have full face masks and tend to wear a kind of cloak? While the others wear a kind of sweater? I consider this world to be dusty and windy, so those masks protect their eyes, too. Those masks I feel would have one lens a solid color, so you couldn't see out of it, and one clear, so you could. (Because a colored lens would be a bit hard to see out of in low light?)  And some of them would have an animal element to them, like ears. Also, the odd designs "Sigils"on the masks work kind of like a family crest? Anyone in the same family will have the same mark.

PAX: (Paxton Loi) Knowledge merchant. Lost his Parents at a young age. They worked for GlowCo and died in a harvesting accident. The People of Beryl called it, "Devils work" and kind of resent Pax for being the, "blood of such horrible people!" In an attempt to make a new name for himself. He became a Knowledge merchant. (He keeps records of things. Buys and sells stories and information.) He has short-ish? light blue hair. Brown eyes. Light yellow-ish colored skin. Can be a bit cold towards people. More as a defense mechanism than anything. Even though he can be overly blunt and cold, and a bit sarcastic. He's a sweet kid. Even when he's being cold, I feel he would be saying it in a more of a questioning tone of voice? like, he's blunt, not mean. Has a hard time showing what he's really feeling, and things can come out not as intended. He has a green sweater, and a red scarf. With a half face mask.

UMBER: (Umber Ozu) Student. Was never told about her Parents. (Presumed, and confirmed dead.) Lives with her Aunt Umi. Was always being yelled at for never paying attention in class. Always messing with creations instead. When she made her light, GlowCo heard of it. Got angry. Decided to try to buy her light. To destroy it.  She seen through their plan and refused. Umi didn't care, and wanted the money they were offering.  And made a plan to sell it without Umber knowing. She found out. And on the night of the trade, she left Jade and ran off to the out-skirts of the city. Found a Merchant cart getting ready to leave for Beryl. Thinking of the years long feud the two cities have, she decided the news of her would never reach Beryl. And took a chance. Umber has dark purple hair, and eyes to match. Her skin is a bit of a deeper yellow tone. She's smart, and knows just what she's doing and how. Pretty friendly, and speaks her mind on most things. Fairly proud, and doesn't like losing or being wrong. Gets sad when she makes a mistake. She wears a Light purple sweater, and the full face mask with a green lens on the right side, and rabbit ears. It gets broken later on, which is why she has a bandage on her cheek later on.

EBEN: Apprentice. The daughter of Cyan. She was working to become a knowledge merchant like Pax. But over some family matters, she decided to stop and be where she's needed most. (Her Grandmother got sick and now she helps her mother take care of her. Along with her father with his work.) She has a lighter colored green hair, blue eyes, and very light skin. She's very bubbly and can come off as rude. Can cut people off mid sentence and is a bit childish. Will pout if she doesn't get her way. But only around the people she knows well, she won't do it to strangers. Knows when to be silly and what kind situation require a silly charm. Will try to make light of bad situations. She wears a dark purple sweater, and a half face mask.

(These other characters might change, as for, they're still in development. And i'm really fighting with Crimson's design, It's just, whatever I do, doesn't feel like it fits him?)

INDIGO: Traveling merchant of tools and other things of the sort. Also the guardian of Pax. (As instructed by Pax's parents.) He's very tall, with green hair. With indigo colored eyes. And a more neural skin tone, not dark, not light. and a bit of stubble on his chin, not a beard, but not a 5 o' clock shadow. (Since he does have a full face mask, and a cloak, a large part of him will be hidden. I've thought about giving him a small crack in his mask, reveling his eye and part of his skin. But at the same time, I don't think Cyan would allow him to continue like that. Though, I do imagine him having a half mask for home use. With a dark purple lens on the left side.) Due to a past accident, he has a bad knee, the left one. And should be using a cane. But he doesn't like looking like an old man. He has demons that follow him. Due to the lies he keeps. He hates it, but he's grown numb to the feeling, thanks to the help of his liquid spirits. He's the kind of Person that will always tell you what he's thinking. A bit of a joker, and enjoys teasing people. No filter on his mouth. Is very insecure of Taking care of Pax. Doesn't believe he does a good job at playing a fatherly role in Pax's life. He wears a deep, dark purple/red colored cloak. With a blue sweater.

TAL:(Talos)(My newest lil' guy!) Janker. He hates working with Jankers, but a job is a job. And you can't really get out of what you're born into. But don't judge him by the company he keeps! He's a great guy! Takes a lot of risks to help people unlucky enough to get caught up in the group. He has short grey/blue hair. and eyes to match. With a a bit of a tanned toned skin. He let's people sneak off, gives them food, really cares about them. He can be pretty cheeky, can and will talk himself out of any tough situation. More up beat, and friendly than Indigo, but both get along and can act the same from time-to-time with their joking personalities. But is well aware when I situation needs to be treated serious and knows when to hold his tongue. He wears and full face mask with cat/fox ears, and a light purple lens on the left side. He has a light purple band around his head, and wears a light purple sweater along with a deep, dark blue cloak.

