#it's not very detailed but please understand me

[janesurlife]

I want to talk about this "mentality" thing once and for all cause charles Fans (and Oscar fans too) bring this up again and again. First of all not all drivers have the exact same personality so it's understandable that they react differently in similar situations. Max used to be criticised cause he wasn't as flashy as Hamilton. Now Lando is being criticised for either celebrating too much or too little. George is sometimes made fun of because of the way he reacts to his achievements while Oscar is often praised for not being "too reactive". YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT THEY'RE VERY DIFFERENT PEOPLE.

Now to address this tweet, a lecfosi is criticising Carlos for thanking his team after an ok race while praising Charles for not saying anything (which I don't even think is true, he did say something but this ferrari news account is famous for misinformation)

First of all, ferrari shat in qualifying...not mincing my words here. Both drivers suffered, both made mistakes and they landed on 9th and 10th. So after that their priority would be to finish in points and that's exactly what they did. Carlos had to struggle a bit more because of the bad start but he made a good recovery. He understands that this race could have gone so much worse for them so after finishing the race unharmed and with points, thanking his team and the mechanics for repairing the car in time is the least he could do as a driver. I don't wanna go into too much detail about Charles but in my very personal opinion not thanking your team (IF he really didn't) after a job well done doesn't make you look like a champion, it makes you look like a passive aggressive whiney bitch but that's just me. So please stop with this "championship mentality" bullshit cause it means nothing.

[peanuttoffee]

opening sketch* commissions, 5 slots are available for lowered price!

(sharing is much much appreciated!! currently saving up for a very necessary technical upgrade, so any help would go a long way <3)

If you’re interested, drop me a message here on tumblr or send an email on peanuttoffee.art@gmail.com!

More info under the cut :)

*If you’d like a commission in more painterly style like my Star Wars portraits, or a comic - write me a message! I can schedule you for when I’d be opening some slots for those c:

Important things to mention:

• For sketch commissions, full payment upfront via PayPal or Ko-Fi after the order is accepted. No refunds!

• You receive updates for each stage of the workflow (initial sketch, line, color, shading) and get a full-sized png of the artwork once it’s done

• These commissions are for personal use only (no commercial use)

• Please note that i reserve the right to deny any request if i’m uncomfortable with it!

• Any kind of visual references will help me better understand your ideas! Refs for pose, facial expressions, mood, any other important details - there’s never too many! <3

If you have any questions, absolutely don’t hesitate to ask! c:

[plusvanity]

Hii, a few posts back you said you have your opinions on Faust and Euronymous separately could you make a post on that?

Love your analysis :)

Øystein has an interesting personality. I talked a bit about him in comparison with Varg at some point because they do share a few characteristic features.

I would describe Øystein as ambitious, talented, creative, hard-working and a leader. I don't think he worked very hard (as Varg, for example) to gain admiration from the people around him, I think that his ingenious ideas and musical innovation attracted people naturally.

He knew how to make himself be respected by his peers because he was open-minded, understanding, and had an optimistic attitude (as many described him) towards life.

It's pretty clear that he wasn't as mentally unstable as others in the scene, but it doesn't mean that he had no issues. I believe he had a bit of an inclination to be people-pleasing while also trying to remain firm on his views and beliefs.

He was prideful, confident (especially about his music), enjoyed the position of power and influence in which he was but didn't abuse that at all. He was arrogant at times and full of himself, but there is a fine line between the character that he was playing (Euronymous) and the real person he was inside.

I see him as having a few narcissistic features but not enough to consider him in the NPD spectrum. He was also quite understanding (especially when Euperor got signed by Candlelight Records) and you don't really see full-blown narcissists being reasonable and understanding.

Unfortunately, because of his strong personality and leadership attributes (dominant, assertive), he managed to attract a very toxic person in his life that lately became his murderer.

The fact that he had a healthy relationship with his parents tells a lot about him. He seemed to have much more authentic confidence than Varg ever had as well as discipline. He seemed much more thoughtful about consequences than Varg, and this became apparent when he took a step back from a situation that would have brought him extra fame, but also MASSIVE implications (negative attention). He also closed his shop at the suggestion of his parents.

