#fuck she might have been IN bioshock for all I know

[amplexadversary]

Holy shit

Just taking control of the headless body like that huh?

...

I need to hear all the anime jokes people have about this episode.

Telescope Toppling AeorMaton?

Trojan Trickery Grandmaster Letters?

Has Sam even heard of Gainax? Surely he’s been exposed to super robot stuff through his job, right?

[swndmehelp]

My lovely girl Aurora needs more love, I make like two posts of her every few months but hones she’s one of my favorite characters I’ve made. So, here’s some fun facts about her!

Main thing is that she has HORRID anxiety. That’s her main issue anyhow.

Aurora is 14 years old in Bioshock. She probably wouldn’t have met Jack or interacted with him while he was at Fort Frolic but definitely knew he was there. She’d probably be there with Cohen, but she’s terrified of people so she hides.

She was born in rapture, her mother is dead and her father had left rapture without her. So she was given to the orphanage and we all know what happened to those orphans in Rapture.

Honestly, given what Cohen has done and everything, she would be terrified of him but also not? I don’t know, she has mixed feelings. But I think Cohen might like her because she’s also an artist? Maybe? Idk how the man would be with a 14 year old after how crazy he appears.

Aurora doesn’t make art out of people, she prefers the classics like paint or pencil. But I’m sure Cohen might have a little influence after a while.

She was one of the little sisters that Tenenbaum “fixed” or whatever. That’s why she has the glowing orange eyes when everything else in her is gray scale.

SPEAKING OF HER BEING GRAY SCALE! Obviously she wouldn’t be like that in real like, but it’s kind of a way for me to express her. Idk how to explain it I’m so sorry. Anyways, I feel like she would have color that’s not gray if she were a more cheery person, or if she hadn’t been a little sister. I was doing some concept and that was kind of the idea.

She wears a mask, one of the bunny ones from the game. When she’s not wearing it her face is all blacked out other than a glowing orange eye. Her face is kinda messed up given her time in rapture and with her being a little sister for a while.

By the time Bioshock 2 rolls around my girl would be 22. She’s grown up (kinda)!!

She still stays in Fort Frolic but sometimes she needs to get out and wander. Obviously she has a specific route picked out to avoid splicers and Cohen.

She’d probably freak the fuck out when she meets Delta. Sobbing, crying, panicking, not breathing. To put it simply she’s terrified of Big Daddy’s

She could probably help Delta, instead of being against him like most of the people Delta meets in BS2. She doesn’t have anything against him other than the fact she’d be terrified of him.

She’s also probably scared of Sinclair for a while, business man :(

I feel like (because obviously everyone lives at the end of BS2) she’d escape with Sinclair and Delta and everyone.

[vvatchword]

I'm tired of writing this already because my Dr. Lamb is either the most boring, unemotive, or noble person imaginable. This is the whole reason I have been avoiding her section. The reason: Dr. Lamb is, and has always been, a huge nothingburger. In-game, she's just That Way. She doesn't BECOME That Way, she just is, and it's arguable she has always been so. There's even an audio diary that suggests she has had designs on Rapture since time immemorial (lol wat).

This is because BioShock 2 is a fucked-up attempt at a Christian gnostic allegory and Dr. Sofia Lamb is a stand-in for the Aeon Sophia. It's awful for a lot of reasons that I'll get into someday--not the least reason for which is that THE LITERAL AEON SOPHIA IS IN THE FUCKING GAME. The allegory cannot fucking work if you just stick the actual fucking Aeon Sophia alongside your allegorical symbol for the Aeon Sophia. Then it's not an allegory, is it? That said, 2K Marin probably made this game without sleeping or regular human contact so they can be forgiven for a lot.

Anyway, I decided to start her as an Objectivist and a human being, if an extremely autistic and traumatized one, and move her left.

What makes a person decide to be an Objectivist and isolate oneself on the bottom of the ocean is equally present in certain individuals and movements on the left: it's a deep insecurity and a sense of powerlessness because one can't control what other people do. So if you can't control other people, you CAN try to minimize their impact on you and just straight-up leave. It's the completely futile effort to control as many environmental factors as possible to make the least surprising world possible.

Where this impulse heads into toxic territory is when these kinds of people get really frustrated and just try to apply force. "ALL Y'ALL BETTER JOIN THE CLUB OR I'M GETTING THE BAT"

So... where do I exhibit this toxic behavior in Lamb? And why doesn't it feel natural to me? I've actually given her more emotive states than she has in-game. She's more reserved, to be sure, but she still fucking feels things and is motivated by those feelings, even if she lies to herself about it. Moreover, one cannot be reserved 100% of the time. One will and can snap, and sometimes those kinds of people snap in nasty ways because they're keeping most of their stress inside and hidden.

I suppose I should make her a little more toxic from the beginning. I've actually made her extremely sensible. I try to give most of my characters laudable traits, even if they're pure fuckers--issues they're right about or ways they're competent and skilled. I may have made her TOO competent and sensible. She may be too boring for fiction, idk. There's a reason nobody in fandom likes to write about her. We all know somebody just like her irl and we try to escape them as quickly as possible; we don't want to actually write about their judgy holier-than-thou asses for any length of time.

I'm very frustrated about this and I'm not sure how to fix it. It feels like a systemic issue, like a flaw or behavior that should be present from the beginning. I should probably try and make her more controlling from the beginning, but that'll take some rewriting and editing... guhhhhhh. Not during NaNo.

I might brainstorm some weird shit that I could make her do to fuck up the story a bit and see what seems natural and sticks.

I mean, if you have an idea, or have read a story with Lamb in it that you think is particularly good, hit me up ok

[knowlessman]

is it next time yet? fuck it, I guess it is 'XD bnha movie 1, Two Heroes

cacaw! eegels! murica! social darwi - oh this is straight-up actual california apparently. where's excalibur, d'you see him anywhere?

you sir are a pokemon. …no wait he has pants on, he's a digimon -- Cow Lady… sure is a character design. amazing they managed to not put a cowboy hat on no hang on never mind there it is

saitama? -- ALL MIGHT. YOU HAVE EYES. WHAT THE FUCK WHERE ARE WE

…"dave"? in this 2000's-ass hotwheelsmobile? whut even -- with a bubble blower

I was The Most Unprepared for All Might with visible eyes I tell you hwat -- his victory laugh still makes me think of santa clause tho

okay we're back to Bionicle-mode All Might, things are right side up again

…they're going for a vacation at that floating city from bioshock infinite? (turns out it's on water not flying nvm)

"the invite said I could bring a friend." "isn't that usually meant for family?" "we are family. I'm your Space Dad."

"once we get there, I must be in hulk form constantly" I thought that was literally impossible

(movie is doing a whole recap) ohey it's that guy that got caught by the slime monster, what was his name? -- that stunt in the race with the chunk of metal and the minefield was such cool bullshit tho, like only the perfect combination of being painfully aware of your limitations and being absolutely, unshakeably DETERMINED to cross that line first would have led somebody to find such a random tool so early on, drag it with them the whole way, and then manage to find a use for it at the way end. …this show has good fucking writing okay. mineta aside. it has good fucking writing.

"trivia question: why was this island created?" shits, giggles, & egotism. why do you think elon musk does anything. -- facepalm another fucking amusement park

hm. wonder if toshi's plan is to let dave in on the whole secret

blinks and they have literal godzilla. well of course they do, I guess

the literal bat-plane but blue, aye.

ohhhh, no… this Melissa character was reminding me of that girl from the pokemon 2000 movie whose only purpose is to make misty jealous about ash (and hand out that stupid lore pun I guess), and I was just thinking "but they don't have to do that, and maybe they won't, after all uraraka's not here…" -- uh. the gang's all here (well, okay like a quarter of class A so far), but since when have jiro and yaoyorozu given a shit about uraraka's… relationship? crush? unspoken tsundere bullshit that I… thought deku was oblivious to? -- why is deku explaining himself as if he has the slightest idea that uraraka has interest in him? movie weirdness I guess; so new arrivals know which cookie cutter she came out of. (tbh tho even just thinking about her like this is annoying because she does have more interesting stuff going on, with her family and her whole motivation; it feels like she's been reduced to this, and that sucks)

goddammit it's worst character and worst-character-in-training

EMERGENCY EXIT MAKIN HIS EMERGENCY ENTRY AT TOP SPEED FOR SOME REASON (so that newbies have a vague idea what his power is because they can't guess it based on the bigass exhaust ports stickin out his calves I guess), GANGWAY -- IIDA YOU ARE LITERALLY DOING THE ROBOT FOR NO REASON WHY DID THEY HAVE TO GIVE YOU THAT MANNERISM IT IS SO WEIRD ON YOU

okay hagukure with the rock paper scissors signs is funny, they finally made a joke about her invisibility that's funny

METAPOD BROS METAPOD BROS METAPOD BR - uh, hi vegeta, I guess, damn where's tetsutetsu? : /

'XDDDDD "hey, isn't that deku over there" kacchan is IMMEDIATELY in deku's face because he is Like That

ohey look vegeta, it's… wtf is todoroki then? beerus? I don't fuckin know dbz

"we got the drugs. or bomb. it's one of the two, right? what? batjesus is here? who cares."

"I can't tell Dave, who literally just did a cat scan on me and knows my powers are disappearing and has known me for decades and is sposed to be Very Smart, about One for All"

…dang, I'm only a half hour in, I gotta ease up on pausing it 'XD

boxing gloves -- iida 'XD

deku who told you you could steal napoleon dynamite's style

they finally let yaoyorozu wear clo - what have you done to earphone jack let her wear a suit or something jesus

-- …huh. also just now realized the triangle thingies she usually has must be makeup. cool.

yeah, they would give bakugo, out of the entire cast, a formal outfit that actually looks cool >:| (I mean okay uraraka's is just fine but everyone else looks like a dork, like they were stuck with whatever was on the clearance rack)

ohey tapeface and naruto's choji are here too. I expect bnha's choji is around somewhere -- yup. also birdman. tokoyami

think I know what the vague gist of Uno is, but I've never played it. is it worth trying? (froppy and mina and hagukure are stuck in their hotel room. which, like… it feels like, idk, another work would've not bothered doing that, but I like it. It's like in the digimon movie, those random cutaways where the internet is being eaten or wever and it's inconveniencing people in silly ways ("your total comes to one million one hundred HUH??? uh, yeah, that's what it says. that must be really good chocolate. paper or plastic?"). idk it's fun 'XD)

earphone jack's hero costume (which she isn't getting to wear right now bc bullshit) is cool. know what else is cool? her power. jiro is just cool.

todoroki's in a basic white suit but at least it looks good on him and fits him, like, thematically? like not even that it's white, he's a guy you can picture choosing to wear a suit.

"melissa, you stay here" "bad news, pal. none of you know how the security system works. this is an escort mission now." (also she could have gadgets on her, being literally the daughter of the most famous gadgeteer on the island)

all might's having a lot of telepathic conversations in this movie. is that what being neurotypical's like?

"this is the 30th floor" gawwwd, that's a lot of stairs. my feet hurt just thinking about em -- three… hundred… fucking yeah, you're on 50 and you're just NOW ditching the heels? fuckin A

"what does this button do?" "stop those kids!" somebody find a window and mi-yeet-a that little shit out of it

how many of you guys are there, and nobody has a quirk for just climbing up the outside of the tower? momo could probably do it. todoroki could maybe do it. deku might be able to punch handholds into it. …uraraka can literally fly, but granted, only for a limited time. -- wait mineta could get them up there that way. little shit has an entire superpower and he still exists only to represent the worst elements of anime fandom and be the "we're doomed!" guy.

oh fuck it's ornstein and smough maybe they are doomed

'XD ohai beavis and blockhead (bakugo and kirishima). wow, how lost did you get?

momo can just create bat-bombs now.

