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theresattrpgforthat · 1 year

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I have ADHD and memory issues, but the _Patchwork World_ writeup seems to focus on learning the rules and chargen, which are the aspects I have the least trouble with (I can do them asynchronously, alone and between sessions) -- my main issue is with maintaining attention over the duration of a play session. Are there games designed to be played in short bursts -- maybe sessions of 10-30 minutes?

THEME: Quick / ADHD friendly games.

Hello friend! So I’m going to break down this ask a little bit to hopefully make it more helpful. I’m going to include games that can be played in short bursts, but I’m also going to highlight some games that might help in other ways.

I’m also going to include some advice I’ve picked up about gaming from ADHD - tips that I got specifically from creators who have ADHD themselves. I recognize that it works differently for everyone, so your mileage may vary, but hopefully one or two of these tips will be useful!

Disclaimer: I do not have ADHD myself. I am forwarding advice from other creators. The two creators that I took tips from are the following:

10 Tips to Make Your Tabletop RPG More ADHD Friendly, by How to ADHD.

DnD and ADHD, by Azrai.

Both of these videos are focused on D&D, but there is advice that is translatable across games.

One of the biggest helps to understanding the obstacles to gaming with ADHD is the re-contextualization of how an ADHD-brain works. As far as I understand, ADHD brains have an easier time focusing on something if it’s engaging. If it isn’t engaging, or if your brain can’t sort through the information to understand what’s going on, it just kind of… shuts off. So the biggest thing is to think about what makes playing games interesting.

Short Sessions and One-Shots.

I can definitely understand the effectiveness of short sessions and one-shots. You don’t have to retain information from a previous session, and short games are usually rules-lite so you don’t have to keep a lot of information in your working memory.

Oh No It’s Gay, by blake stone.

a quick, single-session dice-stacking RPG about flirting, falling in love, and being super queer. rules for both two-player and multiplayer games are included.

I’m recommending this game because of the dice-stacking mechanic that I think might be engaging. The game itself is pretty simple, and I don’t see a session lasting longer than a few minutes. This game seems to work best with two-to-three players, and the dice-stacking requires you to pay attention when it comes to making sure the dice stack stays up. At the same time, you don’t have to hold much information in your head, and most of your actions are determined based on how you’re feeling. If you’re feeling flirty, then you’ll probably be stacking lots of dice!

Subway Runners, by Gem Room Games.

Life is tough for the cash-strapped in Prociopolis. Ever since the secret to immortality was discovered, nobody retires anymore! With all the steady jobs taken and no sign of any new ones opening up, there’s only one sure way to make some quick cash: sign up as a Subway Runner and work for the Metro Authority to hunt monsters and repair subway lines below the city.

The minds behind Gem Room Games prioritize making games that can be run quickly, and Subway Runners is an excellent example of that. Characters are randomly generated, so you can cycle through the generator until you find one that you like. Then you can download the character sheet and print it off if that works easier for you! You roll a number of d6’s whenever you attempt to do something, with 1-3 being bad, 4/5 being a partial success, and a 6 (or more) being a full success. The staggered success is similar to the way Patchwork World works, but instead of trying to keep track of moves, you just need to find which skill of yours makes the most sense to use.

Subway Runners is a great game for one-shot play! If you hold sessions for longer than 30 minutes I would recommend having a break partway through and doing a re-cap when you come back from the break, to make sure everyone is on the same page and is able to focus on what is about to happen next. If you hold sessions for 30 minutes at a time then I can see the game as functioning as essentially a min-campaign, in which case a quick re-cap before each session is absolutely fundamental.

Finally, if you’re going to be playing shorter sessions, it might be more logical to play online so as to reduce transport costs and the amount of time you need to set aside for a game, and Subway Runners is designed to be run online!

Firebrands: Mobile Frame Zero, by Meguey & Vincent Baker.

Humanity has spread through the Milky way, using interstellar transit gate technology to colonize the galaxy. Mobile frames are the hard-working, hard-fighting combat- and labor mecha they’ve brought with them. You are romantic ace mobile frame pilots, caught up in an undeclared war for the future of the Bantral system.

I don’t know anything about how Firebrands-style games play, but I do know that they are effectively built to be a series of mini-games. You might be able to play one mini-game per session, in order to keep each session short. The biggest downside might be that each mini-game uses a different set of rules, but if you’re only doing one mini-game at a time, that might not be an issue for your group.

The Score, by Tin Star Games.

THE SCORE is an all-new kind of collaborative story game that lets you create the world's greatest heist movie with just 18 cards in under 18 minutes of game time. It's a revolutionary take on shared storytelling that needs no GM, no complex rules, no hefty rulebooks and gives you all the idea prompts you need to be the mastermind.

This game is still in funding but it's meant to be played in 18 minutes, which is probably the shortest tabletop roleplaying game on this list. You can check out the link above to find reviews, playthroughs, and a short guide on how to play!

Visual References and Tactile Player Pieces.

A game that has a visual reference can be stimulating and can help someone keep focus over an extended period of time. This visual reference might just be pictures that you share online to help you visualize what’s going on, or it might be something that is can be seen and interacted with in front of you, to help keep you engaged and interested. This is probably a mandatory thing in games that are long, with a lot of rules.

Lancer, by Massif Press.

Lancer imagines a future where a survivor humanity has spread to the stars after weathering terrible ecological collapse on Earth - the end of the Anthropocene as a consequence of unrestrained consumption and poor stewardship. Thousands of years later, humanity lives in the wake of a desperate revolution, one where the victorious radicals now manage the galaxy they've won.

Lancer is a mech game, set in the far future, and it has a lot of moving pieces, but it also has an immeasurable wealth of player aids. The creators (and fans) of the game have provided the Comp-Con App, which acts as a Compendium, a Character Creation Tool, and a Character Keeper all in one. The App helps you track damage, plan out your mech build, and mark off deployables as you engage in combat.

I play Lancer in person with a small play group, and we use a hex-map and chess pieces to keep track of what’s going on in combat. This gives us pieces to pick up and move, and it also gives us a visual reference to track where we are and what we want to do next. While our game has chunks of narrative play to provide plot points, the bulk of our game sessions involve combat, and the nice thing about that is that you only really need to know what your objective is, and therefore you can focus on moving across the map and wiping out your enemies. If you want to make combat shorter, you can stop partway through or break it up into smaller skirmishes with a few enemies at a time.

I’m the GM for the game, but I personally cannot keep all of the rules straight in my head - luckily I have a player or two who love rules and will happily remind me how inflicting Burn works, whether I can shoot things in soft cover, and what exactly a Veil Rifle does.

Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast, by Possum Creek Games.

Welcome to Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, a slice-of-life tabletop RPG about a heartless witch, a peaceful house, and all the folks who have made their home inside.

Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast is a very special game. It uses pre-set characters, quick-play chapters, and an adaptable ruleset unlike anything else out there. It takes less than a half hour to learn how to play and get started, but with new chapters and secrets to unlock folks can stick with the game for years and years.

Jay Dragon, the Project Manager for Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast, places accessibility at the forefront of all of Possum Creek’s games. Each chapter of this game has slightly different rules, but you use the same characters for each one. Many of the games use tokens, which will be earned, spent, and placed on tracks to make things happen in the story. Each session looks as if it is meant to last 40-60 minutes, which is a bit longer than you might be looking for but is certainly shorter than a typical D&D session.

Because of the token usage in this game, I can see this game having a big tactile element. The character art is also colourful and engaging, and provides you with a really strong visual reference that can help you identify with whichever character you decide to play. Yazeba’s B&B chapters also mean that not every character has to be present for each game.

If you want to check out this game, there is an Ashcan Version on Itch.io, and if you want an Online play option, you can check out Yazeba’s Online by One More Multiverse! The Online game has a whole map of Yazeba’s that you can actually move your character through, and I think that really improves how easy it is to keep engaged with the game.

Light Rules and Communal Player Resources.

If there are not a lot of rules or math that has to be done, you don’t have to spend time thinking about how you do something and you can spend more time focusing on what you want to do. Communal player resources can also be a big boon because if the entire party has the ability to see what’s available, it’s not up to just one person to remember what kinds of tools you have at hand. I personally love online player-kits that are visible to everyone, because you’ll never lose your character sheet, and you fellow players can help you find the pieces of information that you need to figure out what it is you want your character to do next.

Camp Flying Moose for Girls of All Kinds, by Alicia Furness.

Camp Flying Moose for Girls of All Kinds is a PbtA game about teen girls at a summer camp filled with strange supernatural occurrences. Inspired by Lumberjanes, and my own experiences of summer camp, the game investigates mysteries, monsters, and teenage identity.

You mentioned Patchwork World as a game that you felt worked for you. Patchwork World stands out to me as a PbtA game that lets you customize your character, but only really requires you to remember the moves that you specifically have to make. Camp Flying Moose is also a PbtA game and also lets you create a character by putting pieces together. You will choose a two special moves that define your character, assign numbers to five stats as you like, and answer two characters about your experience at camp.

I’ve also created a communal character keeper that you can use to track all of your character information as a group! You can check it out here.

Visigoths vs Mall Goths, by Lucian Kahn.

Visigoths vs. Mall Goths is a tabletop roleplaying game and dating sim about the conflicts and romances among the warriors who sacked ancient Rome and 20th century spooky teens, set in a suburban Los Angeles shopping mall during 1996. There are a lot of bisexuals.

I talk about this game a lot, and that’s because it’s good. The player aids are easy to understand and follow along. There is a map of the mall to help your characters figure out where they want to go next. There is a day tracker that the GM will move along as you play, which ensures that you finish the session within a reasonable time. And there are things that you as a character can do even when the spotlight isn’t on you to help keep you engaged even when it isn’t your turn - characters can embarrass themselves in order to give a bonus to a friend while they roll.

I also find that this is a game that encourages competition, so if you like games where the goal is to (humorously) one-up other characters, you might find this game to be up your alley! This game is also PbtA, often hailed as a hall-mark for being rules light.

I also made a character play-kit for this game, which you can find here! There’s also an Online Supplement made by Chloe Sutherland that makes it easier to play this game online.

Finally...

I recognize that a number of games on here don’t look like they run in very short sessions as designed. For a lot of games, I think having a game table that is on board can be the biggest help. You want a game group that understands your need for re-caps and short sessions, and is willing to work with you. Perhaps meeting online makes it easier to schedule a short game, or maybe taking a 5-minute break halfway through an hour-long game gives you a chance to get your focus back. I’d also recommend talking to your GM about what you find interesting in play. If you’re into romance and all the group is doing is fighting monsters, I can see it being very easy to lose focus.

Some final tips:

Keep the table small if possible (only 2 or 3 players), so there is a shorter wait time between each turn.

Our table lets people do things when it’s not their turn, such as get up to stretch their legs, munch on snacks, and doodle. Keeping our hands busy and letting our blood flow gives some of us the re-set we need to keep focused.

Ask your GM to give you one piece of information or one obstacle at a time. Then you don’t have to try and remember all of the things happening around you at once.

#tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #dnd #game recommendations #asks #adhd #memory #short games

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number1traumalover · 1 month

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This is random af, but I just finished watching season 4 of TUA(the umbrella academy) and I am extremely agitated

So, multiple paragraph long(super long) rant under the cut

First things first, let me clarify that this series isn't the worst I've seen, and that s1 and s2 were both goldmines. I do think season 3 and 4 definitely could of done better, though.

To sum up s4 in a few words, RUSHED, UNNECESSARY, and PLOT HOLES. For example, the entire love triangle thing Diego, Five, and Lila was unwanted and pointless. Not only did it degraded Five and Lila's characters so much(c'mon five, you're smarter than that), it was also just a waste of screen time. Lila and Five getting lost on the subway contributed almost NOTHING to the story. It was mainly just a setup for the pathetic relationship they had. The only beneficial thing that came out of it was Lila and Five being able to navigate the subways, which led to Lila's family and Allison's daughter escaping(this was also a terrible writing choice, but we'll get to that later). By pitting Diego, Five, and Lila together they unraveled 3 WHOLE FUCKING YEARS of hard work and dedication to getting Five to slowly grow on them. Overall, 0/10. Hated the love triangle.

For another example, let's talk about the variety in quality, shall we? I will admit that the first 2-3 episodes of season 4 were pretty decent, and I actually liked them, but you could see the quality of the episodes just go down as you progressed through out the season. The ending was clearly rushed, and to me it seems like they were running out of a budget and they knew it. Not a great look, 0/10.