These attributes generally come from a 'good enough' household.

Later on, it's quite evident that he struggled with depression because of Pelle's death. There are some indications of 'self harm' and excessive drinking behaviour. But it is also possible that he had episodic depression in the time that Pelle was alive because we all know that depression and anxiety are socially transmitted mental illnesses (or at least we should know).

I personally find his implication in church-burnings a theatrical movement rather than a truly antisocial behaviour. So this makes me think that naturally, he had fewer violent impulses than he wanted to display to the public. In addition to this, he even tried to dissociate himself from the image that Varg's juvenile criminality was put on him.

He had an inflated sense of ego that I tent to see it as theatrical rather than real, but this is how they were 'playing the game' back then.

His coping mechanisms after Pelle's death were dubious, but it is what it is. There is no point in getting into details. People cope differently with trauma. Øystein tried to cope as best as he could.

This is a very rough summary of how I see him.

Now, when it comes to Faust, I know he was seeing Øystein as a mentor. He had a lot of respect for him, this is undeniable.

Now, not all people are able to commit murder, even if in self-defense. What Faust did was reacting on impulse. I don't know what was in his head when he did it, but he described in an interview as 'seeing himself out of his body as he was doing it' and this is due to adrenaline rush combined with the brain's inability to cope with what is happening on the spot. He dissociated at the scene and probably had a hard time believing what he did after that.

In the context in which Faust committed his crime, this is antisocial behaviour. Another detail that stuck out was how he described the incident. 'Stomping on his head' is nothing but cruelty and sadism, in my opinion.

I am not saying that he is in a 'certain way', but these are my thoughts on him for what he's done.

Remember that anyone who killed a person or an animal can do it again. This is a psychological fact. Maybe they will never repeat their mistake, maybe they will seek redemption, but once you've done something like this, you are very, very likely to repeat the behaviour.

I hope you find this useful, anon

[sometimesanalice]

I’m so curious about ‘Like I Can” and reader’s childhood/high school background!! Could we get some little flashbacks? Your work is amazing btw❣️❣️❣️

Ah! This was such a fun message to get! Sorry it took me a minute to respond, I wanted to make sure I had time to sit down and give it the attention it deserves!

What do you want to know? My inbox is always open, so please feel free to send thoughts or questions in any time they pop up! 🫶🏻

But here’s more about Sweet Girl for you! (i might have gone a little overboard, lol)

Sweet Girl was a bit of a shy girlie and a bit of a late bloomer in her younger years. It wasn’t until high school where she really started coming out of her shell.

She spent a lot of time at the Bradshaw house growing up and felt like it was hers too. Carole was the one who first gave her the “sweet girl” nickname and they had a really close relationship (sg still has the locket Carole gave her for her 13th birthday). And SG’s favorite nights were the ones where they’d get to have sleepovers. The moms would be upstairs having their own (wine, brownies, and romcoms), and her and Bradley would have free rein of the living room. (she famously isn't a fan of movie theater popcorn while Bradley is the extra butter kind of guy, but she does like the kettle corn kind.)

After her parent’s divorce, she had a complicated relationship with her dad. SG never saw it coming and then he moved very quick with a new wife and step siblings, and she felt really betrayed there for a while.

She had a few close friends in her grade, but Bradley was always who she considered her best friend. And because of that she did get picked on sometimes mainly by shitty boys who didn’t understand why they were so close or why he’d want to hang out with her (especially since they have a 2 year gap, so they’d call her his shadow or a tagalong). Bradley made it clear that anyone who messed with her wasn’t cool with him, but there were still some comments under breaths that she’d hear sometimes chose to keep to herself.

She’s always been artsy (she doodled some very detailed fireballs on the page of the sheet music book with Great Balls of Fire that she gave Bradley for his 12th birthday). But her favorite classes in high school were AP history (preferred euro over us) and computer science. (She originally wanted to be a graphic designer, and focused on pursuing her freshman year in college before later changing her major.)