CRIMSON: Knowledge merchant. Low-key villain? (Kind of. Works along with jankers, and is a puppet for GlowCo.) Pax's rival. Has little to no talking part. Is mainly only mentioned and comes into it only once.(For now.)  He has bright red hair, and deep light blue eyes. And a tanned, darker colored skin. (Full-face mask and cloak, too.) And a deep blue lens on the left side. Despite being a "Bad guy". He doesn't act like a bad guy. He's just trying to do his job. (Too bad it's a horrible one.)With a deep, dark blue cloak.

TOBIAS: The Villain? (Kind of. He's the head of GlowCo. Need I say more?) Yet, he isn't in full charge. He's the next in line to take over the company. ( Can't say too much without giving away too much.) He has dark, kind of black/blue, colored hair. Light blue eyes, and VERY light skin. Almost white. He's a very cunning, and a bit charming. Can easily make people do what he wishes. Far too street, and book smart to be trusted. He wears a white, and light purple trimmed cloak. I can also see a cut on the bottom left side of his cheek.

(These guys will not have drawings with them. I'm sorry. It's just, how I imagine Cyan looking, is out of my skill league. I can't draw men. At least not manly looking men. Indigo was pushing it!) XD

CYAN: Eben's father and mask merchant. He's the one who made Umber's mask. (And is the reason Indigo won't be having that crack in his mask.) He's also the main reason Indigo is insecure. Cyan doesn't believe that he can take care of himself, let alone Pax. Though, the two of them go way back, and are good friends. They just don't always see eye-to-eye. (He has a full face mask, and a cloak, too. With a Cyan colored lens on the right side. But I imagine red hair, even though his name's Cyan. His eyes would be a cyan color, though! And his skin would be like Eben's since he's her father.) He's a very serous guy, and only wants the best for everyone. Can be very ruff and rude. But he always has the best intentions. He has a brown cloak.

UMI: Umber's aunt. Never shown, nor does she have talking part. (Yet, may change?) Most likely would look like an older, more mature looking Umber? I feel she'd have a tight bun on the top of her head. Along with a few others that haven't been named yet. I know I want one to be called mauve, but that's only if I don't change what i'm planning. :P

Now for the main look of the world! :D

The world it'self isn't something I've thought a whole lot about. I've sketched up a few things in the past, but i'm not sold on a good portion of it. But there are elements I know I like and want to keep in it. Like starworm lanterns and fire glasses. So, still something I need to think about. Mainly, how to put what's in my brain, into words. XD

I see this world to be really sandy, dusty and windy. And kind of bare? Maybe some dead trees, like really big logs that just haven't rotted through the time yet? (Because no one really knows when it went dark, or should I say, when the eclipse started?) With a lot of small ponds and such around with Starworms swimming about inside. Like tide pools? (Except in Jade, because GlowCo would have harvested all of them by now.) I've always thought of the starworms to give off a light blue glow. But it's pretty bright? And firefly type things that float about in the sky, varying in size. But they have a very faint glow, which is why GlowCo doesn't care about them. But it's a light blue type of color, too? And that starworms are also found underground. In caves. Water caves. But the light Starworms give off can allow some plants to grow??? And that the bug it'self is told to be magic??? Rumors? Or truth? Duh-duh-duhhhhhh!!!! XD 

Also! Since there'd be no light pollution, the sky would look B E A U T I F U L!!! Just think! It'd look like some galaxy wall paper for a computer screen!

And then there'd just be a large black circle! That's just the moon, chilling out in-front of the sun, blocking it and the stars from view!! XD (Oh my goodness!!) XD

The biggest issue is, I find how I word things to be silly? But a large part of this story is dialogue. And if I don't give the characters their own way of wording things, it'll become dull. And it's something I'm finding a bit hard to do. My favorite style of writing is narration, and I feel when it's not dialogue, i'm just writing out the obvious? I don't know.

It feels a bit redundant at times. But I also have to realize, that I know what I mean, but the reader will not. I know what the place looks like, but the reader does not. So it might not be as silly as I feel it is? There will be mentioning of alcohol, death, and a lot of joking about random stuff. I hope not to go over anything more than a PG-13 type writing? But let's be honest, Jankers are the kind of people you call if you want someone to disappear! XD I mean, they do work with GlowCo from time-to-time. (They work for no one. Only themselves, but will work with others for a small price.) 

And as most can also guess, there won't be curse words. I don't curse myself after all. Though I don't mind curse words, it's not a problem with others saying them or with the words themselves. (It's just I feel weird saying them? It feels wrong to say or even write them for me? I don't know why...) 

I hope whoever has stayed this long to read my future story is having a great day and enjoyed! Also, I'm more than fine with questions. They can sometimes help me work things out. (But there’s no need, if you don’t want to!) Also, there's no such thing as a stupid question! I mean it! This story doesn't make perfect sense. Trust me.

Also there is some things I just can't talk about. Well, I mean, I....COULD....But....That ruin the story plot! XD So, i'm really sorry about that!