…bakugo can fly. bakugo can literally just fly, whenever he wants. …him knowing only fighting is such a waste. mfer can FLY.

ohey the penny dropped, they remembered mineta has an entire goddamn superpower.

"that guy's not opening up a hole in space, he's hollowing it out!" fucking. this is gonna be akutagawa's fucking coat all over again isn't it -- gawd damm but they went and whole-assed the animation for this relatively no-stakes fight, it doesn't even have any music but just lookit this shit

jumping daleks. how about that

these gauntlets seem like a pretty significant upgrade, considering I don't remember seeing them in any pictures of deku. makes me suspect that he only has them for this movie, but… : / idk

"don't let your guard down. one of those kids probably has a hearing quirk" and not a flying one? are hearing quirks just really common? I forget whether choji's is supposed to make him hear better

vegeta to the rescue!

"send swordkil and the others!" what kinda rob-liefeld-ass name…?

I swear this one pink-haired villain guy is reminding me of SOMEBODY, but I can't for the life of me figure out who

… : | for once, could a guy give off so many heel-turn flags and not actually turn heel? hell, for that matter, is melissa gonna die now to just tidily remove her from the canon and keep the movie self-contained? -- "did you arrange this just to get that device?" uh yeah, that device that wasn't any of the ones previously introduced? in other words, a random surprise macguffin that we have no reason to care about? -- "a device that amplifies quirks" yawn. also this guy who nobody cared about til now talked him into it, so dave can even do an emergency face turn if he feels like it when mr assistant guy whose name was only said once… gus, I think? when he turns on him (I GUESS his motive having to do with all might losing his powers is, idk, a motive) -- sam, that's what. also gawwwd this got bori - haha he got your-eternal-rewarded. wait why the hell is dave taking bullets for - bah, whatever

deku, mid-punch, without his mouth moving: "melissa, I got this, do the computer thing!" melissa: goes and does the computer thing for real tho, is this what being neurotypical is like? just, everyone has telepathy? must be fucking nice.

"BATJESUS EX MACHINA!" -- "METAL SATAN EX MACHINA. WITH TENTACLES."

…huh. so. mojo jojo was behind this all along. okay, that one's a surprise. -- lol he went for a stab-through and the screen went all red like it's fucking evangelion or something (I think eva does that when spoiler bites spoiler's spoiler? haven't actually seen it). and then all might comes out and his fucking supersuit doesn't even have a scratch on it

really tho deku did you really have no choice other than that fucking clown suit

-- also. alan rickman: "I see you've managed to get your shirt off."

there was a bit in one of the specials where all might transforms from bionicle mode to hulk mode, and I slowed it down looking for in-between frames. THIS is the kind of thing I was looking for. my guy looks like Sans Undertale.

ayup. was a movie. it movied. was fairly okay, although I gotta wonder if there'll be any callbacks to it; it felt depressingly like all the bits that sounded like they mattered were movie-only bits, and… uh. they, uh, they beat mojo jojo, so either I hadn't been understanding properly how All for One works, or they name-dropped him here for pretty much no reason, or the apparent series villain is just done and dusted already. -- movie DID resist the urge to really get my goat with uraraka's tsundere stuff or whatever and kept it down to that one scene, so I guess that could've been a lot worse

[xtrastorageblog]

I have thoughts/theories/questions about Monument Mythos but I'm going to put them here because I don't want to get yelled at on the discord/reddit lol

Also I've only watch wendigoons vid, like 3 of the MM videos, and read through the wikia/tvtropes/discord/reddit. It's because I scare easily and would like to sleep, if anyone reads this and sees something that's already been confirmed/talked about, please lmk!

The guys that started Maize, Rob & Rob, I know they have different last names but I think it's weird they have the same name. I think it's going to be revealed they had a similar experience like that happened to Virginia, except somehow the met their mirrored version and became like evil or some shit. Kind of like the lettuce twins in bioshock infinite. I just think it's weird how they literally started technology in America and have the same name.

Ok, when Freedom finally made it to the US, Reed said that there was a woman in the box, that was like....an actual person. If Freedom covers herself completely in skin will she a la Pinocchio, become a real person OR was Reed's brain just not able to handle seeing a 20ft+ statue covered in human skin. Like I know the statue can move around, but..does it magically transform into a normal looking person after acquiring enough skin or his brain just stopped working.

A lot of the events in the series reference irl ones like the Jan 6 raid at the Capitol or operation mongoose, was the latter half the Suez canal crab, people raiding it and stealing stuff, a combo of the Area 51 event and the looters during BLM protests/riots, one or the other, or just...not meant to be related

Is it confirmed that ONLY the heads cut off by the glass swell or does every other body part do to? If only the heads why? Or why does anything swell at all? ALSO those images of people walking around without heads at the grand canyon, are they just...living their life? Are they just stuck roaming there since their heads are just giant meatballs now? Like a chicken with it's head cut off?

I hope other countries get... shout outs as well, I find it odd how important Egypt is in this story. Like I know it's supposed to be like ~Ancient Aliens~ but then why not also talk about the Mayan people? Although I might be jumping the gun with how many Native American references dropped in the latest vid ( the section names and the horned serpent)

Also about the popular Freedom doorway pic, I think that is her with the skin on. I say this since alot of people are theorizing that that is her victims head..meatballing but that doesn't make sense I'm my book, how long it takes for a crown to form + also dont aren't the heads that look in the room angled the same way, like freedom bends down to look inside, kills/skins lady, bends down again. I don't get people who think she's too tall to peer into the room since she was able to bust out of some crates, grab the kid, run up the island, dig a whole, and sharpen her sword.

ALSO is freedom her OWN person and the Crawfords have just...lost themselves in there, mentally I mean. Or is this like a Trojan horse situation since the guy hated America, so as long as he's able to kill Americans he's happy? Like I know people think it's fucked up that he killed his daughter but, it ties into her wanting him to make a statue of her and they're together again....🎉

What would happen if you tried to cut the "trees" with Giza glass I wonder. Thanks for the info!!

Rockefeller states that Hughes was the next president after him, that has to be in reference to the guy that lost to Wilson. So did Rockefeller only serve one term like Wilson or did he also take up Theodore Roosevelt's term too. (I'm not looking at the list of presidents rn so it's either Roosevelt or...is it Taft? Cleveland?)

Also fav character rn is the Angel. What'll probably happen is they'll be used for an epic Kaiju style battle between Government/Freedom vs ADA/Angel but, I hope they'll be more heroic or have more sentience than they appear to have rn. It be hard to have 17 consciences at the same time, and it helped all of them hated Rockefeller but...I'd like to think when they're not being the deadliest laser beam in the world, they are chill. (I'm using they/them btw for them since it's 17 guys) they remind me A LOT of the villain/antagonist in Oxenfree, if anyone's reading this and you like elements of government cover ups, the possibilities of radiation, the Angel, and/or sci fi then check out the game Oxenfree, it's superb

Thanks for reading 💞

[the-insomniac-emporium]

J Watches Arcane: Ep. 4a, Random Thoughts/Play-By-Play

Oi, only took me fucking months to finally get off my arse and watch the next episode, oops. What can I say, I'm allergic (and yet addicted) to sadness? Anyway, these are just thoughts that I have as I watch, with timestamps. Nothing super in depth, but I just enjoy keeping track of what I notice (might forget otherwise), and it helps with forming bigger pictures with the scraps later on.

Under read-more for length and spoilers (obvs). Seriously, tho, I had a lot of thoughts on this one, even if you ignore the parts that can be summed up with "J, your gay is showing" or "J, your gender envy is showing". I mean, seriously. I mean, like, I had to break this into two parts for formatting reasons. It's kind of absurd. Ends at roughly 22 minutes into episode 4

(1:53) WHAT IS THAT. I WANT TWENTY. FLUFFBALL. Why have I not heard of this fella before?

(4:29) Right up until this shot, everything post-intro/opening gave me low-key Bioshock Infinite vibes. I really should finish that game...

(4:42) Well, first of all, let me just say that I'm glad Caitlyn's mom is still a milf, I guess. Second of all... I know that there's a timeskip between episodes 3 and 4, and I think I read it's somewhere around 7 years, but the contrast between hearing Cassandra talk about Jayce now compared to the last time they interacted is just. It's there. I'm thinking about it. She's a politician, tho, yeah? Feels like she's got experience with putting reputation/public image first. Guess I'm just noting that here in case it pops up again- good source for conflict, yeah?

(4:52) MY WIFE! My wife has a dumb hat!!! I love her dumb hat!!!

(5:29, "we really have descended to anarchy") I am going to melt over her smile oh my god. Also, I appreciate her and Jayce's friendship/basically being siblings (which I have heard a bit about). The way that Cait is so clearly miffed about her post/things with her mother, but still softens up to joke around with Jayce- and the fact that Jayce took the time to come over in the first place :D

(5:55) OH IS IT MY BOY? IS THIS THE FIRST GLIMPSE OF MY GROWN UP BOY? I legit don't know if Ekko's role in the firelights (is that the right name? I have been trying to avoid spoilers) is, like, a huge thing/big reveal, so I don't know if I'll be upset that I got spoiled on it ages ago

(6:22) MY OTHER WIFE. Not to, like, make 50% of this post about how gay I am but-

(6:40) oh hey cool, I got the name right. also just want to say I fucking LOVE the firelights' designs, everything from their outfits to their tools to their sick ass hoverboards

(6:58) that was the smoothest fucking thing I have ever seen oh my god. if I was there to witness that, I would be proposing on the spot. marry me, cool mask man

(7:42, "oh no, she's here") is it my other other wife? is it time for me to start crying, from here until the end, as the chances of recovery slip further and further out of her fingers? will I weep neon pink tears of grape soda gamer fuel glimmer, as the echoes in her skull overwhelm? oh, to be so small, in a world so big and so loud, to feel like one must scream onto the void until their lungs give out, if only to be seen at all- if only to prove that you exist-

(8:52, "... hi")... I mean, like I said, it's a build up, ya know? the end of the rope doesn't feel as bad if you never saw how long it was to begin with, after all

(8:53, *click*) lmao never mind, love my poor, poor feral lass

(9:24) and so it begins. Or, well, it doesn't so much begin as it starts to rear it's ugly head. One thing that I've noticed, and will probably make a separate post for at some point (so the thought doesn't get lost in this jumbled mess), is that the little flashes we see of Jinx's hallucinations here aren't new, per se. Literally in the very first scene of the whole ass show, when the enforcers are walking through the smog, their masks glinting in the firelight, we see those flashes of comic-esque facial expressions, the sort of "signature Jinx graphic". From a design standpoint it's neat, but more importantly, recalling that from the first episode is a great way of showing two things.

Firstly, Jinx has been going downhill for a long ass time. It's not that what happened at the end of 3 completely broke her, it's that life stuck its fingers in the cracks of her mental state, and starting tugging until everything split apart. Also want to say that the fight scene between Deckard + crew and Vi + crew in ep1 also highlights this, specifically with the way everything goes into slow motion, and we Powder at the center of it all, back against the wall, eyes wide and panicked, unable to do anything- because poor girl is probably remembering that shit on the bridge

Okay, tumblr is making me break this up a little, please ignore this random thing, something about a characters-per-block limit?

Secondly, that whole opening sequence sets up the entirety of Powder/Jinx's trauma. Violence, flashes of light, clutching desperately to those who offer her comfort, culminating in the first major loss: Her parents.

