#i will be honest this is probably one of the few games that uses realism for art

[dorkousloris]

lays down.

i've been kinda gaming (while also was sick... am better now!!) alan wake series.... all i can say about the series is-

1) mr wake is a loser, and 2) i love saga with all of my heart!!!!

[hairstevington]

Do I wanna know?

Eddie Munson x Steve Harrington

Summary: Somewhere in the multiverse, there is a world where everyone has a choice - If you had the option of reading a list of everyone who's ever been in love with you, would you do it?

Word Count: 2.6K

Warnings: Modern day AU sort of?? It's not based in realism, just go with it. Best friends to lovers, Robin & Steve & Eddie all live together because I said so, mutual pining, fluff, confession of feelings, lots of denial but they figure it out eventually

A/N: This idea came to me during my stats class, and then it became very difficult to continue focusing on my stats class. (I wrote it as soon as we were dismissed lol). Enjoy this cute little Steddie one shot! Ao3 link here :)

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

“Dude, did you see what they just announced?” Steve asked as he played video games with Eddie.

“Yeah, it’s some wild shit,” Eddie replied. “How is it even possible?”

“I think it’s fake,” Robin called from the kitchen as she made them all pizza rolls. 

“Not fake,” Steve insisted. “I was reading about it on the internet and a bunch of people are saying it’s legit.”

“Well, if you read it on the internet, it must be true,” Robin remarked sarcastically. 

“Whatever,” Steve said. “I’m gonna get mine and find out.”

The deal was that, somehow, everyone had the option of getting a list of statistics about their lives. It was advertised with a variety of categories to look through - some of them could have been retrieved through bank statements and background checks, like the number of countries visited, money spent, etc. Other categories (let’s be real, the most intriguing categories), were far more mysterious.

Number of near-death experiences. Every book you’ve read, with a total word count. And, the most exciting of the bunch - How many people have been in love with you, and who.

“Don’t waste your money or your time,” Eddie said with a roll of his eyes. “It’s bullshit. Probably just another way for the government to squeeze more money out of us.”

“Come on, it’s not some conspiracy, Eds,” Steve replied. “I’m just curious, that's all.”

“Oh, I bet,” Robin chimed in. “Just be honest and admit you want to know about the love thing. You and your ego, Dingus.” Steve smiled. He couldn’t argue with her.

“As if you’re not also dying to read yours,” he countered. 

“I’m pretty sure mine would just hurt my feelings,” Robin said with a sigh. “Robin Buckley - loved by her platonic soulmate Steve Harrington and Creepy Carl from band camp.” Eddie snickered.

“Carl wasn’t that creepy,” he said. 

“You’re only saying that because you were also kind of creepy in high school,” she replied. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Eddie responded with a shrug. “But I think I speak for all former creeps when I say we were just socially stunted and awkward. Most of us grew up to be half-decent people.”

“Way to humble brag,” Steve teased. 

“I’m bragging by saying I’m half-decent?” Eddie replied. Steve laughed and nodded. Meanwhile, Robin quickly scrolled through her phone until she stumbled across what she was looking for with a gasp.

“Oh my god,” she said. “Creepy Carl’s most recent post is about how the patriarchy is a myth.” Steve laughed again and pushed Eddie playfully. Eddie flopped over on the couch and groaned.

“Dammit, Carl, I was rooting for you!” he joked. 

“We were all rooting for you, how dare you!” the three of them shouted in unison. 

That was, of course, a reference to America’s Next Top Model, which Robin showed the boys clips of one night during a rant about the toxicity and absolute batshit nature of early 2000s reality TV. That quote, for whatever reason, stuck. They had a lot of inside jokes like that.

This is how life had been for the three of them the last few years. They’d become best friends straight out of high school, then all moved in together. Life was comfortable and nice. 

-

Steve somehow convinced Robin that they would both get their lists together. Eddie, on the other hand, downright refused.

“I don’t need any of that shit,” he insisted. “It’s not gonna do me any good, and I’m perfectly fine staying in the dark.”

“Okay, I get it,” Steve said, holding his hands up. “You’re scared and lame, that’s totally okay.” Eddie rolled his eyes.

“Shut up, dickhead,” he replied. “This whole thing is stupid anyway. And - and it’s not like we can seriously trust whatever it says. It’s probably just…all lies, anyway.”

“Yeah, but they’re fun lies,” Robin countered. “It’s like hearing gossip about your own life.”

“Exactly!” Steve agreed. “It’s just for fun.”

“Have your fun, then,” Eddie said devilishly. “I’ll be in my room, not being an idiot.”

Robin and Steve put their names and date of birth into a search engine and, within five minutes, each had their respective documents in their inboxes. Steve opened his immediately and eagerly, skipping past all the boring shit until he found the good stuff. 

Number of people who have had crushes on Steve Harrington: 436.

Number of people who have been in love with Steve Harrington: 85.

“Holy shit,” he muttered, looking at the long list of names. He looked up from his phone to see Robin staring at the wall. “Why aren’t you reading?”

“I don’t think I can do it,” she said. “I’m chickening out.” Steve scoffed. 

“What? Robs, come on. You already ordered the damn thing.”

“Yeah, but -” She sighed. “But now it’s, like, real.”

“Do you want me to read yours for you?” he asked. She shook her head. 

“No, I think I’m just going to keep it unread for now,” she decided. Steve shrugged.

“Okay, if that’s what you want.” Robin scooted herself over on the couch so she could look at Steve’s phone screen. 

“Wait, they even have crushes on there?” she asked, her eyes wide. “Jeez, Harrington. That’s quite the list.” Steve smirked, realizing it very much did give him an ego boost. He continued scrolling to see even more categories.

Number of people Steve Harrington has had a crush on: 63.

Jesus, Steve thought to himself. That’s kind of embarrassing. In his defense, some of them were celebrities. He continued reading.

Number of people Steve Harrington has been in love with: 3.

Steve didn’t even have to read the list to know who was on it. He quickly clicked his phone off before Robin could see.

“Hey!” she said. “What was that for? It’s not like there are any secrets between us.”

“No, I just - I’ll read it later,” Steve said. 

Robin would usually be right. She was almost completely right. It’s just that Steve had one secret. And it wasn’t even really a secret, it was just something he kept to himself, because it didn’t really matter. 

Nancy Wheeler

Robin Buckley

Eddie Munson

He had barely admitted it to himself, honestly. It’s not like anything would happen. Him and Eddie were best friends, and if something was going to happen between them, it would have already happened. Now, they were too close, and living together. It was different. It didn’t matter. Besides, Robin was on his list, and he wasn’t running off to date her.

Steve put his phone away and didn’t check the list again for a couple days. 

-

“So, how’s the list?” Eddie asked one morning as he made a pot of coffee. “You haven’t said anything about it.” Steve shrugged.

“It’s like a million pages long,” Robin chimed in. Eddie clicked his tongue against his teeth.

“That’s not surprising,” he said. “It’s a shame Harrington isn’t much of a reader. It might take him years to get through.” Steve glared at Eddie, who grinned in response.

“Are you ever going to stop poking fun at me about that?” he wondered. 

“Aaaaabsolutely not,” Eddie replied. “Steve, The Hobbit is 310 pages. 310. Even one page a day you would have been done in a year, and you’re still not done.”

“Okay, listen,” Steve responded defensively. “It’s not my kind of book, alright?”

“He likes the ones with the pictures,” Robin teased. Eddie laughed and high-fived her. 

“Wooow, okay,” Steve replied. “I see how it is. I’m just gonna grab my cereal and go, then.”

“Nooo, don’t leave on our behalf,” Eddie said.

“We’re soorrrryyyyyy,” Robin added. Steve chuckled and shook his head. 

“Whatever,” he resigned. “I haven’t read the damn list. Not all of it, anyway.” Robin’s ears perked up.

“But you’ve read some of it, right?” she asked. “Spill!”

“Just the first ten names or so,” Steve said. He had gotten a glimpse when he skimmed over it the first time. “I think it’s in chronological order.”

“Anyone surprising?” Eddie wondered. Steve shook his head. 

“No,” he said. “Although it did confirm my suspicion that Katie Crystal was into me, after all.”

“I’m thinking maybe I should read mine,” Robin said quietly.

“Yeah, well duh,” Eddie replied. “You paid for it.”

“It’s just - it’s not a big deal, right?” Steve looked at Eddie to survey his reaction. Eddie just shrugged. “It’s like you said, Eds. We don’t even know if it’s accurate.”

Steve didn’t really know if all of it was accurate, but some of it sure as shit was.

“Exactly,” Eddie agreed. “So, Steve, there’s a chance that Katie Crystal actually hated your guts. Who’s to say?”

Steve rolled his eyes. Another few days passed. 

Robin flip-flopped between whether or not she wanted to read her list every few hours or so. Steve and Eddie placed their bets on how long it would take her to crack. 

Meanwhile, Steve counted his lucky stars that Eddie decided not to buy his list. It was clear that they were bros and nothing more, so Eddie finding out would have made everything incredibly weird.

This was for the best.

-

Things carried on as they usually did, until one day Steve was so bored, he decided to revisit the godforsaken document. Plus, he’d been on a few dates that ended in disaster, and reading about the hundreds of people that were into him was bound to put him in good spirits.

He had no idea just how right he was.

The names were all relatively normal. Steve tended to know when girls had a thing for him, especially back in high school. There were some names he didn’t recognize, which meant that there were total strangers crushing on him. He wondered how that was even possible. Like, at that point, they were just basing it on looks and vibes alone. 

Eh. Steve had crushes on people in the past over less. He kept reading.

He made his way down the list until he reached Eddie’s name. He read it again and again to make sure he was seeing it right. 

Eddie had said repeatedly that this thing could be total bullshit, though. Steve had to take it all with a grain of salt. Besides, crushes meant nothing. Hell, Steve was pretty sure Eddie had mentioned once that he thought Steve was hot when they first became friends. 

Steve made his way to the list of people who’d loved him. None of the names mattered except one. 

Eddie Munson. 

“Oh, shit,” Steve muttered. “Oh, shit!” He jumped up out of bed and paced the floor. He had no idea what to do with this information.

It could be bullshit. It could be nothing. 

Or maybe, Eddie had kept saying it was bullshit because he knew what Steve would find. 

“OH MY GOD.”

Robin came bursting into Steve’s room a few moments later. 

“What? What’s going on?” she said. She looked to see his phone on the floor and his hands in his hair. “Oh my god, you read it! What was it? What’s got you all freaked out?”

“I gotta - uhh - I gotta -” He didn’t know how to finish that sentence with Robin in the room. He had to find Eddie - that’s what he had to do. But his head was spinning too much to do so. 

“That’s it. I’m gonna read mine right now,” Robin decided. She swiftly left to go back to her room while Steve continued to pace. 

“Holy shit,” he said to himself. He thought about it for a few minutes, scrawled something on a piece of paper, and then walked down the hall to Eddie’s room.

Eddie opened the door a few inches, still wearing his sweatpants. He hadn’t left his room yet that day, but his guitar was lying on his bed, which meant he’d been practicing. 

“What’s up?” Eddie asked. 

“I finished the list,” Steve replied. Eddie’s jaw clenched just enough for Steve to notice, and then he shrugged. 

“And?” Steve continued to look at Eddie until he broke his composure. He sighed, then opened his door wider. “Come in,” he said. 

Steve had been in Eddie’s bedroom a million times. They’d watched movies in there and stayed up all night talking and smoked together and dear sweet lord I am so dumb for never noticing.

“Is it bullshit?” Steve asked. Eddie started spinning the ring on his middle finger anxiously, refusing to make eye contact.

“Uhh, is what bullshit?” Eddie replied. Steve put his hands on his hips and cocked his head. 

“Come on, you know what I’m talking about,” he said. “I just - is it bullshit? Tell me the truth.”

Eddie stared at him for a few long moments before gently shaking his head. 

“It’s not bullshit.”

Steve’s hands fell back to his sides, and he felt himself get lightheaded. 

“It’s -” he began, struggling to find the words. He cleared his throat. “Wow, I uh -”

“It doesn’t matter, though,” Eddie interjected. “Just so you know. I like what we have. We’re, ya know, we’re friends. Roommates.”

“Do you still -?” Steve started to ask. He noticed Eddie’s eyes flooded with fear, a sight he rarely saw. “I mean, do you still?”

“Steve, I -” Eddie began, his voice tired. “I really, uh. I don’t know what to say.” 

Steve dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper he’d ripped from his notebook. He held it out for Eddie to take, and when Eddie didn’t reach for it, Steve stepped closer and stuffed the page right into Eddie’s hand. 

“Read it,” Steve encouraged.

“What is it?”

“It’s your list.” Eddie’s faced scrunched with confusion. “Yeah, I made it myself.” 

“I told you, I don’t wanna know,” he said, trying to give the paper back to Steve.

“Trust me, you do.”

Eddie sighed, then unfolded the paper and read it. 

People who are in love with Eddie Munson:

-Me

-(Steve Harrington)

Steve waited and watched Eddie’s eyes travel up and down the page, similar to the way Steve’s had when he read Eddie’s name on his own list. Finally, Eddie looked up. 

“Really?” he asked, his voice soft. Steve smiled and nodded. 

“Really.”

In that moment, they both knew this changed everything, and yet it changed nothing at all. They’d just skipped a bunch of steps of dating - blown past the getting-to-know-you stage straight into living together and doing all the domestic shit. 

Eddie and Steve each stepped toward the other until their hands met. 

“OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!”

Robin’s voice pierced through their intimate moment and completely obliterated it. The boys glanced at each other in confusion and then ran out to see what Robin was yelling about. 

She was already out the front door by the time they got to the kitchen. If this were a cartoon, she would have left behind a cloud of smoke. 

“What do you think that’s about?” Steve asked. Eddie felt his phone buzz and checked it to find Robin had texted a screenshot to the household group chat. He smirked.