Tennis was her sport of choice, and she was pretty decent at it. Her mom, Carole, and Bradley (baseball schedule depending) were always in the stands to cheer her on (the moms had to sit through so much spring sports, those opaque tumblers were definitely filled with wine, lol)! Both SG and Bradley had shirts they’d made as self professed #1 fan of the other when they were at each other’s games. The year she almost made it to the state playoffs was the year after Carole passed away, and after that happened and seeing her mom there alone in the stands without Carole or Bradley, she quit playing.

Miss ma’am is a smart cookie, and was one of three valedictorians in her class. (She did not audition to give the speech and let one of the others do it because she doesn't like a lot of attention directed at her.)

Her respect for the library (and why she won’t make out with Bradley in the stacks, even though he’s always trying to get her to after they get together, she won’t but she does let him carry her books, lol) is because she used to spend her summers volunteering there. Bradley would either drop SG off or pick her up depending on his baseball camp schedule and his job scooping ice cream. (Which Bradley has a struck ‘no milkshakes’ in the montero rule after she spilled hers one time, and he never let her forget about it)

I do have plans for a couple longer oneshots about their younger years! Including one about the night at the homecoming party where Bradley got his scars, and then also about the period after Carole died and Bradley's self destructive era (when he tried to implode their friendship).

As for some little flashbacks, I think that sounds like so much fun! I love their dynamic so much and have fun weaving in things from their past into the stories I write when I have the chance to do it! If there's specific things you're interested, send them my way! I'm happy to keep a little list and work on them when the time and inspiration hits!

[asuyaka]

Hiii, it's kind of a weird request so I totally understand if you ignore

Would you mind writing fluff with some comfort for Dazai with a trans male reader (ftm), when the reader is very transphobic (only) towards himself, because he doesn't want to be this way cause it's not something 'socially accepted?' the reader is rather chameleonic n generally cares a lot about how he's seen and if he fits in, going as far to change his whole way of acting based on who he's talking with or when he can't mirror someone's personality putting on a charismatic, playful, talkative facade. (Basically a social3 in detail but not manipulative if u know that term) because of his desire to climb social ladder and massive fear of lacking social acceptance, he tries to gaslight himself into thinking he's cisgender most of the time, which only makes him feel worse?? The 'all I want you to do is give me all of your love&applause and for return I'll be whoever you want me to be' type of performer.

Sorry for being picky but please don't write the reader as a submissive scared little thing that can't be assertive at all I hate that in comforts I beg u

★ - this hits so close t'home cause 've always struggled with my gender identity n'stuff then I realized there's a buncha labels, too many f'me to care about ! *^__^*

☆ - Dazai Osamu x FtM Reader!

♡ - really hope I wrote him well f'ya anon ! O(∩_∩)O | CW: copious amounts of misgenderin' (she/her & terms like 'girlfriend are used for the first half, please be warned !!) & transphobic language !

[Name] looked at his her the outfit in the mirror, a black body con dress with a slit that ran up [Name]'s thigh.

The longer [Name] stared at the reflection the more an urge to throw up formed. Dazai would be the door for their date, and every dress [Name] tried didn't sit right.

They were either too tight, not tight enough, too short, too long, or too boxy— the point was nothing worked.

It didn't matter if [Name] put on a skirt or a crop top, they made everything feel worse to the point [Name] wanted to call the date off, but that would make her a bad girlfriend, and she wanted to be good.

The doorbell rang. "Babe? You haven't answered your phone, are you okay?"

[Name] groaned and opened the door. Dazai glanced over her outfit with wide eyes. "Wow. Uh, nice dress, but what's the occasion?"

[Name]'s eyebrow raised. "What do you mean? I always wear dresses."

Dazai walked into [Name]'s apartment and plopped onto the couch. "No, you don't. You told me you hate dresses and skin-tight clothes."

She glared at her boyfriend, a deep frown on her face before scoffing. "Okay, well, I like them now. Girls like dresses anyway."