Point is, this shit hurts my emotions. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk, and please remember that I am not a psychologist/therapist, just a writing nerd with a skeleton full of closets :) yes I know that I fucked that one up, but honestly I think it's funny enough to keep

(11:13) oh. oh, Viktor, time will never be your friend, will it? Deep breaths, love, what you do with what you have will be more than enough. Also look at the little fluffball, back again. Look at them, Viktor, they will give you serotonin

(12:00) these are forbidden candy. I will fucking eat them. Jinx would take one look at these and cronch on one too

(12:35, "the next chapter of Hextech") oh, so you make it stable and the first fucking thing you build is a weapon? please tell me I'm looking at this incorrectly, but that looks like Vi's punchy gauntlet. *three seconds later* okay cool, it has other applications. had me worried there. I mean, I know it will be used as a weapon tho, so... it's a mixed bag :)

(14:00, "a decade?" "it zips past you in the blink of an eye") Heimerdinger, my dude. I know you're small and maybe can't see Viktor's face as well, because you as so close to the ground and so far away, but look at him. Are you really telling me that Heimerdinger is not at all aware that Viktor's health is declining? Has he grown so accustomed to the endlessness of his own life, that he has no concept of the fragility of humanity? just feels a bit insensitive, don't it?

(15:13) why hello, Ms. Bond okay, glad cameras are a thing, even if they're kinda basic at this point. wanted to make sure that my eventual dumb fics can include cute couple photos

(15:44) Cait. Cait. my god. Was that really the best landing you could do? What the fuck. Do they not make sure enforcers know how to get around a little? God, that landing was so loud. Loud landings = hard landings, hard landings = painful landings. You want soft, quiet ones, and not even just for stealth. The process just makes it a hell of a lot easier on your joints!

(17:16) um. okay. sorry, did... did Silco turn The Last Drop... into a night club?... no no no, it's okay, that's fine, no worries. I am just... surprised, is all.

(17:22) is this that one very minor side character that some folks on tumblr are really gay for, but not everyone I've seen can agree on their gender? and also they don't even have a page on the Arcane wiki? and I did definitely check because I saw a picture and suddenly understood tumble's interest?

(18:19, "the world's growing smaller every day") did Silco read that one post I made the other day, when I was having a breakdown at five in the morning?... is he disagreeing with me because I disagreed with him about how it feels to drown, or is he replying to the ending of my post, saying that "hey, no worries, the world does eventually get smaller?". anyway this has been a stupid joke

(18:27) Hawkeye?... oh, nope, just my gf again. sitting in the rafters (very gay of her, if I do say so myself). also, I love that Silco does not react at all to her dropping down directly onto his desk. How many fucking times has she done this? How often did she scare him before he got used to it?

(19:30) this part here is specifically aimed at me. because the creators know I hate eye stuff. I am taking this personally, and not just because it gives me an excuse to pause the show and not look at what I assume is about to be eye needle time. *half a second later* I hated that. Why didn't I just hit play while not looking at the screen? Oh, right, so I could see if I was right and then post about it, duh

(20:28) if anyone is still reading at this point, they're probably tired of me pointing out the fact that I have a crush on essentially every female character. So. Hey look, it's Mel, I can't wait to see what she's been up to :D

Okay, yeah, breaking this into two parts because I've now hit the whatever limit twice, and I have literally never done that before today, so...

[agent-cupcake]

Cupcake!! Do you listen to music while writing? If yes what kind?

Yes! I absolutely do! I really love music, I’d say it’s secondary to literature as far as my choice of creative input so this is also just my personal recommendations regarding music as a whole with explanations and unwanted commentary because I’m dumb and this is one of my favorite things to talk about.

Firstly, my ongoing(ish) story Beastie and the Bard is musically driven so here are some songs I have on my playlist for that. I tend towards pieces that are melancholy but melodic. Entrancing, perhaps.

Lolita by Ennio Morricone - Contextually, I realize this is a bizarre (even tone deaf) pick given the source material, but... Whatever. This song, in general, just reminds me of Dimitri. Although a heavy, militaristic march might suit him better, the heart rending sound of this song just works for me when I think of him. The piano sets the tone immediately, lingering on some notes in a wistful, sad way. And it is sad, the cello and flute join in to make that clear. But, at a certain point, the instruments begin to dance around together, opening up and almost seeming like they want to resolve the song and create something happier, or at least something bittersweet, only to be drawn back into the uneasy tragedy of the main motif. I dunno, for me, it just absolutely aches like betrayal. 

Shallan’s Lullaby by treefin / Black Piper - This music box rendition of Shallan’s Lullaby from Stormlight was the melodic inspiration for my bootleg lullaby that reader writes for Dimitri (perhaps not the first part as much as the way it shifts around 1:07). It’s haunting.

Isabella’s Lullaby from The Promised Neverland - Pretty self explanatory, I think. This one hits the sweet spot of beautiful and sad, from the harp to the vocals it just fits. 

Howl’s Moving Castle Merry Go Round of Life original and the cover by the Grissini Project - Both versions are incredibly special pieces of music and I’d be surprised if you hadn’t heard this theme before, very good for the more whimsical parts of the story (not that there’s gonna be any more of that).

Shadows of the Lowlands from Xenoblade 2 - While I’m about to recommend this entire soundtrack, this vocal piece is stunning. This guy’s vocals, no joke, sound like a Tolkien Elf. We Are the Chosen Ones is done by the same vocal group and soloist so it’s also making this list although the tone is def a bit different. 

Okay now I’m just gonna point out my favorite soundtracks. For all of these, I have COMPLETELY LEGALLY downloaded most of these from other sites, I’m linking youtube just based on superficial searches to hopefully give you a taste and maybe encourage you to NOT BREAK THE LAW and acquire these soundtracks on your own

Fire Emblem Three Houses - This is obvious and I’m sure you’ve all heard it, but go have a listen if you haven’t. but first, is anyone else disappointed about the Three Houses official release soundtrack? Considering the delay I guess I kinda expected more. Granted, the soundtrack IS phenomenal. Not so much in its entirety, which is emblematic of the game as a whole in some ways, but the set pieces? Unforgettable. This soundtrack is a case study in how powerful a small pool of musical motifs and set-up/pay-offs can be. The little promise of God Shattering Star at the very beginning of the game, Those Who Sow Darkness giving a taste of Shambhala, and then the use of the main melodies of Season of Warfare (Main Theme) and Song of the Nabateans. For the most part, both melodies are used in dramatic songs, creating this unbreakable musical connection between Edelgard and Byleth. Or, if you think about it, Edelgard and the Rhea. For example: the thunder version of Funeral of Flowers doesn’t have the game’s theme, but the rain version does (those two songs were WRITTEN to be layered I stg). And then there’s that somewhat bastardized version of the main theme in At What Cost, highlighting the intended twisting of the usual heroic take on that melody. I do have a potentially unpopular opinion, however. The Apex of the World is boring and tonally dissonant with the final battle in Azure Moon. A lot of people really like Edelgard-Dimitri likes Edelgard! There’s very little heroism in that mission, at least to me, and a song like At What Cost would have fit SO MUCH BETTER. I mean, that is also Edelgard’s theme so hearing that being twisted up into this decidedly more dark song would be thematically appropriate to her ultimate choice. The title also just seems like it suits her and Dimitri. Edelgard claims that she has weighed the cost of war, she believes she is capable of taking on the cost of victory without really knowing what it would be. Dimitri's whole story was him trying to find revenge no mater what the cost and now that he has it, he’s fully understanding what it will cost him. I understand why they would use the traditional hero song to cap the route, but it seems weird that they’d be willing to subvert so many other aspects of tradition while holding to that for a song that, in my opinion, is the least interesting of all the final battle songs. As you can probably tell, At What Cost is a song that is very tonally inspiring to me. I also love Funeral of Flowers (Thunder and Rain separately and layered together), The Long Road, and Roar of Dominion for getting hyped to write.

Final Fantasy VII Remake - Ever since I got this soundtrack, I’ve been addicted. I really don’t have much to say on this one other than just to recommend you give it a listen if you’re even passingly interested in orchestral video game music. There’s some misses for me (specifically the Wall Market stuff and anything that gets into the weird electric guitar/techno stuff) but it’s overwhelmingly fantastic and can work for active listening music and for background music while you write. I’d follow up recommend you get ahold of the Acoustic Arrangements soundtrack. I can’t link you on this one but it’s worth the extra legwork to procure it COMPLETELY LEGALLY. 

Final Fantasy Distant Worlds - I was actually able to see the Distant World’s tour when it swept through Houston and at that point I had no idea what the fuck a Final Fantasy was. At all. However, seeing One Winged Angel live is not something I will ever forget. Ever. This soundtrack is great for some background listening and although it is often too upbeat for my usual tastes, it’s good when I need something easier. Okay. Real talk. I was about to recommend to you a bunch of FFXIV music (the MMO), choice selections from FFXV, and try and dig up some songs that are only available in live recordings. If you like Final Fantasy music, I recommend all of these things. The games are a clusterfuck but the music is even moreso and it’s worth your time if you like this kind of thing.

Xenoblade 2 - See? Told you I was gonna recommend this. Actually, ranking wise, I would say that I like it more than Final Fantasy. This soundtrack is magical. I cannot stress that enough, there is a level of whimsy and beauty that went into this soundtrack that all at once draws upon the genre and being it’s own thing. Like, I get it, there’s a lot of misses. The electric guitar is jarring and annoying. Listen to Sea of Clouds, like, actually listen to it. Listen to Desolation. Pay attention to the motif used in connection with Elysium and then the other songs that its used in. The Power of Jin. This is a sometimes sad but mostly beautiful and whimsical soundtrack that is good for listening and for using as background music. 

Xenoblade 1 - I don’t have as much to say about this one, I don’t feel as if it’s as emotionally resonant as my other recommendations. BUT it is gorgeous. The area themes are wonderful and perfect for setting tone. 

Hollow Knight - Hollow Knight’s soundtrack takes one step back from the drama of the others and revels in its depressive simplicity. There are songs with a more cheerful tone, and the magical whimsy of Xenoblade 2 is very much brought to life in many of the pieces, but for the most part the soundtrack is as gorgeously melancholy as the game itself. One of my favorite things in music is when songs are given new life through new context and the White Palace --> Pale Court transition is haunting. 

Diabolik Lovers - OKAY I KNOW I KNOW hear me out. This soundtrack has no right to be as gorgeous, emotional, or quality as it is. This song, Lovers, is the younger sibling of Lolita’s theme, okay? Thematically, that’s kinda hilarious, but I mean it. If you like that song, give a few of the songs from this OST a chance.

BioShock, BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite - BioShock 1&2 are different from Infinite. A lot more grungy, a lot more angry and discordant, the strings buzz and there’s a lot more horror to it all. Infinite, on the other hand, is very pretty. Infinite’s soundtrack is about the characters and their journey and feelings. The first two game’s soundtracks are about the ruined city of Rapture. It depends on what you’re in the mood for. I write using Infinite’s music more often, but there’s pieces in the first two that capture this empty, yearning feeling that is good for setting mood.

Pathologic - “Half Life’s soundtrack directed by Genghis Khan.” It’s bizarre. It’s grungy. 

Void (Typrop) - Basically the same deal. I dunno man, I like being inspired by horror.

Outlast - It’s an orchestral horror game soundtrack. Like the game itself, there’s a lot of horror movie inspiration. 

Dishonored 1 and Dishonored 2 - This is mostly background music. It’s a stealth game so it’s kinda uneasy, but I think there’s something really unique. Maybe the instruments? There’s a lot of weird sounds used. 

Higurashi - This is a compilation of horror themed songs from the anime soundtrack, but the VN soundtrack and the non-horror stuff is pretty good, too. Michishirube is my favorite.

Madoka Magica Rebellion - The main anime soundtrack is gorgeous. The bells, the strings, the drama... I’m recommending Rebellion specifically because it’s the more cohesive and story-driven soundtrack. This one is not as horror-ish and weird than the others, it is very beautiful and nice to listen to. Sad, in some parts, too. 

Code Geass and Resurrection - Brass? Got it. Dramatic strings? Got it. Bombastic set piece songs? Triple got it. This soundtrack oozes style. In some ways, that makes it not good for writing, but in others it can. Depends on what you’re writing. I think the melodrama can be incredibly useful for getting my mind in that frenzy state. 