“Vicki’s on her list,” Eddie said. Steve chuckled, happy that everyone managed to find their happy ending. 

“You know what that means?” Steve asked. 

“That you owe me 20 bucks?” Eddie teased.

“Well, that," Steve replied. "But is also means we’re alone in the apartment for a while." Eddie grinned and took Steve by the hand. 

“I like the way you think.”

They ran to Steve’s room together, and if the confession of love hadn’t already changed everything, sleeping together certainly did.

It was the good kind of change, though. The kind that moved mountains and cleared all the clouds from the sky. 

At last, the idiots were together. All it took was years of denial and one payment of $44.49.

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

Check out my Masterlist!

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[wgc-productions]

YESSSSSS ask meme! 4, 8, 9, 17!

Yay!

4. Is there a specific episode that was especially fun to work on?

For me "fun" can mean two things when it comes to making art. It can mean that everyone was at the top of their game, because watching people be good at what they do is such a pleasure to me. If we are going with this understanding then Small Victories 207 (which comes out today) is the one. It's one of the few episodes where the very first time the cast did it it was perfect. Loved that.

The other meaning is that me and the SV team just had a blast making it regardless of performance. And I think that is kind of harder to get a lock on because we record three episodes a night and they all sort of blend together. I will say, though, that, for this season, 205 was fun to record because Cody Smith was there and I just get a real kick out of what he does with Aaron. Plus 205 is my favorite episode this season and it was great seeing it turn out so well.

8. Pick a character from your show and put together an outfit you think they’d wear.

I'm going to pick Marisol because she has protagonist privilege.

I'mma be honest, I haven't really thought about this, but I think because Marisol (in my mind) is rocking serious "teenage boy or queer woman" realness she is probably dressing like Whoopi in the late 80s/early 90s. Like so:

9. If your show was a different genre what genre would it be and how would the plot change?

This could just be because I'm in my Buffy bag right now, but I think Small Victories could work as a low-fantasy slice of life series. It's already got that magical realism edge anyway with the Host and The Stranger, but I think if we leaned into it and made Marisol an wizard who had real trouble coping with a difficult past and abused her magic powers and is trying to figure out how to live in the world without using her magic because she is afraid of what she is capable of it could be very interesting.

It would be a little more monster-of-the week though to meet the demands of the genre. She would probably have to pick up some sort of detective/fixer-esque job in order to fit into the conventions and each week she would tackle some new mystery while struggling with her ability to manage her powers and atone for the messed up stuff she did when she was sick off magic.

And of course we could still have the rest of the cast. Nina would be the child of a pair of high mages but instead of following their path to rule over others she decides to move away and help teach advanced magics to people who advanced magic is kept from, which would rain down the ire from the higher ups thought her parents choose to protect her from it.

Nina is drawn to Marisol because Marisol is a skilled wizard despite the lack of training. The two find that they in fact really do like each other and they grow to love one another, but after Marisol snaps she disappears and Nina is left confused and hurt. The series could start with that distance, but Nina can be wrapped up in cases because she has useful skills and a heart tuned into justice. As time goes on their bond develops and becomes more complex.

Oliver could be a wizard too, but I think it'd be fun if there were other species so the world could be richer. Ollie could be an elf or troll or something like that and instead of going to college he instead is expected to, as all people in his culture are expected to do, become more integrated with their specific culture, which would explain the sort of distance he and Wizard Marisol would have.

Aaron would still be the boyfriend, but instead of a "Drug Dealer" he is a practitioner of more serious dark magics that he and Marisol used to indulge in. He handles the magic fine, but Marisol has trouble keeping anchored while using it, and so their bond is severely strained when she stops using magic altogether. He would still be a pianist though, cause I think that's a fun fact.

And all four of them could be a team and solve the mysteries and there would probably be overarching plot lines that betray some greater conspiracy in the world.

I will say, though, this would probably have some different things to say about addiction because Magic would be apart of her and suppressing parts of yourself due to fear is not a message I would want to put out in the world.

You know I've never thought about this before, but the more I write it I think that would be fun in a fanfic AU kind of way. But also I like the idea of a wizard detective. It just feels fun. Who knows maybe I'll flesh out this idea over on the WGC Patreon. I want to practice working on longer shows anyway.

17. What’s something that inspired your show?

Okay, back when I was a teen there was this webseries called Carmilla that came out. And I loved it very very much. And then the production company (KindaTV) dropped this other show called Barbelle which is a semi-whimsical webseries about a musical duo, Barbelle, that is made up of this couple (Alice and Veronica). However, by the time the series starts they are broken up because of a lot of reasons, but a very big chip on Alice's shoulder is the fact that Veronica has very serious problems with drugs and alcohol.

It has two seasons, and the ending of the show is pretty melancholy I'll be honest, but when I was watching this show back in 2017 it struck a pretty deep chord. It was just such good writing and so compelling.

I hadn't been watching it when I started writing Small Victories in March 2019, but when I think about it now I can definitely see that some of the things I was/am doing in SV were influenced by Barbelle.

[whimsyqueen]

Writeblr Intro Post

Hey there! I figured I should make one of these little things because my about page is a little hard to find, and I saw that a few other people had them so I figured why not! (last updated 07/02/2022)

My name is Dori, I'm 22 years old, and I live in the Southern United States (RIP). I use they/them pronouns primarily, but truly anything works for me!

I'm currently in grad school, getting my masters in English with a focus in Creative Writing (short fiction), and will talk about it literally all day long.

Important Facts About Me

I absolutely love being tagged in things/talking to people/interacting with people/hearing about projects/trading work, so please please please don't be afraid to absolutely spam the shit out of me with stuff, for real! I want to be your friend!

I'm queer as the day is long. All of my stories will feature some element of this, because why the fuck not?

I am.... definitely probably autistic, and also have BPD, so there's a lot goin on up in my little brain

I've played D&D for nearly a decade, and have been DMing for about 3 years now (first started with Monster of the Week, now mainly 5e, but I love other systems when I get the chance to play them!)

I'm also a HUUUUUGE fan of solo TTRPGs and journaling games, so if you want recommendations, I'm your person!

Things I Write/Love

Science Fiction

Fantasy

Speculative Fiction

Horror

Body Horror

Magical Realism

General Weird Shit

BIG SPOOKS

LGBTQ+ Characters and Relationships

Complex Family Dynamics

Things I Don't Write/Don't Love As Much

There isn't much to put in this category, to be honest. I'm not the biggest fan of writing just PURE romance, I guess, nor do I particularly love Literary Fiction, but I understand its place in the industry.

Current Projects

Click here for a list of the things I'm working on currently (including my two main D&D campaigns!)

The two projects I talk about most are:

To Make A Fool of Death (Verity/The Vampire Draft) (this is a link to the intro post)

The Unkind Current (Formerly: Bog Witch and/or Angharad) (this is a link to the intro post)

Thanks for checking out my blog, let me know if you want to hear more about my projects because I truly am down to chat ANYTIME!

[yellow-mapleleaves]

Realistic Personalities in Characters: Alice in Borderland

⚠ Spoilers ⚠

Short Summary

Alice in Borderland  今際の国のアリス  is a Netflix original series about a young boy called Alice (Arisu) and his two friends who happens to find themselves trapped in an abandoned version of Tokyo in which they must take part in many life threatening games to survive.

I wanted to do a review on this series because I noticed that there were some characters that possessed very accurate and realistic behaviours and others that didn’t convey any emotion the entire show. I found it interesting that the mix of very different levels of well-displayed people was able to add to the already amazing plot of the series.

Characters Present:

Alice, Karube, Chota, Usagi, Kuina, Chishiya, Niragi

Alice - Protagonist

The main protagonist of the series is not always the favourite in most tv shows, but from looking at different reviews and people’s comments about Yamazaki’s character Alice, I’ve noticed that he is actually rather popular in his own fictional world. He is honestly probably one of my favourite characters as well, and that’s based on how realistic his behaviours and emotions are conveyed.

Some aspects and scenes of Alice that makes him a more convincing and realistic personality:

Being a normal young boy with no incredibly amazing skills

Not having god-like survival abilities just from being able to play battle-royal videogames well

Having flaws

Having only two close friends rather than a huge friendship group

Not being incredibly attractive and well-groomed

Not having a close relationship with his brother (not all siblings get along)

Having a bad relationship with his father

Having the very human instinct of survival by becoming willing to kill his friends to save his own life out of panic

Reacting badly to watching someone being killed (vomiting, screaming, trauma etc)

Not being incredibly serious all the time; actually having a sense of humour

Showing respect towards Usagi’s privacy

Having a very average style of clothing

Being awkward around people he doesn’t know

Excelling in one area (puzzles) but being quite disadvantaged at the rest

Making mistakes E.g. during the distance game, he doesn’t realize the trick of the game until it ends

Not being able to defend himself physically due to lack of strength

Not moving on after his friends’ deaths immediately like as if it doesn’t happen (it takes him a few days to even develop the energy to get up off the floor)

I would say I personally believe that Alice’s character has a strong and realistic personality, as Yamazaki’s acting and Alice’s reactions to certain experiences creates a sympathetic response from the audience.

____

Karube - Deuteragonist

Let’s be honest, everyone loves a bad boy character. During the short time that Karube was present during the show, I think he conveys both strong and weak personality traits. At some points I think the producers were trying too hard to bring a “tough man” façade to him, when I think he could show more realistic emotions and reactions.

Some aspects and scenes of Karube that makes him a more convincing and realistic personality:

Having a fiery and defensive personality (although it can more than often come across as immature)

Having a sense of humour even in tough times

Having obvious advantage in strength related survival skills

Not being invincible to fear E.g. running from the tagger during the “Tag” game and not even trying to fight back at first

Dealing with work related issues

Actually having a realistic dream life rather than one that sounds almost impossible

Being flawed but not too flawed

Having a love interest that he is forbidden to love (she is with another man)

Conveying fear through anger when Alice tries to kill him to save himself

Not having the nicest of personalities (not everyone is friendly to everyone)

Not having a overly selfless personality

I think Karube should’ve been included in the series more than he is, because his character is very lovable and many fans of this show obviously show sympathy when he dies. His character has a big, extroverted and blunt personality, and I think it is conveyed very well during the time he is present.

____

Chota - Tertiary

Although Chota is one of the main three characters in the beginning of the series, I honestly never felt that sympathetic for him. His character comes across as rather more annoying than weak to me. I understand that the point of his character is to have a weak and smaller personality to match Karube and Alice’s loud energy, but I think this person is kind of just there. He doesn’t do much, considering he almost loses his leg in the first episode and having to use crutches for the rest of the time he is alive.

Some aspects and scenes of Chota that makes him less realistic:

Being friends with people who obviously have dodgy jobs or no jobs at all when he is a successful technician himself

Doesn’t seem to have much of a life outside work and his friends, what are his hobbies?

Not exactly having much of a purpose in the show

Constantly having his guard up and being anxious or worried

Having too many flaws

Following a very different religion to that of his mother

Generally being incredibly different to Alice and Karube (I believe if their personalities were actually friends in real life, they would have too many arguments).

During the short time on the show that Chota had, it was more the point that his personality felt incredibly unneeded. It didn’t exactly serve a huge purpose in the storyline. As well as, he was hard to sympathize for.

____

Usagi - Love Interest / Deuteragonist

Usagi definitely has my most favourite back story of the series. Although, when researching about her I noticed that she is actually one of the characters that get the least recognition by the viewers, despite being in basically every episode and always being beside Alice. I have mixed emotions about the realism in her character, so I made both a positive and negative list to state both sides.

Some aspects and scenes of Usagi that makes her a more convincing and realistic personality:

Having a tragic yet realistic backstory

Using her mountain climbing skills as a huge advantage during physically challenging games

Showing obvious signs of grief for her father, even during the time she was placed in the game

Being insecure of her body

Fighting back against Niragi even when it’s obvious she won’t win

Having good survival instincts from past experiences

Willing to help others out when they need it E.g. during the “Tag” game she went along with Alice’s plan for everyone to work together

Having a obvious more introverted personality

Being too trusting, which ends up getting her hurt

Some aspects and scenes of Usagi that makes her a more unrealistic and poorly convincing personality:

Having too serious of a personality, not seeming to lay back and laugh for even a second

Seeming to have an unrealistic bravery E.g. during the tagger game, she didn’t seemed frightened at all despite that the tagger had a machine gun

Doesn’t react to graphic violent sights that would be traumatizing to humans

Not knowing what “The Beach” was despite being in the game for god knows how long

Overall, I think she is the awesome strong female character that a lot of thriller genres have. Although, I would love if for once a strong yet bad ass character didn’t act so mysterious and quiet all the time. But regardless, she is a good character that shows very human qualities.

____

Kuina - Confidante

Kuina is one of the more popular characters in the show, which I honestly can understand. She has obvious very strong manipulation skills as well as physical strengths like martial arts. Although, I believe her backstory is what truly shapes her as a character and is the reason why the audience develops such an emotional connection with her.

Some aspects and scenes of Kuina that makes her a more convincing a realistic personality:

Having a trusting and good relationship with Chishiya

Having a personality that conveys carelessness

Both social butterfly and keeps to herself

Being a character part of the LGBTQ+ community

Having a realistic backstory

Although having a bad relationship with her Dad, she still respects what he taught her

Having a parent that accepts her rather than just being abandoned, which is what a lot of Transgender characters have been stereotyped as

Being able to defend herself incredibly well

Giving her a human flaw (smoking addiction)

Having a elaborate hairstyle

Showing that she is not mysterious, she just has a lot of walls up

Showing care for people she doesn’t know E.g. warning Alice and Usagi about the militants

I really like Kuina’s character for her strong personality and her ability to build good relationships with the members at the beach paradise. Although she is not featured a lot during season one, the times we have seen her have obviously been enough to make her character very loved by the audience.