Anyways, its time for my dearly beloathed plot holes. Since I have too many and it would take too long for me to explain them all, I'll just list them all quickly.

Wouldn't Grace, Claire, and Lila's other kid existing in another universe cause a kugelblitz to exist, since their mothers are dead, and thats exactly the reason for why the Sparrow kugelblitz existed?

What happened to the other children with Marigold in them? There were 43 in the umbrella timeline and 19(give or take) in the Sparrow timeline. Why would they also get obliterated when the umbrella siblings got consumed by the cleanse?

Why did Luther get his monkey body back when he drank the Marigold? The monkey body had nothing to do with the Marigold, henceforth shouldn't be associated with his powers.

If it was made so that Five never existed in the first place, then the Commission never would've existed, meaning that Five never would've been hired to assassinate Kennedy, meaning that the whole fucking timeline would be messed up(there's probably more examples of this)

Speaking of the Commission, why did Five found it in the first place? The old Five in the freezer at the commission had half of his arm chopped off, meaning that he founded the commission after the scene with the Guardian. He would've had to reset the timeline in order to gain access to what he needs to start he Commission, but if he reset the timeline, then he wouldn't have his arm chopped off, meaning that in another universe, Five and the others found a way to escape the Oblivion without resetting the timeline. If so, how the fuck did they do that??

Killing the tua shouldn't have erased all the Marigold, since Reginald's wife would've still created the durango and marigold on the other planet BEFORE it had reached earth. And if Five and co didn't exist, the Marigold just would've found another host. THIS DOESNT MAKE SENSE??

The new powers that some of the tua members got make no sense??? Why can Lila shoot laser eyes AND copy powers? How come Klaus can fly? That has nothing to do with his spectral themed powers, and everyone knows that he just makes himself levitate by having ghosts lift him instead. In the scene where Diego is delivering packages (the night after Ben spiked their drinks) how come he's able to make them land directly where he wants them? There's no metal in letters or envelopes??

(There's more plot holes, but I don't have the time and patience to list them all.)

LONG story short, the ending to the grand series finale was kind of disappointing. I genuinely think they could of done a better job on it.

#the umbrella academy #tua season 4 #tua s4 #TUA #One of the only good parts was Viktor being the coolest fucking trans idol I've seen #That and Luther's acting. He was fucking hilarious this season #Not related to season 4 but why tf did Viktor forgive Allison? She was being such a bitch to him and everyone in s3 #I just think she was let off too easily #Even though I kind of hate s4 #Season 1 of TUA (and season 2 I guess) will always have a special place in my heart for being one of my top fav shows

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gotjacobian · 4 months

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Travel journal-type posting, just describing some of the stuff I've gotten to do in Japan.

Day 1: Got off the plane, got through passport control and customs with minimum issues (I fucked up my entry date bc time zones and had to hold up the line while I fixed it whoops). Took the subway to Yokohama, also screwed that up because I was hopped up on benadryl and still only managed to sleep for 2 hours at a time max on the plane. Unscrewed it up with the help of a very patient attendant, made it to the hotel. I bought takoyaki and a highball from a place across the street from the hotel, which reminded me that I don’t actually like takoyaki. It’s too mushy. Then passed out.

Day 2: This was my full day in Yokohama before the conference. I beelined for a 7-11 to get the canned coffee I like and can only get here (and some pastries), then went to a park by the baseball stadium to eat it. Then I took off to try and at least see the (closed :( ) gundam factory exhibit. There was a triathalon in the way, so I spent awhile wandering through parks to get around it and get close enough for a picture. There were tons of beautiful gardens, and lots of people taking photos of their costumed dogs there? Like, 3 dog photoshoots for every presumed child/romantic partner photoshoot. They all seemed very happy to chill in the flowers and get fussed over.

In general Yokohama is really well suited to my kind of travel wandering - going along the harbor coast takes you through a couple different gorgeous parks and past a few museums, and also gives you a great view of the water. I ended up going into the doll museum, and immediately learned I had vastly overestimated the amount of english they’d have on the exhibits based on their website. I speak basically no Japanese, so used an image translate app a lot. That’s wasn’t an option the last time I was in Japan in 2019 - it was really useful! I drained my battery using it on basically every single plaque in the museum. The style of the exhibit captions felt different than I’d expect from a US museum. They were often more anecdotes from an artist or curator than they were descriptions. I’m curious to what extent that was cultural or was something lost in translation? The translations I got definitely weren’t perfect, and seemed to get worse the more anecdotal or conversational the material was.

The exhibit that attracted me to the doll museum was called “Why do we create objects that look like humans?”. It had exhibits of historical dolls and sculptures, as well as installations from modern artist and dollmakers. A lot of it touched on an inherent alienation in recreating the human in the nonhuman, and the ways all depictions of the human form are exaggerated in ways we sort after the fact into “beautiful” or “grotesque.” I liked it, but honestly wanted it to be more like, embodiment philosophy-y. Very much a me problem.

On the way back, I stopped by Yokohama’s Chinatown. I feel like it was much more of a tourist attraction than the equivalent in Boston or SF - lots of street food stands and people hawking specific restaurants or palm-reading services. Lots of panda-themed merch. It was VERY crowded. I bought a single pork bun for lunch, wandered through a few stores, and then ditched to try and find somewhere calmer.

A friend recommended that I check out Kaganecho, the arts district about a half an hour walk along the canal from where I was staying, so I went that way. I immediately saw a lot of signs advertising an “Art Bazaar” that was supposed to be happening in the area. There were people wandering around with tickets and brochures. It took me an hour to figure out how to get one - I was saved by stumbling on a performance piece that was part of the exhibit, a woman playing a song by hitting a series of bowls with wooden mallets, that just happened to be scheduled right then. It was right under the train line, so you got the loud rumbling drowning her out every few minutes, and also the ambient city sounds of bikes and children and wind under her playing. When she finished, I stalked some people who were watching with me and finally found the office that could sell me a ticket.

The “art bazaar” is a yearly exhibition in a series of apartments converted into studios in the few blocks around a particular train station. You’re given a ticket and a map where some of the buildings were marked. You wander around to find them, go in, and there’s Art there. I’ll probably post separately about this, honestly. It was one of the coolest gallery experiences I’ve ever had. The theme of the exhibits was “The world through no art”, and a lot of the material directly engaged with the history of the area - a neighborhood that housed a lot of bars, brothels, etc starting from the US occupation in the city post WWII, which were forcibly evicted in the 2000s, then later replaced with the studios as part of a city initiative to ‘rejuvenate’ the area. I went to every single exhibit that was open and stayed until I was about to pass out from the combination of walking and art feelings. I chickened out of going to a restaurant alone when I was already exhausted, and instead grabbed a katsu sandwich from 7-11 to eat in my hotel room.

Day 3: Start of the conference. It was raining horribly, and I have big fears about walking in the rain with my laptop, so I skipped the first couple hours until it calmed enough that I felt okay buying and using an umbrella. The conference was in this giant exhibition hall on a peninsula in the city that was all fancy hotels, shopping centers, and an amusement park. My maps app kept trying to get me to walk THROUGH the amusement park to get there, which was a kind of ominous experience when it was empty and raining. I met with some friends and labmates, we got Singaporean food for lunch (chicken and rice), and went to some of the afternoon talks. There was a welcome banquet where a guy performed with Kendamas (japanese toy/prop with a wooden ball attached to a wooden thing with cups and a spike). He did a bunch of poi tricks with them, and seemed to be having the time of his life. They also opened the expo, where I discovered they did at least have the gundam head from the gundam factory exhibit left over (still cannot believe they would close it a month before the robotics conference). Me and one of my former labmates got dinner at a katsu place that claimed to be the oldest in the city. We had to split from the group to get it, since there weren’t any vegetarian options there, but it was really good. I discovered that my hotel is like 1/10th as fancy as any of the other conference hotels, idk what happened. Very jealous of the main venue hotel people who had a room overlooking the harbor.

Day 4: Got there in the morning, did some conference stuff. We got sushi for lunch in this giant mall right next to the venue. I ditched for half an hour in the afternoon to wander through a different park by the harbor, which was also very pretty. All the greenery is very green and the water is very blue. I took another break to try and work some on my paper, since I feel bad for not doing more of that, but finding a place with decent wifi is hard. I meet back up with my labmates to get dinner, at a nearby ramen place with vegan options. I got their signature yuzu shio ramen, which was good, but I still prefer the pork-based styles.

Day 5: Is the day I’m helping present. I go to my coauthor’s presentation and then stand with him at the poster session, and get to talk to a few people. I’m surprised how fast the paper comes back to me, even though I haven’t really thought about it for at least a year at this point. I get lunch with another labmate at a milk-themed restaurant in the mall. I’m weirdly charmed that in Japan, “milk” is a flavor? And that there are prefectures proud of their local milk? The restaurant has both western-style food with cheese or cream as ingredients, and a milk and cheese bar where you can get bread, spreadable cheese, and toppings. I run back to the hotel before the conference banquet, get lost in the other hotel the banquet is in, finally arrive and realize all my labmates are either ditching or got a different banquet venue, so I sit with a very nice person from the university of edinburgh I met at the poster earlier that day. I talk about firespinning and mugs because I’m incapable of not doing so. Every one of the venues has a different style of food and performance - ours performance is actually a lion dance, which is notably… not japanese, put on by students from a school in the local chinatown. It’s still really impressive, especially given that they did it between the tables people were eating at. Like, I’ve attempted to be a base for a cheerleading toss once, and it was hard for 3 people to hold one up - these performers were jumping on each other’s shoulders the whole time, while puppeting the giant lion. They kept having it pretend to eat the heads of the people it walked past, it was a good time.

I spend an hour or two that night on my Quest, which is that I saw some kind of peach jelly drink in exactly one vending machine early in the trip and didn’t buy it. Now I want it, so I’ve been wandering through the city inspecting vending machines to try and find it again. Tonight I wander up and down this shopping center street that has a lot of them, in the rain, but no dice. I buy peach flavored ice cream at the 7-11 instead and reaffirm my mission.

Day 6: I wake up feeling bad, in both a stress and a physical way. I stay at the hotel and work on my paper, then go to a nearby cafe and try to work on my paper, but they don’t have wifi. I go back and end up sleeping, which I feel bad about, but probably needed - I can get disconnected from my own tiredness levels when I’m doing extended crunch time for a project, and I’m trying to be more aware of that. I don’t go to any of the conference stuff, but do leave at one point to get the local kind of ramen from a place I saw recommended online. The style is called ie-kei, and is an emulsified mix of pork broth and shoyu with chicken oil, served with pork, seaweed, short noodles, and spinach on top. I redeem myself by ordering and eating in the restaurant alone. It’s good in a comfort food way. I go back to the hotel and alternate working and sleeping, and end up skipping dinner with my labmates because I still feel gross.

Day 7: I feel better when I wake up, but have already committed to skipping this day of the conference because I’m going to Osaka. I find another cafe that actually has wifi, and eat there to do some work in the morning. Tangent - people really go nuts for the egg salad sandwiches here, and I don’t get it. I tried one and thought it was tasteless and had that bad cooked egg yolk texture. Super not for me.

I check out of the hotel and take the subway to Tokyo station. I get there an hour early because I forgot when my train was, so wander around the station for a while. It is SO crowded and there are SO MANY stores selling train bento, souvenirs, boxes of desserts to give as gifts, etc, and every single one has a designated salesperson shouting into the void. It is the most sensory-overloading, maze-like place I have been in my entire life. I take great pride in managing to eventually actually find the internet-recommended places to get ekibento for the train. I buy one with more traditional food, and one kids one that comes in a fake JR train freight container, because I really want the fake freight container. I also get an apple-custard pastry and a crepe with cream and melon ball topping. And then I am exhausted, and still too early for my train, so I stand by the platform and am extremely confused when someone asks me for directions (correctly assigned english-speaking person who knows where the ekibento are at the tokyo shinkansen station, I guess).