Okay I’m done. Thank you for bearing with me. 

If we’re talking what songs inspire specific things, the Ferdinand piece was accompanied by a lot of the Diabolik Lovers soundtrack and Final Fantasy. When I wrote my sad Felix piece, it was all about Hollow Knight with a spot of Bloodborne and Dark Souls.  

[lacuna-of-light]

Snippets from the stupid Bioshock Infinite wish-fulfillment fic I'm never going to actually write.

-

He's so tired, frustrated, helpless and angry for it.

“Just –” Booker's voice is harsh, mostly drowned out in the wails, “just go to sleep. Please just fucking--”

Anna only cries louder.

“Shhh.” He bends his head to rest against hers. The screams sound painful. It can't be good for her, can it? He doesn't know what to do. Annabelle would have known. “Shhh, Anna. I'm sorry. I love you, baby. It's okay. Shhh. Please.”

He holds her, roaming back and forth from the nursery to the office and back again, humming a gentle tune he can't quite remember the words for, over and over and over again until at last Anna's screams subside into sobs, her small, warm body becoming somehow heavier as she gives in to exhaustion. When he dares to lift his head to peek down at her, her eyes are closed-- but she opens them immediately at the movement, face scrunched up in tearful protest. He hurriedly lowers his head again, though he's stiff from holding the position for so long.

She sighs, a tiny, miserable sound. Hiccups. Her fingers are clenched tight in the fabric of his shirt.

He loves her so much it hurts to breathe around the feeling. What a miracle, after everything he's done, to be able to hold his daughter in his arms. He doesn't deserve her, and she deserves so much better than him, but he won't give her up. Never again.

“I promise,” he whispers.

-

Sometimes, when Anna is asleep or distracted, when his hands are still and he has a moment to breathe, Booker allows himself to miss Elizabeth. He wonders if there's any universe out there where she got free of Columbia and Comstock and made a life for herself in freedom. He wonders if she ever made it to Paris. And he dreads the truth, because-- because--

His daughter is safe, healthy, as happy as he can make her. She'll grow up Anna DeWitt; never visit flying cities or tear the walls between dimensions, never long for Paris from behind the bars of a luxurious cage. She'll never become Elizabeth. (Thank God, she'll never become Elizabeth.)

When he drowned to destroy Comstock, he hadn’t wondered about what might happen to Elizabeth. About what it would really mean to have his sins undone. With no Comstock, no Columbia, would Elizabeth exist at all? What had really happened when her hands held him down (their hands, all the many Elizabeths) and drowned him? Had they disappeared, after? Unspooled to before the beginning of themselves, like Comstock? Or had they been preserved somehow in that space between worlds, with the lighthouses-- the doors, Elizabeth called them.

He'd been so desperate to undo his mistakes. To undo the harm he'd done to her. The idea that instead, she may have been drowned alongside him-- it doesn't bear thinking.

But he is here, alive and real enough, when he hadn't thought to open his eyes again. So he can hold onto hope for Elizabeth, too. That somewhere and when, in some Paris, she is living uncaged.  

-

“Elizabeth, what are you talking about? Who's Sally?” He starts to reach for her shoulders, but stops himself before making contact, drops his arms back to his sides. He shouldn't. “How are you here?”

She takes a hesitant step forward, staring very intently at him, brow furrowed. She doesn't seem to have the same qualms about touch as he does, because after a moment she reaches up and sets her palm against his cheek. Then the other, so that his face is held between her hands.

“Booker,” she says, sounding more confused than anything. “Are you real?”

Maybe the Lutesces would have different opinions on the matter, but Booker's no scientist or philosopher and his answer is the same as it ever was.

“I'm real enough,” he says.

-

Bonus: Booker singing to baby Anna

[geekgemsspooksandtoons]

My more critical thoughts on Resident Evil 7

Spoilers and this was copied from a draft that carried a note that I couldn’t send because of the limit. But the first part is where I talk about mainly the final act or so. Mainly Eveline, the Bakers, and Mia. Spoilers for RE7. This was long ago and when I was fresh or so from finishing the 7th game.

Be warned, it’s long and it’s not the best written. Also, I noticed that I mentioned the fact for some reason...AVP 1999 literally had a Xenoborg. But that’s whole other discussion. Reminds me of my old Mecha Predator ideas. Besides, my friend has responded to this and they agree.

“In all seriousness, I do like Resident Evil 7 with what it tries to do. I like that it went back to more of the survival horror aspect. The Bakers are cool scary and cool antagonists/villains. The gameplay is mainly wonderful and fitting for this. But as it was getting towards the ending...I felt off...

I didn’t mind the ship part but...it might be my fault for rushing the final act basically. And I’m trying to recall what were my biggest criticisms and I think it’s these three.

1. Eveline...you know playing and watching cutscenes unfold and what you’ve talked about...I question whether I’m too empathic. All three of these things relate to another. I can understand that Mia and Ethan don’t wanna be empathic to a BOW that did all of this damage...but I feel like it’s a bit...dehumanizing.

I’m remembering more what bothered me. The fact even Ethan calls Eveline a, ‘bitch’ is just...telling. Even if you were to find the documents/notes where it reveals she wanted some love. I can understand Eveline would sadly have to die...

But I feel like despite Jack was saddened to say that Eveline needed to be dealt with. I don’t like how it seems to paint the Bakers more as victims...I’m gonna sound like an asshole.

Again, I get what they are going for with Eveline. The whole concept of her is strangely tragic. That the Connections literally made a child as a BOW. It’s just weird to talk about.

2. The Bakers I again like. Including Zoe. She’s fine. But...unless I play the Daughter DLC or something...I get the direction of victims...I’m sorry to use this as a cop out. And I know you’ve mentioned Eveline before. But the fact that photograph exists of Jack and Mia. Whether it’s just me loving the older games more.

I feel like a douchebag saying I wouldn’t care or feel sorry for this kind of family. It seems kind of tacked on in a way unless I miss certain things. I know infection really changed the mindsets of Jack and Marguerite for the worse. I still feel sorry for Zoe just...it’s weird to talk about.

3. Mia...you know, I know the ending is meant to be happy and all that. But considering Resident Evil 8 and other things. I’m so bothered by how...trying to recall. How they handled that.

I don’t hate Mia and I’ve grown to understand why you like her character. I think she has potential. But I recall I think the idea is how could someone like Ethan love Mia...I know that sounds awful.

The fact just...I’m not saying I want him to straight up yell at her or something. I hate how Mia’s actions aren’t really touched more in RE8 and the fact just...I get what happened to her is traumatic. I hate the fact she literally did this and it feels like they just forgot that this woman literally worked with The Connections or something.

She is responsible for a lot of stuff. And after that. She and Ethan have a baby and just I have a problem with American writers thinking this...we could’ve had something like Brigid Tenenbaum...just why?

I get and I like the idea she cares for her family and not wanting them to know what she was...but holy fucking shit. That should’ve been a big plot point for RE8. I can’t just...I wonder no...it has to be the writer, not any mandates Capcom has. This isn’t Sega. At least with Sega, their mandates make sense.

But holy shit! Decided to answer a message on Twitter on my phone...I don’t wanna say the canon ending in RE7 is too happy...

The fact there were some problems with RE7 and it gets worse with RE8. Listen, I know Resident Evil isn’t like Bioshock 1 and 2 with storytelling or anything else. Just mentioned the Xenoborg thing...but seriously, you can at least respect our intelligence with these games. A lot of people like me really like these characters and some of these stories are a bit more simpler. They aren’t Silent Hill, but they are it’s own thing.

I’m deeply disturbed RE8 just forgets what she did and just makes her the, “Wife”. I shouldn’t accuse someone of sexism...but can these games at least challenge us in some way? I think I’ve talked enough. Time to move on.”

[whatissleepeven]

Evil Within Shitpost (Feat. Deanobeanoqueero)

It’s-...

It’s exactly what you think it is-

My bro @deanobeanoqueero is the one who got me into this series, and also finished streaming Evil Within 2 for me today. I had a lot of laughs and scares with you Dean, and I just want to say thank you for the wild ride!

(*Slaps roof of this post* this bad boi can fit so many JOKES)

Dean and Sleep’s Happy, Sunshine, Flowery Day With the Bois (Now Comes With Rainbows!)

“We’ve received a distress signal from Beacon Hospital. We’re en-route; ETA five minut-”

“Dean, bro, we’re almost there you can silently thirst for Joseph once we’re out of the car-”

The beginning cut-scene is supposed to be dramatic, but for the two rookies it’s just Sleep teasing Dean about simping for Joseph and Sebastian

Sebastian’s just trying to guess what might be happening so they can go in with a few ideas, and the absolute tomfoolery happening in the back is ruining the atmosphere

Sebastian sighs. “Can the peanut gallery pipe it down back there?”

Dean winks at him in the rear view mirror, not once missing a beat. “I don’t like peanuts, but there’s one half of that word that I certainly do like~”

Joseph nearly chokes at Dean’s words. Kidman turns to the side to stare out the window, raising a hand to hide the growing smile on her face.

“...Peas.” Dean clarifies, although the smug grin on his face spoke a thousand words. “I meant peas. I like peas. Get your heads out of the gutter, would you?”

They’ve all been working together for nearly a month, Sleep and Dean knowing each other for even longer (about three months). This sort of banter was familiar to the five of them, but-

“WE’RE HEREEE- Oh my good fuck.”

They all hop out of the car, staring up at the hospital. Dean’s scoping out the area, Kidman and Joseph are discussing something in hushed voices, Sebastian’s making his way towards the steps, and Sleep-

-is still by the car.

She laughs nervously. “With how hard this rain’s coming down, this place looks kinda...ominous, don’tcha think?”

Sebastian’s withering look makes her gulp. “It’s too late to turn back now.”

“Sleepus.” Dean says as he reappears, slapping her on the back and getting her to stumble forward. “All five of us are finally on a case together. Let’s just go in, hope nothing steals our toes, and get out so we can play that ghost game we bought.”

Sleep nods. “You’re right...FOR THE GAME!”

“Kidman, stay out here. You’re our backup.” Sebastian commands, removing his gun from its holster. “Joseph, Dean, Sleep, you’re with me. We watch each other’s backs in here.”

All three of them nod their heads, hands hovering over their respective weapons.

Sebastian opens the door. Suddenly, a high pitched noise reverberates throughout the hospital, and soon after darkness quickly overtakes them all...

Inside of STEM

Sebastian comes to with a groan, quickly finding that he’s hanging upside down.

He twists his head to either side of him, seeing the other (really, really dead) bodies tied up in the same manner. “What the-”

“-actual-”

“-fuuuuuck...”

Sebastian nearly yells once he hears the other voices. To his left hangs Dean, the rookie taking in his whereabouts with an equally analytical and disgusted look in his eyes. Further down is Sleep, swearing up a storm under her breath as she tries (and fails) to cut her rope.

“Oh this is not a vibe, bois.”

Sebastian shoots Dean an incredulous look. “Now’s not the time for-”

The butcher walks by them all, going for a- oh that’s a writhing body on a chain, how did they not notice that before, and now-

-Now it’s a non-writhing body on a chain, the sounds of a blade slicing flesh filling the air as something wet splatters against the floor. Heavy footsteps pass by them, and Sebastian tilts his head back to see a...a thing dressed as a butcher cutting up a slab of meat on the table.

Sleep swallows harshly. “Ahaha...yummm, ham...”

Dean chuckles weakly, a hand reaching for his combat knife. Sebastian would’ve smacked his own face if the sound wouldn’t alert the crazy monster in the next room.

Out of everyone he could’ve gotten stuck with...

He cuts himself free once the butcher leaves, dropping to the floor like a sack of potatoes. He staggers a bit as he stands up, the blood rush temporarily distorting his view, and quickly gets to work on Dean’s ropes.

Dean drops to the ground much like Sebastian did, except unlike the experienced detective he had someone to catch him. 