____

Chishiya - Confidante

I honestly could not find a more loved character if I tried. This character is such a small part of the show and yet you’d think he was the protagonist. I honestly think anyone would love a sly fox character though, because that’s exactly what he is. Although his personality would probably become annoying if he was a real person, in a genre like this he fits perfectly. So personally, I have mixed emotions about him, because I honestly didn’t get that emotionally attached to him as other audiences may have.

Some aspects and scenes of Chishiya that makes him a more convincing and realistic personality:

Having a cocky attitude at times

Has a underdog appeal to him

Mimics that of a selfish manipulative personality

Showing obvious signs of high intelligence, yet doesn’t blab it around like it’s a trophy

Gives the audience some entertainment

Having a sassy remark, even when his life is on the line

Going out of his way to do things that only benefit him

Having a personality that everyone loves and hates at the same time

Having that personality in which you can’t tell if he’s a good guy or a bad guy

Having a trademark, his white hoodie

Having a caring relationship towards Kuina

Some aspects and scenes of Chishiya that makes him a more unrealistic and less convincing personality:

Attempting to kill Niragi with no hesitation after knowing him personally for so long (that would be difficult to do even if you hated the person)

Not showing human emotions such as fear, worry or anger

Sometimes his personality came across as too selfish to be realistic

Not showing any signs of fear E.g. when Niragi waved a machine gun in his face, he didn’t even flinch

Sometimes his fancy words became a bit annoying

Everyone trusts him, regardless of how manipulative they know he is

Overall, he is a very entertaining character. In my opinion he’s like the personality that throws a match into gasoline then walks away like he didn’t start it. Although his realism in character isn’t exactly good, he is definitely loved for his good looks and sly actions by the audience.

____

Niragi - Antagonist

As much as I dislike this guy as a person in general, when it comes to creating a interesting and great character, he hit the nail on the head. He has one of the most realistic evil character developments probably in the whole series. His personality is so complicated and psychotic, which is what makes him an amazing antagonist and probably the second most popular character among the audience.

Some aspects and scenes of Niragi that makes him a more convincing and realistic personality:

Has a tragic backstory, making the audience believe that’s why he’s so psychotic

Having the delusional mindset that human nature is violence

Makes the audience feel bad for him, despite being a horrible person

Being a hidden antagonist (didn’t expect him to cause all the trouble in the end)

Showing obvious signs of psychological trauma

Conveys positive (yet destructive) emotions and behaviour, which is always a good break when all the characters are serious 24/7

Hits a breaking point in his emotions and goes on a killing spree

Shows loyalty to Aguni

Being awful to everyone, probably due to the fact that everyone was awful to him when he was younger. It’s a way of revenge

Becoming embarrassed when someone challenges him

Scaring people into submission (tactic for some leaders)

Conveys no care for anyone, honestly just uses everyone for either his own entertainment or his own benefit

Has a trademark, his machine gun and checkered shirt

Being self-aware of how evil he is

As evil and bad as he is, he’s one  of the most endearing antagonists I’ve seen in a while. He is a very psychotic and emotionally wrecked personality to him, as if you know something traumatizing must have occurred in his life for him to be able to murder anyone without batting an eye.

[lol-jackles]

Could you share your favorite aspects of Dean and Sam?

Dean is the kind of guy you want to hang out with because he’s laid back, funny, charming, confident, and an easy company.  I imagine if I get wasted with Dean we’d have a  barbecue, play a few rounds of pool and shit talk to each other while jamming out to Zeppelin before heading out to a strip joint.  All this is possibly only if there’s no apocalypse looming because otherwise Dean is going to sacrifice your sorry ass for his brother, and he’ll do it again.  So Dean is emotionally inaccessible to the people who need him, and this is where Sam comes in.

Getting drunk with Sam might be fun, but I imagine he’d be more of a darts guy.  I might be able to talk him into going to the club, but he’d probably be turning down lap dances and then he’d want to leave early.  He’s more of a guy I’d get a little high with and chat up.  Sam is the boy next door, you know, that guy who doesn’t know he’s attractive looking and he wouldn’t take advantage while offering emotional support, listening to your tales of self pity woes while still being the person you can have a beer and good conversation with.  

Dean is a warrior, a firefighter, and crusader for a cause.  He’s quick to fight for what he believes is right, and he’s not afraid to use violence in this pursuit.  He can fix things with his hands (the Impala) and make things from common everyday parts (the ghost detector thingy).  Dean is honest with his wants and expectations, no pussy footing around with head games.  Dean loves for hunting and his brother on equal footing.  I noticed this is one of the things that women don’t “get” about men - that men often place their careers and passions on equal footing with their love of their spouses and children, and not uncommonly, place them even more important than their spouse and children. This is shocking to a lot of women who wouldn’t dream of placing anything higher than their marriages, families and children’s welfare.  But this isn’t men being bastards; it’s part of the male psyche to always be aware of rank and the need to see themselves as part of a respected team: family, business, sport, scientific, religious, political, military, street-gang or otherwise.

Sam is the Everyman, the Orphan, Regular Person, and Boy Next Door who is sincere, empathic, and has solid virtues.  Sam likes to think things through and has a bit of chill realism to him, where Dean is realistic, but in a more forthright way. Sam handling things in his own thoughtful ways tend to land him in less trouble this way.  Sam has to overcome far more shit than any characters on the show put together, and it somehow made him kinder because he’s stronger emotionally.  I think I would feel safe with Sam and would want him as a friend.  If I was gay, Sam is the guy I would marry while Dean is the guy you have beer with at a barbeque.  And since Sam is my husand I can relax knowing that Dean is not going to hit on his own brother..... right?

[joanna-lannister]

TAG 9 PEOPLE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THEIR INTERESTS

TAGGED BY: @alexcabotgf thank you so much baby, i freaking loved doing this ❤️✨

MUSIC

fave genre? mostly rock and pop, tho i tend to listen a bit of everything depending on the mood

fave artist? TAYLOR SWIFT, imagine dragons, placebo, halsey, t.a.t.u, olivia rodrigo + a few french artists probably no one knows here rip

fave song? my fave song tend to never be the same but right now, it's ivy by taylor swift, ahaha thank you for the whole breakdown, inspiration and obsession blondie! 😂😭

song currently stuck in your head? for some reasons, all too well and cruel summer by taylor swift, don't ask why i don't even know myself

5 fave lyrics? hard to pick only 5 lyrics tbh and most of them are going to be taylor but...

my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand — ivy by taylor swift

my love had been frozen / deep blue, but you painted me golden — dancing with our hands tied by taylor swift

like the naked leads the blind / i know i'm selfish, i'm unkind / sucker love i always find / someone to bruise and leave behind — every you every me by placebo

they say these are the golden years / but i wish i could disappear / ego crush is so severe / god, it's brutal out here — brutal by olivia rodrigo

they told me all of my cages were mental / so i got wasted like all my potential — this is me trying by taylor swift

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie | loud or silent volume | slow or fast songs | music video or lyrics video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on (i'm too gay to drive but u know)

BOOKS

fav book genre? drama / thrillers / horror

fav writer? i don't think i have a favorite writer? if i have to choose, i'd probably say gillian flynn and agatha christie tho

fav book? the virgin suicides by jeffrey eugenides

fav book series? i'll be honest but, book series ain't really my thing so i'm gonna pick up twilight by stephenie meyer because i have been stuck with it since i'm a teen. still need to read the hunger games tho

comfort book? and then there were none by agatha christie

perfect book to read on a rainy day? sisters under the skin by willa marsh

fave characters? amy dunne, lux lisbon, camille preaker, vera claythorne

5 quotes from your fave books that you know by heart?

we knew the girls were really women in disguise, that they understood love, and even death, and that our job was merely to create the noise that seemed to fascinate them. — the virgin suicides by jeffrey eugenides

she wasn’t even sure if she loved him, as much as they were fused. like he was an extra appendage, a part of her that could never be severed. a single heart beating between them. the two of them lived in a bubble of their own making. other people might see the dark edges, but they saw only the gilded center. — the roanoke girls by amy engel

tampon commercial, detergent commercial, maxi pad commercial, windex commercial - you'd think all women do is clean and bleed. — gone girl by gillian flynn

these violent delights have violent ends. — romeo and juliet by william shakespeare

a child weaned on poison considers harm a comfort. — sharp objects by gillian flynn

hardcover or paperback | buy (i mostly buy my books as second hand tho) or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | reading at night or during the day | reading at home or in nature | listening to music while reading or reading in silence | reading in order or reading the ending | reliable or unreliable narrator | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVS (both? depends honestly) | judging by the covers or by the summary (same, both, but usually the cover has to appeal me first before i give a look at the summary) | rereading or reading just once

TV AND MOVIES

fave tv/movie genre? drama / sci-fi / horror and thrillers / biopic

fave movie? marie antoinette by sofia coppola

comfort movie? tangled, love, rosie, titanic, mamma mia!

fave tv show? game of thrones

most rewatched tv show? lmao honestly and it won't be a surprise but game of thrones lmao i'm not even sorry, and i used to rewatch A LOT the walking dead from season 1 to season 5 back in the days tho.

5 fave characters?

cersei lannister — game of thrones

jaime lannister — game of thrones

clarke griffin — the 100

bellamy blake — the 100

octavia blake — the 100

+ kudos to eleanor henstridge because she means so much to me

tv shows or movies | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more) | one episode a week or binging | one season or multiple seasons | one part or saga | half hour or one hour long episodes | subtitles on or off | rewatching or watching just once (unless it's a fave, but otherwise i just watch once)

TAGGING: @captainwilldameron @ballroomofmymindp @daynes @jckeperalta @ohwarnette @lameblake @lahnister @ferrisbuellers @aesedais

[infj-misc]

INFJ: You are Special

First, fear not. You are not weird or strange. This is what they tell you because they have not met someone like you. You are unique and there are very few people like you. More times than once I have had people tell me they have never met someone like me. More times than once I brought a room to a standstill with my perception and wisdom. For that is what your insight really is. It is a mechanism that you will use to gain excessive wisdom as time goes by.

Second, don’t be afraid to call the shots as you see them. You are almost always right. Your gut instinct and your intuition are strong. You have the ability to see things others can’t. If most people can see 2 steps into the future you can see 5. You know what people will say or do before they say or do it. You sense others’ emotions and immediately know what they think. Use this to stay ahead of others. Use this to know when you are being conned.

Third, let your values rule you, don’t try to conquer or change them. It will cause you distress. They will also guide you to the place you need to be if you can control your romantic side. Most people adopt the value system of the society they live in. You, however, are born with an internal value system that responds to your situation. It is why you can easily break laws and have no guilt, but suffer extreme guilt when you betray your value system. However, be wary of your romantic side. Your idealism can make you stray from reality and this can lead you to make decisions that are not rational. Understand this is not a perfect world and you will not change that.

Fourth, become a teacher or a psychologist or a career not at a desk where you can help others. You love helping people. Your compassion and empathy results from your ability to know what people think and go through. You have the uncanny ability to switch places with anyone and feel their suffering. In turn, you become angered when the meek, kind, and honest are defeated. This will cause you to go war, when most of the time your strong negotiating skills bring peace. Learn to control this side. Use your spiritual side to balance the rage and know that these suffering people are just fulfilling their karma. But still help them. You will find no satisfaction in a corporate career. Status means little to you, it is your value system you need. Your keen perception tells you that status stems from the insecurity people have about themselves and how they need to prove themselves to others. As such, you rid yourself of this foolish desire for status and because you answer to no one but your value system. You want the experience, the truth, the realism. What others think of you starts to mean little as you grow older.

Fifth, when dating, try to find someone as strong as or stronger than you. Someone extroverted who can ease you in to a situation, but someone you can trust. Someone who also has the ability to make money. This is important to you although you may not know it yet. You are attracted to this not for materialistic concerns but because it shows they can stand on their own two feet and are strong people. In addition, they will be able to counter your strong personality and bring harmony, which is what brings you pleasure. You will back down to them in an admiringly way. For men, you are likely to be impressed by a female executive, a college professor, someone that helps the down trodden in her spare time. One who can engage in deep conversation because your knowledge on issues is vast. Few people understand the power of your mind, insight, compassion, and loyalty. Women will be impressed by your emotionality when they get through to you. They will enjoy how you avoid machismo for deeper conversation and they will be delighted to experience the full range of emotions you can provide. Likely, you will talk to your significant other about the beauty of Paris as the men in the next room rally behind the local football game. They will be stunned at your sincerity and honesty. And it takes time for them to get inside you. When they do, and you let them in, these people are guarded for life. They will have access to some of the deepest and most stimulating conversations of their lives. The void of their own insecurity will be filled with you and your ability to understand them. And make sure to let them in. Don’t block for too long, this will drive them away. To do this say what you are thinking. You have the ability to disappear in thought. Bring that thought to the front and speak it.

Lastly, in terms of spirituality, you probably know by now organized religion does little for you. But deep down you sense there is something else going on. Pursue this. Don’t fear this; your intuition will protect you from con men and hacks. But you will be surprised to know that you do in fact have a spiritual side. Just build your own path.

[histrionic-dragon]

Leverage: The Gold Job

Hardison is underappreciated.

Why is Parker in heels? She’s climbing in through the skylight and jumping down and....  I mean, I’m not surprised that Parker can do that in heels, I’m just surprised that she’s doing it by preference.

I like Hardison’s plan! I like the psych lite in this show all the time, let’s be honest. And if he has them on some kinda puzzle-solving quest--well, game design is a kind of con, a way to suck your attention in and heighten the stakes. Probably very similar principles.

Eliot is Mr. Punchy--”Alright, that’s pretty good.”

Thunderstorm? In Portland? I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest and you don’t get big dramatic thunderstorms like that. You’ll have one flicker of lightning and everyone will talk about it the next day. Maybe it’s Maine-Portland. (LATER: No, that Froot Loops doughnut must be from Voodoo Doughnuts, which means it’s Oregon-Portland. Maybe the weather is different enough a few hours south of Puget Sound that they do get thunderstorms. Or, you know, Doylistically,  they went for a dramatic storm during the briefing instead of realism.) Speaking of doughnuts, Eliot just NOMS that one.