I do get on the train eventually, and eat one of the bento (I save the second because I am worried the person sitting next to me is gonna judge me for eating 2 bento, one of which is definitely meant for children, but I will eat it eventually). I said I was gonna do work but instead I’m writing this and watching out the window of the train. I feel like everyone has their travel fixation - my grandparents laugh about how when my mom and brother would go on trips as kids, they’d get disposable cameras. And when they developed the photos, all of them were of ponds, lakes, coastlines, because they grew up in the west texas desert. I grew up in the flat, flat Texas plains, and now I’m like that about mountains. This train goes straight through them, and right past Mt Fuji. It gets to me how distinctive the landscape in japan is - I’ve looked at a lot of traditional japanese art as like, a precursor to modern styles in comics, because I find it interesting. And I feel like I looked at some elements of that style - atmospheric perspective, depth through stacking flat layers of scenery, the specific abstract-seeming way Mt Fuji gets drawn - and assumed it was entirely an artistic choice. But like… Mt Fuji just looks like that. The landscape just looks like that, with the fog and the layered mountains. The green is such a specific shade of green, and the blue is a specific shade of blue, and the buildings are all such a particular faded palette in a way I feel like must make Japan instantly recognizable on geoguessr, a game I am very bad at. I love looking at the cities and buildings, too - I wish I knew the words to describe the specifics of the style and design. I feel like I'm getting increasing city architecture obsessed these days, despite not having that language. Getting to see it is the bit of travel that really makes me feel like I'm experiencing something I couldn't anywhere else. I'm gonna find my hotel in Osaka once I get there, hunt down some food, then will probably try and do some more work before bed. Then tomorrow, in theory, Osaka castle and whatever else seems compelling.

#misc: gamergirlectoplasm said merge is the way about all drinks that american tourists are about vending machine drinks in japan #and i feel called out by it every single time I walk past one. it’s me i’m the person who is too soft about being able #to get colorful cans with unfamiliar and tasty things inside out of boxes i can just find on the side of the street #complaining

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quodekash · 2 years

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—- —-

Tinn: You have an impressive pain tolerance. Gun: Thanks, it's the trauma.

—- —-

Sound: Win! For the love of god, please turn down that music. I have a hangover. Win: *blasting the mii theme at full volume* That sounds like a you problem, not a mii problem.

—- —-

Tinn: Tiw! For the love of god, please turn down that music. I have a hangover. Tiw: *blasting the mii theme at full volume* That sounds like a you problem, not a mii problem.

—-(it worked for both of them)—-

Sound, joining chinzhilla: I think I mostly want to see what happens when this whole place breaks apart.

—- —-

Gun: I hate when people ask me, 'What did you do today?' Buddy listen, I woke up at noon and then it was five p.m., okay? I don't KNOW!

—-(adhd gun hcssss)—-

Yo: So uh, for this party and everything, do you, uh... Por, sighing: You don't know how to dress for this, do you? Yo, panicked: WHAT IS CLOTHES???

—- —-

Tinn: I’m this close to falling in love with Gun. Tiw: Your fingertips are touching. Tinn: Exactly.

—-

Gun: So, Pat is no longer allowed to take the trash out at night. Sound: Why? Gun: Because I've caught him trying to train raccoons to fight five times in a row. Pat, arms crossed and pouting: You'll be thanking me when the third raccoon battalion saves your ass.

—-

Tiw: Why would anyone want to harm Tinn? Sound: Maybe because they met him?

—-(you cant tell me this didn’t happen)—-

Tiw, teaching Tinn to drive: Okay, you're driving and Gun and Por walk into the road. Quick, what do you hit? Tinn: Oh, definitely Por. I could never hurt Gun. Tiw, massaging his temples: The brakes. You hit the brakes.

—- —-

Tinn: Bye Gun! Bye Win! Bye Sound! Bye Yo! Bye Por! Bye Pat! Bye Gun! Tiw: You said ‘bye Gun’ twice. Tinn: I like Gun.

—- —-

Tinn: If you see me talking to myself, go away! I’m self-employed and we’re having a staff meeting!

—- —-

Pat: I drink to forget but I always remember. Gun: You're drinking orange juice.

—- —-

Tinn: Hi- Sound: Leave before there's a terrible misunderstanding between my foot and your ass.

—- —-

Gun: I haven't seen Yo and Win for fifteen minutes now. *Outside a nearby window, a car without a driver inside is seen rolling down a driveway, with Yo and Win running after it in a panic. Gun doesn't look outside at all.* Gun: That probably means they're getting into trouble.

—-(yo and win's friendship means everything to me)—-

Pat: Hey Win, can you give me the opposite of these words? Pat: Always, Coming, From, Take, Me, Down. Win: Never, Going, To, Give, You- Win: The fucking satisfaction.

—-(pat likes rickrolling i decided)—-

Gun: Can you keep a secret? Tinn: Well, I'm good until I meet the next person.

—-(hes literally told tiw everything and idek if gun knows that tiw knows)—-

Tinn, trying to reconcile with Sound: Hey, can I get a sip of that water? Sound: It’s not water. Tinn: Vodka! I like your sty- Sound: It’s vinegar. Tinn: …What? Sound: It's vinegar, PUSSY.

—-(im a sucker for these sound-tinn rivalry quotes. mostly cos i desperately need to know wHY)—-

Gun: Wasn't icarly that guy that girlbossed too close to the sun because he was down for Apollo? Tiw: ICARUS?

—-(his poor nerd heart)—-

Pat: I’m gonna die alone. Win: Pat, you’re not gonna die alone. Pat: Gun, was my safety net, okay? He got married and now I have to get a snake. Sound: Uh-huh. Why is that? Pat: If I’m gonna be an old lonely person, I’m gonna need a thing, you know? A hook. Like that guy in the subway who eats his own face. Pat: So I figured I’ll be “Crazy Man With A Snake”, you know? Crazy snake man. Pat: Then I’ll get more snakes, call them my babies. Kids won’t walk past my place, they will run! RUN AWAY FROM CRAZY SNAKE MAN!

—- —-

Win: I like to play this game called nap roulette. I take a nap and don’t set an alarm. Will it be 20 min or 4 hours? Nobody knows. It’s risky and I like it.

—-(that's why he's always late for school)—-

Win: I hope no one lowkey hates me. Win: Highkey hate me. Hate me with every fiber of your being. Win: Go big or go home.

—- —-

Tinn: Your smile? It makes my day. Gun: Your happiness? I live for that. Yo: A room? Get one. Pat: Hotel? Trivago.

—-(i will milk pat's loneliness dry bc its funny)—-

Tinn's mum: Where's Tinn and the music club? Tiw: They're playing hide and seek. Tinn's mum: Where? Tiw: I don't think you get how this game works.

—- —-

Gun, walking into their house: Hello, people who do not live here. Yo: Hey. Win: Hi. Sound: Hello. Por: Hey! Gun: I gave you the key to my place for emergencies only! Pat: We were out of Doritos.

—- —-

Por: I’m the smartest person in my friend group. Tiw: You hang out with Gun, Win, Pat, and Yo. Tiw: It’s not as high a compliment as you think.

—- —-

Pat: Dumbest scar stories, go! Tiw: I burned my tongue once drinking tea. Por: I dropped a hair dryer on my leg once and it burned. Win: I have a piece of graphite in my leg for accidentally stabbing myself with a pencil in the first grade. Tinn: I was taking a cup of noodles out of the microwave and spilled it in my hand and I got a really bad burn. Gun: I have emotional scars.

—- —-

Squad reactions to being called straight: Por: The fuck, no I'm not. Tiw: Excuse the hell out of you? Tinn: Ding dong, you are wrong! Gun: Who told you that? And why did they lie? Sound: Rude. Win: *punches the person*

—- —-

(I couldn’t decide who would fit this next one best so you get all three versions of the same quote)

Gun: You don't need my blessing to go kiss Win. In fact, I was pretty sure you were already kissing Win! Sound: Nope. Gun: In that case, as the archbishop of Sound's fully awakened gaydom, I give you my blessing to immediately leave and rectify that as soon as possible! Go now, my child, and kiss Win right on the lips!!!

—-

Gun: You don't need my blessing to go kiss Por. In fact, I was pretty sure you were already kissing Por! Tiw: Nope. Gun: In that case, as the archbishop of Tiw's fully awakened gaydom, I give you my blessing to immediately leave and rectify that as soon as possible! Go now, my child, and kiss Por right on the lips!!!

—-

Tiw: You don't need my blessing to go kiss Tinn. In fact, I was pretty sure you were already kissing Tinn! Gun: Nope. Tiw: In that case, as the archbishop of Gun's fully awakened gaydom, I give you my blessing to immediately leave and rectify that as soon as possible! Go now, my child, and kiss Tinn right on the lips!!!

—- —-

BONUS-

Pat: Ah, Hello again. We really need to stop meeting like this. Pran: Maybe we would, if you would sTOP BREAKING INTO MY FUCKING HOUSE!!!

—- —-

BONUS AGAIN-

Korn: Do you guys want to see a butterfly? Pat: Ooh, yes please! Pran, with his laptop open: I'm not going to stop working to look at a stupid bug! Korn: It's not a bug though... Pran: ... Pat: ... Pran: Well I still don't want to see. Pat, realizing: Please don't throw- Korn: Whee! *throws a stick of butter*

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meggannn · 10 months

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atsv rewatch notes that i forgot to share

in gwen's flashback, mr stacy says "why wear a mask if you've got nothing to hide?" may parker says "no politics at the dinner table," and gwen pointedly says "thank you, may" to which may winks at her. does may know she's spider-woman?? that would definitely add another layer of angst if may thinks she's responsible for her nephew's death as well

gwen goes to visions academy in her universe too, evidenced by the logo on the drums she plays and the shirt her dad's wearing. so no wonder she could sneak her way around in 1610, but also, her school seems to be in chelsea (manhattan) not brooklyn? unless their band practice is just in chelsea and they stole a drum set from brooklyn lol

one of gwen's posters just says SOCIAL MEDIA lmao

the fact that in gwen's touching selfie of her and miles you can still see peter's sweatpants legs in the background from where he's passed out on the bus is so funny to me

65's police department is also called PDNY, so i guess peter's NYPD in 616 is the odd one out

captain stacy calls his partner "yuri"! i assume it's 65's yuri watanabe?? (edit, the director's commentary confirms this)

according to his arrest log, the vulture was a middle school secretary before being arrested lmao

i just realized we were going to get miguel's backstory and then gwen interrupts it because she doesn't care. so i guess my theory about miles being the only one who can interrupt others' monologues because he's an anomaly is incorrect lmao

i didnt realize before the helicopter crashes, she looked at miguel and miguel nodded, implying "i'll get them" for him to clear the way while she handles the people in the helicopter. i think her competence and flexibility are why he changed his mind on bringing her to the team, along with her dad ofc

a reactor pointed this out (Lupa from YaBoyRoshi) but when gwen is pleading to her dad not to arrest her, he and the colors behind him literally become divided with a dark blue line against white background. i interpreted this as a metaphor for his indecisiveness but it's also. literally. showing a thin blue line foreshadowing his choice. that's insane

gwen saying "i don't know how to fix this." and miguel tosses her a watch after saying "yeah, well, join the club"—didn't realize this had two meanings lol, one inviting her to the society but also admitting he doesn't know how to fix any of this

i'm very impressed by how much they put into the spot on a rewatch, like the voice acting is excellent and they made him jiggle up and down going "this is real!" when he meets miles. it's so cute. like all the extra details just make it great

lmao when miles does his intro he shows himself growing like a head taller than gwen, and about as tall as peter b and noir?? ldkfjdlfk im sorry buddy you're not quite there yet

during miles's intro he meshes the past year with his current fight with spot, and he narrates beating up bad guys with a bunch of shots of him punching villains—then it cuts to him failing to punch the spot; quickly followed by the spot and miles tied in a bunch of weird scenarios with the dimensional holes, including miles's face on ohnn's body, all played for comedy. foreshadowing baby

all of the jeopardy categories when miles hosts are spider-themed. "swingin' in the rain" "arachnidioms" "spider sense & sensibility" "the wide web world" "thwip it" and i cant read the last one

not only does miles's baby powder apology video have more dislikes than actual views (69 million to 10 million, yes, a 69 joke), a youtube comment also says "old spider-man didn't need baby powder" so the youtube comments section is wrong in every universe

in his mustache apology video, once again there are more dislikes than views (70 mill to 11 mill) and a comment says "i heard it was made from actual spider legs tho fr"

miles drew his friends over his subway mural and everyone's always in cool action poses EXCEPT PETER who also gets a shot of him sloppily eating a burger oh my god. it cracks me up he draws more of the other spiders but so little of peter lkdfjld. but this is sweet tbh i hope somehow the gang sees this in btsv :(((

at the counselor meeting: "you thought i could do something special. and now i think so, too. and the special thing i want to do is this. there are people out there who can literally teach me the things i want to learn. and they're not all in brooklyn" my heart hurts

when the spot destroys a building in the lego verse someone goes "does anyone have the instructions for this building??" lmao

when miles is hanging with gwen, you can hear him faintly say "no it's not the greek burger place" and we don't know what he's replying to but. what's the bet he told gwen how terrible peter's favorite burger place was on the bus back from alchemax and it's an inside joke between them

miles left his jordans in a random alley in brooklyn chasing after gwen!!! MILES!! (but then later when he's trapped in 42, they glitch back onto his feet???)