[crystalninjaphoenix]

The Day it Almost Ended

Septics Inverted

A JSE Fanfic

A little bit shorter than the other stories, but it’s a pretty simple one so eh. It started out as “what’s a normal day in this household like?” and then I threw the Pax Anti video in there because that needs an explanation in this AU. And, uh, yeah, that’s it. Stuff happens because of that

Read the intro story: Part One | Part Two

Various other AU-related stuff found here

Taglist: @evyptids​ @awkward-bullshit​ @watermelonsinmyattic​ @asunachinadoll @a-humble-narcissus @metautske​ @odysseus-is-best-boi​ @acuriousquail @beerecordings

Jack woke up with a pounding headache. For a moment, he tried to remember if there was a reason for that, but when he couldn’t come up with anything he gave up. Must just be a bad day. He groaned, and rolled over to look at the clock. It was nine-thirty. That meant it was time to get up. He sighed, then managed to pry himself away from his bed. He stumbled toward the dresser, grabbed some clothes, then considered taking a shower. He decided against it; he was too tired and the water would just wash out the color in his hair. After getting dressed he climbed down the stairs to the kitchen. And then he realized he could hear the shouting. Already? It was so early.

“Some of us have a personal life, unlike you, discount Punisher!”

“I have a personal life, bitch, I think the word you’re looking for is ‘limits,’ and in that case you’re the one lacking!”

“Well I’m fucking sorry that I want to do more with my life than jump around in spandex beating the shit out of criminals!”

“Do more with your life?! I’d say that—”

Jack walked into the kitchen, and everything immediately stopped. “Morning guys,” he yawned. “Glad to see we’re off to a fantastic start today.”

Nobody said anything. Jackie was standing by the toaster, glaring at Marvin, who was in turn standing behind the counter and glaring right back. Chase was sitting at the dining table, picking at his scrambled eggs. After an awkward silence, he looked up and said, “Hey Jack. Didja sleep well?”

“Yeah. I have a headache, though, so maybe I slept too long. Did someone make breakfast or is it a free-for-all?”

Chase pointed towards the fridge with his fork. “There’s still some leftover eggs from yesterday in there, but if you don’t want those you’re gonna have to fend for yourself.”

The toaster popped. Everyone jumped. The atmosphere in the room was way too tense for sudden noises. Jackie sighed, the plucked the two bagel halves out of the slots, then strolled over to the silverware drawer, grabbed a butter knife, grabbed some butter from the cupboard, and began applying said butter to the bagel. He did this all while not looking away from Marvin, who was standing still as a statue.

“You know what? I’m just gonna...grab some cereal.” Jack edged around the staring contest, quickly getting the box from the cupboard and some milk from the fridge before power-walking over to the table and sitting down next to Chase. “Where are the others?” he asked.

“Still asleep,” Chase explained.

“Yeah, I figured Schneep would be.” The doctor’s clinic was usually open all night, so his sleep schedule was pretty off. “But Jameson?”

“He was out late. You know that, uh...fuck I can’t remember what it’s called. The, like, police charity gala? He got an invitation and went.”

“Huh. Didn’t know he knew anyone in the police.”

“Apparently it’s a new thing.” Chase shrugged. He glanced over towards Jackie and Marvin. “Jesus, they’re still...hey, are you two losers goin’ to actually eat or are you too busy having a Mexican stand-off but with eyes?”

“Fuck off, Chase,” Marvin said automatically. “You know what? I have better things to do. See you guys later, unhopefully.” He turned and left.

“That’s not a word!” Jackie called after him, causing a flurry of purple sparks to shoot towards his head. He barely ducked in time.

“What is with you two?” Jack griped. “Why are you always about to tear each other’s throats out?”

Jackie sighed. “It’s just...he’s a dick, but he thinks I’m one.”

“Don’t worry about it, man.” Chase said. “It’s not like they’re out to murder each other or anything. It’s...well, maybe I should have done a personality assessment for potential roommates. They’re too different.” He shoved a bit of breakfast into his mouth before continuing. “Anyway, what were you planning on doing today? More recording, or do you want to go down to the shop with me?”

“Probably just the first thing.” Jack sighed. “But god, that’s gonna be hard with this headache.”

“You can do it, man! I believe you can power through it!”

“Thanks, dude.” Jack rubbed his head. “Guess I’ll have to, huh?”

“Yeah. But it’ll be okay. I promise.”

After a bit, Jack went back upstairs. Chase immediately turned to Jackie. “Dude, if you’re going to shout at Marvin, can you shout things that won’t clue Jack in?” he hissed.

“What? What did I say?”

“It was what you were about to say. You were like, ‘more out of life, I’ll say that’ and then you stopped when Jack came in and I just know if he hadn’t you were gonna end up mentioning Marvin’s...you know.”

“Oh, you mean murdering people and worse in the basement?!”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean!” Chase coughed, uncomfortable. “Look, I get it, Marvin’s...yeah...but Jack can’t find out! He’ll freak, and you know that! Plus, you’re giving Jameson extra work and he has a life outside of us. I don’t think it’s a good idea to piss him off when he could decide to leave at any time.”

Jackie thought about this, then sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. But if I have to listen to him brag about his ‘discoveries’ one more time...” He didn’t finish the threat, just clenched his fist like he was dramatically squashing a bug.