The rookie smiles up at him. “Thank you, Sebastian.”

“You’re welcome. Can you stand?” Sebastian sets Dean down once he’s sure he’s okay, cutting Sleep’s ropes with no remorse as she plummets to the floor.

She immediately stands back up, unfazed. She jabs a finger at Sebastian, eyes narrowed. “Is this payback for eating your gummy worms the other day?”

Sebastian moves past them with a crouch, swiping the key card from the other room. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The two also drop to a crouch, following him towards a red door to the left of the hanging bodies. Heavy footfalls start growing louder, prompting them to get through the doorway as quickly as they could and shut the door behind them.

“I was hungry! You were like “Sleep; don’t eat the packing peanuts!”, and I was digesting myself, what else was I supposed to do?!” She whispers harshly as he opens the door. Sebastian gets the sudden urge to bang his head against a wall.

They all ascend the staircase, unaware of the horrors they would face...

Dean would sometimes miss all of his shotgun shots. It didn’t happen often, but he always took a second to lament his gun afterwards while Sleep patted his back

Sebastian leads the way. If there’s danger, he’d rather run into it first than Dean or Sleep

Explosions are Sleep’s jam. Th-...That’s it, send tweet.

Dean is the master of sneaky-sneaking. He always finds hidden items and ammo, pointing out little gems like a Bioshock figurine. 

“My sneaky little gremlin hands are gonna steal all of your stuff~!”

The ragtag group’s first exposure to Ruvik begins (and ends) with Sleep insulting him. “Look, I get he wants to make like My Chemical Romance and join the Black Parade, but he clearly got the wrong memo with how much white he’s wearing.”

Long walks usually end up with Dean singing a song. A favorite is “Country roaddddd, take me homeeee, to a plaaaaace, I belonggg!”

“-WEST VIRGINIAAAAA”

The two hang onto each other like they’re in a drama film, extending their arms out towards an unseen sunset. It’s very wholesome and sweet and pure.

Sebastian wants to slam his head against a wall.

Sleep whispers the Mission: Impossible theme whenever they’re sneaking up on enemies

Dean starts singing in a panicked tone whenever there’s a high-stress situation. “AHH, I love running from zombies with my brooOOOOoOoOS..!!”

Code phrases

To release tension, Dean and Sleep say “Number 15: Burger King-”

“Don’t you dare,” Sebastian cuts them off with a hiss as they sneak around a zombie wrapped in barbed wire.

- They do it anyways

They get chased

Dean likes the Lady In Red. She’s terrifying, but she’s cool despite wanting to yoink your toes!

Sleep likes the Keeper the best. He has a safe for his head; that’s awesome!

Meeting up with Joseph = immediate simp on Dean’s end

Dean likes to share theories with Joseph, helping him work on opening doors and solving puzzles. Sleep wanders around the room in that time, poking fun at Sebastian.

Dean + Sleep = Lore Goblins, the Goblins of Lore

Dean really helps keep Joseph’s suicidal ass alive and in check; also calls him Jo Jo when he wants to get his attention

Sleep does her best to protect Leslie because he’s babey

Sleep repeatedly says “I will never financially recover from this” when something goes wrong

Dean counters with “I will never emotionally recover from this” once Kidman shoots Joseph

Oh look, Ruvik’s coming to attack them in his manor? Sebastian is tense as he dodges, but Dean and Sleep-

“No no, don’t touch me there; this is, my No No Square. No no-”

“Dean, Sleep, what the fuck are you two doing-”

Once they manage to defeat Ruvik, the trio stumbles out of the hospital and immediately go back to the office to play Mario Kart (Sebastian was forced to go)

They purchase a book called How To Deal With Trauma: For Dummies and sit in a circle and read it

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #373

“warm me up in a nova’s glow  /  and drop me down to the dream below”

Have you ever kissed someone that you thought you’d never kiss? Welp, never thought I'd kiss a girl for most of my life. When was the last time you ate take-out and what was it that you ate? Mom bought us breakfast at Bojangle's the morning after my sleep study. I got a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit. Do you enjoy when guys hit on/flirt with you or does it normally make you uncomfortable or annoyed? When was the last time more than one guy was flirting with you at a time? It makes me uncomfortable, especially if it's very obvious and pushy. Like some respectful flirting is fine and can be flattering if I'm single, but you better respect my boundaries and not act like a dog. I don't think two guys have both been openly interested in me since Juan and Jason in high school. Can you name five things you enjoy looking at pictures of? Animals, flowers, waterfalls, expressions of love between people, and boudoir. Would you rather have an eternal winter or an eternal summer? Both sound pretty sucky, but an eternal summer sounds worse. Do you know much about the Greek gods? Not anymore. I did in high school, as mythology was an elective I took. Are there a lot of stray cats and dogs near where you live? Not in this neighborhood. How would you cope with living in isolation away from society? How long do you think you could cope before you went mad? Oh god, I couldn't cope. I'd lose my shit so fast. Have you ever found any hidden treasure? No. Would you ever want to hibernate through the winter? No, I enjoy winter. Which holiday do you prefer, Halloween or Christmas? I like the Halloween vibe more, but I enjoy Christmas more as a holiday. Do you prefer hot or cold drinks overall? Cold. What’s the smallest thing you’ve ended a relationship over? I don't believe I've broken up with anyone over something small. Have you or a member of your family been diagnosed with COVID yet? My older sister got it. It was hell. What’s the dominant color in the room you’re in at the moment? An off-white. Do you know who your mom’s favorite singer is? James Hetfield of Metallica. Easy. What room in your house is the messiest? The spare room. Have you ever used a “puppy face” to get your way? Ha, yeeeaaah... If you could change any law that exists in your current country, what would it be and why? Here comes free healthcare. For obvious reasons. What were the last toppings you had on a pizza? Pepperoni. Would you rather spend an hour walking a dog or riding a horse? Riding a horse. Do you freak out when you need to visit the doctor or the dentist? Nah. Do you prefer The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit movies, if you like any of them? I haven't watched either. Which Harry Potter film was your favourite? What about your least favourite? I haven't watched those, either. What do you think about nose piercings? I like them. Nostril studs especially are really cute imo. How many floors does your house have? One. What’s your favorite flavor of Kool-Aid? I don't really like Kool-Aid anymore. Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Yeah, a cyst. Do you enjoy sappy love songs? Unabashedly. Do you wear a one-piece or a two-piece when you go swimming? One-piece. What would be your biggest pet peeve in a relationship? Not communicating your feelings straight-up. Be straightforward and honest with what you're going through with your partner, for the love of God. Have you ever had a teacher hit on you? Have you ever hit on a teacher? No to both. Do you tend to eat more on Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas? Christmas, because of chocolate stocking stuffers and boxes from Dad, haha. Do you know what an "AMV" is? Yeah, I used to make them. Do you think you have a sad life? In some ways, yeah. What’s one award show you have to watch every year? None. Who do you like more: the Batman or the Joker? The Joker, particularly Heath Ledger's. Do you like Rammstein? Love 'em. What is your favorite small dog breed? Aesthetically, I think pugs, but I've said before and I'll say it a thousand more times: I don't support breeding them. What was the first comic book you ever had an obsession over? I've never been obsessed with a comic book. Do you like kids pop-up books? Those were my absolute favorite kind AS a kid. What is your mother's mother's maiden name? Ummm I'm pretty sure Collins. Have you ever pet a monkey? No. What’s your favorite Owl City song… besides "Fireflies?" I actually really like "Hot Air Balloon." What’s your fave Miley Cyrus song? I don't know many, but I do know "The Climb" is absolutely gorgeous. Fave Rascal Flatts song? Probably "My Wish." But I also really like "Why" and "What Hurts the Most." Fave Justin Bieber song? None. Miley Cyrus, Demi Lavato, or Selena Gomez? Jesus, you really like bands that I don't, haha. I don't know any Demi or Selena songs, so idk. Fave Eminem song? Oh man, I do like a lot of Eminem. I know it's so cliche, but I genuinely adore "Love The Way You Lie." It gives me goosebumps. Do you think you could survive a month of solitary confinement? NO. Absolutely not. I would lose my motherfucking mind. What is something that you find utterly boring? Sports, save for dance, are incredibly blah to me. What noise/sound can put you to sleep? Gentle, steady rain tapping on the window. When you are upset, do you tend to shut others out? YYYYYYYYYYYEP. When was the last time you felt abandoned by someone? bleh Does the sight of blood gross you out? No. Do you like red roses, or do you prefer another color? I love red ones, but I really, really like the ones with a pink-peach gradient. Have you ever gone through a red light? I think I MIGHT have accidentally because I was zoned out, but I don't THINK so. Do you fail to stop for stop signs, sometimes? I can't recall if I ever have. What is one of your major turn-offs? Misogyny. The moment you act like you exceed my worth just because you have a dick, byyyyyeeee~ During which year of your life were you the most unhappy? 2016 was hell on Earth for me. Have you ever seen a blue jay in person? I have. Do you like leaves better in the summer/spring, or in the fall? I'd like to meet someone that actually chooses anything besides fall, lol. Do you like the appearance of green eyes? YES! Do you typically like green-colored candies? Yessss. It's not rare for them to be my favorite flavor of whatever the thing is. Who is the most energetic and happy person you know of? My nephew, omg. Have you ever encountered a black widow? I actually have seen at least one to my memory. They're native here. Has an animal ever peed on you? Yes. Do you prefer green or purple/red grapes? I enjoy both, but I prefer green IF they're actually firm. What color is your birthstone? Purple. Why did you leave your house last? To go to the TMS office. I have to go there every day (but the weekends) for two months for treatment now. Is anything on your body sore? Well, inevitably my upper right arm, where my tattoo is. It looks so fucking beautiful redone though, it's all worth it. :') Have you ever eaten a cookie cake before? If so, was it good? Hell yeah man, cookie cakes are great. Do you lose interest in someone easily? I'm quite the opposite. Who was the last person you flirted with? Sara. Do you still talk to the person you fell the hardest for? No. Who’s the last person that slept over your house? My sister and her husband. Have you ever regretted kissing someone? Yes. Are you currently sad about anything? I mean, I always am about something. How would you feel if your last ex fell in love with someone else? I would be super happy for her. Who was the last person who left your life and hurt you? Colleen. Do you know anyone who died of breast cancer? I might know of somebody, but all I know personally are survivors. Do you miss any of your old friends? Well of course. Have you ever been used before? I don't know. Ever taken a picture kissing someone? Yes. What’s the last thing you and your sibling laughed about? I Don't know. I haven't seen either in some time. What’s the last thing you took a picture of? A meme to send Sara, haha. Do you listen to classical music? No. Do you tell your parents who you like? Why or why not? I mean, I don't just randomly bring it up because just being like "hey I like this person _____ now" seems weird. Now if I was asked or mentioning it is somehow relevant, then I will. Who’s the most annoying person in your neighborhood? The damn dog next door who never shuts up. Name one of your psycho exes? None. I was the "psycho ex," and it's embarrassing as shit. Do you make your own clothes and/or add designs to them on your own? No. Do you ever feel guilty eating meat? It's not something I always actively think about, but subconsciously, I absolutely always do. Especially knowing my family doesn't buy from "ethical" markets, but instead big ones. "Ethical" in quotations because there is no moral way to slaughter an animal for food, but at least there are smaller farmers who can give their livestock a better, cleaner, happier life. What are you listening to at the moment? I'm semi-watching Gab play Bioshock. I'd never seen the game before, so just kinda vicariously checking it out. Seems all right. Does anything hurt right now? My tattoo is definitely in the sore phase. It'll start scabbing soon. I literally can't stop looking at it, I love it so much. How many years have you lived at the house you’re living in right now? Around 1 1/2. Have you ever lived in a different country that the one you’re living in? No. Which of your parents will you see next? I live with my mom and rarely see my dad, so. Do you like Chinese food? Only pork fried rice and egg rolls, really. What sort of music were you brought up on? When all of us kids were very little, Mom would usually play her rock channels on the radio, sometimes a (clean) CD. She also would ensure to play kids' cassettes sometimes, too, like Raffy or whoever it was. Once Ashley reached a certain age, she would always ask for a pop channel to be put on, so most of my childhood was that and some country music, too.