I like Eliot with the khakis and the messenger bag. Long hair, slightly hipster, slightly cool--very Portland. He’ll blend right in.

I knew Seattle had tunnels, but not Portland!

“Oh, Mercury. You’re a natural.”

So basically, Nate just said “Don’t be a mastermind, you’re sweet and I don’t want to ruin you.” He’s not wrong, either--Nate is kind of a bastard in a way Hardison isn’t.

...Wait, so they’re using apple juice for the fake flood? Why use apple juice instead of water?

Oh no! They’re onto him! Boo, I was so proud for him! Unless this is all part of the plan...? --Nope. Sigh.

Aww. Nate’s filling out his evaluation. He’s alright, really.

[excelsi-or]

04/04/25 - working on it (woozi)

w.c. 1.7k (uh, mix of fluff & angst? just a tiny bit of angst)

BIPOC rec: This year, I participated in the Reading Rush (ran by Ariel Bissett and Raeleen Lemay). So I’m recommending two books I read this week, one being Days by Moonlight by André Alexis and The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. André Alexis is a black Canadian author. His book Days by Moonlight is a fantastical-realism type of book with a black protagonist and one of the most baffling plot lines I’ve read in a while. Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club was released in 1989 and follows four Chinese mothers and their four daughters, contrasting their lives as immigrant women and American raised children. It’s an interesting story, one that feels as if there is no real plot line, and some stories remain “unfinished”, but leave you satisfied. 

December 13, 2024

April 4, 2025

“What we don’t understand is why you haven’t moved back in,” Mingyu says one morning at breakfast.

Jihoon is not happy for two reasons.

One, he’d had to be dragged nearly kicking and screaming back from the studio last night. He’s been in a writing funk and all the ideas that the other producers and songwriters have been spewing out have been uninspired, boring at best.

And two, Wonwoo and Mingyu have woken him up early for breakfast so that they can discuss his relationship apparently. Which is something he doesn’t want to discuss before he’s had any coffee.

“We like having you here,” Wonwoo mumbles. He’s only halfway through his first coffee. Jihoon doesn’t understand how Mingyu convinced Wonwoo to agree to an early morning intervention.

“But you guys have been together for a while now.”

Jihoon frowns, staring hard into his cereal bowl. Maybe his cereal will speak for him if he stares angrily at it long enough. It quickly dawns on him that no, the cereal can’t and won’t talk; and yes, Mingyu wants him to fill the silence.

“There are still… kinks we need to work out.”

“Kinks meaning…?” Mingyu prompts.

It takes all the minimal energy Jihoon has left in his reserve to restrain himself from throwing his spoon at Mingyu’s head. “Kinks as in we broke up once. We know why it didn’t work. We haven’t really discussed how we’re going to fix it yet.”

“You’ve been back for almost a year now and have been together almost as long,” Mingyu states.

“It’s been eight months and we’ve only been back together for… like, four,” Jihoon grumbles.

“All I’m saying is that maybe you should work out the kinks,” Mingyu answers. He pushes his seat back, done with his breakfast.

Wonwoo exchanges a look with Jihoon and sips his coffee. “He’s right.”

Jihoon (7:43)

Hey, you got time to talk?

She calls him about three minutes after he sends her the text. He can hear a spoon clinking against ceramic on her end. She must be having tea. “What has you up so early?”

“Mingyu,” Jihoon grumbles.

“Ah,” she chuckles. “What’s up?”

“Kinks.”

There’s a long pause as she tries to discern what that could possibly mean. “Uhm… care to elaborate?”

“Kinks in our relationship.”

“Such as…?”

Jihoon sighs. He probably should have thought about what he was going to say before she called. He can’t just ask when he can move back in. It’s her place now. She pays the rent. “I don’t know. Like… why did we break up before?”

Her answer is immediate. “Because you were too busy to communicate with me. And I got too used to giving you all this space.”

“Have I changed?”

“No, but neither have I.”

Jihoon sits up a bit straighter on the couch. In their relationship, he’d always thought of her as the saint. “What do you mean?”

“Well, to get you to come home, I have to hear it from Mingyu or Wonwoo,” she says. “If I called you more and checked in on you, instead of being scared of annoying you, I’d know all those things myself.”

“You don’t annoy me.”

“Don’t I?” She laughs. “I can be pestering.”

“But I know you care.”

She snorts. “Yes, but that bugs you.”

“But it’s important to you.”

“I can’t always have it my way. You live your way and you know yourself best.” She pauses. “Mostly I want you home so I can have you to myself. There are selfish reasons.”

Jihoon chuckles. “Least you’re honest.”

Both of them go quiet, lost in thought.

“How about you come over for dinner?” she suggests. “That way I have more time to think about this.”

Later that night, Jihoon leaves work a bit earlier than usual. He lets himself into her apartment, wondering what it means that she’s never asked for the key back. Out of courtesy, he knocks twice on her door before pushing it open. She’s swaying to the song playing through the apartment as she cooks.

“Jagi,” Jihoon calls as he slips out of his shoes.

Without even turning, she waves him to sit down. “Almost done.”

Jihoon listens to the song as he sits. It’s a song he doesn’t recognize. The voice is fluid, the beats hard enough to want to sway, not hard enough to distract from the vocals. “Who’s this?”

“Seokmin.”

“Who?”

“That friend of Hansol’s.” She tosses an oven mitt onto the table so that she can put the pan down. Jihoon goes to grab two sets of chopsticks as she brings the rice cooker’s pot to the table. Jihoon pulls another oven mitt out of the drawer next to the stove and places it down next to the pan. He grabs a Coke from the fridge and her water bottle from the counter.

When they settle at the table, Jihoon addresses this ‘friend of Hansol’s’. “Why is a guy I’ve never met sending you songs?”

“Remember when I texted you last week that I was going out with Soonyoung and Seokmin?”

“I remember you saying that you were going out with Soonyoung for lunch.”

She stirs the contents of the pan with her chopsticks before putting some meat on top of her bowl of rice. “I know you’d get upset if I didn’t tell you I was with Seokmin, so I told you that I was with Seokmin.”

Jihoon frowns, popping his chopsticks in his mouth so that he can use both his hands. He scrolls back a week. True to her word, there’s the text message that she’s going out for lunch with Soonyoung and Seokmin. Just below that is his little blue bubble telling her to have fun. When he looks at her, she has one eyebrow cocked.

“I thought it said Seungkwan.”

She shakes her head in dismay. “Is this really what you wanted to talk about this morning?”

“Well, now I realize there are more things for us to talk about,” Jihoon retorts. Roughly, he puts rice in his bowl, a few grains falling onto the table. Chewing angrily, he stares at her.

But she’s used to Jihoon’s attitude. He’s going to hold out until she cracks first. He’s weirdly good at the game. “What do you want me to say, Jihoonie? Seokmin was telling me about the music he’s been working on and I asked if I could hear it. He’s debuting as a soloist next month.”

“So he sent you the song before anyone else has heard it? Are you sure he’s not—”

“I’m positive.”

“How?” Jihoon demands.

“Because he has a girlfriend,” she snorts. “Honestly, Jihoonie, it sounds like you don’t trust me.”

Exhaling, he tries to steady his emotions. “I trust you. I don’t trust guys I don’t know around you.”

“Ah.”

“Especially musical types.”

“Why does that matter?”

“You’re dating me and told me you weren’t into musical types before you met me.”

“I’m surrounded by musical types,” she snorts. “Hansol and all your friends. I’d known of them beforehand. I wasn’t interested in them. That’s what I meant.”

“Yeah, well, clearly I’ve changed your mind. So how about any other musical type who’s tall and good-looking? They’re around too.”

“God, Jihoon.” She puts her chopsticks down and sits back with her arms crossed. “If you wanted to pick a fight with me, you could have done it over the phone.”

“I just don’t get why you don’t understand why I’m uncomfortable when other guys give you songs.” He puts his chopsticks down as well, not hungry anymore.

She shakes her head. “I do kind of understand why you’re uncomfortable, but Jihoon, this is a relationship not a dictatorship. You don’t get to decide who I get to spend my time with.”

“My feelings should be considered,” he counters.

“They are, but I’m not hooking up with Seokmin or anything. I interact with different types of people every day,” her voice is rising, “do you want to check them all too?”

Jihoon rolls his eyes. “I’m mad that a guy sent you a song to listen to. You’re blowing it out of proportion.”

She’s quiet for a while. Her voice is venomous. “I can’t believe you just rolled your eyes at me.”

A shiver goes down Jihoon’s spine, but he leans forward. “Because you’re being ridiculous.”

Jihoon watches a shift in her expression. The annoyed façade looks as if it’s cracking. There are two ways to play this: push forward or back off. If he makes her cry now, it’s over. The point of this conversation will have been proven and any attempt to reconcile will fail. 

It’s the tremble in her bottom lip at the weighted silence that causes him to slouch into his seat.

“Jagi, I’m just uncomfortable that he’s sending you songs. It’s personal and has a lot of meaning to me. I don’t let just anyone see my songs. All of mine are… love songs for you.”

She scoffs, sniffling a little. “Nice save,” she murmurs.

Internally, Jihoon is shaking. Outwardly, he struggles to keep his cool. “I know you well.”

She picks her chopsticks up again. “What exactly did you want to talk about?”

Jihoon explains the conversation he’d had with Mingyu and Wonwoo. He holds back bits of the conversation, not wanting to upset her again.

“They’re starting to sound nosy,” she grumbles as she eats.

“Well, because they are.” He takes a moment to eat. “But they’re right. Maybe we should talk about it.”

“Somehow these conversations always wind up with us arguing.”

“Do you love me?”

She answers in a heartbeat. “Yeah, I do.”

“Enough to want to work on this?”

She nods her head. “Yes, but we’re both going to have to compromise.”

“Lay it on me.”

She chews her food for a moment. “I want you to tell me how you’re feeling. I want to know so I don’t have to guess.”

“That’s it?”

“Essentially. What do you want from me?”

“To inform me of the new people in your life. I feel like you don’t tell me things, because you’re worried of hurting my feelings.” Jihoon hears the song loop for the umpteenth time. “It hurts worse learning after the fact.”

“Deal.” She holds her pinky out and he wraps his around hers.

[alphapockets]

Discord: New Message Infodump

Yes this is not getting put in the widofjord tag because I don’t like filling up others’ searches with something that is not “directly” linked. *jazz hands* anxiety. BUT here is all I could think of and a sprinkling of things I have seen asked about or mentioned in the comments! May this and the last chapter hold you over <3

Q: Why a text fic?

A: Honestly? I have only ever seen one from VM (there may be others, but I don’t read many fics out of my niche sections?) that was between Grog/Vax (I don’t ship it but when it’s a bar shift #3 in a row that’s 14 hours long, you need entertainment). I had read also Call Me, Beep Me from the VLD fandom as well as Misuse of Stark Technology and thought that it was a strong platform for conversation and storytelling that shows multiple perspectives at once without the constant POV whiplash that can happen otherwise. And with the strong and chaotic personalities of TM9 and the diverse ways the NPCs interacted fit in, I hoped it wouldn’t be that hard to pull off.

I’ll be honest, I was not sure if it would work out or catch on as it is not the most popular form of storytelling. As many people said in the comments of chapters 1-5, people generally don’t enjoy texting fics and skip past them. I am glad I took the risk and that everyone has with me.

 Q: Is it true you have not watched past Ep. 40?

A: Yes. Campaign 2 came out just before I started school, and I decided school deserved my full attention. I was also not as attached at large with the cast as an ensemble as I was with VM. This combined with having anxiety and needing something to be finished before I can enjoy made it difficult to get back into C2. I was lucky that I started Campaign 1 a few weeks before that ended. I will probably watch it when everything is over, but I mostly follow through spoilers and Arsequeef’s gifs.

 Q: What are some of your influences for this?

A: I have seen a lot of people loving the realism of the conversations. I don’t watch TV or movies, but I watch streamers mostly, especially group streamers. Because of this, I tend to hear nothing but natural conversations. I also have been in group chats since the old AIM days and was a bartender for 6 years, so I have pulled from interactions that I have experienced around me. Often when something perfect happens in a chat with my friends I screen shot it for use later (the look spam and how do you uwu are both examples).

 Q: Why that area?

A: I like to use locations I know well if there is a lot of real-world interactions. I am from Massachusetts and I had used Savannah, Ga., for Here’s To Us, where I lived for 4 years.

 Q: Will the chat be renamed to The Mighty Nein or something similar?

A: No. The chat existed before Caleb as that and was set up originally by Fjord and Beau with Molly, Bryce, Darrow, and Yasha. It’s been the Game Hoes for too long in their life to change. There will be some side chats that appear and disappear.

  Q: Didn’t Veth work with Caleb?

A: Originally that was the plan, but halfway through the first chapter, I decided to space everyone out better and missed her name in one paragraph at the beginning of the chapter. I wanted them to know each other but avoid the trope of “direct connection” with strangers to lovers and text fics.

  Q: How tall is Fjord (and the rest of them by proxy)

A: I changed the heights because Caleb is canon “Average height” which in DnD is different than the US. So, he was given a few extra inches to put him at 5’10”. Fjord was scaled up because we love height differences to 6’3” because of that. By order of height:

Veth- 4’11, Kiri- 5’, Keg and Yeza- 5’3, Jester and Rissa- 5’4, Astrid- 5’5, Bryce, Beau, and Wulf- 5’9, Beau, Caleb, Molly, and Ava- 5’10, Yasha- 5’11, Darrow and Essek- 6’, Fjord and Gunther- 6’3, Cad and Enzo- 6’5.

I’m probably forgetting some people.

  Q: Why did Enzo’s arc allegedly end that way?