Chase rolled his eyes. “You don’t have this problem with Schneep,” he muttered.

“Th-that—that’s different! Henrik’s a doctor, we need him. And he’s all...well...y’know, so I can’t blame him. Plus, he doesn’t call me a no-good do-gooder under his breath every time he sees me.” Jackie took a bite out of his bagel. “I’m goin’ upstairs to check the web, text me if you need anything.”

Chase gave a little salute. “Will do, Mr. Boy Man.”

Jack took a break from recording around noon, coming back downstairs for a quick lunch before heading on to the next game. He passed Schneep and Jameson in the living room, the former curled up on a couch with headphones and his phone and the latter sitting in an armchair with a book. They weren’t talking, though for all he knew Jameson actually was but he was projecting to Schneep alone. Jack waved to them, but neither responded. That was okay. He made himself a quick sandwich/chips combo, ate fast, then went back upstairs.

“Jack! Wait a moment.”

Jack stopped where he was on the staircase, looking back down. “Yeah, doc?”

“You were not planning on going to the Pax this year, were you?”

“Uh...” Jack bit his lip, trying to remember. “No, I...I think I decided there was too much to do here, and travel was too hard.” He gripped the banister tightly. He was feeling dizzy all of a sudden, his vision going in spirals. “Anyway, why?”

“Well..” Schneep held his phone up for Jack to see. “...because there is now a video on your channel called ‘Pax Special Announcement/Surprise.’”

Jack felt his heart stop. “I...didn’t upload that. You don’t think...?”

“It is possible. I have not watched it yet. Do you want to join me?”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’ll be good.” Jack climbed back down the stairs, settling on the couch next to Schneep, leaning over his shoulder to stare at the tiny screen of the phone.

The video started out...normal. Jack, or someone who looked like Jack, began by saying “Well hello there! Before we get right into this, I just want to come right out and say I won’t be going to Pax this year. I’m really sorry guys, but unfortunately life is...being a bitch right now...” A small giggle. “And I just can’t make it. There’s so much planning that you need to put into travelling, and I’m still sort of behind on videos from the time I was sick—”

“When was I sick?” Jack blurted out.

{Back in January.} Both Schneep and Jack startled at the mental interjection. They looked over to Jameson. {Don’t you remember? It was after that disturbing dream you had, right before Marvin strengthened the wards. You were bedridden for a week, it was horrible.}

“Oh. Yeah, uh, now I remember. Thanks, dude.”

The “Jack” onscreen was still talking. “—actually originally planned on going, and I filmed a speci-sp̵e͏ci̧a̕l̀ vide͏o͞ for you guys, to show there.” That glitch didn’t go unnoticed by Jack. “I figured it wouldn’t do anyone any good just sitting on my hard drive, so I might as well post it. But first, you guys have to do something. You know how much I love audience interaction, so what I need you to do is all take out your phones. Or, you know, your iPad, anything with a camera. I’ll just...wait a minute. This is—it’s kinda awkward, isn’t it? But you’re all ready now? Okay, so what you hav͟e͟ tó ̧d͢o iś—̢” The video was interrupted by a horrible, electronic breaking sound as the screen went black. But the visual came back, severely lowered in quality and lagging. “—place ̸yo̕ur̕ p̶h̡o̡ne̢ in͟ you̷r̕ ͝han̡d͝,̡ ̴an͝d̀ ͝j͏ust—” another glitch to black.

Jack glanced at Schneep, who only gave him a worried look. Then, the video returned, red and green pixels flashing across the screen, partially hiding images that...they looked familiar to Jack. Maybe he played games like that? But they seemed more real than anything. Then, black. Nothing except for a question, echoing. “A͡re you ̷th̢ere?” Jack found he was nodding. Why was he nodding?

And then he was there. His appearance was slightly different, more align with Jack’s than his own, most noticeable in the green hair and the lack of an eye-patch. But there was no mistaking the knife, or the bloody bandages around his neck. “Lo͢o̕k ͞a̵t you al͝l̴! ́J͏u͢st sittiņg͟ ͟t̴heŕe—y̷o̧u͝ t́ho̶u͢g̨ht it̵ wa͠s ov̶e̶r̛—no̶t͟ ̷w͝o̸rryi͏n͢g̨ a̵b̢o͝ùt ͞a͝ny̧t͏h̵i̵ng͝. Yòu a͝ll͞ t̢h͟ought I ̀wa̶s ̶gon͞e͡...̵b͢ut̡ I͏'͟ve b̨e̸e͡ń ḩere̴ this͡ ͏entire ̕t͡im͟e!͡ ̢Kee͏pi͢n̷g an—̶ e͏͖͖͉̗̞y͇̭̞͓̗̰͡è̫ ̮̥̜͖̞͕o̼̗̪̬̻̰̳̕n͖̥̫͍̫̝ ̤̣͟t͎hi͖̥̱n̡̻̞̭͉̲̱̖g̱̰̤̬̫̥ș̜. Yơu͢ s̀t̀opped̨ pa̡yi̵ng ̡a͢t̶te̡nti͟on!̕ We͡l̶l, I̧ ho͏pe yo͏u'ŕe̛ happ̸y. Ỳou ca̡n't͢ se͏e t́he͞ ̛s͠ig͞ǹs.̛ ̀Thręw m͢ȩ asidè! Did̶n't̴ r̡e̵ad͏ t͢he ͝warn͝i̸n̛gs.̸ I'm̨ ͞not g̷o̸ing̕—͠a̢n̷yw̢he̵r͝e̕!̷ ͡I̸'m̨ ͡alwa̢y͡s ͝the̶re, Aļ́w̨ą͠ys̶ Wa͠t̀͟c̵h͞͞in̴̡g.̀ They ca̶n̸'̛t͝ ̡get ri͢d ̧o͞f͞ m͟e.” One final cut, and...“E̕nj͏o̴y your ̴'v̀id̷e̢os͟.'̷” The words sounded bitter.