The brunette paused his actions and stared. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

[Name] rolled her eyes. "What did I say?"

"You're joking, right? You aren't a girl— I asked you out because you're a man, and I wanted a boyfriend."

Boyfriend.

The title made [Name]'s heart well, like a warm blanket draped over her body. It didn't cause that sick, gut-wrenching feeling like 'girlfriend' but they weren't a boy.

They couldn't be a boy.

[Name] gulped thickly. "...I'm not a tranny, Dazai. What would my coworkers think? My parents? I can't— I was born a girl, Dazai, I shouldn't... feel this way."

Osamu gently holds [Name]'s hands. "Baby, what are you talking about? You've always been my boyfriend, you being born a woman doesn't change that."

"But I... it's— Osamu, it's not right. If I act too masculine, I could lose my job and have my neighbors hate me, but I fucking hate having to act like somethin' I'm not." [Name] sniveled, wiping his cheeks at tears that began to form.

Dazai guided his boyfriend to the couch and cupped his cheek. "You shouldn't have to change yourself to make other people happy. You're my boyfriend, the only boy in the world I've genuinely loved, and I don't want to see you destroy yourself for the better of someone else—people who don't even know you."

"If you lose your job for being you, then you could work with me. I'm sure Boss wouldn't mind having a new employee."

With a gentle kiss, Osamu chuckled. "And I'd finally get some work done so I can relax with my perfect boyfriend in the world."

[Name] sniffed as his boyfriend pressed another kiss on his wet cheek. "...is it 'cause you're lazy?"

"Eh... not lazy, just... working smarter and not harder!"

"Not working at all doesn't count, Osamu."

Dramatically, Dazai held a hand to his chest and rolled on the floor. "Woe is me! My boyfriend keeps bullying me even after I call him perfect! What do I do?"

He lightly laughed and placed a soft hand on Osamu's hair. "Maybe take him on a date?"

The brunette immediately sat on his knees with sparkles in his eyes. "He still wants to go with me?"

[Name] kissed Dazai's forehead and smiled. Even with the thoughts swirling in his head, Osamu always had a way to make him feel better. "He'd be delighted to go on a date with you."

[corkinavoid]

Fiance to a Star News

I have given up on trying to force myself to keep working on it. But, hold on, it doesn't mean I'm abandoning it.

I'm looking for a beta/editor/co-author, I'm really not sure what to call it. Let me explain this a bit.

[Update: help found! Thank you!]

I've written that fic in its entirety almost six months ago, in my native language. Then, when I decided to post it, I ran it all through Google Translate. Which is great at translating things word for word in their literal meaning, but not great for sentence structure, idioms, and some minor grammar mishaps. So, since I've posted the first chapter, I've been tideously going through every sentence and either correcting or rewriting it while keeping the meaning.

I am now in the middle of chapter four, and I'm officially so done with it that I'm starting to think about just deleting it all. Which would be a great waste since I do still love that fic.

So I'm looking for someone to help me out here.

More explanations and stuff under the cut.

Let me first show you what I mean by helping me out:

Example of what the text is now:

Tim is silent for a while. The prospects are clearly not rosy, and he, to be honest, doesn’t really understand what to do next. Until now, all he had thought about was how to get out of here, so now that that possibility was gone, he just...

While it is understandable enough, it is not exactly good sentence-structure and grammar wise. Also, it's as plain as white bread.

Example of what the text should (to my best abilities) look like:

Tim pauses, taken aback. The situation does not look very promising, and, if he is being honest, he has no idea of what to do now. Until this moment, all he had thought about was how to get out of the woods. But now that it was not happening and the last chances of escape have all slipped through his fingers, he just...

You see what I mean?

It's extra confusing for myself since when I see the unedited text, my brain automatically reads it in another language and making myself switch manually is draining as fuck, and I'm at my limit.

There's also the issue of some names that translated wrong/did not translate properly/translated as a wrong word. For example, the head of the Academy would be called Headmaster in English, but it translated to Director, or the fact Google Translate keeps translating Sam's pronouns to he/him for some unknown reason, and many more little details.