A: I’m not sure I’m done with him just yet, but the reason it had to be let go like that is simple: legality. Real world consequences to acts would have kind of thrown a wrench in how this all unfolds. And Molly was the character who I felt could bounce back the best from getting a solid ass kicking.

  Q: Why was Astrid faster at accepting than Wulf, and why is he so possessive?

A: Wulf was Caleb’s first real friend and that meant he was the redhead’s world. Astrid came second and she realized how quickly jealousy can sour something. Wulf’s jealousy fed into the break-up. So, despite the awkwardness, she wanted to show Caleb that she meant it when she said they could still be friends.

Wulf was Caleb’s first friend, and he has that sense of seniority in his mind and has a hard time accepting he is not being replaced when new people come around. And as a more dominant person, it was hard for him to have the normally docile friend speak out against him. He is still immature and needed to grow, but has a hard time seeing that is okay right now.

  Q: Where does everyone attend?

A: Amherst College- Astrid, Caleb, Essek, Wulf. Boston College- Cad. Emerson- Beau, Gunther, Enzo, Fjord, Keg, Molly, Rissa, and Yasha. Princeton- Bryce. Hofstra- Jester and Kiri. UConn- Yeza (Graduated). UMass/Boston University/Tufts- NPCs not brought in yet.

**Caleb has stated Jester lives in the City early on because Jester has all her locations on social set to NYC

 Q: Any reason why you picked those schools?

A: I’m a BC fan (and Providence College), my childhood friend went to Emerson, and I was accepted to Hoftstra before I joined the military instead. Amherst was a perfect “nearby” city that was another college town/I am maybe looking at Amherst for a PhD. Program.

 Q: Where is Darrow stationed when not crashing Bryce’s life or deployed? What does he do?

A: Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was attached to the 26th MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) that goes through the Mediterranean. He currently is on hospital duty as a temporary “relaxation period” for people who are deployed often. As he is a paladin, I thought it’d be a nice touch to have him as an FMF Corpsman.

  Q: Where is everyone from? The holidays showed people all over and it’s mentioned some people were not born in the US or where they were located.

A: This is where that spreadsheet I made comes in handy. Most of the people either grew up in or intend to stay in Massachusetts for a long while. As there are some of the major schools in that area, obviously people would be out of state.

Boston TM9 Party

The Clay Family is in Jamaica Plains, which is just outside of Boston proper. They are from there, minus Toya who is adopted as well and from Maine.

Molly was the godson of Cad’s mother, who is from England and his father had been stationed in England for some time, so when he was essentially orphaned and given up by the indirect family, she put through the paperwork to take him in. Fjord and Yasha stayed with them.

Fjord is originally from Texas, outside of El Paso. After he joined the Navy, he never intended to move home as he hated it there. He fell in love with New England when he was sent TAD (Temporary Assignment of Duty) to the naval base in Newport. He stayed and continued his education at Emerson.

Yasha is from Jamaica Plains as well and went to school with Molly and Ornna, who is the same age as them. Her dad is from South Carolina and her mother is from Okinawa. They moved up north for her dad’s work.

Beau is from Kentucky and her family is unreasonably wealthy. She decided to go to school someplace as un-Kentucky as she could fathom and was stuck between Berkley and Emerson but chose the former because the weather meant her mother would never visit.

The Amherst Crew (Astrid and Wulf) are all from the area except for:

Caleb, was born in Poland to a Polish/German family. They moved and when his family died in a fire (he was at a sleepover at the time) his grandparents took him in. Wulf was still there with his large family and

Essek had returned home to California for the break.

Astrid and her family spent 10 days in Key West for the holidays, which is why she missed the New York trip. Wulf stayed locally for winter break.

The Conn/NY/NJ Groups are pretty straightforward.

The Brenattos stayed in New Haven, where they moved when Luc was born from Amherst. They had moved so Veth could start fresh.

Jester was surprised by a visit from her mother on Christmas Day and spent it with her. It was the first time her mom came from the Ukraine, as Jester’s dad is the one who she moved with. She lives on Long Island not far from her school.

Kiri is from upstate New York and was home for the Holidays.

Bryce drove down to Louisiana. They and Darrow are from Marietta, but they were at their grandmother’s place in Lafourche Parish. Darrow returned to Jacksonville NC.

Others Keg and Gunther were in Rhode Island but separately, where they are both from, Rissa is from Maine and went home, and Enzo was in jail (he is from Lynn, Ma).

  Q: How old is everyone?

A: 5- Luc. 19- Kiri, 20- Jester, Rissa, Keg, and Enzo, 21- Beau, Molly, Yasha, Essek, and Astrid, 22- Caleb, Cali, Reani, and Wulf. 24- Cad, 25- Fjord and Bryce. 27- Veth and Darrow. 28- Yeza.

  Q: If Fjord has the GI Bill why does he live on campus or have a job?

A: For those who don’t know how the GI Bill works, the government pays for education and sends some money based on housing in the zip code of the school. Boston is insanely expensive and student living is easier. Essentially, he wanted the “college experience” and it was cheaper. He needs the job more because he knows better than to let himself get idle. If he does, he won’t focus on school. Like Travis, my Fjord has ADHD.

  Q: How did Veth and Caleb meet?

A: In a Juvenile’s in-patient program for at-risk teenagers and those suffering from mental health issues. Caleb’s depression and anxiety following the death of his parents and the constant bullying for numerous things and previous attempts or ideations had him labeled “at risk” for self-harm. He was in for 3 weeks. Veth was in for her kleptomania and possible signs of disruptive BPD or other developing personality disorders but aged out of the youth section when she turned 18. As most diagnoses cannot be done for those until adulthood, she was being watched for early onset signs.

  Q: How did Jester/Veth get into the group?

A: Jester met Beau, Yasha and Molly at NYCC two years’ prior in line for a panel. They met again at Anime Boston after exchanging Twitter handles a few months later. Jester had worked NYCC a year ago and helped Veth to a quiet room for Luc, who was fussing, then stayed with her as she was on break soon. She invited Veth to play a few games of Don’t Starve Together with her and Yasha before she was brought into the main group.

  Q: This is a really diverse cast. What is everyone and why?

A: Some were obvious choices such as Caleb being from Germany, Jester being from Eastern Europe (Ukrainian), and Molly as Irish (and English).

Others I did to flush out to make a group in a major city make more sense. Wulf and Astrid both have French/ Germanic backgrounds because in canon, they were raised in a similar way. Astrid is Jewish along with Caleb to hint at why it may have been easier for them to date if her family was stricter than his.

Fjord and Yasha faced some racial issues early on in the show (Yasha from where she was from and Fjord for being a half orc), so I wanted them to be people of color. Yasha is half Japanese because of her name and because US troops often marry someone from Japan when they are single and stationed there. Her father is Jamaican in decent. Fjord’s dad he figures is Black but they’ve never met, as his mother’s side are Mexican. I chose that because I wanted to keep the Texan because a lot of people in the service are from Texas. Also, as previously stated, I had too many naturalized or foreign students already and needed to not stress over how they would be around for the breaks.

Cad is English, Norwegian, and Swedish because Cad is a god, who why not make him a Norse god? Veth is half Cambodian partially because there is a decent population size in Massachusetts. Beau is the not white-passing cousin of her family which will come in later because rich families have secrets, yo. Her family has some Cajun/Creole in her like Darrow but it shouldn’t be there according to her family lineage. 

Essek is Persian, Rissa is Puerto Rican, Bryce and Keg are “Confused American Mixes” of everything. Cali I have not decided yet, but will probably have some English in her, Reani I have decided on Moroccan. Kiri is Korean. 

Enzo is an asshole (he’s also mix of random European heritage.) I feel like I missed someone.

  Q: Is Widofjord the only pairing we will see?

A: There are some others forming, including BeauYasha, which was one of the possibilities when I started. Molly/Essek/Astrid were a shock and some others I won’t spoil just yet are starting to bud as hopefuls.

  Q: Do you have an end game in sight?

A: Honestly, as this whole fic has taken on a life of its own, not entirely. It was originally mapped out to be 12 chapters long and have much of this condensed down with all the side characters removed, no Enzo or hockey games, and the extra fluff cut out. As I wrote it, I found I enjoyed that almost more than the Widofjord specifics. So, this has really evolved away from a Widofjord ONLY fic, I am aware. Endgame wise, when I feel the story is told, I will wind it down, but there are more elements evolving with every chapter and I want these characters to get the moments they’re aiming toward. I also don’t want it to drag on too long, so I know that this will eventually come to an end.

 Q: Did anything change relationship wise while writing?

A: 100%. Beau and Jester were originally who I expected to pan out, but my Jes couldn’t seem to devote to that because she had developed more attraction to Molly and Fjord than I expected. Beau and Yasha just clicked better. Molly was the next option for Jester, but then I decided to make Essek and Astrid actual friends with the TM9 and we see how that went.

 Q: Is Jester going to find something happier? It kind of sucked seeing her so down and withdrawn these last few chapters. And where is Nott’s role now?

A: I am trying with Jessy. I am. Here’s to hoping she behaves? As for Nott, she is shining as the mom friend, but her coming into the fray more means bad things are happening. And yes, that is on the way.

 Q: You keep hinting at something in both Caleb and Fjord’s pasts. Are we ever going to see that?

A: Yes. I am trying to space out the angst as much as possible. This was never meant to be a hurt/comfort type story, but people have mental health issues and those because pivotal to the story more than I intended. Maybe the curse of having complete access to everyone’s conversations? But they will be coming out.

[locke-writes]

Interests Tag

Rules: Tag 9 People to learn about their interests

Tagged By: @stars--above​ (thank you Olive!)

MUSIC

fave genre? Punk. Or anything of that sort

fave artist? Green Day. Always has been, always will be

fave song? Depends on the artist, I don’t have a singular favorite song of all time. Considering I listed Green Day as my favorite artist it seems only appropriate to pick Basket Case for this question

most listened song recently? Looks like that would be Small Talk - Briston Maroney or at least that’s what Spotify says

song currently stuck in your head? None at the moment which is surprising. Last few days though it’s been songs from Bo Burnham’s Inside

5 fave lyrics? Now this is completely random and based on me picking random songs but:

1. “Waking up this time to smash the silence with the brick of self control“ - She - Green Day

2. “Someone who'll help me see things / In a different light / All the things I detest / I will almost like” - Somebody - Depeche Mode

3. “It's not a miracle we needed, and no I wouldn't let you think so“ - 1901 - Phoenix

4. “The passion that makes me feel alive again / It's gonna be the death, the death of us” - AWOL - Every Time I Die

5. “If dreams came true i might have been a better man. / If dreams came true you might have set me free. / But god is kind, for you he had a better plan / And saved you from the pain of loving me.” - A Tale of Two Cities Musical Cast

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie | louder or silent volume I slow or fast songs | music video or lyrics video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on

BOOKS

fave book genre? Fantasy or Science Fiction

fave writer? I have no idea. I love a lot of writers but I don’t think there’s a singular writer I would call my all time favorite 

fave book? Venomous - Christopher Krovatin

fave book series? The entirety of The Shannara Chronicles (like every book and individual series combined)

comfort book? Venomous isn’t just my favorite book. But also if I had to provide something else maybe The Child Thief - Brom

perfect book to read on a rainy day? It would have to be something that could stand alone and not be a series so maybe The House of Tomorrow - Peter Bognanni

fave characters? So many. 5 choices are: Peter Pan (The Child Thief), Ender Wiggen (Ender’s Game), Walker Boh (The Shannara Chronicles), Katsa (Graceling), and Cadel Piggot (Evil Genius)

5 quotes from your fave book you know by heart? - I have a notebook filled with favorite quotes from books I’ve read. Here’s a few

1. “The only stupid man is the one who doesn’t know he’s ignorant” - Pathfinder - Orson Scott Card

2. “It was written I should be loyal to the nightmares of my choice” - Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

3. “There is more to family then shared blood. There is trust and friendship and committment” - The Gypsy Morph - Terry Brooks

4. “She was trying to construct a life that made sense from things found in gift shops” - Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut

5. “The truth will set you free, but not until it is done with you” - Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace

hardcover or paperback | buy or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | reading at night or during the day | reading at home or in nature | listening to music while reading or reading in silence | reading in order or reading the ending first | reliable or unreliable narrator | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVS | judging by the covers or by the summary | rereading or reading just once

TV AND MOVIES

fave tv/movie genre? Anything if I’m being honest. It just has to interest me plot-wise

fave movie? Tie between Spring Forward and Velvet Goldmine

comfort movie? At the moment I’d have to say The Sword in the Stone

movie you watch every year? The only ones are holiday movies so Jack Frost (1979)

fave tv show? I don’t have one, at least not one I’d watch all the time over and over again. I suppose I could say something like New Girl mainly because I’ve not tired of that yet

comfort tv show? Again I don’t think I have one although if I had to choose I would most likely say something like Halt & Catch Fire

most rewatched tv show? I don’t rewatch shows a lot only because there’s so much tv to catch up on that it’s hard to find time for something new and a rewatch. Truthfully though it’s probably an old cartoon or something like Looney Tunes, Rugrats, Powerpuff Girls, etc.

5 fave characters? Nick Miller (New Girl), Frederick Chilton (NBC Hannibal), Eames (Inception), Randal Graves (Clerks), Shawn Hunter (Boy Meets World)

tv shows or movie | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more) | one episode a week or binging | one season or multiple seasons | one part or saga | half hour or one hour long episodes | subtitles on or off | rewatching or watching just once | downloads or watches online

[regrettablewritings]

Podcasts, Youtubes, and TV Shows to Distract Yourself With Because Why Not, and Also Because I Wanna Blab About Some of These

Since I can’t go to work and horrify my coworkers/make them realize I’m a mess and/or nerd by telling them about the type of media I’m into, I’m foisting my recommendations on all of y’all who choose to read this. I frankly do not care how many people have actually heard of these things because I’m also sure there’s plenty of people who, like me, are very slow and oblivious to entertainment, or who have heard of the property but were never that convinced.

Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts

Type: TV series

200 years after a mysterious yet earth-shattering event, much of humanity has taken to living beneath the surface in communities called burrows, wherein life goes on, if effected somewhat by the bizarre fauna that exists above them (referred to as “mutes”, short for “mutant”). One burrow girl, Kipo, founds her world turned almost literally inside-out when she finds herself not only separated from her father and the only world she’s ever known, but on the surface, no less. What ensues is her trying to find her way back home with the help of a stony-faced little girl with a massive chip on her shoulder; a music enthusiast and his literal gadfly friend; and some . . . unusual allies that only an oblivious optimist like Kipo could make. All to a kickass soundtrack, a beautiful backdrop of art, and a world where animals have basically evolved into gangs under a looming threat known as Scarlemagne. If you can’t already tell, I love this series to bits and now is the perfect time for people to get into it and encourage another season of it. Just . . . don’t think too hard that whatever happened to cause the Event in the show happened in October 2020 . . .

Available on: Netflix

My Dad Wrote a Porno

Type: Podcast

This should go without saying, but this podcast is definitely meant for more mature audiences. Or somebody with a strong stomach. Not that it’ll always be easy to tell with the type of content this series gives. When Jamie Morton’s father handed him his manuscripts for his self-published books, he had no idea he was being given a pinnacle of a polished turd: It was erotica. Really, really, really bad erotica. But the ear’s trash is the heart’s pleasure with this bad girl, as Jamie enlists the company of friends Alice and James to provide commentary on “Rocky Flintstone”’s series Belinda Blinked, a drama chronicling the sexcapades of Belinda Blumenthal as she climbs the ladders (and men and women) both in and out of the cut-throat world of pots and pans sales. What follows is a goldmine of awkward metaphors, strange bedmates, and just an overall stampede of whiplashing events that somehow exceed expectations. Listen in if you dare . . . And make sure you’re in good company for it. Fun Fact, though: Daisy Ridley, Ben Barnes, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Michael Sheen, Mara Wilson, Elijah Wood are but a few well-known fans of this series! Nobody is safe . . .

Available on: Wherever podcasts can be found

Lore

Type: Podcast

Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction. And what better way to be reminded of that, then to have the dulcet tones of Aaron Mahnke tell you about the lighthouse incident that the 2016 movie The Lighthouse was loosely inspired by? Suffice to say, this podcast could also be interpreted with some advised discretion, but definitely in a way that’s different from My Dad Wrote a Porno. In the centuries humankind has existed, we’ve managed to create a menagerie of beasts, both fictional and in ourselves. Lore explores all the many different kinds of events and persons and creatures we have to offer. In any given episode, we could be talking about anything from the bizarre story of a lady who convinced 18th century physicians that she was giving birth to rabbits, to something more disturbing like the life of H.H. Holmes. Or something as relatively innocuous as the relationship between gremlins and flight. Regardless of the subject, however, you’ll definitely walk away knowing something new, if bizarre. And perhaps slightly terrifying.

Available on: Wherever podcasts can be found

The Amelia Project

Type: Podcast

Congratulations: You have been made aware of The Amelia Project. If you’re not interested in this, exit the page. Now. If you continue, there’s no unhearing it. Good choice! A new interest awaits. If you don’t enjoy it, please consider the whole thing a hoax. Okay but in all seriousness, there’s no way to do The Amelia Project justice in just a simple description. The plot sounds quite simple, really: People want to disappear and start a new life, The Amelia Project is there to help – with a price. And that’s if you can actually get a hold of them! What really makes the show, however, are the people and the writing, and I’m not just talking about the almost childlike Interviewer with an obsession for hot cocoa. I’m talking about the clientele: I’m talking about the macabre-obsessed theme park owner who’s out for revenge; the cult leader who’s in way over his head; a Santa impersonator stuck in a miserable marriage with his own manager; an actual podcast character trying to outrun his creators. And obviously this would all be nowhere without the spectacular writing! I really can explain this series without blabbing on and potentially spoiling things; The Amelia Project is an experience!

Available on: Wherever podcasts can be found

LegalEagle

Type: Youtube channel

To be frank, I just like learning for the sake of learning, even if I may not always necessarily understand the topic or have any plans to use it in the foreseeable future. The big difference here being that at least this channel makes learning about the law fun and breaks it down. Headed by a certified lawyer (because what an age we live in, where professionals actually take time out of their lives to teach us common folk), there’s a multitude of series D.J. Stone uses to help break down the complex world of law, from reviewing the realism of procedural favorites (Law & Order, The Good Wife, HTGAWM, etc), to analyzing real-life situations, to even watching childhood media that has nothing to do with the law and determining how much money, say, Willy Wonka would owe in a lawsuit. In short, it is one of my worst subjects done in one of my favorite ways to learn! Plus, Stone hates business students and is perfectly willing to poke fun at law students so it’s all fun, frankly.

Available on: Youtube

Nando v Movies

Type: Youtube channel

Sometimes, movies are bad. Sometimes, they’re good. And sometimes, they could use a few adjustments in hindsight. Especially the nerdier movies where the directors may or may not have tried way too hard or way too little. And that’s where Nando comes in: Whether it’s explaining why a different villain might have worked better for a hero’s origin story movie, or analyzing how one seemingly small adjustment could’ve potentially made more sense in explaining characterization, this channel is always providing a new perspective on a movie or show you’ve probably seen and maybe weren’t necessarily too pleased with. (Or maybe you were – I enjoyed Justice League okay but I love the version he rewrote more.) Oh, yeah: Sometimes he does rewrites of movies or even series. So if you’re anything like me and you’re way into that, this is a channel you don’t want to miss out on.

Available on: Youtube

DEATH BATTLE!

Type: Youtube channel

Does anyone remember Deadliest Warrior? No? . . . How about that one time during lunch where you and your friend got into it over who would win in a death match between Superman and Goku? Good news: A buncha geeks did the math for you and have come out with the results! Specifically, hosts Wiz and Boomstick have analyzed the weapons, armor, and skills of each combatant in every episode, resulting in an ongoing series of absolute nonsense and satiation of bloodshed. The description is admittedly nothing crazy, but the amount of detail applied is honestly where it’s at: From calculating how loud Black Canary’s screams are to approximating Scrooge McDuck’s speed (I’m not kidding you), there’s actual thought put into the characters being assembled and how they might fair with their respective combatant. And it all comes together for an actual fight, often animated but always amazing. So if you’ve ever wondered if Thor could beat Wonder Woman, or if McGruff the Crime Dog stands a chance against Smokey the Bear (I’m…I’m being honest), then this is the show for you!

Available on: Youtube

Sideways

Type: Youtube channel

If there is music in that movie or show, it will be analyzed to a degree that, unless you’ve been trained in music, you would’ve probably never thought about. There isn’t necessarily much rhyme or reason to Sideways’ videos in terms of themes beyond music, but really, must they? Is it not enough that this man is screaming to the internet these wack and awesome trends he’s noticed in certain pieces associated with movies and musicals and the genius behind them? Could life not just be him explaining the symbolism of the instruments associated with the Crystal Gems of Steven Universe, or breaking down the cultures explored by way of the Black Panther soundtrack? Also, here’s a fun drinking game: Take a shot every time he mentions leitmotifs or the Dies Irae.

Available on: Youtube

Craig of the Creek

Type: TV show

In the woods of suburban Maryland, there exists a kid’s utopia: A place where horse girls are free to roam the fields, where a boy can be a king of garbage, and where children travel the sewers completely unsupervised. That is, until the dinner horn rings; then they have to go home until the next time they can return to The Creek. The show focuses on one specific trio (Craig, JP, and Kelsey) as every day, The Creek (and their own childish naivete) brings them new hijinks to experience. There’s a blissful lightheartedness to the show, in addition to a lot of creativity that feels like it was ripped straight out of your own imagination as a child (robots made from cardboard boxes, building portals using lights, etc). But beneath it all, there’s something just plain wild brewing. I don’t want to spoil anything, but CotC has some G-rated GOT shit going on the further along the series goes and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds!

Available on: CN app, wcostream.com

And that’s probably enough for now, I think. Lemme know if you want any other suggestions, or how you’re findin’ ‘em if you take any of them up! Stay safe, stay healthy my dudes!

[teaandgames]

The Tea Times - July 2020

Well, that’s July over and done- wait, what? July is over? It’s almost August?! Whoa, whoa, whoa. If we keep going on like this I’ll be writing the Christmas article before I know what’s what. I wonder if it’s the heat, as God certainly turned up the Thermostat. Still, the troubles of the year are still carrying on so I hope everyone’s keeping safe. Things are starting to open up again but remember that no amount of alcohol or haircuts are worth more than your health.

On the game side of things, there have been quite a few announcements and interesting releases this month, spurred on by a few Expos. Let’s delve in, shall we?

At a Glance

Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise, Ghost of Tsushima, SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE, Paper Mario: The Origami King and Carrion released.

Far Cry 6, Manor Lords, Shadow Warrior 3, The Outer Worlds - Perils in Gorgon, Fable, S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2, Avowed and Warhammer 40,000: Darktide announced.

Rocket League is taking off the price tag!

No Man’s Sky gets another update!

The Releases

Anyone who knows me will know that I was super pumped for Deadly Premonition 2. The initial buzz has been good so far, save for the colossal frame rate issues that have kept me from actually booting it up. Either way, patches are coming through to fix that, so I’ll hopefully be able to hit on the wonderfully surreal, tightened up bandwagon soon. For those interested, Deadly Premonition 2 came out on the Switch on July 10th.

For the more Samurai inclined, Ghost of Tsushima has been making waves. While I’ve heard opinions all over the place about it, it seems on the whole to be positive. The combat seems to get the most praise, while the open world is probably the most divisive. Either way, I’ll be damned if it doesn’t look pretty. Sadly a PlayStation 4 exclusive but if you own one, then you should know that Ghosts of Tsushima came out on July 17th.

If you prefer your combat to vary wildly in speed then you’ll probably be interested in SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE. The combat has been nicely refined too, with upgrades such as throwing weapons. In a rare instance, I’ve actually been on the ball with this one and reviewed it already. My feelings are mixed but it’s worth playing if you’re a fan of the original. MIND CONTROL DELETE, the third in the series incidentally, came out on July 16th.

On the lighter side of things, there’s Paper Mario: The Origami King. This one I’m actually in the middle of playing through and I’m enjoying it so far. The origami aesthetic is lovely and the world looks gorgeous. The combat is… divisive but it feels closer to the original than Sticker Star, so there’s that. I’ll give out my full thoughts when I’ve beaten it but so far, pretty positive! If you’re interested, it was released on July 17th.

If you’re in the market for something a bit more… icky, then you’ll be interested in Carrion. Billed as a ‘reverse’ horror game, Carrion puts you in control of a strange monster, as opposed to the angry scientist we usually play as. Your job is to go around and disembowel all the people that poked and prodded you. And their friends and relatives, probably. Apparently it can also disguise itself as human, in case you needed more nightmares. If a lack of gore is a bore, then Carrion came out on July 23rd.

The Announcements

Let’s start with one that we pretty much knew was around the corner: Far Cry 6. Quite a few videos have been released about it now in something of snowball effect. The original trailer won me over solely because it featured Giancarlo Esposito. A fantastic actor with a great voice. Far Cry 6 is set in the Cuba inspired island of Yara and, for a while, it looked like we might play as the son of this season’s dictator. Instead it seems we play as a revolutionary. Ah well. Far Cry 6 is slated to be released on February 18th 2021.

For a completely different pace, if you’re a city builder lover then you might want to look into Manor Lords. Of course, the pace does pick up a bit when you get into battles, which are large scale and depend on formations and strategy and all of those other difficult things. Above all, Manor Lords strives for medieval realism, which usually means a lot of hard work and horrible diseases. If that’s your thing, then Manor Lords should be coming to Steam Early Access in the Autumn.

If you don’t like realism and much prefer crude jokes about dicks then Shadow Warrior 3 sounds like your cup of tea. It looks very exciting, full of fluid moments and slicing people up with katanas. The original Shadow Warrior had very sexy and exciting combat and that seems to have been nicely ramped up. The sense of humour may be a little… divisive… but if you can stomach the jokes then Shadow Warrior 3 will be out next year.

Now for one that got my heart pumping. You may remember that I enjoyed my time with The Outer Worlds. A few rough edges of course but I was left hungry for more. Seems we’re getting a second helping with the Peril on Gorgon DLC, which has us exploring an asteroid for interesting secrets. There are new characters and new weapons, like the weird spiky thing. It should be out on September 9th this year. Can’t wait!

Fable was an unexpected one. Watching the trailer, you might be forgiven for thinking it has nothing to do with the original Lionhead series but it does. It looks to be a reboot essentially, though not too many details have come out. The trailer sets up a magical fantasy land and then ends with something of a dark tone. There’s scanty details otherwise, but it looks like guns have been given the boot and Albion has been obliterated by an asteroid. The original developers aren’t connected to this one, by the way, which is quite sad really. No release date as yet.

Another unexpected, but equally exciting announcement, is S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2, which is of course the fourth entry in the series. A series set in post-meltdown Chernobyl, inspired by the film of the same name which is in turn inspired by the book Roadside Picnic, which is worth a read. The Zone is full of anomalies, mutants and guitar playing nomads. Good stuff and now in higher definition. If you fancy a fourth trip into the Zone then I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until next year.

For the second Obsidian entry on this list, we have Avowed. This seems to be Obsidian’s take on the first person high-fantasy genre, which is currently dominated by the Elder Scrolls. Not too much is given away in the trailer, other than a few story notes and the fact that it’s first person with a sword in one hand and magic in the other. A lot of other things have been ‘leaked’, including the fact that it’s possibly linked to Pillars of Eternity, but for now I’m keeping my eyes open. No release date as yet.