A few more seconds of dark silence, and then the video ended. Jack leaned back. “What...what does it mean?” he asked, a tremble in his voice.

“I think it is a warning.” Schneep turned off his phone. “To your viewers, saying he is still there, and to us, saying he can get inside the channel whenever he wants. He could make how many fake videos and ruin your life.”

“He wouldn’t do that.” Jack didn’t know where the words had come from. Yes, of course he would, he was a monster, he was a demon...and yet...he had the strangest, niggling feeling in the back of his mind.

{Jack, I think your eye friend wants your attention.}

“Wh—Sam!” Jack looked over to the tank in the corner of the room. They’d made it relatively recently, because he hadn’t really...trusted them with the secret of Sam’s existence. But he’d decided they were safe. So he told them. He couldn’t remember the actual moment he did so, but how else would they have found out about Sam?

Jack rushed over to the tank. Sam had been bonking on the lid, looking at him. “What is it, bud?” Sam wanted to see the video. “Well, Schneep can bring his phone over—” No, that wouldn’t work. He scared Sam. “C’mon, Sam, you gotta get over this.” Sam would not. They knew something was off, they didn’t like the way he looked at them. “Well, if you insist. Hang on, I’ll open the tank and you can come upstairs, I’ll show you on my computer.” Sam thought that was a good idea.

With a little effort, Jack pried the lid off the tank and Sam burst out in a spurt of green liquid. They immediately settled on Jack’s shoulder. “Comfortable?” They were. “Alright. Hang on, then.” Jack dashed upstairs. Jameson and Schneep watched him go in silence.

“How do they talk?” Schneep asked. “It has no mouth but Jack understands it just fine!”

{I’m...not quite sure, to be honest,} Jameson admitted. {If it’s a form of telepathy it’s not one I can detect. Jack just seems to know what Sam is feeling. They are definitely connected somehow.}

“Fascinating...” Schneep turned his phone back on, opening up the YouTube video again. “I think we will have to go over this with the others, yes?”

{Indeed.} Jameson stood up, then took Jack’s vacant spot on the couch. {I could feel a definite shift in Jack during that video. I believe Anti thought it would help jog his memory.}

“But how did he do this? How did he reach into Jack’s channel? And how did he change his appearance to match closer to Jack’s? Can he shift shape?”

{My good doctor, I think you need to calm down and focus on the more immediately problem. Jack cannot remember.}

“True, true...but someday I want to find the answers to these questions. And maybe I can answer my questions about Jack’s eye as well. Anyway, will you need to undo his mess?”

{Hmm...perhaps not. I’ll wait until the end of the day to see if there’s any lasting effect. But if there is...I think I may need to strengthen my approach, if one glitch’s video can break through it without too much difficulty.}

Jack was starting to get uneasy. After he showed Sam the video, he’d scrolled down through the comments, reading the viewers’ reactions. He thought he’d done something like this before...looking for the viewers freaking out in reaction to a video he posted. But when would that have happened? He was a gamer, he never uploaded anything this level of shocking. The closest it got was Halloween, but he’d been scared then because Anti was taking over...that...was how it went down, wasn’t it? He just couldn’t shake the feeling of the glitch over his shoulder, but not...in a hostile way...

Most of the comments were very typical. Along the lines of  “Aaaaaaah oh my god Anti is here!!! Aaaaaaa!!!” But there were a couple theories, comparing this sudden dropped video to the Halloween one, which had been built up.

Well, if he was looking for theories, he needed to be on a different website. On a whim, he switched over and searched up the jacksepticeye tab, scrolling through the results. Lots more of the “Ohmigodanti” reactions. He kept refreshing the search, looking for new...yeah, he definitely remembered doing this before. Only now there was Sam with him, instead of...but that wasn’t possible.

Then, he came across a post. Just a single question: “Does anyone else think that Anti isn’t, well, particularly evil?” Reading that, Jack felt...he didn’t know how he felt. Like he’d just remembered something, but there was nothing there. Most of the responses to the post were like “He possessed Jack and slit his throat, how is that not evil?” and that seemed the rational response...it was, wasn’t it? 

Boop. The sound of his text alert startled Jack out of his...whatever this was. He picked up his phone from where he’d dropped it on his desk and read the text from Chase: Dude, are you coming down for dinner or what?