So I desperately need help.

Perks: co-authoring, access to all the chapters, naturally, as well as all the random notes, pieces of lore that I have, but that have not made it into the fic, any question regarding the fic answered, random thoughts, permission to rewrite literally anything how you see fit (while keeping the general line of plot). Is it co-authoring or adoption at this point? I have no idea, really, but whatever you prefer.

If you're interested, just message me for any other details <3

P.S. Please understand that there are 10 (maybe 9.5) chapters to be edited. And also that I will be giving you a sort of test piece of text to try it out. If, at any point later, you decide it's not your cup of tea anymore, that's totally fine, I'll understand. I just really, really want to post this fic, but I don't want to throw the plain unedited version there.

Thanks in advance!

[ryuichirou]

Heya Ryu~! I am wondering if you have any body tutorials and how you draw them.

You also make them so delicious and I was wondering how you draw the body for sketching ?

Sorry if you already answered this before ;-;

Anon! Sorry for the long wait.

I am very happy you like how I draw bodies! I don’t really consider myself a master of anatomy, and I know I still do a lot of mistakes, but I certainly have a lot of fun when drawing and rendering bodies, so it’s great that it translates to the end result hehe.

I did write a post about how I studied anatomy years ago, it can still be found somewhere on my #about drawing tag, but I didn’t want to just throw this super old post at you – I think my skill and understanding grew a little bit since that time, even though the main principles that I use are the same.

Long story short, I ended up recording a video (with no audio btw)… 🤦

I tried to explain my thinking process + give some advice about what I think is the most important to focus on while drawing. I am not sure if it’s helpful or if it’s even what you wanted to know, but I hope it’ll at least be a little bit interesting to watch lol

In terms of tools and resources to study anatomy, I won’t say anything new: study your friends, draw quick sketches of random people from real life, movies or pictures. But also, when you see an image (a drawing or a photo) that you really like, try analysing why it looks good, what exactly it is that you liked about it. It really is all about just noticing small details, but also constantly working on bettering the overall body shape…

If you have any questions, please let me know!

[soratsuart]

Well, you know what time it is, guys

QSMP Day 40 Lore Summary

Today it will be a long one since so many things have happened, including the mysterious kidnapping of the eggs and, more importantly, the addition of Brazilian streamers to the server. WELCOME WORLD TO QSMP!!!!

We start the day around half an hour before the actual event started, with everyone logging in expecting to spend some more time with their eggs before fighting whatever was coming for them, only to find them and their beds were already gone. This, of course, prompted them to panic and they all reunited to discuss what had happened, somehow ending up with the whole group at Philza's house.

After a while, they get interrupted by a cargo ship crashing into the train station due to a storm. Everyone goes to investigate and they have to make their way through a bunch of monsters until they arrive in a cabin with new Brazilian members trapped. According to them, they crashed the ship because Felps tried to drive without having a licence. The group has to introduce a code in order to let them out and they the Brazilian members introduce themselves to everyone else.

With their new addition in the island, all members go to the adoption centre were English and Spanish members introduce themselves to the new members and afterwards they go Bad's Pizzeria to party and interact with one another. During this time Philza somehow managed to become Forever's sugar daddy by accident (I swear that's what happened, they used the words "sugar daddy").

After a while, Quackity took the Brazilian to have a tour around the island and explain them the history of everything that has happened as well as show them all the buildings, though Forever left after a while to go with Philza. And while all that was happening, Slime transformed into Gegg and finally met Mariana and got him to adopt him. This family dynamic lasted for about five minutes before Vegetta killed Gegg for hitting Foolish and his body revealed him to be Slime, so now everyone knows his true identity.

After some more time, Maxo opened Las Casualonas and everyone reunited there to party (it went exactly as you could expect). However, they were soon interrupted by the QSMP Federation announcing their eggs had been returned in the adoption centre. Everyone immediately goes there to check for them, but they can't find them until Philza discovers them all in the attic. They find all the eggs alive, but they all have cracks. Soon everyone would find out they feel weak and scared, being unable to wear an armour until after a long while, and none of them remember what happened to them.