Any fans of Vermintide out there? Want that gameplay but more grimdark and set miles in the future? If so, then Warhammer 40,000: Darktide should be up your street. You and your Imperial Guard chums have been set the mission of rooting out Chaos in the hive city of Tertium. I don’t know too much about 40k but I do know that the Imperial Guard don’t have the best survival rates so it looks like I’ll be unintentionally roleplaying when I play. If you’re interested then it’ll be out next year.

Free Footie

In an unexpected twist of events, Rocket League has gone free to play. I’m not entirely sure why, as it was always a pretty popular game but perhaps things are waning. I don’t mind that it’ll be free, to be honest, as I love Rocket League and this may attract some more casual players. I suck at football in real life and my car football isn’t much better, let’s be honest. This move to free-to-play is also coinciding with a launch on the Epic Games Store, though it’ll still be on Steam so no worries there.

Players who bought the game before it went free-to-play will get legacy status which comes with quite a few goodies, such as free access to DLCs and a lot of upgraded cosmetic items. Your inventory also won’t be affected by the move, so don’t worry about that. You may have to worry about the influx of players though, if you’re the type of person that doesn’t like new players. Ah well!

No Man’s Sky Gets Desolated

I’m not going to lie, when I saw a few images of No Man’s Sky’s Desolation update I thought I was looking at an image of Dead Space. It looks like a very exciting update because the focus has been made a little smaller. The biggest thing this update brings in is derelict freighters. These interiors are procedurally generated, each with their own little stories. It’s a smaller, tighter experience than traipsing over a planet and it looks, at times, genuinely unnerving.

Not only do you have to deal with the freighter security systems, that probably won’t take too kindly to a stranger wandering around, you also have to deal with the weird infestations that have taken over. Hope you like shooting monstrous creatures with a tool made for cutting things. Maybe my first impressions were right after all, huh?

That’s all for July, see you in August!

[sympathyfortheblinderdevil]

All is Fair

Oh, Dear God. I’ve had an idea for a fic. Tommy is bored with his OBE, MP life. In an attempt to cheer him up, Ada invites him to a fundraising soiree she has organized, and Tommy becomes horny intrigued by a bright young thing.

“I’ve lined up Picassos, Muchas, a couple of Lalique glass figures — lots of up and coming artists.” Ada paced back and forth before Tommy, counting on her fingers the artists whose work would be shown at the charity auction she’d helped to organize for the Grace Shelby Institute. “I snapped them up for a song, but with the crowd I’ve invited all trying to outdo one another they will bring in thousands…” Ada stopped mid-step and stared at her brother. He had insisted on meeting her before the start of business, and after summoning her at such an ungodly hour he didn’t seem to be listening to a single word she said.

 “Tommy. Oi, Tommy! Are you listening to me?”

 Tommy had been listening. He absorbed every word spoken in his presence, even while he seemed a million miles away. Smoke from a dwindling cigarette curled in a graceful column before his eyes. He was mentally weighing how much money the auction would bring against the amount in his charity reserve account. Of course, he could singlehandedly fund the Institute with the stroke of a pen and skip this whole event, but that wasn’t the point. Publicity was important, and Ada had arranged for all the right people to be seen at his party. That was the point. He knew the rules of the game, but it weighed heavily on him. He was bored with pretending to care about the issues and opinions of the upper-middle class. He craved the gritty realism of Small Heath; the honest observations of the working class meant more to him than the relentless droning of his new peers.

“Yep, Ada, got it,” he sighed as he stood up from his desk and pulled on his jacket. He crossed the room to where she stood and lit another cigarette, seemingly forgetting the one he left burning in the ashtray on his desk. “It should be a resounding success. Thank you for all of your hard work.”

 In the clear light of day, Ada could see the strain of the last few years playing out on her brother’s face. His pale blue eyes used to snap with electricity, but now they were slower, deeper, and more contemplative. Not quite sad, but worn and weary.  “I know it’s hard for you to go to these things, Tommy, but I’ve invited some bright young people who will make it a bit more bearable. Who knows? You might have fun,” she shrugged and smiled hopefully.    

The energy that it took to keep up the façade of a legitimate businessman and Member of Parliament had sapped every ounce of fun from his life. “That wouldn’t be fair, now would it?” he mumbled as he stepped out into the hall and out the door. 

��***

“Lia, wake up!” 

Sunlight streamed in through the window, painting the backs of Lia’s eyelids pink and warming her face. She had stayed up late talking with her cousin the night before, catching up on family gossip and getting the lowdown on her new job.

“Five more minutes,” she mumbled and pulled the sheet over her face. Her mind lazily drifted to thoughts of the upcoming day. She was to train as an assistant librarian; a position made possible by her cousin’s connections at City Hall. Even though she was grateful for the job, the temptation of a few more minutes’ sleep was tough to resist.

“Now! It takes a while to get across town. I stuck my neck out to get you this job, and I won’t have you being late on your first day.” 

The rapidly approaching clacking of high heels on hardwood let Lia know that her cousin Jenny meant business, so she threw back the covers and groaned. “I’ll be ready in fifteen minutes.” 

“You’d better be,” Jenny called. “I’ve got fresh scones and tea.” 

Jenny’s two up two down in Small Heath, Birmingham was like all the others in her street, except where the other houses were filled to capacity with large families, hers was all but empty. Her mom and dad had moved back to the country, and her brothers were off with their own families, so in order to stave off loneliness, she wrote to invite her favorite cousin to come live with her in Birmingham. “It will be great fun, and there’s a position coming open at the library. They promised to hold it for you. After receiving the letter, Lia and her family decided that the change would do her good. The country was stifling Lia. If she stayed, she had no prospects for anything other than marriage to a local farmer and a brood of children. Birmingham meant freedom and adventure for the restless young woman, so she went.  

The pale yellow frock Lia wore stood in sharp contrast to the sooty dark patterned wallpaper in the kitchen. At one time it must’ve been green with pink flowers, Lia mused as she sipped her tea which was the approximate color of the flowers on the wall. 

Jenny laid a plate of scones down on the table and eyed her cousin. “You’ll need to get darker dresses, Lia. The mud and soot of Small Heath will make a hash of that.”

Lia rolled her eyes and smiled, “I plan on doing just that with my first paycheck. In the meantime, maybe I should help myself to your closet.” 

“Not with those knockers you won’t,” Jenny teased. It felt good to have her cousin in the house, and despite the early hour, they were both in the mood to laugh. 

Jenny sipped at her tea and flipped through the morning post until one envelope, in particular, caught her attention. Her lips moved as she whispered under her breath, and her eyes read and reread the writing on the heavily embossed card.  

 “What’s that?”

“My boss has forwarded an invitation to me. It’s for an art auction at the Grace Shelby Institute.” Jenny’s eyes were wide. “Oh, my God, I can’t believe I’ve been invited!” 

“That’s great! Wait, do you have to go with your boss?” 

“No, it’s my own invitation, and I get to bring a guest.”  

The name Shelby rang a bell with Lia. Jenny read the look on her face and lowered her voice as if Arthur Shelby himself were lurking just outside her door. “Yeah, those Shelbys. But they’ve gone legit. The leader is even an MP now.” 

Lia arched an eyebrow, “Legit? How exactly does a razor gang go legit?” 

“The Shelbys can bloody well do whatever they want, and we are going to this event. It means a lot to get invited to these things, and I need to show that I can fit in.”  

 ***  

 The pale blue dress that Lia wore had a low cut back and fringe at the knee, not at all the stuff of a librarian’s wardrobe. She had worn it to a formal engagement party the year before and had been pining away for a reason to wear it again. In a room full of tweeds and sensible shoes, she was a flash of blue sky on a stormy day.  Her cousin dressed to blend in with the crowd—perfect for a work event, and Jenny was certainly all business tonight.

While Jenny circulated around the room, Lia availed herself of several glasses of champagne and studied the paintings on offer. As the daughter of a farmer, she had not had many chances to go to museums and galleries, but she loved art and soaked up everything she could read about it. There was an amazing selection of work at the Institute including a cubist piece by Picasso, but what really caught her eye was a group of Art Nouveau paintings by Alphonse Mucha. She stood, sipping her champagne and smiling at a depiction of a woman in a gracefully flowing gown on a backdrop of stars. 

“Spectacular, isn’t it?” A sweet feminine voice with a Brummie lilt drew her out of her reverie. Lia turned around to see a woman with porcelain skin, dark bobbed hair, and piercing blue eyes extend a hand toward her.

 “Ada Thorne, and you are…”

“Lia Montrose,” she managed to answer in a relatively confident manner. Jenny had mentioned the Shelby’s sister on the way there, but Lia never thought she’d end up in a conversation with her.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance. You know, at most of these things people only glance at the paintings and then try to make business deals for the rest of the night. It’s nice to see someone actually appreciate the art for a change.”  

She held up a perfectly manicured finger in the direction of a waiter who immediately brought over a tray of drinks. “Champagne?” She handed Lia a fresh glass without waiting for an answer and then took one for herself. She smiled conspiratorially and raised an eyebrow. “Have you seen the Max Ernst yet?”

“You have an Ernst?” Lia asked, her mouth hanging open for a moment before she realized and closed it. 

“Yeah, it’s in the next room. Come on.” She hooked her arm in Lia’s and led her to the next room where, indeed, the promised painting hung. 

“It’s bloody amazing,” Lia whispered. 

 “I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’m sure you could have it for a song. None of the tossers here will recognize its significance.” Ada gently shook her head, and the rubies around her neck caught the light. Lia blushed and looked down. She had not near enough to even make a starting bid on any of the artwork. Ada led Lia around talking about the various works up for auction. She was genuine and warm. Not at all what Lia imagined a Shelby would be like. When Lia explained that she couldn’t actually buy any of the art because she had just started a job as a librarian, Ada commiserated with her about the low pay.

“I was a librarian myself for a time. If it weren’t for my brother Tommy… well, let’s just say I know what it’s like to live on a librarian’s pay...and much, much less” 

Ada didn’t expand on her role at Shelby Company Limited, except to say she dealt in imports and exports, and Lia didn’t pry. Even though Ada spoke with a candid ebullience, it seemed safer not to ask questions. As they were discussing the merits of public reading rooms a man entered by a side door and motioned for Ada to come over. “Oh, dear. If you’ll excuse me, I should go to make sure that everything is running smoothly.  It was so nice meeting, you Lia.”

“Likewise Mrs. Thorne.” 

“Call me Ada,” she warmly smiled and was on her way. 

Lia was positively buzzing. She had lost track of time and of how much champagne she had quaffed while talking to Ada. She squinted across the hall into the main room and scanned the crowd for Jenny, who was nowhere to be found. Unbeknownst to her, someone had been watching in admiration as she strolled along.  

 Another Picasso caught her eye, and she stood squinting and biting her bottom lip as she looked at it. She was so astonished by the colors and lines that she hardly noticed the gentleman who had come to stand beside her and ask her what she thought of it.

“Vastly overrated. I much prefer his blue period...”  

As she spoke, she turned to find herself under the gaze of the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. He took her in with an intensity that was slightly lessened when he raised one corner of his mouth and tilted his head a bit. His voice was a low, raspy rumble and Lia felt it in her gut when he tutted and spoke again.

“If our Ada were here, she’d tell you all about how it represents the chaos of war and the destruction wrought by the powerful…how mechanization renders people obsolete…turns us into interchangeable parts.”

Lia stared at him as her mind lurched toward the realization that maybe she shouldn’t have been so candid. Our Ada? “Are you…” 

He turned his whole body to face her. “Thomas Shelby. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mrs…”

 As he kissed her hand her breath caught in her throat. She was toe to toe with the most powerful man in Birmingham, and his warm soft lips were currently on her skin. Tommy did not fail to notice the little shiver of electricity that passed between them.

“Miss… Miss Lia Montrose, and the pleasure is all mine.” The heat from his lips on her hand made its way up to her cheeks. She cleared her throat and swirled the champagne in her glass.  “Great party.”

“Party, event, fundraiser, no matter what you call it it’s all about separating this lot from their money. Since my Picasso is shite, tell me, which ones do you like?” There was a hint of mischief in his voice as he spoke.  

Tommy liked that there was something different about her. She was younger than the usual patrons of local charities, but the difference seemed to do more with the light in her eyes as she surveyed the room. Bright. The word Ada had used to describe their special guests sprang to his mind. She was one of those bright young things who Ada invited to try to make him have fun. There was a distinct lack of pretense in the way she carried herself. She had spent the evening looking at and chatting about art instead of business, and her honest reaction to his question did not surprise him in the least. 

Lia giggled a little and apologized. “I didn’t mean to insult your taste in art, Mr. Shelby…” 

“Call me Tommy.” He lazily caressed her body with his eyes.

“…I didn’t know who you were when you asked me.” Lia’s voice quivered, betraying her surprise at the bold way he was looking at her. After all, he was Tommy Shelby, and she was taken aback by the open way in which he was flirting with her.

 He took a step closer and raised his eyebrows. “Had you known, would it have changed your answer?” 

Lia bit her lip and fought back a smile before answering, “Well, no, but I would have used a bit more tact.” She looked up through her lashes at him.

Tommy held her gaze and waited for her to answer what he had asked previously. She seemed a bit dazed, so he repeated the question.  “Which ones do you like?”   

She glanced around the room, gathering her thoughts and began, “I really like the Mucha paintings. They are much more organic in how they reflect the beauty found in nature and…” As she trailed off, she realized that Mr. Shelby was still looking directly at her. His unwavering attention coupled with the champagne made it very hard for her to concentrate. 

Tommy could see that she was having some difficulty in expressing herself, and he was having quite a lot of fun teasing her. He narrowed his eyes and ran his tongue along his lips. “What makes you think the Picasso is shite?” he asked in an exaggeratingly sincere voice.  

She drained her champagne. Liquid courage could only help her current situation. “Personal preference, I suppose. It’s ridiculous,” She leaned closer to him in a conspiratorial manner.  “It’s overwrought and pretentious.”