[rorykillmore]

every time you mention villanelle from your rp verse, I want to know more

gfhgkfgh THANK YOU i don’t normally get to gush about her to people outside the group so lemme. pull my thoughts together.

i’ve been playing her there since late december 2018/early january 2019, so one of the unique challenges of like. Writing Villanelle Continuously Longterm is just... figuring out where her development can organically go while still feeling like her. ironically i feel i sort of ran into that question before the show even did. it’s been really interesting to tackle!

this is a panfandom setting, meaning in our case it’s kind of this like, multi-dimensional hub where people can bring in characters from virtually any fandom, which is why the characters i pair her with dynamic-wise are so seemingly random sometimes.

she has a best friend! fox mccloud, from the star fox series, played by @propheticnightwing. they worked for the same Shady Organization together, and then when things went south, fox refused to leave her behind, so. they are very important to each other. she nearly killed him recently. whoops.

she has, against absolutely all odds, bonded with a bunch of characters from rwby. namely because some early plots with ruby rose and weiss schnee (played by @mystoffelees and @transrobro) were like... super formative in teaching her basic empathy, and she kinda got involved with the rest of the cast from there. it’s probably one of the most interesting things development-wise that could have happened to her, because these girls are like. “save the world” type heroines who were fundamentally opposite of villanelle on almost EVERY moral level, at least at first, and it’s been really intriguing and insightful exploring that over the years.

also a product of her rwby involvement: she’s a maiden now.  rwby has these four (one for each season) super-powerful magical women called maidens, and when one maiden dies, her power transfers to the last woman she was thinking of before her death. the previous fall maiden was really horny for villanelle. so.

we’ve had a couple different people playing eve over the years. right now @mystoffelees does and they have, since january, been trying to make a relationship between them work! it’s been really really interesting to play because it brings up all kinds of questions about like. okay, so these people are and likely forever will be connected in an obsessive, consuming, indefinable, almost supernatural way that neither of them will ever really be able to understand. but what does that mean for a long term relationship? because if they only relied on that connection, i think it would consume them like wildfire, so just like... the effort both of them have actually had to put forward to love each other in a way that isn’t completely destructive, and how much being vulnerable challenges both of them in unique ways has been so completely fascinating and wonderful.

she also has a sort of love triangle happening at the moment with elizabeth comstock from bioshock, played by @spearitsandmonsters which has been so. SO constantly surprising, for me at least, because prior to that i honestly had very little idea of how to play villanelle with feelings for someone besides eve, and how that might manifest when it’s not fueled by obsession or that unique, deeply inherent connection and understanding they have. because i think that’s what drew villanelle to eve in the first place, so. what draws her to elizabeth? it’s something i could only really discover as it developed, and it’s been fantastically insightful and enlightening along the way.

we also have an absolutely wonderful konstantin played by @fizzlep0p. currently he and villanelle are kind of on the outs bc i bumped her canon point to include season 3 stuff, but they’re also starting a crime ring together, so you know. that checks out.

she is also very close with natasha romanoff (played by @firelxdykatara ) which i think everyone who knows the two characters can agree is undeniably meant to be. nat understood that villanelle had been shaped into a weapon from an early age before VILLANELLE did. villanelle also unarguably considers nat to be a Good Person which makes her hope that, maybe some day, in some life, she can be too.

this rp does monthly “glitches”, which basically means like, monthly character effects people can play with to make things more interesting. villanelle has been through a TON of them, and they’ve really shaped her development. she’s been compelled to only tell the truth, she at one point was forced to kill ruby’s tethered during the us(2019) glitch (her defining “kill that fucked villanelle up” a year BEFORE tatiana,),  she got to visit other worlds (kinda, it’s complicated), she’s had a bloodlust flu that left her totally out of control of her actions, she’s been completely robbed of her memories and left a total amnesiac, she’s in in - and died in - the hunger games, which left her with the lifelong trauma you might expect.

not to be like “i did Challenging Villanelle To Feel Things Via Trauma first, suzanne”, BUT LIKE!

she’s currently building (or technically, you know, paying to have built for her) a giant, impossibly expensive private desert mansion. you know. to cope. the eventual plan is to fill it up with her ragtag found family, because me and everyone involved are absolute suckers for wacky found family living situations.

also @nikopolastree is obsessed with trying to kill her every chance he gets and it’s ironically influenced a ton of her development too. he put eve & villanelle in a saw trap one time. it was awesome.

[glowwormsmith]

Ultimate Relationship Ask Meme

Tagged by @amistrio

Tagging @nightwingshero @thefathersbride @deputyash @bioshocking @punisherpage @chazz-anova @ja-crispea (no pressure)

I will do Jacob/Tess an put this under a read more, dang it’s long (but so good for oc development, I’ll do one for my other two pairings on my own)

Disagreements:

Who is more likely to raise their voice? Both tend to do it if significantly stressed enough, since both are so quiet half the time, but Tess has a firmer edge due to being a mom.

Who threatens to leave but never actually does? Tess.

Who actually keeps their word and leaves? Neither, at the end of it all and despite their problems, they are with each other to the end of the line.

Who trashes the house? Neither.

Do either of them get physical? Neither do.

How often do they argue/disagree? A lot, due to the stress of their lives. Tess was guilt-ridden over cheating on her husband with Jacob, and then he ended up kidnapping her and having their kid all along when she thought her (now dead) husband had killed the baby. It got better as Tess developed Stockholm stayed in his bunker, but she never got used to his extreme tactics and cruelty.

Who is the first to apologize? Tess, and the first one to air out her feelings/concerns. Jacob even developed enough trust until his death to also talk things out with her.

Sex:

Who is on top? They switch it up, but it’s usually Jacob.

Who is on the bottom? See above.

Who has the strangest desires? Most likely Jacob; Tess is pretty vanilla after having only had one partner her whole life and never experimented with her boring husband. Not like Jacob knows anything too kinky (”that’s John’s thing”), but he does push Tess to try things she never did, such as outdoor sex and edging.

Any kinks? I guess Jacob has a breeding kink and likes doing it outdoors or if there is the risk someone can see them. Tess doesn’t have any specific ones and just goes along with whatever Jake wants as long as it’s not violent or demeaning.

Who’s dominant in bed? Jacob.

Is head ever in the equation? Tess does know how to give good head and Jacob tries his best with her, so yes, they do a lot of oral.

If so, who is better at performing it? Tess.

Ever had sex in public? Jacob introduced Tess to it: they had sex in the veteran center, out int he woods, in a church, near the window so the trainees could see...

Who moans the most? Tess, it surprises Jacob how loud she can get

Who leaves the most marks? Jacob.

Who is the more experienced of the two? Both have had sex, but Jake has had more lovers and exposure to different types.

Do they ‘fuck’ or ‘make love’? It depends on how horny/frustrated at one another they feel. Tess leans more to “making love;” Jake can see it as both.

Rough or soft? Like above, but Tess leans more toward soft sex, so he obliges. Tess had an unfulfilling sex/romantic life with her marriage and sex had even been painful at times with Logan, so she really wants sex with her new partner to be sex and long-lasting so she can get better pleasure and a better experience.

How long do they usually last? Poor Jake, he’s 47, so he doesn’t last long (especially with that good head lol), so he mainly spends time drawing pleasure out from Tess.

Is protection used? Lol, nope, that’s how they got Todd. After Todd’s birth, Tess does ask for protection more often.

Does it ever get boring? Maybe a little since Tess really likes foreplay, but Jacob is happy enough to help her so he goes for it.

Where is the strangest place they’d have sex? At John’s ranch of all places. They were there for a family dinner (pre-Reaping) so Tess could meet Jacob’s family (who semi-disapproved b/c she was still married, but they liked her nonetheless). Jacob wanted to get back at John for some bitchy comments, so he fondled Tess under the dinner table and then followed her to the bathroom and took her there. The other Seed’s had an inkling what was happening, but choose to do nothing and sat there until a smug Jacob and an embarrassed Tess returned. John still wants to mark the two with “Lust” to this day.

Do they plan on having children/or have children? They’ve had Todd and Tess wouldn’t mind one more if possible; Jacob is fine with Todd and adopting Tess’s daughters.

If so, how many children do they want/have? See above.

Affection:

Who likes to cuddle? Tess is the cuddler of this relationship.

Who gets naughty in the most inappropriate of places? Jacob, but Tess has gotten really teasing with Jacob in her bolder moments since gettign with him (he’s a bad influence!).

Who struggles to keep their hands to themselves?  Both, though Tess is slightly more needy.

How long can they cuddle until one becomes uncomfortable? Jacob isn’t much of a fan of snuggles, but will allow it for a few minutes durign down time. Also when he’s asleep that’s when Tess chooses to snuggle the most.

Who gives the most kisses? Tess.

What is their favorite non-sexual activity? Walking in the Whitetails if they can avoid the Resistance long enough to do so lol. They can also just sit quietly in each other’s presence and enjoy the company, with Tess leading most conversation if it takes her to do so.

Where is their favorite place to cuddle? In bed.

How often do they get time to themselves? Not often, especially when Jacob is busy with his "cull the herd” schtick.

Sleeping:

Who snores? Jacob.

If both do, who snores the loudest? Just Jacob, pray for Tess.

Do they share a bed or sleep separately? Share a bed, though it took Tess a while to get to that point (what with the guilt over their affair, his cult kidnapping her and ruining her family life, feeling horrified by his actions).

If they sleep together, do they cozy up together or lay far apart? Once Tess decides to sleep together again, Tess is the one who cozies up to him and in his sleep he ends up hugging her.

What do they wear to bed? If they’re together? Jacob simply either goes naked, or strips down to pants/underwear. Tess would prefer pajamas, but since it’s not an option, she’ll sleep in under clothes.

Are either of them insomniacs? Jacob.

Can sleeping pills be found by the bedside? Sometimes, if Jacob really needs them. Tess tries to limit his use by just talking to him until one or the other falls asleep.

Do they wrap their limbs around each other or just lay side by side? Tess will snuggle, much to Jacob’s annoyance (though he secretly loves it).

Who wakes up with bed hair? Both, but Tess has nastier snags.

Who wakes up first? Jacob most often due to nightmares or his strict routine. Tess will follow shortly after be/c she’s been a mom and is used to it.

Who prepares breakfast in bed for the other? Neither, but it is Tess is more used to it due to her daughter’s surprising her.

What is their favorite sleeping position? Tess prefers her side, Jacob on his back.

Do they set an alarm each night? Not really, since Jacob’s brain is a pretty good alarm clock due to the military routine/PTSD keeping him up. Tess often ends up waking at 7 am because that’s when she got the girls up, unless her body really needs the rest. Also, they have baby Todd, that’s often their alarm clock.

Can a television be found in their bedroom? No, unless it’s one that hosts security cams around the veteran center.

Who has nightmares? Both, but Jacob has them more frequently on account of his barely treated PTSD.

Who has ridiculous dreams? Neither.

Who sprawls out and takes up most of the bed? Jacob.

Who makes the bed? Tess does it like clockwork.

What time is bed time? Depends on the type of day they have; Jacob might still be working late into the night or might retire early to get needed rest.

Any routines/rituals before bed? None for Jacob, but Tess tries to keep to a routine despite the circumstances: she goes to sleep better after some tea and occasionally a shower.

Who’s the grumpiest when they wake up? Both, but people expect it from Jake, not from Tess.

Work:

Who is the busiest? Jacob, running a doomsday cult is hard work. Tess is more like a prisoner, but she tries to keep herself busy in the veteran center.