On the bright side, though, a new egg has appeared, wearing a yellow and green T-Shirt like what Brazil's football team's uniform looks like. All five Brazilian members decided to adopt this new egg and called them Richarlyson. Slime and Mariana low-key have a fight with them to try and kill Richarlyson but they failed so afterwards they tried to fight for their custody. Bobby also started fighting Richarlyson.

Meanwhile, Quackity went to Philza's place to try and get Tallulah to (forcefully) take care of her. However, Bad had already warned Philza since he heard Quackity when he was searching for Tallulah, so he was already prepared and kept shutting him down while adjudging his basement to be Tallulah's room with the help of Bad, Fit and the eggs. Quackity's plan then changed to build a prison with Forever and they want to jail Philza for "rejecting Forever's love and kidnapping Quackity's daughter". They also got Cellbit to join them, but he didn't really believe Quackity, so he went to question Bad about the matter while secretly warning him Quackity was listening.

Cellbit and Quackity have an argument about the eggs and after Quackity jumps from the wall Cellbit allows him to have 1% of Richarlyson's custody. Richarlyson holds now the record of having the most parents of the whole server with 6 parents. Quackity was then adopted as a Brazilian too. They also surprised Cucurucho spying on them.

Also, as last relevant thing, Richarlyson died (yes, already) and Cellbit asked Bad for help to cover it up and blame the Census Bureau for killing them. Luckily, though, their life was forgiven due to this being their first day so they still have two lives.

[sysig]

How far did you get? (Patreon)

[egelskop]

i am so interested in ur hlvrai au can we get a rundown

oh boy, this is going under a readmore.

fair warning, this is a LONG read because (1.) i am not a competent writer and (2.) i can't for the life of me keep things brief. sorry and or good luck.

ACT I

The Black Mesa incident: Gordon Freeman is provided an opportunity to do an informal beta test for a combat training simulation program that's in development in the Research & Development department of the Black Mesa Research Facility. (Read: He knows a guy in R&D and said guy knows Gordon likes video games and VR stuff, so he was like "hey you should come check this out when you're on break.")

The combat sim would be a revolutionary training simulation using artificial intelligence to enhance and realize the experience for the ‘player character’.

The test goes wrong, and Gordon can’t seem to disengage from the simulation and odd, unscripted things start happening; he has to ‘play the game’ to its full completion before he is able to exit the simulation safely. He has suffered a brain injury throughout the process, eye damage due to prolonged exposure to the headset and is generally traumatized by the simulation experience he at some point could no longer physically and emotionally distinguish from the real world. The project as a whole is shut down and Gordon is put into a rehabilitation program. Black Mesa covers up the incident as best it can, but whispers of it still echo around the facility.

Below is a page for a two-page comic i never finished detailing said events.

ACT II

The rumors reach the ears of a particularly tech-savvy researcher named Clark, who steals the project documentation and anything else he can get his hands on from a storage. At home, he looks into the project, reads about it, and gets curious about the simulation’s files themselves. They’re on a drive he plugs into his computer, and suddenly his system’s performance lags, windows open and close until a txt. file opens up. He comes into contact with one of the simulation’s AI that has somehow entered his operating system. He tries to keep it busy by having it poke around as he reads up on the simulation and its ultimate shutdown. When the AI reveals it can see him through the webcam, he panics and rips the drive out of the port. The invasive AI and the other project files seems like they’re gone from his system, he does a checkup but sees nothing odd running or otherwise. The next day after work he does another checkup. Finding nothing, he surmises he’s in the clear and starts up an online game. The slumbering, corrupted data of the AI sees its out, and disappears into the game.