 As soon as the words left her mouth Jenny came into view. Her eyes were huge as she gingerly approached Lia and Mr. Shelby.

“Oh, Jenny, let me introduce you to Tommy. We’ve been discussing his art collection.”  

Tommy offered a warm greeting to Jenny, who hid her surprise as best she could. “Mr. Shelby, thank you for extending an invitation to my cousin and me.”

“My pleasure. The fine work you’re doing for our city has not gone unnoticed, and I’m happy to show my appreciation. Do you have opinions on art, Miss Montrose? Your cousin is partial to Mucha.”

Lia giggled and smiled up at Tommy, “Well, yeah, of course, I prefer him to Picasso.”

Jenny’s eyes shifted from Lia to Tommy and back again, as she could hardly believe what she was seeing. There was an obvious attraction between them. Lia was fresh from the country and had no way of knowing the gravity of the situation she’d stumbled into. But Jenny did. 

She took the empty champagne glass from her cousin’s hand and placed it on a passing tray, “Thank you so much for your hospitality, Mr. Shelby, but we must be going.” 

Lia frowned, and Tommy’s demeanor cooled as he turned to face Jenny. “Won’t you stay for the auction?”  

“We would love to, but…” Jenny’s excuse was mercifully cut short by an announcement that the auction was beginning. 

Tommy shifted his attention back to Lia and slowly shook his head, “It’s a shame, you know. I could use your expertise to run up the bids.”

Lia looked over her shoulder as she walked toward the door and smiled sweetly, “That wouldn’t be fair, now would it, Mr. Shelby.”      

[flve-hargreeves]

( chris wood, 28, he/him ) class is in session for ANSEM WARBECK. their resume says they’re a WITCH and they’ve been teaching MENTAL MAGIC at the academy for THREE YEARS. the psychological report says they are LETHARGIC and CONTEMPTUOUS, but they’re also IRONWILLED and COMPASSIONATE. we wish them good luck in the new school year.  

— * | ansem warbeck is the oldest child of ragnor and celena warbeck. he has a twin brother named arson and while they are identical, they couldn’t be more different. both ragnor and celena are influential members of the magical community and always prided themselves on having a stellar reputation. stellar isn’t quite so stellar though; they are morally gray.  they  never get into dark magic themselves, but their family has profited heavily from it over the years.  ( think … war profiteers, i guess.  they never get their hands dirty but they have plenty of blood money ).  arson is the dutiful son, the good son, and ansem’s always been the disappointment who couldn’t live up to their expectations.  ( the michael bluth )

 ansem was never good at doing what he was told and rebelled against the behaviours his parents tried to ingrain in him. he never listened, always liked to do his own thing, and never bought into the whole ‘pureblood supremacy’ thing that they tried to drill into his head.  so what if they came from an old witch family? la creme de la crop? magic was magic. he figured if you could do it, you were just as good as anyone else.  ( his family disagreed. )  he  started  at  arcanas  when  he  was  eleven,  like  his  descendants  before  him,  and  was  a  member  of  house  aquis.  

       personality wise, ansem is sharp, sarcastic, and doesn’t have a high tolerance for people. the list of people he dislikes is longer than those he likes. he likes to have a good laugh ( sometimes at the expense of others ) and isn’t one to take on responsibility. ironic, given he’s now teaching at the school he used to go to. for someone as intelligent as he is, he does the least amount of work possible and does well but never really exceeds his own expectations. he’s incredibly lazy and can usually be found snacking or napping around the school.

 shortly after graduation he worked as a for hire curse breaker.  if there was a hex you couldn’t undo, or a curse on your family name, he was the guy you called to fix it.  he was good too.  it was only after a curse backfired and nearly killed him that he got scared and backed out of it. the fear was greater than the love he had.  arcanas was safe, a reminder of good days (and far far away from his family) so he was happy to ya yeet out of the real world.  less than a year after graduation, he was enrolled at a magical college and eventually became a mental magic teacher.

 another  point  of  irony,  given  how  much  he  claims  to  hate  people,  is  the  story  of  how  a  twenty/twenty one  year  old  mess  accidentally  adopted  an  eleven  year  old.   it  was  an  assignment  from  one  of  the  teachers  or  housemasters,  a  mentorship  program  between  tenth  and  first  years.  he  was  assigned  jade  brantley  and  at  first  ?  oh  boy  did  he  hate  her.   or  rather,  the  responsibility  he  felt  towards  her.   it  became  pretty  evident  the  more  he  got  to  know  her  that  they  were  put  together  for  a  reason.   her  family  had  sent  her  to  arcanas  without  so  much  as  a  second  look  and  couldn’t  have  cared  less  if  they  ever  saw  her  again.   she  stayed  behind  at  the  school  for  christmas,  as  did  he  to  avoid  tense  family  dinners  with  the  warbecks,  and  that  was  when  their  mentorship  started  to  become  more  like  family.   

by  the  end  of  the  year,  he  looked  at  her  like  —  his  kid,  if  he  was  being  honest.   it  was  kind  of  terrifying,  wanting  to  protect  another  person  from  the  realities  of  their  life,  but  he  knew  it  was  the  right  decision  to  make.  it  helped  that  his  partner  agreed;   they’d  come  to  care  about  jade  in  those  months  too,  and  they  both  knew  it  was  the  right  call.   he  contacted  her  parents,  assumed  temporary  guardianship,  and  she  moved  in  with  them  that  summer  after  they  graduated.   (  the individual that set all of this up,  the  cheeky  bastard,  sent  them  a  potted  plant  as  a  housewarming  gift.   a  plant  that  would  have  needed  to  have  been  potted  SIX  MONTHS  EARLIER.   he’d  be  mad  about  getting  played  if  he  wasn’t  so  happy.  )

they  formally  adopted  jade  a  few  years  later.  they  were  already  family  in  everything  but  blood  and  name  —  it  was  simply  a  formality.   the  three  of  them  —  four,  if  you  counted  jessica  the  cat  (  famously  known  for  stepping  on  faces  )  —  had  been  more  of  a  family  than  any  of  his  blood  relatives  had  ever  been.     he’s  never  regretted  his  choices.

that  being  said,  things  weren’t  always  happy.  he  and  his  partner  fought  a  lot,  sometimes  over  nothing  and  couldn’t  remember  why  they  ever  loved  each  other  in  the  first  place.  but  this  isn't  a  story  about  vindictive  exes,  it's  about  two  people  that  do  love  each  other,  probably  always  will,  but  just  didn't  love  being  together  anymore.  they're  excellent  co-parents  to  their  adopted  daughter  and  they're  working  their  way  back  to  being  best  friends  even  though  it's  a  little  awkward.  they  split  up  roughly  three  years  ago,  shortly  after  ansem  started  teaching  at  arcanas.

he  was  a  bit  of  a  mess  that  first  year,  i  won’t  lie.  he  probably  drank  too  much,  smoked  like  a  chimney,  and  was  trying  to  remember  how  to  be  a  person  instead  of  1/2  of  a  couple.  he’d  been  with  his  partner  almost  his  entire  life,  it  was  a  process  —  discovering  himself  again.  he  eventually  started  seeing  jude  montague  (  who,  ironically,  he’d  always  had  a  schoolboy  crush  on  when  he  was  a  student  )  who  also  taught  at  the  school.  one  thing  led  to  another  and  they’ve  recently  taken  things  to  the  next  level:  they  got  married.   ansem’s  still  a  little  terrified  this  one  is  going  to  go  belly  up  too,  that  he’s  going  to  mess  things  up,  but  they’re  still  in  the  newlywed  phase  so  he’s  not  quite  as  pessimistic  on  their  outlook.   it  also  helps  that  his  family  hates  jude:   1.  he’s  much  older,  even  without  the  whole  phoenix  thing,  2.  he’s  not  a  pureblood  witch  who  comes  from  a  good  family  name,  and  3.  he’s  a  man.   yeah,  celena  warbeck  was  not  happy  and  threatened  to  cut  him  off.   she  didn’t,  of  course,  but  his  father  hasn’t  spoken  a  single  word  to  him  ever  since  they  got  married.  it’s  a  game  now,  trying  to  see  if  he  can  say  or  do  something  to  make  him  break.  so  far,  he  hasn’t  won.  

 when  he’s  not  staying  at  arcanas,  watching  over  his  water  demons,  he’s  at  his  house  nearby.   now  that  he’s  married  jude,  however,  the  clan  (  bc  ansem  doesn’t  go  anywhere  without  jade,  jessica,  and  by  extension  kit  )  will  be  moving  into  his  definitely-haunted  house  nearby.  it’s  an  old  victorian,  fits  jude’s  goth  boy  aesthetic  perfectly,  and  tbh  as  long  as  it  has  decent  wifi  and  an  espresso  machine?  he’ll  be  fine.  

     he’s been teaching mental magic at arcanas academy for three years, so connections can be assumed with other staff members and students !!   he’s also been the housemaster for aquis, who he refers to as his water demons, so that’s opportunities for connections too! ( there’s also a 99% chance he calls all of his students by pokemon names. sorry not sorry. )   he’s  your  typical  panic  first,  think  logically  later,  type  person,  so  if  he  heard  about  the  orb  being  stolen  he’d  fear  for  their  inevitable  demise.   y’know,  chaotic  and  assuming  the  worst  case  scenario  from  the  get  go.

so that’s basically him in essence.  see some quick stats below for more tidbits.

*

— * | BASICS !

NAME: — ansem ragnorius warbeck.

NICKNAME(S): — ansem.

PRONOUNS: —he/him.

AGE/DOB: — twenty seven / july 25th.  (  he’s  almost  28,  so  don’t  @  me  )

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: — pansexual.

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: — panromantic.

ETHNICITY: — caucasian.

NATIONALITY: — british.

HOMETOWN: — manchester, uk.

EDUCATION: — he previously attended  arcanas, aquis house.  four  years  @  a  magical  college  near  aurora  /  arcanas  school. 

— * | PERSONALITY !

STAR SIGN: — leo.

PERSONALITY TYPE: — ESTP.

ALIGNMENT: — chaotic neutral.

PHOBIA(S): — enclosed spaces, clowns, snakes.

VICE(S): — cynicism, impatience, vindictiveness, spitefulness.

VIRTUE(S): — accountability, candor, realism, honesty, loyalty.

— * | RELATIONS !

PARENT(S): — ragnor and celena warbeck.

SIBLING(S): — arson warbeck ( twin brother. )

SIGNIFICANT OTHER(S): —  married.

— * | PHYSICAL !

FACECLAIM: — chris wood.

HEIGHT: — 6'0.

WEIGHT: — 71kg.

EYE COLOR: — brown.

HAIR COLOR: — brown.

GLASSES/CONTACTS: — n/a.

TATTOOS: — n/a.

PIERCINGS: — n/a.

SCARS: — jagged scar across his collarbone.

— * | MEDICAL !

ALLERGIES: — shellfish.

SMOKING/ALCOHOL/DRUGS: — former smoker. he hasn’t had a cigarette in approx. 112 days.  he drinks more than he should.  no drug use.

DIAGNOSES: — n/a.

BLOOD TYPE: — universal donor.

***

AESTHETICS:

NEATLY  TRIMMED  BEARD,  LAZY  SMIRKS,  SARCASTIC  QUIPS.  THE  MICHAEL  BLUTH.  REAL  LIFE  NATHAN  DRAKE.  BLEEDS  COFFEE  NOT  BLOOD.  UNHEALTHY  OBSESSION  WITH  TEEN MAGAZINE  QUIZZES.

CONNECTIONS  

students  with  an  aptitude  for  mental  magic  that  he  provides  additional  /  advanced  work  for  to  challenge  them.  (2/2)  dominic masters & rome hawks.

students  who  need  extra  help  in  one  or  more  of  the  aspects  of  his  curriculum.  this  would  include  after  hours  help,  extra  assignments,  or  one  on  one  attention  if  they  were  struggling  with  concepts  (1/4):  ella  bloom.

students  that  give  him  a  hard  time  in  class  for  one  reason  or  another.  could  be  people  who  sleep  in  class,  talk  back,  distract  others,  etc.  (1/??):  morgan  stife.

the  unholy  trinity:  fellow  teachers  who  like  to  get  together  and  be  chaotic,  shittalk  their  students,  and  forget  they’re  not  seventeen  anymore  bc  they’re  fucking  idiots  who  like  to  troll  (2/2):  maximus & reserved

fellow  teachers  who  like  to  get  together  and  drink  wine  after  stressful  days,  or  just  when  they  feel  like  it  tbh.  (1/????)  maxwell gray.

a  rival/enemy  from  when  he  was  @  arcanas  who  now  also  works  at  arcanas.  he  can’t  remember  why  they  don’t  like  each  other  but  he’s  dedicated  to  the  feud.  it’s  petty,  he  knows, but  he  sucks  at  admitting  he’s  wrong.  (0/1)

ex-wife.  see  wanted  connections.  (0/1)

childhood  friend.  fellow  witches  who  would  have  hung  around  people  who  were  haughty  and  thought  they  were  better  than  everyone  else.  ansem’s  parents  thought  they  were  hot  shit  so  maybe  their  parents  felt  the  same.  they  both  rebelled  against  what  their  parents  wanted  for  them  and  it  bonded  them.  (0/1)

partner  in  crime.  (28  years  old)  this  person  was  very  different  from  ansem.  different  species,  a  little  more  serious,  the  kind  of  person  you  wouldn’t  expect  to  be  friends  with  him.  they’re  probably  the  only  reason  ansem  even  passed  his  exams,  forced  to  study,  and  he  forced  this  friend  to  actually  have  fun  and  live  a  little.  they’re  still  close  but  maybe  fell  out  of  touch  over  the  years.  this  person  would  be  new  to  arcanas  as  a  staff  member,  or  teacher,  but  would  be  an  alumnus  preferably  from  house  aquis  but  could  be  any.  

others  to  be  added  when  it  isn’t  2am  and  my  brains  fried.