Who rakes in the highest income? Neither really.

Are any of them unemployed? Tess technically is during the events of the Reaping. She lost her job at the veteran center (which was more of a volunteer position, as her husband forced her to quit after they were married/Hazel was on the way) after the incident in which her husband found out about the affair and shot her, so she had been injured. Then the Reaping happened and she was kidnapped and force to be nurse to the cultists, which isn’t really a proper job.

Jacob technically has one, but does being a cult leader really count? Is he unionized, or getting proper benefits?

Who takes the most sick days? Neither, considering the circumstances.

Who is more likely to turn up late to work? Same as above, but Tess would take sick days if she couldn’t hid her bruises or when her girls needed her pre-Reaping.

Who sucks up to their boss? Neither.

What are their jobs? Jacob trains the soldiers for Eden’s Gate and keeps the Whitetail Mountains in line. Tess had trained to be a nurse (and even did some Doctors Without Borders/Peace Corps-esque service in her youth), but was forced to quit by her husband Logan. She took up as a nurse/helper at the veteran center when her husband lost his job and was secretly earning income to leave him/Hope County eventually). She is now semi-reluctant nurse for Eden’s Gate.

Who stresses the most? Both of them, but they are the types to keep it to themselves.

Do they enjoy or despise their careers/occupations? Jacob simply feels this is his purpose; he doesn’t feel any which way about it. Tess loved nursing and had a strong desire to help people, so she was both sad when she had to quit nursing and happy when she took it back up at the vet center. As a semi-reluctant POW of Eden’s Gate, she isn’t sure if she should help the people who are hurting those she once knew and loved, but she does take her duties seriously and her compassionate heart leads her to help others again.

Are they financially stable? Tess was more stable than Jacob, but it didn’t last long.

Home:

Who does the washing? Tess.

Who takes out the trash? Both, but mainly Tess.

Who does the ironing? Tess (she likes to do domestic chores, it keeps her mind occupied).

Who does the cooking? Tess, she won’t let a Seed come near any kitchen on her watch.

Who is more likely to burn the house down just trying? Most likely Jacob. 

Who is messier? Jacob; it’s not that he’s a slob, he just doesn’t try to keep clean it’s the depression.

Who leaves the toilet roll empty? Jacob.

Who leaves their dirty clothes on the floor? Most likely Jacob.

Who forgets to flush the toilet? Neither, but Jacob does forget to put the seat down.

Who is the prankster around the house? Neither, it’s not in their natures.

Who loses the car keys when it comes time to go somewhere? Tess. It’s what gets her caught if/when she tries to escape, since she can forget minor details and Jacob is just that much of a memory master.

Who mows the lawn? Neither, they don’t have a lawn. If they did, probably Jacob.

Who answers the telephone? Both.

Who does the vacuuming? Tess.

Who does the groceries? Both.

Who takes the longest to shower? Tess.

Who spends the most time in the bathroom? Tess.

Miscellaneous:

Is money a problem? Yeah. Jacob was homeless before his brothers found him and he tends to not think much about money, since John takes care of any expenses. Tess hit hard times when her husband lost his job and refused to get another one to dedicate his life to “writing” (and really, he just sat around the house to drink, watch TV, and later when he dedicated his time to the cult), which had her take up a job at the veteran center to earn extra money. Her parents and sister were her safety net, but she didn’t want to accept money from them (on account of her humility and her husband’s arrogant pride; he smacked her once when she even brought it up and she never did so again).

How many cars do they own? None. Jacob does have cult trucks, though.

Do they own their home or do they rent? Jacob had been living with his brother John at his ranch house, though he would drift around abandoned cabins and bunkers just because he felt like it. He then took over the veteran center as his new home lol. Tess’s husband owned the house, but had to abandon it after the Reaping and she’s now a “guest” at the vet center.

Do they live in the city or in the country? Country, in bumfuck Hope County (are there even any other towns in this county besides Fall’s End? No wonder no one came for the cult, I bet most Americans don’t even know this place exists!). Tess grew up in Montana and Hope County has been her home for most of her life. Both prefer country to city life.

Do they enjoy their surroundings? Yep, though Jacob can’t enjoy nature as much since he’s got a cult army to build.

What’s their song? Cold Cold Man (Jacob’s perspective). I Walk the Line (Tess’s perspective). Otherwise, none they can agree upon or have thought about.

What do they do when they’re away from each other? They throw themselves into other projects or thoughts; Tess thinks more about Jacob than he does of her.

Where did they first meet? Tess met Jacob at the veteran center where she was working as a helper and he was receiving treatments (a cover for him scoping out potential bases). They quietly became drawn to each other and started platonically before they moved to an intimate relationship.

Who spends the most money when out shopping? Neither.

Who’s more likely to flash their assets? Neither.

Who finds it amusing when the other trips over? Jacob, much to Tess’s consternation.

Any mental issues? Ummm, where to start? Jacob has PTSD from both his abusive family situation, being separated from his beloved brothers, and from his military days. Tess has low self-esteem and depression/anxiety due to being in a loveless, emotionally (and sometimes physically) abusive marriage; she recently showed signs of PTSD herself after her husband shot both her and her daughter after he found out about the affair and thinking her newborn baby Todd was killed by him. And that was before the cult broke her even more.

Who’s terrified of bugs? Neither.

Who kills the spiders around the house? Jacob, because Tess would just trap and release the spiders if she encounters them.

Their favorite place? Snowshoe Lake has become a quiet place for the two of them to be together when there is a moment of peace.

Who pays the bills? Both, if there were bills to pay.

Do they have any fears for their future? Definitely. Tess is obvious (the father of her child helps lead a violent doomsday cult, how her family will handle this/make it out alive, the fact that she is genuinely becoming dependent upon Jacob as the events go on). Jacob is also complicated: he just assumed he would die in service of Joseph’s dream. Now that he has found some romantic affection and has a child, he is torn about giving up his life or somehow living to be with Tess and his son.

Who’s more likely to surprise the other with a fancy dinner? None; John would end up doing it for them to “give them some taste of class” lol.

Who’s the tallest? Jacob.

Who’s more likely to just randomly hop into the shower with the other? Jacob.

Who wanders around in their underwear? Neither, but Jacob would be most likely if he was sure no one could see him.

Who sings the loudest when singing along to the radio? Neither.

What do they tease each other about? Neither are the teasing type, but Jacob might make a few cracks about Tess’s soft heart (though he does love this about her, like he’ll admit it).

Who is more likely to cringe at the other’s fashion sense at times? Neither really care about fashion.

Do they have mutual friends? Nope, though Tess does try her best to get along with Jacob’s brothers.

Who crushed first? Tess, with Jacob following after he got to know her (the sexual attraction was there between them).

Any alcohol or substance related problems? Not really; Tess makes sure Jacob doesn’t slip into depending upon sleep pills or tries to notice any behavior (I imagine Jake would want to stay away from alcohol abuse so he doesn’t end up like Old Man Seed).

Who is more likely to stumble home, drunk, at 3am? None.

Who swears the most? Neither of them swear a whole lot, but Jacob might swear more than Tess, who abhors bad language.

[larksinging]

elizabeth + family (boy.)

wow you just really had to go there huh

god where do i even start. elizabeth’s view as family as a concept, let alone her literaly family, is like. extremely fucked up! who wouldve thought! 

originally her only sense of family was like... well, songbird, before she started to get scared of him. and anything she read in books, which given her more romantic and naive inclinations in the tower were, she probably only really absorbed the positive stuff. so you know one day she’d get out, maybe find her family! if she has her family!

then comes actual reality in which no her family is terrible and fucked up and have hurt her in unimaginable ways. so there’s this intense disconnect that makes the reality of it even worse. maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if it was actually like, comstock is her horrible dad and booker is her slightly less horrible father figure but then NOOOOoooo everything’s terrible

and you’d think she’d just have this like. strong aversion to any of her family and that idea but she... doesn’t? idk she has really weird complicated feelings. she considers herself a dewitt and all the failings that comes with that, but also never uses her name. she is kind of trying to figure out how to have a parental bond with booker but she also refuses to call him anything but booker. first and foremost to her booker is her friend who helped her and in some way that’s more important? but you also can’t like discount all that

theres a part of her that also still thinks of comstock as her dad but thats part of the disconnect with like “comstock is my terrible dad and booker is my nice father figure!” but nooo of course its not that simple. idk her thoughts on comstock are both complicated and extremely simple. any instance of comstock proper is a problem. elaborate revenge fantasies are a bad idea, but she still needs to get rid of that problem. 

her relationship with her mom is kind of more weirdly simple. booker’s wife died in childbirth so elizabeth doesn’t have many feelings beyond ):. she was really angry and hurt at lady comstock before, but canon has her do this big moment where they both forgive each other and realize comstock’s the real fucker here, so. elizabeth does NOT have mommy issues

honestly ideally she probably needs a found family but like. i think she’d be resistent to calling them family? like family to her now means “these people who have wildly complicated relationships to you and probably hurt you but might be the only people who Know everything” and no matter how close or complicated she gets with anyone on denny.... still never gonna beat booker’s record. so. doesnt mean she doesnt love her found family, just that she’d be weird about calling them that. theyre distinctly Separate in her mind

the only non-related loved ones she might extend the word “family” for is other bioshock characters, because they have similar brands of fucked-up ness. like delta! or if we ever get anyone else

anyway that was long but yeah honestly elizabeth doesnt even know what to do with that

[big-meows]

Borderlands 3 final thoughts

disclaimers:

Fuck randy pitchford. I mean, obviously i feel like that goes without saying, yes I bought the game, i like the series and sometimes a bitch just wants to sink 70+ hours into a hyper-violent but ultimately goofy, non-threatening video game in a stressful time, sue me.

to that end, yes I played on easy. I also played solo. 

i play for fun and i dont fuck with build culture or w/e. i picked moze because i know her VA personally, and that was my only deciding factor.

I play on the ps4 so frankly i have no horse in the epic/steam debacle. I dont really care.

i didnt play bl1 but ive played the others.

spoilers. all the spoilers.

Anthony burch deserved better. I cant believe i have to see “at least im not anthony burch” in the year of our lord 2019 but its still happening out there. He deserved better, and this game is proof. maybe bl2 was “memey,” but it had a solid foundation and a great villain. TPS was also good, i think, honestly i only played it once and I dont remember it super well. Tales is the best in the franchise, and yes it counts, shut up. Burch’s absence is felt here. the story is weak, the villains are flat, and everything is written with the energy of a man who thinks everything that comes out of his mouth is fucking hysterical. like, im not even mad at “big dock energy” or the other stupid, already dated goofs, Im mad that every NPC was painful to listen to, or that rhys, arguably one of the most developed characters in the BL universe by virtue of the game he came from, was 90% mustache jokes. All these characters are like the versions that come out of fandom a year later, flanderized and already boiled down to their one token joke and repeated forever and eternity. You just met Lorelei and she seems cool, but man she REALLY NEEDS HER COFFEE AND IT IS HER ONLY DEFINING PERSONALITY TRAIT LOL!!!