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered to himself. “Sam, you ready to go back in the tank or do you want to hang around a bit more? I...miss hanging out with you. We don’t do it as much.” Sam missed it too, but they wanted to return to the tank. It was safe, and they didn’t think his friends were. “They’re fine, Sam. If they wanted to, like, murder me they would have done it by now.” Sam was worried about him. “...thanks, bud. I appreciate it, but everything is okay.” Sam wasn’t sure about that, but if Jack insisted.

Dinner was the only time when everyone was home and awake to eat at the same time, so it was usually an event. Jackie or Jameson usually cooked, and they all sat at the table and made (sometimes awkward) conversation. There wasn’t really a defined seating arrangement, but they all sort of fell into the same pattern. Jackie and Marvin sat as far away as possible from each other, Jack usually sat next to Chase, or sometimes Jameson or Jackie, Schneep usually sat near Jackie or occasionally Chase, and Jameson sat near Marvin. There were only so many ways to sit with those requirements.

It was spaghetti night, because neither Jackie nor Jameson felt like cooking and spaghetti was easy. Jack was hungry, but he couldn’t bring himself to do more than pick at the noodles. He had too many thoughts, and they all contradicted each other.

“You okay, Jack?” Jackie asked.

“Uh...yeah, I’m just...thinking.”

“About what?”

“Well...I don’t know.” Jack dropped the fork. “You all saw that video on the channel today?”

Everyone nodded. “Are you going to delete it?” Chase asked.

“Maybe. But...after watching it, I feel...” Jack put his head in his hands. “I feel...like I’m forgetting something. Or that something is wrong. And I keep thinking about Anti, and I think I have weird memories...and Sam is worried about me...”

“Okay, that’s cool.” Marvin didn’t seem to be paying attention. He kept glancing toward Jameson.

“Maybe your headache is just playing tricks on your brain, Jack!” Schneep suggested. “That is a thing that can happen if it is bad enough.”

“Really?” Jack was skeptical. He would know about that, wouldn’t he?

“I think you need to get your mind off things,” Marvin said. “Hey, Jameson and I are working on something, and we need a third person. You wanna help?”

“I...literally don’t know anything about magic.”

“Well, that’s okay. We just need you to observe what happens, take notes, tell us if you feel anything, like, psychically. Not too hard.”

“I don’t...” Jack paused. It wouldn’t hurt to help them out, would it? {No, it wouldn’t.} And it could help him forget this whole mess of a day...{it seemed like a good idea.} “Alright, if you insist. After dinner.”

And indeed, after they’d all finished Jack followed Marvin and Jameson down into the basement. The other three, stuck cleaning up, exchanged looks.

“You don’t think...this will have any side effects, do you?” Chase asked.

“I hope not,” Jackie muttered.

“What kind of side effects?” Schneep asked.

“I don’t know! Just!” Chase glared in the general direction of the basement door. “That’s my friend! And I don’t know if this new thing will work. Doesn’t it seem kind of risky to have two people doing the spell at the same time? Like, they’d distract each other?”

“I think it will be fine,” Schneep said dismissively. “Jameson is knowledgeable, and Marvin is very skilled. They will be fine together.”

“Well...I guess this is our best option,” Jackie said reluctantly. “Still never liked this whole...thing, but...”

“It will be fine.” Schneep’s voice left no room for argument. “You will see.”

Jack woke up with purple at the edges of his vision. It faded away. He wondered why that was, and then he forgot what he was wondering about. He felt great.

To his surprise, when he came downstairs to get something to eat before starting the day, everyone was awake. That was something he’d only seen maybe twice since joining the household. Schneep, Jameson, and Marvin were all in the living room, and Chase and Jackie were sitting at the table eating in the kitchen/dining room. “Is there an event or something?” he asked. “Why is everyone awake? Did all our sleep schedules just align?”

“Oh hi Jack!” Chase said. “You feeling alright?”

“Yeah, actually. Pretty good! I might do some VR games today, full of that energy.”

“Nice, dude. Here, I got you some toast.”

“Aw, thanks.” As he sat at the table, munching, he felt...like he was forgetting something. “Hey, uh, what day is it?”

“Friday,” Marvin called from the living room.

“Uh, actually I meant date. I think my phone’s off.”

“It’s the tenth of March,” Jackie said. “Why?”

“I just felt like there was...something I was supposed to be doing. But I think it must be because I’m not at Pax this year. I had my panel scheduled for today until I had to cancel it.”

Chase shrugged. “Well, unfortunately travel difficulties don’t just go away.”

“Yeah.” Jack finished off the toast. “I’m goin’ back up now. You guys know where to find me.” He disappeared up the stairs.

Everyone left collectively relaxed. “Either he is a better actor than he thought, or he really does not remember what happened the day before yesterday.” Schneep breathed a sigh or relief.

“And...you’re sure I’ll never have to do that again?” Marvin asked, turning to Jameson. “I have more important stuff to do with my day.”

{Relax, Marvin.} Jameson waved away his concern. {Now that the spell’s set in motion, it can run on its own energy. It just needs to be kicked into gear every week or so, and that is something I can do on my own.}

“Alright. Okay. Good, we’re all good.” Chase laughed nervously. “God, that was close. We almost lost him.”