ACT III

The transition/journey to the game is a rocky one, and the already corrupted data of the AI known as Benrey splits and gets even more fragmented. The largest fragment embeds itself into the game’s files to keep itself running. Without the foundation of the game to support it, it’d be lost to a dead void and slowly die out. Somewhat stable, it learns about the world around it; the game seems to be an exploration sandbox game. For now (and clarity), I’ve chosen to call this bigger, embedded fragment ‘Data’. (so this is the big benny with the right eye/one big eye in my art)

Data splits off a smaller fragment of itself, intending it to be an avatar or ‘player character’ but this grows into its own awareness and becomes who we’ll call ‘Beastrey’ (the smaller benny with the left eye and tail in my art).

The fragment ‘Beastrey’ wakes to a dead void, so Data uses its knowledge to create a private server for Beastrey, an empty world. Beastrey’s existence is an extension of the bigger part, with more freedom of movement to parse through the game and move freely within it, with the caveat that it can’t go ‘too far’ away from the host. Beastrey can visit other servers and relay information. Data learns and slowly starts building up the world/private server, at some point settling for an aquatic world because it reminds it of itself (something something sea of data). It's important to note that Beastrey retains little to no memories of the events of canon VRAI.

Data makes it easier for Beastrey to move around, and they grow to have more reach with time. At some point Data can alter the basic structural elements of the game, so it plays around with making things that are reminiscent of the memories it has of Black Mesa and Xen. At one point, it gains access to parse through the player base of the game, and takes note of an email address: ‘g.m.freeman@gmail.com’, attached to a player account. The name is somewhat familiar to it.

It sends an invite to join the server to the player account.

ACT IV

Gordon tries going back to work at Black Mesa after rehabilitating, but he has trouble separating his experiences with the simulation from reality, to a breaking point where an altercation with a security guard drives him to quit. He seeks professional help for his PTSD and anxiety, but still experiences dissociative episodes, migraines and somatic flashbacks localised mostly in his right forearm. Despite this, he is determined to continue living his life as normally as possible. He applies for a part-time job teaching physics at a local high school, the one where his son Joshua goes to, and remains relatively stable from there.

Joshua is 15 years old. Regular teen. After an impressive amount of pleading he got a VR-headset for his 14th birthday from Gordon (much to the disapproval of Gordon’s ex), and he’s been captivated by an exploration sandbox game since it came out a few months ago.

He gets an invite to an unnamed private server, and he accepts.

He is struck with awe as the world he enters seems completely different from the ones he’s seen so far in the game. Different flora, different fauna. Most of it uninteractible, though, or otherwise just retextured from its base game variant. Even the new enemy types, after a scare, can’t actually hurt him, it seems. He stumbles upon Beastrey, who is just as surprised to see him and wants him out until Joshua says he was invited.

Joshua commends Beastrey (who introduces himself as 'Ben-') on ‘modding’ everything in, but admits that he was disappointed to find that everything was just surface-level stuff. Beastrey inquires about what he’d like to see. Data is always watching, unseen, and decides to alter the world in the way Joshua described when Joshua leaves.

Joshua starts appearing more often, if only for a few hours at a time. He marvels at the ways the world shifts and grows with each time he plays, and takes to exploring it with Beastrey at his side, for whom strangely enough a lot of things are also new. Joshua teaches both Beastrey and Data about the outside world, thinking Beastrey is just a somewhat reclusive but likeable weirdo.

Joshua tells Gordon about the new friend he made, ‘Ben’, and the adventures he’s been having with the other. Gordon is happy to hear Joshua is having a good time, but is otherwise none the wiser. Joshua starts losing track of time in the game, but chalks it up to being invested.

During one play session, Beastrey confesses he isn’t the one who did all the ‘modding’, and invites Joshua to meet Data. Data, or at least its ‘physical’ in-game manifestation is deep within the world, past the aquatic twilight zone and strange, drowned ruins of an unknown facility. Data, for the first time, really sees Joshua, and the resemblance sparks something within it. Joshua is drawn closer to it, and just before he reaches it-

Joshua wakes up lying on the floor with Gordon hunched over him in his room, pleading with him to wake up. Joshua unknowingly got drawn into the game much like Gordon had been, and Gordon urges Joshua to never touch the headset again, taking it away. Gordon opens up about his experiences with the simulation a bit more. They both agree to not touch the game or the headset again.