miles still swings using the same bounce-crouch he learned from peter im gonna die. you can see it esp when compared against pavitr and gwen when they face the spot

i thought i missed when miles picked up an empenada but i didnt, they literally just cut straight from jess mentioning them to miguel's narration then miles walking down the hallway with it. did miles ask jess+gwen+hobie to stop by the cafeteria first lkfdjlf.

miles bounces when miguel's lift starts to descend. he's so excited to meet him :(

peter says mayday took a crap and then he takes her offscreen but. he doesn't actually change her diaper. mayday was sitting in a dirty diaper that whole chase and somehow wasn't upset? or are we supposed to believe that large spiderweb mayday bounces off of (which we never actually see getting built between one shot and the next) was being used as a very quick one-second changing station? lmfao peter

sun spider says "miles, i'm a huge fan of your work" which. wow everyone not only knows about miles's situation but follows his actions in 1610???? wtf. also does miles have fans?? (aside from the og gang)

after seeing how frustrated/desperate peter gets to have miles hold may, i'm 100% convinced he knew when miles entered the society, ran back home to grab his baby, and came back to nueva york just specifically so miles could meet may, but it turned into a shitshow and now he just hopes THIS conversation can go well if he can make it happen like he imagined in his head. like aww, but also peter, he doesn't want to talk about your daughter right now, he wants to talk about his dad lol. right words, wrong time

and peter doesn't even bother trying to escape the webs miles traps him in, he just kind of hangs there angrily?? lfkjlf

the text around hobie's portals reads ENTER PORTAL with an arrow, NEXT STOP, EXIT STOP, i think MIND THE GAP, a weather report, and i think miles's name?? maybe also 616, miles's dimension?

when miles realizes he's in the wrong dimension, the same leitmotif plays from the first movie when he walks down the school hall realizing something was different after the spider bite

miles's terror and joy at seeing aaron in 42 is palpable. he will always love and miss him, he will probably always wish he could speak to and ask aaron for help again, but he will never forget being chased by the prowler, and aaron about to kill him on the rooftop. i think some part of him will forever be that kid scared of the person in the prowler mask—or at least wondering what that person is capable of, how far that person is willing to go to get what they want—which is a very fitting question considering he then faces another miles behind the prowler mask shortly after. i suspect in btsv he'll have to ask himself the lengths he is willing to go to, in this universe or the next, to save the people he loves. heartbreaking

i adore the telltale art style of earth-42, it's so gorgeous and noir-like, reminds me of the wolf among us

#spiderverse stuff #across the spiderverse

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fuckinuhhh · 1 year

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Architectural Finds, 06/24/2023

My walk today was a brief 20 minutes, I was meeting up with a friend from upstate for some chai who had come down the night before to stay with some other friends. We met up at the Chai Spot on Mott St. (which I definitely now recommend) and we relaxed in their backroom lounge with our chai's for 45 min or so. She eventually had to leave to catch her bus back upstate & I walked her to the subway stairs hugged her and said goodbye. Feeling the warm weather on my skin and the caffeine in my veins I decided to walk up Broadway, here were some of the architectural highlights.

This cute turret room on the top of the building on the NE corner of Bleecker & Broadway. Doing the smallest ammount of googling I am finding out this was Peter Venkman's (Bill Murray) apartment in Ghostbusters 2???? ok.

It just looks like it would be such a whimsical little tower to hang your hair from, idk.

Building Facts: Built in 1891 as the Manhattan Savings Institution, also known as Bleecker Tower. Architect Stephen Decatur Hatch.

Built in the Romanesque Revival style with arches and ornaments, as well as the red sandstone and signature rough cut stone of this style on the base of the building (definitely why it caught my eye, I love Richardson Romanesque/romanesque revival).

The tower on top eludes my brief internet search, but if anyone has pictures of the inside please direct them to me.

Next up we have this lil copper cutie who looks like it just got a face lift judging by the shiny copper facade on top. It is currently a FootLocker so hopefully they're treating her nice.

Building Facts: (obv) Built in 1889 by Architect Alfred Zucker.

The menacing gargoyles are cute.

(maybe more of an opinion than a fact, but) there used to be a bookstore called Shakepeare's on the bottom floor and the top floors were 1-per-floor studio spaces for artists to live/work in, & I wish that was the case today, not footlocker and high rent.

MOVING ON, we've got this pair of cuties. Don't they look like the best of friends holding hands ready to face the world side by side? These guys are 734 (left) and 732 (right) Broadway.

734: Built in 1872 by Architects David & John Jardine in Cast-Iron Neo-Grec style. Until ~2015, the facade had become a rusted brown/black mess until they cleaned and repainted it.

732: Built in 1854 by unknown.

This little building has a complicated past but ill try and summarize the small dig I just did on it. Originally it was a 3.5 peaked-roof building as a set of 3 houses for wealthy sisters (daughters of John Mason) from 732-736 designed by an undocumented architect. It underwent large renovations twice in its life, and one small renovation adding the Treffurth's sign on the roof cornice. The first renovation happened in 1885 by Henry Janeway Hardenbergh (god write a romance novel already would you) and allowed the introduction of E. A. Mac's bookstore to take the place of the earlier saloon on the bottom floor. It was then renovated in 1900 by Bruno W. Berger to the Cast-Iron more or less Renaissance Revival facade we see today.

Im going to keep these next ones brief because I'm beginning to lose steam :)

1 Astor Place

Built in 1883 by Architects Starkweather & Gibbs (they also designed the Potter Building). Brick & Terracotta above Cast-Iron ground floor facade.

Originally it was used as a hotel and boarding house with ground floor stores. The harsh vertical motifs on the exterior caught my eye, and I was drawn in even more by the harmony of the design elements and color choices.

10 Astor Place aka 444 Lafayette St

Built in 1876 by Architect Griffith Thomas to the same owner as the above building, Orlando B. Potter, who seemed to have impeccable taste in architecture.

I love the ornate implementation of the painted white Cast-Iron in the arches and pillar ornaments on this one. As well as the eye-popping contrast of the white paint on dark red brick, kind of a juxtaposed take on themes seen in the building above with the way the red and black elements seem to blend in together in harmony.

21 Astor Place aka Clinton Hall

Built in 1891 by George E. Harney.

Originally a Library for the New York Mercantile Library. I love the classic industrial look its such a strong look while they still tried to give elements of the facade some artistic nuance like in the arched windows and dark banding.

Only Caught the side of this Collonade building but doing more research on it, it's owned by the Blue Man Group????

Built 1831 by Seth Greer and historically home to family member's of the Astor & Vanderbilt families, it is the oldest building I took note of today.

And of course, how could I not be drawn into the Cooper Union Foundation building's charm. It stands seemingly so alone in the heart of Manhattan, close to a modern miracle.

Built in 1859 by Frederick A. Peterson in the (what I'm finding now to be called) Rundbogenstil German neo-Romanesque style.

I didn't realize it at the time but this picture also seems to be the back of the building. Still just such ornate and well-balanced design!

HONORABLE MENTIONS: This house on top of this building and the cute lil mansard moment next to it, which I searched and searched for but I cant seem to remember where it is.

Edit: I found it, there were street signs in the picture whoops. The one with the cottage is 203 E 13th Street also known as Pear Tree Place. And the little guy with the mansard roof is 109 3rd ave, both of them resting above Kiehls 3rd ave.

DISHONORABLE MENTIONS: This NYU Alumni building. Who designed you, they should be ashamed. What is going on with your offset, unbalanced terraces in the back? Awful. What was the point of all of these different colored brick patches?? Uncomfortable, awful. It looks like a neutral-toned Duplo set.

Built in 1986 and I cant even find the architect so you know they weren't very proud of it.

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aers-radio · 7 months

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When is a theme park attraction technically a railway?

I'm not going to make @todayintokyo wait too long on this, because the discussion isn't nearly as spectacular as the question makes it out. In fact, I may not have the exact answer. What I have is maps, and a geeky eye.

This is a railway map of Tokyo, specifically the area around Ueno. We see the massive Ueno station with the Tohoku and Yamanote lines in black, the underground Keisei terminal nearby, and on the left, the green line denotes the Chiyoda subway line. In between, there's this tiny line, just 0.3 km in length (less than a quarter of a mile).

It's the Ueno Zoo Monorail.

Or at least, it was: service ended in 2019 due to escalating maintenance costs. Point is: from a practical standpoint, this was a theme park attraction. And if it's on this map, that's because it was officially a railway. And it's not the only one.

On this map, seen in a timetable book, there's this loop just below Maihara station on the Keiyô line from Tokyo to Chiba. I actually passed Maihara on my last trip to Japan, and saw this myself (but unfortunately, just like Doctor Yellow, no time for photos).

That loop is the Tokyo Disney Resort Monorail.

And it's officially a railway.

And it's got its timetable published in the book! :O

So what makes these officially railways? I don't know for sure, whether it's down to the legal and technical definition of a railway and/or a railway operator, subjecting them to certain standards... What they have in common is that they are monorails, which technically falls under the railway umbrella (whereas, for example, ropeways don't), their purpose is transit albeit within the confines of a park or resort, and charge passengers a fare. Maybe that's all it is.

All I know is, the miniature railway discussion reminded me that I'd noticed that all materials listing or displaying railway lines in Japan will include the Disney Resort Line. It's as if railway maps of Germany included the Europa Park Express monorail.

Roller-coasters wouldn't be classed as railways as they don't provide transit as such (or not the kind we're talking about), and aren't held to transit standards. But, they are vehicles on steel rails, right?

¯\_(��)_/¯

#japan #railways #maybe #I dunno #what is railway?#tokyo #tokyo disneyland #ueno zoo #europa park #monorail #geeking out over trains #maybe a little overboard with this one #we'll try something easier in the next post #like a cool train line to travel on

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simpymf · 10 months

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𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐈𝐀 pt. 2/3

⌈ UNDERTALE HUMAN!SANS x MONSTER!OC ⌋ (n.) the journey of changing one’s mind, heart, self, or way of life

CONTENT WARNINGS: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE · ANGST · MENTIONS OF DISCRIMINATION · MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE · FLUFF · HEAVY SEXUAL THEMES · BODY WORSHIP · DIRTY TALK · PRAISE · MONSTERFUCKER MATERIAL · INAPPROPRIATE USE OF PUNS · PLOT WITH IMPENDING PORN

Word count: 7,704 words

- - - -

Damn, part 2 is here y'all. I don't know when I'll get part 3 done. I've definitely been workin' on it, but it might take a fat ass minute. I normally post all 3 parts, but since part 3 is takin' a minute, figured i should just post this part anyway.

Again, as a disclaimer, this is a Canon x OC fic. Theeeeee human!Sans design is inspired from @htsan's artwork. Again, I don't care if ya decide to reblog or like it up. Go ham.

It gets reaaal spicy near the end, y'all, so be warned. dom sans comin' (haha) at cha. enjoy part twooo. cha cha <3

- - - -

“guess you got served anyway, huh?” The short man remarks, slipping his hands into the pockets of his jacket. With a suave mannerism he rarely possesses, Sans turns away and approaches the exit.

Knowing Lune must be on her way to their apartment, Sans wastes no time in pulling the door open (holy shit, he didn’t expect the door to be so heavy) and stepping out into the street. He is immediately greeted with car horns in the distance, subway rails screeching and hissing, and vigorous whirring—which he quickly determines to be the airplanes soaring through the night sky.

Slowly, he tilts his head back, hoping to admire the obsidian sky. His hopeful glance dims when he notices a murky veil drifting across the sky, obscuring the stars he naturally enjoys watching. A small frown plays across his lips, disappointed by the city air spoiling his view of the resplendent stars sparkling and singing way up high. The stars, however, don’t even compare to the radiancy of her eyes... her eyes, even if they hold nothing but bitterness his way, always do well in captivating him. They sparkle like no other star. He loves it when she keeps that look of mischief in her eyes. It reveals her true nature... an impish delight she often tries to mask.

Lowering his chin, Sans blinks and turns in the direction of his and Lune’s apartment, sighing deeply to himself before lifting a foot and starting his journey in following Lune.

she couldn’t have gone far...