Across the city, a screen was smashed. Then the smasher immediately regretted it. That security monitor was an important window into what the hell was going on in that house, he really needed to stop this.

Anti forced himself to breathe, the strange, steadying motion bringing him back down to earth. It was okay. He’d just adapt. First, he’d see if he could still reach Jack through the combination of the house’s wards and the mind spell, whichever spell it may be. Then, he’d get a new screen. Then, he’d figure out what, exactly, this new and improved method was. It was fine. It was fine. He just had to try again. Some of the keener fans were starting to catch on, though they still thought this was all a game. So that was a helpful thing that came out of this.

But still, it stung knowing he’d almost had him back.

[pacifistofpatience]

Would any of the boys like Bendy and the Ink Machine?

((Lol I actually had to figure another thing about them out before I wentonto this specific game.

Oh! I also got to meet one of the creators at PAX East a year orso back!! He was super cool and you could tell a lot of love was put into thegame!))

Story based games-Sans, Sky, Mars, Boss, (A little Black)

FPS- Red, Black,(Rus a little- but barely)

Exploration –Jupiter, Rus, Papyrus, Pappy (Little bit of Sans)

-

Who enjoys BATIM—Mars,Sky, Black, Sans

Eh, its ok— Papyrus,Boss, Red,

Not for him—Pappy,Rus, Jupiter

 Sky plays it forthe story, as does Black- both believethat it could do with less fighting and still be a good game but enjoy it nonetheless.Sky gets really into the theorizing and jumps straight to the internet to figureout what everyone else has said about it as well. Where’s Black- once finished-contently ends the game, satisfied with the conclusion.

Sans, oh god Sans,he likes the story and plays it throughout the night when he cant sleep but dear god the poor AI. He doesn’t finish the game for weeks becausehe spends all his time fucking with the games enemies- even going as far to seeif he can clip some of them through the wall and into whatever hell laysbeyond. Of course, all the while he’s picking up little bits of details thatwould go unnoticed to a more casual gamer. He appreciates the detail put intoevery single part of it.

Mars is the onethat gets into it the most. Mars appreciates the balance between fighting andstorytelling and while it does not scare him he likes the little rush of adrenalinehe gets from it.

Boss would enjoyit but the game isn’t for him—too little fighting and too much time spent listeningto recordings of characters he doesn’t care about. He’d rather play somethingwhere he is unambiguously the hero, that may also be a little cheesy (onanother note, he is a closet fan of Conker’s Bad Fur Day). Red will play it, and kind of enjoy itbut he’s the kind of guy that’d rather play something without having to thinkabout it. He’d choose Co-op games with friends he can shit talk to (or peopleonline he can taunt) over it.

Oh! And don’t get Papyruswrong! He likes the game! Its so cool and he can tell there was a lot of loveput into it but it doesn’t really… click with him. He started playing it only toput it down after the first two chapters. Maybe if he was playing with someoneelse he could finish it, but for now its in his ever growing pile of things todo when he needs some stimulation.

Sure, maybe Jupiterwould have been into it at one point but all the puzzles and remembering whatgoes where and stuff made the game hard to finish- he probably gets stuck tryingto find some missing part, getting chased by a monster, and then forgettingwhat he was looking for making him have to go all the way back to remember. Startingthe cycle all over again.

Rus isn’t a bigfan of the horror aspect. The fear of something following just behind him and whenhe turns around seeing one of those godforsaken cardboard POS popping away putshim on edge enough that he constantly has to put the controller down to remindhimself that he’s not actually in the studio.

  Pappy just doesn’t like liner gameplay, he wants to take histime running around and exploring everything. Sure, the game is a little opened world but its mostly him heading to the next goal with nothing to pull his curiosity toa Fro at his discretion. If he had to choose, he’d rather play Skyrim or somethingsimilar to that.

[hollenka99]

...Ouch

Summary: When Mark suggested he let Wilford Warfstache interview him, Jack didn't think it would end up like this. One thing's for sure, he's not listening to Mark's ideas again. Based on a-heist-of-words' Egoctober 2018 prompt, "...ouch..." and Warfstache Interviews Markiplier.

Warnings: Wilford has a knife so y’know... attempted stabbing.

The studio audience cheered appropriately as the title card played. It looked like a good turn out, maybe 90% of the seats were filled. Mark was there too, somewhere. Jack was interested to see what kind of questions this Warfstache guy was going to ask him. Mark had mentioned the reporter to Jack several months ago. He explained the man was always looking for someone new to question. He guaranteed the interview would be memorable. That was to be seen.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen and of course, all other configurations of being. My name is Wilford Warfstache and boy, do we have a great guest for you tonight. Some call him the worst Irishman, some call him a leprechaun, most people just call him Green Pewdiepie... please welcome Mr Jacksepticeye!"

Um, okay. Weird introduction but whatever. Mark did say Wilford Warfstache was eccentric.