Vaughn is The WORST, BRO

i dont think anyone really grows imo. Im particularly irritated by ava, who i very much want to like! but she has like three stock phrases she uses throughout the entire game, so after maya gets evaporated, you go talk to her and shes like “WOW this ship is cool, so much shit to steal!” like, you couldnt program her to sulk or not want to see anyone for a while? come on.

influencers as villains could have been really powerful if it had been introduced gradually, but mostly it was just obnoxious and too on the nose. troy and tyreen were very hollow. you get brief glimpses of humanity in them, but they’re so rare it almost feel like an accident. You get one(?) mention of their childhood before you finally stumble fully into the plot in the last few hours of the game. troy’s “betrayal” could be spotted a mile away despite it being hardly developed. I honestly dont even know if they loved each other or not? Was tyreen hurt by troy’s betrayal and subsequent demise? did troy look up to her and want to be her equal, or did he want out from under her shadow? i dont know. did i miss those echo logs? should the majority of the lore in a game be MISSABLE?

jack tracked well as a villain because you, over time, learned exactly how awful he was beyond “cocky corporate asshole who wants you dead” re: angel being his daughter. the twins are just....flatline obnoxious the whole way through.

sucks to be leda, apparently extremely badass but ultimately an afterthought who lives and dies offscreen only in recollections of the past.

sucks even worse to be fiona. i can tell you right now i wont be fucking with DLC unless it brings back fiona.

hammerlock saved this fucking game, he brings a certain dignity to the table that really helped level the tone after the rhys-katagawa stuff. Eden-6 was actually my favorite section of the game. loved hammerlock, loved jakobs, loved clay, and LOVED the jakobs estate. dunno why?? maybe because that level had me thinking “i could almost pretend im playing bioshock rn”

my GF absolutely hates the new claptrap. she’s right though. a claptrap that experiences emotions outside of “delusional exuberance” isnt actually claptrap

can my boy mordecai catch one single fucking break

is the vault hunter ever actually there? its really distracting how they’re never actually involved in cut scenes.

zer0 was too chatty. kind of kills the air of mystery.

gripes aside, i DID clock like 76 hours as moze, and i will probably continue to fuck around in it post game to clean up some extra stuff. might even start a zane of fl4k. the reviews promised it would be “more borderlands, nothing special” and thats what we got. it came at a time when i needed to remove myself from social media for a few weeks and lose myself in something mindless and violent, and it provided me with exactly that. its not elevated from BL2/TPS at all. the only improvement i can think of off the top of my head is being able to change quest objectives without entering a menu (thank god). it falls short in a series that always kind of had a low bar to begin with. disappointed but not surprised. i knew burch and eddings were both gone and that their absence would be felt. but i wanted to be gay and do crime anyway. so. you know. whatever. i got approximately what i paid for.

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

“So Happy Together” Analysis

i don’t sleep

tl;dr: tbh not much to go off on about. i think we see a new skin for Iron Bear, one with some stripes. amara smiles, i do talk a little bit about little sisters in bioshock but tbh i think this was all just a stylistic choice lol. oh and handsome jack’s masks- probably Mount Jackmore. i don’t want to get to freaked out over jack returning, but damn gearbox lol u had me there for a second. im pretty sure it’s just a reused cut quest from bl2 that they never got to implement. 

EDIT: here’s all the cut content in bl2 (plus all the non-cut content as well for funsies). you can go to the cut quests and see the audio files for claptrap’s jackmore quest

holy shit can i just vomit all my emotions rn, they’re all good so imma do that so im rational when i start analyzing stuff okay? okay! 

holy shit that was fucking great and im really glad i tempered my expectations to something smaller than i thought because i feel bad for people expecting something huge, i was under the assumption we’d be getting a new mechanic that was like ‘choose ur +1 and they’ll be able to play the game with you if you’re both online even if they don’t have the game’ which was what someone said on reddit. altho im sure the poor company is gonna get spammed now with hate like ‘WTF YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE BUILT THIS UP AAAA’. not to lie, i was slightly disappointed it wasn’t a longer stream, but i mean if they’ve got nothing to announce, they’ve got nothing to announce and HEY! new trailer!!! gonna be combing thru on the assumption this has some easter eggs like the MoM trailer did, just in case. i thought it was a cute trailer, gearbox never explicitly said what it was gonna be, a lot people all just assumed what was gonna happen was a demo/beta which sucks so i hope this doesn’t negatively impact people’s perspective of the game. im staying off reddit for now bc when i first checked it people were pretty pissed and i dun need that negativity lmao

okay! emotions are LOCKED behind closed doors. i am shifting into study mode. here we go boys/girls/those of us who know better. haven’t done one of these in a while, let’s see if im rusty at all.

claptrap! and the skull on the chair which reminds me of tyreen’s “favorite skull”. 

tv says “we are under attack, please stand by”

and afaik claptrap is near the beginning of the game, you can see part of the recruitment center behind him when the camera pans.

im thinking there might be something in the roses, specifically the hand-drawn roses later on in the trailer. will be keeping an eye open for that.

this is specifically a jakobs brand chest. i really like the see-through aesthetic of it

intro area of the game again. possible hint to the opening cutscene? tbh i was worried that’s what we were about to get because i haven’t finished the roughs of my mock up lol

so what i didn’t notice my first time through is that you can then see claptrap, also being shown in the chest

waving up at the camera. that’s not trippy at all or anything lol

this car in the foreground (with no one driving it, mind you)

randomly combusts, looking quite like elpis in that one shot of the claptrap presents pandora trailer. wonder if that means it’s gonna ‘splode.

ohhh it spins. please no spin imma get motion sick blech

shot of some cultists. one appears to have a jetpack near the bottom right there

another explosion to the beat

the shock wave!!!! that’s awesome

shock nomads cultists are back. f in chat for our shields

another cultist seconds before he gets blown to bits

it cuts to black for a secco as it moves thru said explosion

another cultist, i assume a psycho

finally some good fucking angles

heh.

idk what i expected from someone who’s first action skill line i ever heard was them shouting MAGIC WALL!!! TAAAADAAAAAAAAH

as a side note

who is shooting those lasers

we see them coming from behind the VHs, but

there’s nothing there

SPOOKY~

they’re coming from... the wall???

tfw u shot urself in the foot on accident

amara is not amused

`is this some human custom i don’t understand yet`

also i hate that i’ve done this exact dance before when i took dance classes as a kid

with less style of course, i was like 7

moze is into it, hell yeah

this reminds me a lot of Kingsman. where all the blood is like fireworks and stuff. i wonder if that has anything to do with the psycho brainwashing. like little sisters in bioshock. they see roses instead of blood, right? maybe there’s something like that going on with the psychos

i’d certainly hope our vault hunters aren’t brainwashed, anyway.

this dude looking SHOCKED to see that tho, lmfao

i relate to this man on a spiritual level i stg

man he looks pissed

omfg lol

“um”

“i guess this is okay”

the body language in this is gold i am just having the time of my life

adsfdgfhgjhgfk

this is so cute

also in retrospect, i think this is one of the turrets we see on promethea. i wonder what it’s doing here!

moze u ok?

oh nvm she’s into it, look at her! she’s dancing! She’s Dancin’!

oooo one of the robots from the we are mayhem trailer! okay you can totally see why i think they’re jakobs, RIGHT???

iirc this is a maliwan soldier

man this is a crossover event, isn’t it?

i get it now. togetherness. i gotchu gearbox.

some maliwan ships in the sky. possibly sanc-iii on the right? or a ship of the same model as sanc-iii!

this is a magitek dropship, change my mind

eh, they both start with M, fuck it.

no idea what fl4k is doing here

mayyyybe shielding themselves from the ‘firework’/confetti shower

i like that the confetti explosions are backed up by purple, you know like eridium/slag/siren powers. seriously, maybe this is just how to cultists see us Vault Hunters and the mass murder.

at the very least, the psychos.

fl4k’s into it. i wish we knew the name of their skag, if it has one. i hope it does.

well now the lasers are coming from the other side! what the hell

moving on

i think this is the HBC from the speakers, plus im pretty sure that skull and the stained glass are the entrance to mouthpiece’s arena

we also get a different colored explosion. im paranoid jack is somehow making a return (please god no), so i’ll just note it’s the same color as his eyes.

AND the chests are vomiting out gold guns, which i think, gold-plated gear, is the cult’s way of signifying standing. which im sure is a tongue-in-cheek commentary as gearbox gives out a gold weapon pack as a pre-order bonus. no, like, it even shows up as an ad on the video

smh gearbox lmao

oh, also, the cultists are doing fuckin flying impressions

im not saying its a reference to the cultist with rakk wings on the cover, buuuut

bitch it might be lol

it’s an upside-down vault symbol! ive been trying to figure out what that is in those screens for the longest time!

back on promethea and we get to see fl4k’s spiderant in action

their skag, too, of course

the jabbermon in the back there, too! i wonder if they’re going to be shock or cryo. i would imagine shock given how they’re glowing

also i love the way the flowers look in contrast to the character models

moze is so happy aw

i love the way fl4k’s skag comes flying in and slides to a stop. such a good doggo ;-;

this is beautiful, i want it as a wallpaper

moze skipping? holy shit

100% verified the best thing i’ve ever seen

i lied. this is.

is this the fast travel station effect?

also! IB is looking a bit different

i wonder if this is a redesign or if IB is wearing a new skin moze picked out

pan over to zane who clearly doesn’t notice the being of darkness and horror in the doorway

oh also, we’re on eden-6 now. which would explain the fast travel effect

psychos dancing on the rooftops lol

oh god my eyes

nothing to really say here, i just like this screenshot

pink shields booyah

this is so fucking cute

we also get a better look at that one facility on eden-6

is that... red i see? >w> i won’t say it i won’t i won’t say it i swear i just- ATLAS

fuck

i like that zane’s clone spawns with his melee attachment

not AS excited as the real life version though

GB pls let this be a zane emote

is that a varkid? on eden-6?

wtf is a varkid doing on eden-6???

more shots of the facility btw. reminds me a lot of sanc-iii so maybe this actually is the supamax mfg construction facility like i originally thought. hmmmmmmm

ah yes, of course

holy shit what is this a reference to?

im told it’s the sex pistols

the back of the bullet turns into Athenas

pans in

amara!

enemy with a top hat on. some variation of/upgraded gravedigger? it’s like a psycho but recolored with blue pants and a top hat. you can see it fall off when amara shoots him

y’know, these guys

some rakk in the background

i am hoping bc this is a celebration of togetherness we’re seeing all enemies everywhere, not that the planets don’t have their own unique fauna.

she’s so happy omfg

oh, you want some?

Uhhh then there’s THIS sequence

they’re doing the flying thing again lmao

there’s also whatever that black blob is on the left. a spaceship maybe?

car wheel

all their eyes started glowing red. uh oh gamers

also another fast travel effect

hmmmm... zarpedon is that you??

back on pandora.

“super 87 racetrack”, maybe this is near that motorcade fast travel we saw?

huzzah! rainbows!

i do believe that’s sanctuary-iii

another ship. drop ship?

elpis is looking nice this time of year. definitely not explode-y. yet.

pret-ty sure that’s iron bear. moze is standing atop the tower lmao

also! back to it’s old paint scheme. looks like moze was using a skin or smth

we also have this. are my eyes failing me or is that a big cross on the left? could be where jack was buried. 

also i know there was cut content in bl2 about Mount Jackmore! and this looks like a Mount Jackmore to me. it’s a cut quest where claptrap asks you to basically ruin the thing. but since the quest was cut, it’s still here in bl3. maybe they’ll reintegrate the quest lol

i can’t imagine it being roland’s gravesite. because it looks like the below.

i do know we’re going to roland’s grave in bl3, but the statues don’t really match up. maybe it is and the statues were broken, or ruined or something and replaced by a cross. could be then that the gravesite was defaced with, well, the guy that killed him. 

im really hoping jack doesn’t make a return. im fine with dealing with what he set in motion, and his influence, and probably even some ECHO logs and movie trailers, but please, for the love of god, don’t actually bring him back, AI or otherwise. im really excited for the calypso twins, i’d really hate to see the focus shift back to that guy. he’s had his fingers in every borderlands game. it’s time to let him go.

idk what this is exactly. it looks like maybe that weird eye bot troy stands next to in the intro for the behind closed doors panel?

goodbye mr magical jakobs chest, it’s been real

the RC now has red drapes going down it. have those always been there? i don’t remember those

hmmmmmmmmm maybe we’re looking at it from the back 🤔

anyway, that’s all she wrote. i haven’t see any hidden morse code messages or anything yet, but if something surfaces, i’ll be sure to add it here.