His shoulders occasionally bounce with each step, nostrils burning with each sharp inhale he takes. Hints of cigarette smoke paired with gasoline tickles Sans’s sense of smell, earning him an abrupt sniffle before he runs his digit across the underside of his nose.

It does not take Sans too long to catch up to the familiar silhouette of Lune, whose pace is noticeably slow and almost crestfallen. He perks up at the sight of her sunken shoulders and folded ears, slightly hurrying his pace in order to wind up at her side. His cerulean eyes squint in the dimness, falling down to observe the way her tail hardly moves as she traverses down the sidewalk.

When the pair approach a street lamp, Sans’s squinting comes to a halt, his hairless brows releasing whatever tension they held above his nose. He looks back up at Lune, studying her profile.

Her whiskers, which—he regularly notices—protrude out on any average day, now dip with a subtle curve, tenderly bouncing every time she takes a step. His eyes fly up to her ears, scrutinizing the dim glow of their tips even as they lay in a somewhat droopy state. Her fur is noticeably damp when the two travel beneath a halo of light, raven strands now clumped into bigger threads across her face, decreasing the subtle details she possesses on her face.

“...” She stays quiet, keeping her slitted gaze forward.

“...” Sans also stays quiet, but he lowers his eyes from Lune’s face to the concrete beneath him. His teeth momentarily chew on the inside of his cheeks before he lifts his chin, fixating his attention back onto Lune’s indifferent expression.

“...lune?”

Nothing.

They keep walking.

“...you... okay?”

Silence.

All Sans receives is a pattern of their footsteps. Huffing quietly, Sans calmly returns his attention onto the sidewalk, observing each particular crack they walk over. He feels individual pebbles dig into the soles of his tennis shoes, though he says nothing about the uneven course.

If it were June he was walking alongside with, he’d make a stupid observation about something and fill in the gaps of their conversation with dumb jokes. Even if his jokes were the dumbest of the dumb, June always laughed at them. It’s truly one of the things he admires about June... her sweetness.

Now, he realizes, it’s quite difficult to stir up conversation between him and Lune. In all nine months of dating Lune... he’s learned she’s the gloomiest and high-strung monster he’s ever met. He thinks he’s only seen her smile, albeit maliciously, about four or five times. Every other expression she makes is either a grimace, a glare, or a blank, unimpressed look.

“...” Sans curls his digits as they camp in his pockets. “yy-... y’know... the people... in that restaurant back there...” he starts off, daring another glimpse at her impassive expression. “they... they actually told her off... defended ya... which is—”

“Is this you trying to make me feel better?” Lune’s detached voice cuts through his words.

“mm—” Sans blinks, surprise flashing across his cerulean eyes. “well... i guess, y—”

“It won’t work,” she growls out, fangs grinding against each other.

For a moment her narrowed eyes glare down at Sans, the golden hue cutting through the darkness and adhering to Sans’s bewildered face. Soon, she tears her focus away from his round face, fixating on the concrete path they always take on their way home.

“...”

Sans blinks, chin grazing against his collar as he stares through the obscurity of the night to study the concrete sidewalk again. Another moment of silence washes over them, though Sans is tormented with words he wants to blurt out. Every time he tries to think of how to say them, the words dissipate and retreat into the crevices of his mind. When his lips part and he draws in a breath, he is conquered by the absence of sound.

...

just say something!

she’s obviously upset.

but what the hell would i even say?

comforting people is so... hard...

this is june’s forte... not mine.

His lips separate once more, finally filling his lungs with air in order to disrupt this prolonged silence.

“knock knock,” he simply says.

Lune’s whisker eyebrows promptly meet at the bridge of her nose, folds and wrinkles alike developing in the damp fur of her forehead.

“No.”

“...”

Sans leads his eyes to observe the street, watching a car occasionally drive past before he returns his attention to the ground. He cannot help but gently smile and look back up at Lune.

“...knock knock.”

Lune grumbles, “Stop it.”

“...knock knock,” he persists.

“...”

Sans gawks at her, anticipating her next response. He watches her facial expression for an uncomfortably long time until he realizes she’s firm on remaining silent. This only incites Sans to stretch his grin even more.

“...knock knock,” he says. “c’mon, luney. you gotta answer.”

“...”

Her ears twist back, adamantly flattening themselves against her head. The feline’s furrowed expression deepens, another array of wrinkles digging into her hidden skin. Folds begin to surface on her nose, leading her upper lip to curl back slightly, pearly white fangs glinting between her lips.

Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

Hh-He’s just trying to make you feel better!

You can also shut the fuck up.

Eh-? L-Lune, what are you—

Instinctively, Lune shoves June’s voice away, burying her essence deep into her consciousness, where she will likely throw a pity party for herself due to being blocked out. Silence conquers the breadth of Lune’s mind, promptly giving her enough headspace to unwind and cherish this moment of peace. Lune did not realize having a second consciousness in her head could give her such an aggravating headache... or perhaps she does know, she simply refuses to admit what trouble June gives her.

“knock knock.”

A distinct huff rolls off her tongue, eyelids sinking over her unimpressed stare. Lune has had enough with this fool as well.

She growls, jerking her head to finally match gazes with Sans before rolling her eyes and staring ahead.

“Who’s there?”

A giddy grin stretches across Sans’s lips, his eyelids squinting cheerfully. Mirth instantly blooms throughout his SOUL when he continues with his joke.

“paw,” he simply replies, chest shaking with excitement.

Lune sighs through her nose.

“Paw, who?”

“paw-lease talk to me, luneyyy,” he whines, throwing his head back and peeking at her with a single eye open.

“Kckk- Are you serious right now?” She gnarls, angrily batting her eyes down at the bald human male. She catches his smug expression and contorts her features, bitterly growling whilst increasing the speed of her pace. “Unbelievable... can’t believe I got stuck with you... ghrh-... mrg-...”

Sans’s shoulders jump upon observing how abrupt Lune is with hastening herself, bemusement flashing across his face. His hands jump from his pockets, patting the air worriedly as he attempts to catch up with the tall feline.

“wh-! ww-wait, lune!” He exclaims, his short legs exerting every ounce of energy they once had in order to match with Lune’s pace. “hh-heyy! c’mon, luney! talk to me! y’know you can tell me anything! yer stressin’ meow-t!”

His panic only swells when she continues traversing down the sidewalk without a hint of hesitance disturbing her stride. Beads of sweat practically leap off his distorted face, eyebrows twisted above his nose and his teeth gritted as he puts in the effort to approach Lune’s side once more.

Lune spares no response, merely tightening her venomous look and glaring at the distance ahead of her. Her tail finally springs up to life, curling and twisting from beneath her swaying skirt, the material bouncing against her damp thighs. Processing the man’s words, Lune’s eyes practically fade into complete darkness, inexplicably grotesque wrinkles emerging between her brows and on her temples.

Kckk-...

This damn comedian...

She cocks her head forward, grinding her fangs.

“lune, c’mooon! don’t be hiss-terical! i’m sure i could purr-suade ya ta turn this night around! just say someth—”

“Tch- stop acting like you want anything to do with me, clown,” Lune grits out, finally ceasing her steps and turning around to face the shaking human. She glares down at him, bending over to accusingly point at him. “There’s nothing you can say or do that’ll change my mind about you humans. You don’t know what kind of fucking misery they’ve put me and June through!”

“i—” Sans’s eyes widen, also paused in his place.

“You keep acting like everything in the world is fine! You think humans and monsters get along just fine! Everyone’s doing just fine! Stop deluding yourself into thinking everything’s FINE when it isn’t! You keep wondering why I hate humans so much. I’ll fuckin’ tell you why!

“All they’ve ever done is shove me around! All they ever do is spit in my face and tell me what a waste of space I am! Kids used to throw rocks at me back when I was just a child-! I feared for my life every fucking day because of them! They stole my joy! They fucking... th-... they stole everything from me! June was too naive to understand that those kids were insulting her to her goddamn face. All she wanted to do was make friends. All she ever wished for was ta be friendly with everybody else! No! I could never be friends with a species that ripped my brother’s eye out! I can’t be friends with a species that tells me the world would be better off if I disappeared off the face of the planet!

“I starved. I cried. I suffered. All because monsters can’t fit in the same frame as h u m a n s. A-And now... I can’t let my hopes up, ‘cause the last time I thought a human wanted to be friends with me... they just... they–” Lune pants, digits outstretched by her sides, her black fingernails now grown to resemble claws–“they... just...” Ever so slowly, Lune releases the tension in her shoulders and arms, her posture falling back into a sunken state. “...pushed me... away...” she mutters, her tail hanging limp and her ears lying flat.

“...”

Sans gawks up at her, his cerulean eyes—which naturally hold a sense of calmness and respite—now glisten with a startling realization. He lets his arms hang by his sides, dumbfounded by the revelation Lune blurted out in a state of turmoil. A turmoil Sans recognizes. It tells him she’s been restraining this suffering... for far too long.

“...” Lune’s eyes fall to the ground, her stare casting a disheartened look until it fades into the recesses of her mind once again. Instead, the feline hardens her stare, glancing back at Sans’s blank face. “...let’s just... get back.”

Sans’s jaw hangs slightly, tempted to speak out in the silence in hopes of catching Lune’s attention. He can’t find the right words to stop her. Standing in the middle of the sidewalk, Sans spies Lune’s face go blank before she turns around to carry on. Slowly, he curls his digits into fists, frustration boiling inside of him over his lack of courage to say something.

i... i didn’t...

i didn’t know...

she felt like this...

Sans’s hand drifts up, reaching the height of his chest, where he plasters his palm tenderly against the flat of his shirt and curls his fingers in the material. His SOUL thumps slowly, humming a low tune of sorrow for Lune.

i think...

that’s the most emotional thing...

she’s ever said ta me...

With nothing but silence overpowering the brisk night air, Sans decides to allow the silence to speak for him, his shoes breaking the absence of sound by thumping softly against the hard concrete. He strides by Lune’s side, no longer attempting to lift his head in order to stare obnoxiously at the evidently cheerless feline. Instead, he glues his eyes onto the path before him, hands stuffed in his pockets to keep their warmth for as long as possible.

During their stroll home, Sans does nothing except mull over Lune’s words. He analyzes each piece of information she willingly threw at him. He wonders how long Lune dealt with malicious children before they ever went into the Underground. How long did she have to fight the hostility they threw at her and June? How many times did she have to endure their revolting insults until she just couldn’t take it? How often did they threaten her life to the point where she was terrified to emerge from June’s subconscious?

Gradually, Sans’s bitter expression hardens. Sure, he knew monsters did not have it easy up here... but surely they weren’t suffering like Lune said?

Now that he thought about it, however... every time he entered the bar he frequented, there always was a stiffness in the air. He’d look around the bar and notice how each patron gawked back at him expectantly. When the door slammed shut, confirming the fact he came alone, the bar burst back to life. Laughter and chatter filled the stale air.

When June asked to come along, he’d happily oblige. Holding her by the hand, Sans led her into the bar, where the mirth and cacophony of voices died down upon spotting her. Sure, it was an all-inclusive bar... though most monsters knew the humans did not make it seem very inclusive.

It’s no wonder June stopped asking him to come along. Lune likely caught on to their uninviting behavior and convinced June not to go anymore for her own sake.

Sans’s lips curl inward, irritation bubbling within the border of his SOUL. How could he never notice? He always thought June enjoyed herself every time she visited. Evidently not.

even though most of what she said was true...

He lifts his chin, cerulean eyes rising to the sky. Amidst the umbrage of the night, he spies a few twinkling stars, inciting a small smile across Sans’s lips. Respite takes over his features, releasing the stress from his muscles and allowing him to deeply inhale.

not all humans wanna make monsters suffer.

He thinks about the time he saw a teenage human girl squeal beside another teenage girl... only she had frog-like features. They stood across the street from Sans’s workplace, clasping both of their hands together while eagerly bouncing in sync. Based on his observations, they managed to get tickets to their favorite band’s concert. The embrace they shared seemed... affectionate.

He thinks about the time he saw a lone three-eyed monster child sniffle and wipe their eyes with the sleeves of their shirt, lost in the middle of a mall. The child squeaked and darted away whenever people approached him... until a tall human woman drew near with a stuffed animal in hand. She squatted to his level and held out the lamb, quietly asking for his name and his story. Within seconds, he witnessed the child hysterically jump into her arms and sob into her shirt once promised he’d be reunited with his parents.