"Welcome sir." "Hi." He gave the audience a little wave. "Our producer couldn't find another way to boost our ratings." Right then... "So, you play video games for a living?" "Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that. It's a pretty cool job to have." "Now what exactly is it that you do while playing these treacherous virtual brain dumpsters?" "Well, I wouldn't call them brain dumpsters." He gives a small laugh. "I basically record myself playing a game, do a little commentating and post it to YouTube. We're called Let's Players; there's quite a few of us on YouTube." "So you commentate?" "Yeah." "So what is it exactly that you, Jacksepticeye, commentate?" "Video games. People come to my channel to watch me react to the game I'm playing that video." "Ooh!" Warfstache encouraged the audience to have a similar response. "Reaction to what?"

He was going to kill Mark.

"Video. Games." He tried not to sound like a dick, he swore he did. His interviewer's reaction was unintelligible. "And now on to the nitty-gritty!" That was more like it. Maybe this interview had just started off weak. "Hell yeah." "Now what games would you say have been the biggest draw to your channel?" "Oh, that's easy. Yeah, everyone seems to love my videos on Skate 3, Grand Theft Auto... Happy Wheels is a big one too." The crowd cheered at the mention of Happy Wheels. "Yeah! Screw you, Billy." He joked. "So which one of these games would you say is your favourite?" "You know, I get asked this all the time and I still can't choose. Um..." The boom operator lost their grip. It went right into his mouth.

Mark was dead. Jack was never listening to his suggestions again.

"Boy, you got a lot of fans." But... he wasn't quite done answering the last question. Never mind, he didn't have a solid answer anyway. The sooner this interview was over, the sooner he could return to bitching about Irish showers. "Yeah, over 6 million subscribers. It's crazy how many people want to watch my content." "That is baffling!" "I feel the same. But I'm thankful for every last one. If it wasn't for them, I'd still be stuck in a cabin in the middle of nowhere by myself. I've also gotten to know some awesome people because of it." "Anyway, have you ever met any of these 'fans'?" "All the time! I just came back from PAX West and there were a whole bunch of them. You get to meet a lot at conventions but a few will spot you in the street. They're all really sweet so I-"

"Murder their entire family?" Where the hell did that come from? "What?! No! No, of course I don't." "So you admit it!" Warfstache accused. "You heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen. The Jacksepticeye has just admitted to never murdering anyone." "I... yeah, I never murdered anyone." Jack scanned the audience to see if they were hallucinating the same ludicrous bullshit he was. "Look, this is going in a really weird direction. Can we go back to normal questions?" "Sounds like someone's getting impatient." "Dude, you literally just accused me of murder. I only agreed to this interview because I was told it would be different. I don't know why Mark ever recommended you. I think you might be-"

Warfstache pulled a tiny dagger from his trousers. Yeah, the guy was clearly insane. Was that Jack's cue to get the hell out of here? Yes, it certainly sounded like it. Very distinct sirens of 'Get the fuck away from this madman' were blaring.

The blade barely missed him during Warfstache's first attempt to stab him. He leaped out of the chair. A moving target was less likely to be killed than a seated one. That didn't stop the reporter from drawing closer.

Jack didn't even know what he was doing. Once his survival instincts kicked in, everything was on autopilot. So how the hell the scuffle ended with Warfstache bleeding and him holding the knife would forever remain a mystery. He'd stabbed someone. Oh God, he was going to be responsible for someone's death.

"...Ouch." Wilford looked annoyed. Why was he annoyed? The guy had just been stabbed in the gut. He was bleeding. Why was he just standing there? Why was he acting like it was nothing?

Somebody grabbed him. They didn't wait for his mind to catch up with his involuntarily steps. His other arm hurt.

"Okay, that should be far enough." The member of security halted by an exit. "Are you injured?" "Uh..." Jack's sleeve was turning red. Oh shit. "Doesn't look deep but we should get you a bandage or two." "Sure." Honestly, he was ready to switch his brain off for a while. "Yeah, we've got a Code Pink. The guest doesn't appear to be in immediate danger but keep an eye on Warfstache. I'm taking the guest to the infirmary to treat his arm. Update me if anything happens." The guard spoke into a walkie-talkie. The walk to the infirmary was much gentler. "Does this happen often if you have a code for it?" "He's not the most stable individual. I heard he shot someone off the first floor once."

His brain was resembling a dial-up. Who allowed a murderer to host his own program? Why wasn't he locked up?

Disinfecting the slash on his arm stung. Although, it was better to wince than lose it to an infection. Now his arm was being treated, he could relax slightly. The maniac reporter still lingered in his mind.

"Will Warfstache be okay? I mean, I did stab him." "That guy? Oh yeah, you'd think he was invincible the way he brushes off injuries. He's something else, I'm telling you." "You can say that again. Still..." "Trust me, he will be back in action within 24 hours. You don't need to go all Lady Macbeth."

A half Korean man frantically burst into the infirmary. He scanned the room erratically before catching sight of the Irishman with recently dyed green hair. Jack was pissed and Mark leaked anxiety.

"There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you. Did he get you?" Mark's eyes landing on his friend's bandaged arm was a sufficient answer. "We need to talk." Jack glared.