Sans thinks about the time he saw a group of teenage human boys cackling loudly in front of a breakfast food joint. Upon glancing over, he saw them kick a monster wearing a business suit into the glass, mocking his appearance and belittling him for even thinking he could earn a living up on the Surface. Although Sans shook with rage from across the street... he would hardly stand a chance against a group of athletes like them. Before he could do anything, however, a prominently tall man approached the crowd of teenagers.

The man had ruffled black hair and piercing orange eyes that could cut anyone with a single look. He was significantly taller than the boys and, according to the way he extended his arm and clasped a boy’s shoulder, unexpectedly strong. Sans wasn’t sure what he uttered to those boys, but it was clearly ominous enough to compel the younger humans into scattering away like a flock of birds. Following the dark-haired man was a spindly, shorter man with fluffy sandy hair who rushed to the monster’s side, offering words of concern.

Sans watched them extend their help to the visibly bruised and frightened monster, standing out of hearing range. Days after, he ironically encountered those humans again... because, for whatever strange reason, June knew the shorter man by name.

maybe...

Reluctantly, Sans lowers his gaze to Lune’s profile, studying her for an even an ounce of her thoughts. Her features remain stagnant, refusing to expose whatever may be running through her mind.

maybe... i could...

maybe i could convince lune...

not all humans are so bad... just like i think...

He smiles at her, unconcerned of whether or not she sees his fond look.

not all monsters are so bad, too.

After enduring about forty-five minutes of pure silence interrupted by an occasional observation Sans makes, Lune finally sets her eyes onto their apartment building in the distance, the structure looming over the nearby population. She sees a handful of lights shining out of windows, assuming those rooms must belong to elderly people that forgot to shut them off or stupid teenagers staying up for whatever inexplicable reason.

Her golden eyes fall onto the front door of the building, catching the sight of the security guard Gabriel, who enjoys giving the teenage tenants trouble. The other tenants, however, typically stroll by him with a word of greeting on their tongues until they reach the elevator. Lune slightly narrows her eyes, encountering the glass doors and pulling on a handle.

She listens to Sans’s footsteps thump against the concrete, her gaze glued onto Gabriel’s weary expression. When Sans’s footsteps are muffled by the carpet, Lune starts tailing him instead, her ears twisted back with skepticism.

“evenin’, gabe,” Sans greets the security guard, flashing him a lazy smile as he normally does.

The graying man smiles back, nodding with acknowledgement.

“Good evening, Sans.” He looks at Lune, his smile steady even with the tight features Lune possesses. He glances back at the significantly shorter man. “How’d the date go? The food okay?”

Sans shrugs, muttering, “couldn’t tell ya. we left due to unexpected company.”

Gabriel hums, “Sorry to hear that, son. I hope you folks have a good night, then. Rest easy.”

Lune is silent, continuing on her path to the elevator, not appearing to care if Sans tags her or not.

Gabriel scratches his nail against the skin of his temple, a light pout hanging on his lower lip. He releases a deep sigh, slowly shutting his eyes.

“Haah... ‘n I really thought I’d get a ‘goodnight’ from ‘er, too... s’what I get for hoping,” he jokingly whines, flitting his eyes down to Sans, who’s fixated onto Lune’s frame as she heads to the elevator. “Maybe next time.”

“heh...” Sans laughs, turning back to the guard, giving him a somewhat apologetic smile. “sorry ‘bout her, gabe. she’s... well, we’ve been havin’ a rough night. but, yeah, maybe next time. night, gabe.”

Gabriel huffs again, waiting around the entry of the building, where he sees Sans lazily lift an arm to wave goodbye although he’s facing away. Raising a brow, Gabriel watches Lune enter the elevator and turn around, staring Sans down with a piercing glare. Although he is aware it’s intended for Sans, Gabriel cannot help but shiver at the malicious glint in Lune’s eyes as she gawks the short, bald man down whilst he skips up to the elevator doors and hops in with her.

“I’ve never had problems with monsterfolk... ‘cept for her...” mutters the security guard, who promptly turns away and walks across the lobby (certainly not to avoid accidental eye contact).

Absent-mindedly, Sans listens as whirring takes over the cubicle when the doors in front of him slide shut. He blinks, flitting his attention to the screen on his right, Lune’s arm drifting over him to click on the floor their room is ordinarily located on. A familiar tune plays from the speaker above Lune and Sans before it is followed up by the droning sound of the elevator rising.

With nothing but silence hanging between the feline monster and stout human, the two stand and almost contemplate tonight’s events synchronously. Lune takes a step back, resting a majority of her weight against the rumbling wall. Her fur is no longer as damp as it once was when she fled the restaurant, though she finds her clothes still strive to cling onto her shape. Lifting a hand, Lune pinches the cream-colored top and flicks it forward, firmly tugging it away from her chest before she releases it with a huff rolling off of her tongue.

Her movement waves in the corner of Sans’s eyes, compelling him to glance her way and slightly raise a brow.

“...you uncomfortable?”

“...” She squints at him, ears hiding their light pink color; her lips almost scrunch inward. “Have you ever been doused in cold tap water before?”

“...” Maintaining a giddy smile, Sans pulls his gaze to the side, squinting almost eagerly. “nope.”

“You wanna find out what it feels like?”

He looks back up at her, his dorky grin lingering on his lips along with the childish sparkle in his eyes.

“nope. i think i’d just tap out,” he snorts.

I’ll kill him.

The side of Lune’s nose twitches, her facial features contorting with indescribable irritation.

“hey, lune.” Sans beams as he stares up at the tall feline, cerulean eyes practically overflowing with glee.

“...what?” She grumbles, arms crossing over her chest.

“why’s it bad ta joke about boiling water?”

A soft grumble rolls over her vocal cords, her luminous eyes rolling around before they latch back onto his smile.

“...why?”

“...‘cos it can get pretty steamy,” he says, maintaining his smile regardless of the dirty look Lune gives him. “eh? that was pretty good, ya gotta admit.”

“Just shut up...” she groans, wrinkling her brows and lowering her eyelids.

“is there a particular time of the year when a hot dog needs help?” Sans merely pauses for dramatic effect. “nah, they’re always in hot water.”

Oh, my God. I can’t stand him.

Lune squeezes her eyes even more, immersing herself in total darkness, flattening her ears as much as she can in order to muffle the human’s baritone voice.

I hate him. I hate him. I hate him.

He’s so stupid ‘n defenseless.

I have to keep him safe.

So dumb. Trying to fluster me with some stupid compliments.

Are my eyes really better than the stars?

“i know you just finally got ta dry up,” Sans mumbles, nonchalantly shrugging his arms. “but i wanna get cha wet again.”

HAH-?!

“Mm—”

Lune is startled enough to pry her eyes open, her golden eyes wide with a mix of horror and bewilderment. Once more, each hair tingles at the follicle, gradually rising to stand straight until all of Lune’s face appears twice as fluffy than before. The tips of her ears glow brighter as if they were ignited by a match, her eyes zeroed in on Sans’s smug face. Amidst the dark raven fur of her face, little golden freckles emerge, glowing luminously beneath the fluorescent lights installed above them.

“Hh-Hah-?!” Lune exclaims, ears flicking in an uneven pattern.

“gee, it’s like you weren’t even listenin’ to me,” Sans hums, his wink lingering when the uneasy feeling in his stomach finally settles, telling him their ride is officially over. “looks like this is our stop.”

“D-... don’t act like you didn’t just-... you didn’t just say that!” Lune blurts out, fisting her hands and stomping her foot once.

Sans peeks over his shoulder, looking up at Lune with a single eye peeled open. He grins.

“dunno what you’re talkin’ about,” the short human teases, snorting to himself upon stepping out of the cubicle.

“Kckk-! O-Oi! That wasn’t... ff-funny!” Lune stammers, unable to notice how quickly her golden freckles blossom across her cheeks. “You’re so... stupid...”

Klick

Klok

Klick

“welp...” Sans tilts his clean-shaven head back, ignorant to the way Lune squints at him when light happens to bounce right off his scalp. “here we are, i guess...”

Lune grumbles, “Yeah.”

Without sparing a minute, she approaches the frame, hands rummaging within her pocket until she is able to withdraw her set of keys. Her digits scour through each decorative keychain (courtesy of June nonetheless), an agitated curse heavy on her lips as she angrily stares at these keys in her hands. Finally, her fingers pinch the one key she was searching for and lift its jagged end to the lock of their front door.

Schkk

Shhp

Klik

With catlike precision, Lune twists and withdraws the key before she grasps the door handle and unlocks their apartment.

“yaay,” Sans cheers, “we don’t have to call the locksmith this time because the key broke.”

“Mrghh... don’t remind me,” grumbles the feline as she attaches her set of keys onto the hooks installed beside their front door. “Waiting for those idiotic people while smelling like nothing but your brother’s girlfriend’s perfume was torture.”

Sans raises his brow at her.

“i thought you liked her?”

“I... she’s... fine, just... too smelly. She’s got too much sweetness on ‘n it made me wanna throw up,” she growls, scraping her ankle until the sole of her shoe hits her other shoe, effectively pulling her feet out.

“...”

Similarly to Lune, Sans also links his keyring onto the hooks before mimicking her actions in removing his shoes. They thunk cheerlessly against the floor, flopping around another two inches then lying motionless.

Gradually, he wills himself to fixate on Lune, who firmly brushes her hands down her wrinkled and somewhat damp skirt, hoping to remove any specks or strings clinging on. His lips part, an inhale wafting into his mouth and filling his lungs with the air of their apartment, preparing his next words. As soon as he catches her gaze, it’s as if the words line up in his head like a train, all of it riding out on his tongue.

“as awful as our night went... i actually wanted ta say...” he starts, “i’m sorry about... a lot really.”

Succumbing to silence, Lune lowers her hands and pivots her ears in order to hear his words come out in his baritone voice, skepticism crossing her face for a moment.

“i didn’t know my ex-boss was gonna show up, and i was just as upset by what she did as you were. i’m sorry you had to take the splash because i’m just as defenseless as ya say i am. you shouldn’t have to take every hit the world throws my way just ‘cos i’m not as strong as i should be. i’m sorry you’ve-... you’ve had to deal with so much as a kid. i never knew how you ‘n juney grew up... but you guys obviously didn’t live luxuriously or anything.

“me sayin’ monsters get treated just fine up here... was irresponsible and ignorant of me. you’re... you’re right. not all monsters get the privilege of respect up ‘ere... as much as everyone should get the same level of respect. i just thought you should kn- mmph—!”

Sharply, his stout figure is jerked forward, coincidentally where Lune stands. His hands flail out in a poor attempt at catching himself, but he is caught by the feline herself... with his lips interlocking with... Lune’s? His cerulean eyes gape up at Lune, heart pounding when overwhelmed with a burst of adrenaline, but soon his eyelids weaken themselves and hang closed.

Warmth embraces Sans as he stands, leaning most of his weight into Lune, whose hands tightly cling onto the collar of his dress shirt and jacket to keep him from unexpectedly collapsing. His heart thumps excitedly within his chest, blood rushing throughout his pudgy form and releasing a wonderful sense of dopamine. He guides his shaky hands to carefully reach the hands fisting his collar, fingerprints brushing against Lune’s soft raven fur.

A gentle smack reverberates across the room as Lune and Sans eventually part, their breaths ghosting over each other’s lips. Lune slightly pulls away, her cheeks now littered in golden freckles that strive to shine through her fur, standing tall even with her hands wrinkling Sans’s shirt.

“...”

“...” Lune sheepishly looks down at Sans’s enamored face, her SOUL wriggling uncomfortably inside her chest. “That-... that was-... erm-... that was... the only thing... I could think of... to... shut you up...”

The stout human says nothing in return, frozen in his spot with awe painted over every distinct feature on his face. If one looked close enough, they would catch scintillating sparkles and hearts dancing inside his eyes as he gawks up at Lune.

“...c-... can you do it again?” Sans asks, his voice heavy with infatuation.

Her initial reaction is an abrupt wince of her head, unable to mask her shaky gasp. The feline’s cheeks burn with specks of gold, her tail swaying softly beneath her skirt.

What the-...

What... is this... feeling?

Lune’s SOUL shudders beneath the layers of her vessel, buzzing softly as if hoping to leash Sans’s attention and call out to his SOUL. She overlooks the fact her hands tremble while clinging onto his collar, boring her eyes into his, noticing the way his lids lovingly hang over his cerulean irises. Her whisker eyebrows congregate above the bridge of her nose, ears twisting away and pressing against her head.

“Tch-... ss-stupid... human...” she mumbles, refusing to acknowledge how eager her SOUL is as it thrums inside her chest.

With uncharacteristic mannerism, Lune follows Sans’s request and bends back down to press her lips against his, no longer compelling Sans’s body to lean against her in order to save himself an inevitable soreness on his face. Instead, they merely stand by the door, enveloped by each other’s familiar scents.

Sans’s nose catches whiffs of lemon and almond interlaced with traces of nutmeg, his cheeks burning beneath a sheet of pearly luster from the moon peeking in through the windows of their apartment. He plasters his palms onto Lune’s, curling his digits lightly to run his blunt fingernails beneath her first layer of fur to scratch at her hidden skin. His heart practically leaps in his throat when he hears a subtle purr reverberate within the boundaries of their home, lips striving to taste more of her.

this is the first time she hasn’t tried to bite me.

i have a feeling this is huge progress.

and holy shit i didn’t know i’d love kissing her like this.

i love kissing her.

i love having her here.

i love her.

“hha... hhf...” Sans quietly pants when she disrupts their kiss in order to give him air (which she nearly forgot he needed), his limbs possessing a subtle tremor. “hh... i love you so much, luney,” he admits, staring up at her with nothing but a dreamy look on his face.

! ! !

Unable to mask her surprise, Lune jerks in her spot, ears sticking straight up to the ceiling while her tail freezes in place. Her shimmering eyes widen, zeroing in on Sans’s enamored expression. Trembling in place, Lune maintains a half-hearted surrender pose, her lips unconsciously parted though not a sound leaves her.

“Er—” Lune stutters, blinking dumbly. “You-... you... what?”

Piercing the air, Sans’s hands rise to grasp Lune’s biceps, utilizing whatever strength he momentarily possesses in order to yank her upper body down to his level.

“WAH-!”

Lune doubles over to attain Sans’s height level, bewitching golden eyes staring back at Sans with miniature stars twinkling across her pupils, which—Sans quickly observes—gradually expand into even-sized circles.

“you heard me, luney,” he says, voice firm and confident in his words. “i. love you.”

“Wh-... whuh-...”

“i know you think you somehow don’t deserve it, but let me tell ya now–” Sans sternly folds his hairless brows–“that just isn’t true. you don’t even realize this self-hatred of yours was indoctrinated into you since you were a naive kid. ww-well... i’m here ta fix that. i love you just as much as i love june, and i wanna show ya... will-... will you... let me?”

...

Huh...?

Rendered speechless, Lune blankly gapes at Sans’s inquiring face, witnessing his smile slightly shake only for his eyes to bat away before returning to meet with hers. She observes the way multiple thoughts cross through his mind by watching his eyes and the miniscule changes in his facial features. As she studies him, Lune realizes...

She’s been looking for signs of reluctance or deceit. Anything that would tell her he’s lying about everything. There’s just no way he could love her.

“...”

Gradually, she drops her gaze. His words sober her quickly, bringing her to a vital debate.

“...you...” Her eyes lift back up, meeting with Sans’s expectant cerulean ones. “You know... I hate humans... right?”

Instead of responding with exasperation (as Lune expects him to), Sans merely reacts with a giddy smile, mirth dancing along his eyes.

“would you let me try to change your mind?” He asks her, gliding his hands down her arms until he grazes up her wrists and clasps both of her hands in his.

Fluster erupts across Lune’s SOUL, rolling over her furry form like an invigorating wave, her tail whipping out behind her once before it hangs limp, tempting itself to brush the floor. She glances down at Sans, spotting the numerous dots of gold sparkling across her cheeks as she stares into his eyes. This observation only worsens the state of her fur, each strand extending out and giving her a puffy appearance.

“Y-... and... hh-... how are you... g-gonna do that?” Grumbles the feline, her slender hands quaking within the embrace Sans’s hands give her.

Mischief develops across Sans’s face in the form of a devilish grin, faint crinkles manifesting at the corners of his eyes and at the creases of his lips. With meticulous mobility, Sans directs a foot back, gliding his socks across the coarse yet smooth surface of their vinyl floor. Clasping Lune’s hands, he guides her further into the apartment, eagerly grinning up at her upon scrutinizing her distorted features.

As much as she wants to say something in retaliation, Lune aimlessly follows Sans, understanding he wants her to come closer. Her attention briefly darts to the pristine island in their open-floor plan, running her gaze over its smooth, snow-white surface along with the rustic wooden stools neatly planted beneath the counter for future use. She is bemused when glancing back at the short human, though she suppresses any sound—ironically too curious to figure out what his intentions are.

Each golden bean on the bottoms of her toes and the balls of her feet press into the cool vinyl beneath her, applying her weight evenly until she lifts her foot to take another small step. Soon, she’s slowed down by the counter furnished in the middle of the kitchen. If she happens to look further to her right, she’d catch sight of their oven, sink, and fridge situated neatly between slabs of granite counters and drawers. Her wide-eyed attention, however, falls down to Sans, who gives her a strangely sultry look (she hates how hot her face suddenly feels).

“i could think of... a few ways ta motivate you...” Sans murmurs, “depends on if yer gonna give me a hard time, though...”

“I—”

Lune’s ears fold back, ignorant of the way her cheeks immediately puff up and sparkle like the wishing well cluster. The end of her tail twitches and writhes for a moment before hanging limp once again, brushing against the back of her calves and stirring her ticklish fur.

Swallowing any hints of reluctance he may have, Sans takes another step closer, simultaneously gliding a hand from the back of her hand to her wrist. He grazes his fingerprints against the fur of her wrist before trailing it across her forearm, unaware of what convulsions he compels in Lune’s SOUL as he leads his touch to her side.

“juney helped me do a little research on monsters, y’know... specifically on her species and yours...” he admits, briefly squinting up at her, his grin stretching at her bewildered look. “when ya get excited,” Sans says, twisting his wrist nimbly only to inch his sprawled palm down her soft side until he reaches the hem of her skirt.

His hand stills upon meeting the fabric, pressing small circles inches above her hip into her ruffled fur. Although he isn’t one for hubris, feeling Lune faintly shake and jolt under his touch certainly provides a boost of confidence.

“you start smelling really good... then it’s over for you, huh?” He hums, ruffling her fur alongside the fabric of her skirt.

“I-... hha-... I don’t-...” Lune instinctively slips her hands from Sans’s and palms her face, desperately trying to keep her crumbling self together. “Yy-You... don’t... know what... you’re t-talking about... ss-stop... trying... t-to sound... hh-... so ssmart,” she quietly huffs, dragging her finger pads down her freckled face to keep her hands hovering above Sans, who seems eager to roam his hands over her.

While his left busies itself with crinkling Lune’s skirt, Sans leads his other hand back to her side, sliding diagonally to reach the back of her shirt. He continually teases the fabric by brushing his fingertips beneath the ruffles, synchronously scratching Lune’s upper back. For a split second, he catches a jolt from her tail, darting his fixated eyes down to the swirling appendage.

Another knowing grin stretches across his lips, cerulean eyes following every curve and shape on Lune.

“i just think yer a little embarrassed of how hot ‘n bothered yer feelin’...” he teases, lowering his hand entirely to reach her thigh. “honestly... i think it’s pretty funny watchin’ you try to sell that catty attitude to everyone around ya... but as soon as i put my hands on ya ‘n find those sweet spots...” Sans mumbles, tracing his fingerprints up as he presses into Lune’s fur, stirring each individual strand he glides over. “you’re just a docile little furball, huh?”

Lune winces, her digits instantly curling into her palms to keep her claws from sprouting. Despite lacking a proper set of lungs, the feline releases laborious breaths, her ears weak and compliant to the weight of gravity. She gazes down, staring through a field of shaky vision to see Sans merely inches away from her chest.

“Nn-... I-... hhf-...”

Tingles capture Lune’s body with each meticulous touch Sans draws against her fluffy exterior, each fiber on her body rising on their ends. Lune’s breath shakes as she exhales, trembling under the hands that scratch oh-so well at her upper back or slither up the side of her thigh. She continues quivering within Sans’s embrace, unable to suppress her flustered gasps when he steadily and deliberately traces his hand beneath her skirt and further up to her hip.

Her SOUL quakes vigorously inside of her chest, listening to the muted rustles of her skirt as Sans’s digits ghost over the curve of her ass. Lune’s breath catches in her throat the moment his hand stills on her hip, tension retaining every inch of her chest when her gaze finally drops itself. She finds herself entirely stunned by Sans’s hooded lids and wry smile.

“Ah—”

“no undies? gee, didn’t think you were a fan of goin’ commando,” Sans chuckles, grazing his thumb up and down against her hip.

“Tch-! I-... I don’t-... I just-... I don’t see... the point... it’s nn-not like I have ss-somethin’ to hide!” She grumbles, squeezing her eyes shut and turning her head away with a huff expelling from her nostrils.

“i mean... i ain’t complainin’.”

Sans grins, his hand slithering further up her skirt, eventually reaching the base of Lune’s tail. Noticing how quickly her tail jolts out upon grazing her erogenous spot, Sans’s lids hang almost sinfully, his heart pounding and twisting beneath his ribcage. He hears her breathing increase, breaking every once in a while by an unexpected gasp or a quiet whine. Inhaling her scent, Sans is overwhelmed by notes of lemon, almond, and nutmeg, sending a satisfying shiver down his spine.

Unlike June, whose smell is sweet and delightful enough to lure him in at any given moment, Lune’s smell feels raw and incredibly tempting. Something about how organic and rich in flavor her scent is makes him want to bury his entire face into her and inhale for the rest of time.

“Hhf-... hh...” Lune gulps for air, jumping with a stifled whine rumbling against her vocal cords when a warmth blankets the base of her spine.

“does this spot get you purring?” Sans beams, slowly pressing up and down against a ghostly line making up her spine, occasionally bumping into her tail.

“Mh-... hhf... haa...”

Unable to maintain control over her movements, Lune writhes slowly beneath Sans’s hands, her ears fluttering above her head—their golden tips illuminating in the dimness of their apartment. She gasps, a pressure circling over—what possibly could be—the most tender spot on her body, igniting arousal throughout her quaking form. Failing to keep her composure for even a second longer, the feline pants, relieving whatever muscular fortitude she holds.

Whining breathlessly, Lune tilts back to lean into the counter, her tightly curled fists pinned against its cool surface. She shakes in front of the clean-shaven human, staring with an almost uneasy look before it is swallowed by bliss. Ironically enough, a conspicuous droning itches at the back of Lune’s throat, promptly igniting her freckles across her cheeks.

What...

What the...

What’s this... feeling?

It’s...

D e l i c i o u s.

“mkay,” Sans states frankly, both hands now glued to both of her hips, fingers delved between her thickness and raven fur.

“Mmh—” Lune blinks out of her stupor, luminous eyes cutting through the murkiness of their apartment to look down at the human (is it strange she can spot his cerulean eyes from the obscurity surrounding them?). She almost winces when she spots an intense focus swirling in his stare. “Hh... huh?”

His hands squeeze at Lune’s hips, wrinkling her damp skirt and provoking an unexpected excitement from her SOUL, boring his cerulean eyes up into Lune’s face, written with awe.

“i want you on the counter,” he instructs her, baritone voice hardly leaving room for implication.

E-... ehhh?

Stunned in her spot, Lune zones out for a moment, particularly stuck on the fact she’s even in this situation. She trembles on her feet, tail swaying with anticipation guiding it.

“You—”

“i wouldn’t recommend you try ‘n act all fussy,” he cuts her off. “those pheromones you’re pumpin’ out are telling me something way different.”

Eh...

EHHHH?

Promptly, the female monster jumps and recoils her arms to her chest, ears uncontrollably flattening or standing up. She keeps her arms pressed against her chest, horror over her lack of utter control in this moment wringing her dry. Lune frantically tears her eyes away to gaze side to side, at the ceiling, at the door, any other place where she won’t be forced to make eye contact with him.

He-...

I’m-...

H-... huh?

“c’mon, sweetheart... there’s no need to be shy now. what happened to that fiery attitude ya had? or was that also for show?”

Lune parts her lips, though she is incapable of speaking. Instead of attempting to talk back... she simply uses the strength in her arms to pull herself up slowly, lifting her weight until she can sit on the frigid surface. Her tail curls and sways over the countertop, glissading against the cool and smooth granite like a giddy worm on a rainy day.

“there we go,” Sans hums, using his pudgy body to part Lune’s legs. He glimpses her folded skirt, then raises his brow and lifts his chin. “that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

A faint growl tickles the back of Lune’s throat, her vibrissae that act as eyebrow furrow atop her nose.

“Tch... what-... what are you doing?” She asks him, thighs flexing beneath his relaxed arms, her SOUL thrumming at his comforting massages.

Sans shrugs gently, his digits slowing their circular motions against the outsides of her thighs, no longer savoring the feeling of her legs. He does enjoy how they press against his squishy sides, however...

“y’know... now that i think about it...”

“Eep-!”

Without warning, Sans slips his hands further down to hook her knees and pull them up and over his shoulders, where he lets their weight dangle over his back. His lips stretch into a thin smirk, observing the way Lune’s face completely drops and her eyes bulge, her face littered in bright golden spots.

“i never got to eat dinner at the restaurant... ‘nd i’m still hungry...”

𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝… (2/3)

#undertale fic #canon x oc #human!sans #monster!oc #trauma n angst #eventual smut #undertale sans #spicy #fluff #random discord oc cameos #x oc #shameless simp

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chromalogue · 2 years

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It’s my second day in Germany. I’m typing this from a sunwashed hotel room, in a hotel that I didn’t realize was meat-themed until I saw its name on several butcher shops and a 24-hour sausage vending machine.

Breakfast was free, and served in an elegant dining room. It consisted of assorted charcuterie and cheeses, sliced tomato and cucumber, a thick orange-coloured juice that I think might have been apricot, excellent coffee with thick yellow cream that tasted slightly cultured, and an assortment of breads. The honey was weird, but pleasantly so. It tasted herbal, rather than floral, if that makes any sense.

I left my brother’s house in Milton on Tuesday morning. My aunt threw me a party on Sunday. I got to see cousins I haven’t seen in years. Some of them tried to talk me out of dreading the separation, but like, I wasn’t going to decide not to go or anything. Just, I knew it was going to be rough, and there’s no way not to make that part rough, so it makes sense to build in space for it.

So far it’s been exactly as hard as I thought it would be. My dad didn’t want to chance travelling to southern Ontario and staying with two school-aged children while his health is so iffy, so he stayed home. Will and Mom saw me off at the airport. I did my flights under a blanket of sadness that didn’t really go away until I touched down (whereupon it was replaced by exhaustion, mild annoyance, and culture shock).

My mom bought me a whole new wardrobe before I left. It was really important to her, even though that meant just getting several copies of the one outfit I wear. My old black trench coat, though still exquisite, had definitely seen better days (the front pocket was holey, and I tore the sleeve on the metal housing for a subway poster over the summer), and even I had to admit that my grey and yellow hiking boots weren’t really professional attire. So we found new boots that just slip on, because I am of an age where I think it’s safe to admit that I hate tying shoelaces and should quit expecting myself to, and a new super-fancy black trench coat that I managed to find for about 70% off. The difficulty is, both of these were purchased on Monday, my last full day in Canada, so I had no time to break them in/become accustomed to their vagaries. The boots are a little narrow for my gargantuan Routcliffe feet, and the coat is entirely waterproof, which I’m sure will be fabulous in the rain, but wasn’t so great for sweat. If I ever get famous enough here to warrant, like, a statue with a fountain in my honour, the water will dribble gently from my sleeves. I do look about as sharp as I can manage, though.

So far my German listening has been seriously defective. I don’t know if it was because of my tiredness yesterday, but even when I knew basically what I wanted to say, often I ended up saying, “Darf ich Englisch sprechen?” because I couldn’t understand anyone. I could probably manage if they were slower, but I was convinced that “langsam” was the Norwegian creeping into places where it didn’t belong, and the only other word I could think of was “langweilig,” which I knew was definitely German, but I wasn’t sure how the guy at the sandwich counter would react to my asking him if he could please be a little more boring.

Convinced that the local clock tower is not a reliable teller of time. It makes noise on the hour, but the number of chimes do not seem to correspond to the times as I know them, not even on a 24-hour clock. Plus, at 11:30 they just let it go wild for like five solid minutes.

Anyway, I have an appointment with university folks at 4,and a few hours to kill until then. Jet lag has, as always, turned me temporarily into a person who is awake during the day, if not actually a day person. And I’m keenly feeling the distinction right now, because I feel compelled to stick around and not get lost before my appointment, but I don’t have much energy or much focus to get done any of the other things I could/should be doing.

Nevertheless, I should probably wander out and explore a little. I need a SIM card, more fruits and vegetables, a pair of nail clippers, and most importantly a nice walk to break in my narrow narrow shoes.

#Germany

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theswarmanthology · 2 years

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Summer, 20, Somewhere in Canada (not polar bear territory)

"I don't tend to talk much in fandom spaces but the people are very kind. I quietly reblogged pictures of the guys and had a Lola themed blog. Although in the My Chemical Romance fandom I only have about 2 mutuals being an MCR fan as helped me make friends in other areas. I love comic books, especially Gerard's. I liked Gerard's comics before I even considered myself a fan of the band, so talking about The Umbrella Academy, TTLOTFK, and Gerard's run of Doom Patrol. I was able to make comic friends through the My Chemical Romance fandom, and meet some pretty important comic people along the way! I was in a workshop run by comic book badass Shelly Bond. And lo, even with comic book nerds from across the world, we had My Chem fans crediting their love of the medium to Gerard! England, America, all over! And that was just online, on my first day at my new university, the amount of people I saw wearing tour merch was insane. We were like this little club all shyly waving to each other in a weird sort of camaraderie."

Fast Facts: How long have you been a fan?: 5-8 years Did you get to see MCR live before this tour?: No, this tour was my first time seeing MCR How many shows on this tour did you attend in total?: 1 Favorite album: Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge Show experience out of 10: 10 Did you cry at your show?: Yes

Which date of the tour did you attend? 09/05/22, Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Night 2

When did you get your tickets for your show? Was it a struggle, or were they easy to grab? Me going to see My Chem was a bit of an impulse buy. My friend group at the time were all heavy concertgoers and I had only ever been to one. I wasn't entirely sold on the idea of going to a cramped, hot arena paying large sums of money to have my ears ring for the next two weeks. (I also got Covid from one Mr. Styles' show so I was hesitant on going on that alone). But I thought of my older brother, the one who introduced me to the band, who saw them on their World Contamination tour. He described it as being pure magic, the height of his otherwise tumultuous teenagehood. After asking him for the umpteenth time what it was like to see them live I went on Ticketmaster and bought the first tickets I could get. Nosebleed seats for sure, and set me back a fair chunk of change but being an unemployed student at the time you get what you get.

Did you attend with anyone else? Solo. Well, for the subway ride to the venue and back so I could avoid any track-pushing or shanking I want with my dear friend J and his coworker V. We worked at Hot Topic- go figure. We were doing our makeup on the ride there, listening to the songs, getting excited when we saw other concert goers, and getting REALLY excited when we made it to the arena, seeing all the beautiful costumes people were wearing. There were families with kids in corpse paint, elderly folks wearing battle jackets, and in front of us were two people dressed as sexy nuns handing out crackers with a chirpy "Body of Christ?". Being the most lukewarm Catholic you can imagine I got a real kick out of this, and a snack! But for the actual show, I was alone, next to a couple who were on a date that seemed to be going piss poor. The lady sat next to me had her ears covered the whole time and the two folks in front of me were recording and were very miffed at my singing. I wasn't going to let these squares squander my fun so I broke a fire safety rule and took to the aisle to headbang and scream my little heart out.

What did you wear? A red bralette that I found behind my washing machine, my bootiest of booty shorts, and a big lolloping knock-off skeleton onesie that got VERY hot very quickly. I was able to tie the onesie around my waist once the novelty of my little homage wore off, and was actually quite comfortable! I definitely preferred wearing PJ's and my ratty old converse than wearing an outfit I couldn't move around in. It was, and still is, drenched in the smell of the venue, which sentimentality aside is not very good. At least I have a keepsake?

Where were your seats? When I first bought the tickets they were the nosiest-of-nosebleed seats, and I was fine with that! But as I passed through the gates security told me to go to Fan Check. This shocked me originally since for once I had no tricks (booze) up my sleeve for this concert. Instead of giving me a talking-to, they actually moved my tickets to be VERY close to the stage, free of charge! They said they wanted the nice seats to fill up so I can an excellent view of the band, and of one Mr. Ray Toro, who was giving our side special attention that night. I feel like a fainting, swooning old noblewoman just thinking about it.

What was your favorite song(s) from the setlist they played at your show? Cemetery Drive. I wish I had something more romantic to say about it but I worry it's too soul-bearing. I cried. The girl next to me cried. It was catharisis.

What song were you most hoping to hear? Did you get to hear it? I was hoping for Demolition Lovers (which was a long shot) but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Considering my mental state at the time before going maybe it was for the best, I think that song should be saved for snowy evenings on transit when you feel a hot ball of lead in your stomach that's somewhere between heartache and anger. I don't think the bad-date couple needed to see me like that.

What was your favorite moment from the show? Gerard calling us all hippies making the entire arena smell like weed. Now, I did not partake in the weedsmoking nor will I be a snitch on the people who were. All I can say is, isn't it impressive how someone on my side was able to sneak in a full-sized bong? Where do you even hide that thing? Also, I was waving my phone flashlight in tandem with someone across the stadium, we were making circles, waving, and doing little dances during the intermission. I go on instagram- and what do I see but an old friend of mine posting us doing it! It was him! After all these years reuniting at the My Chemical Romance tour! My heart is warm thinking about it. I've missed him- we were high school troublemakers together. Listening to My Chem while stealing shopping carts and being pushed around town to being all-grown up and seeing them live. F, if you're reading this, thank you.

What was the most unexpected moment from the show? The use of not one, but TWO bullets songs. I could practically hear J and V from across the stadium shriek with pure, Dionysian glee. Not to say that I wasn't as well.

Did you snag any merch? What pieces? I got the BoyZone tee! Unfortunately, so did half the student body at my university in which the first day was the day after the concert. I tried to lightheartedly tell someone. "One of us is going to have to change!" they did not laugh. I'm only still a little embarrassed by it.

Many fans describe seeing MCR live as feeling like coming home. Did you experience anything like that at your show? It felt strange. I haven't felt that feeling since I was a young kid. The first time I heard an MCR song was on my hand-me-down laptop given to me by the older brother I mentioned earlier. Being a little kid I only really cared about playing Animal Jam but I would to it to the tune of the only song he left for me on it. Teenagers. Explicit version. I would listen to it CONSTANTLY. I didn't know how to download music so that was all I had. That was until my very Christian father heard the naughty naughty swear words and deleted the song and replaced it with the clean version. It's a decade later, and now I can listen to songs with bad words whenever I want, DAD. My Chemical Romance will always remind me of my brother, showing me cool clothing stores and cool T.V. shows and letting me learn to skateboard in our driveway on his board. Seeing MCR, that strange feeling, was like staying up late on a school night, eating Doritos and being passed down the sacred knowledge that is cool older brother music. It was coming home to the special moments he and I had, that he made an effort despite being an angsty, always angry teen. He always had time for his sister and making sure she grew up to like good rock music. My Chemical Romance is a big brother and seeing them live is sneaking out to a show, knowing that your parents are going to kill you when you get home.

If you could change one thing about your show experience, what would it be? I came to the show with a little pouch of crystals and my rosary. I was giving out crystals to friends-of-friends but there was a girl sat next to me who was the only one dancing with me. I wanted to give her my rosary but she left before I could. I think of her now and then.

Has your perspective or opinion about the band changed since seeing them on this tour? If so, in what way? Yes. I don't mean this in a parasocial way but it was strange seeing them as PEOPLE. IN PERSON. Not that I hold celebrities to a higher regard than other people that is, in my humble opinion, cringe as hell. But the way they were smiling at people, dancing, having a good time- it definitely has a different feel than watching through a screen. Ray's hair looks even better in person, if you can believe it.

What advice would you give to people seeing My Chemical Romance in the future? Dance! Headbang! Sing! If you're too scared to dance, I was too. But I can tell you first hand that if you dance, people will dance with you! Shimmy an shriek to your hearts content. Who cares what anyone thinks? You know who's a bigger loser than being the only one dancing? Being so lame you think it's funny to laugh at people who are. And if MCR ever comes back and if you're in Toronto and you're too scared to dance, look for me, I'll dance with you!

Thanks, Summer! They can be found on Tumblr at @dandified-doe.

#story #09/05/22 #mcrtoronto2

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