ACT V

Gordon comes into contact with an old coworker from Black Mesa, and he inquires about the combat simulation project, if anything happened to it after it was canned. This is where he learns that an employee had taken the project files from storage and was consequently fired. He comes into contact with Clark, and Clark explains he had no idea he accidentally unleashed the AI unto the game. Gordon asks if anything can be done to prevent what happened to Joshua and himself from happening to other people. Clark confesses he doesn’t know, and that it’s up to the developers of the game to find anything out of place and make sure it gets fixed. Gordon decides to leave the matter where it lies, not wanting anything to do with AI and simulations anymore and to safeguard his son.

Some time passes.

Joshua starts getting repeated invites and messages, at one point he gets into a conversation with ‘Ben’ via a platform’s messaging system. Ben says he can explain everything, that he’s sorry. Joshua decides he would like one final goodbye. He finds the headset stashed away somewhere in the house, and, while Gordon’s gone, he turns on the game and enters the server.

Beastrey (Ben) is surprised to see him, urging him to log out and turn off the game, but it’s already too late and Joshua can no longer leave. Beastrey helps Joshua attempting to ‘exit’ the game by going as far away from Data’s reach, but Data stops Beastrey and traps Joshua, determined to wait to the point that he assimilates into the game completely.

Gordon eventually finds Joshua comatose with the headset on, and he panics. He considers calling the emergency services, but he’s afraid they’ll take the headset off or that removing Joshua too far from the game will hurt his son like what happened to him. He calls Clark, urging him to help in any way he can. This results in Gordon and Clark going back to Black Mesa to retrieve the project files and the other gear they can get their hands on to get Gordon into the game to free his son.

Gordon enters the private server with Clark’s player character, and thwarts any attempt from Data to impede his progress and trap him as well. Beastrey’s awareness is overridden by Data as a last ditch effort to deter Gordon and Gordon is forced to destroy Beastrey before he can reach Data. As Beastrey is taken over, Data gains Beastrey’s awareness, and finds his other, littler half never wanted to trap Joshua in the first place, and the way it hurt him to hurt both Joshua and Gordon to this extent.

At this point, Data wavers in its intention to keep Joshua trapped, even more so with Beastrey now gone, and recognises whatever it is that is driving Gordon forward in the game is outside of his control to manipulate, so he lets Gordon destroy it as well. In a way, it also feels as a fulfillment of its intended role as the ‘villain’. The server crashes, the world breaks apart. The ‘game’ is completed.

The final boss is defeated and both Gordon and Joshua wake up. Joshua luckily wasn’t exposed long enough to have suffered any lasting damage, except for what seems to be a minor headache and some light sensitivity (and a vow from Gordon to get him checked out by a doctor as soon as the clinics open).

--

The whole ordeal results in Clark, Gordon and Joshua sitting in a Denny’s at four in the morning, eating pancakes somewhat solemnly, completely exhausted but also still reeling from the virtual battle. Joshua learns that ‘Ben’ essentially died, and he can’t help but cry for his friend.

“Honestly, I don’t think he’s gone,” Gordon admits, picking at the last bites of his pancakes. "I think he- or whatever that was, has a hard time staying dead. Like a cockroach, you know? At this point I’m just wondering when he’ll turn up again.”

Clark hums in agreement. Joshua seems somewhat reassured by his words, wiping at his eyes with the scratchy napkin as he settles into the squeaking diner seat.

“But,” he starts with a sigh, pointing his syrup-covered fork upwards to the ceiling in a decree, “One thing’s for certain…”

He thinks back to a time rife with virtual gunfire, caging walls and hysterical laughter echoing through the halls of the Black Mesa research facility. Five sets of footsteps and a whisper of his name.

“…No more VR. No more headsets. Ever.”

--

TL;DR: Gordon got trapped in VR and then Joshua also got trapped in VR. Benrey is there but also not.

thank you for reading. here. ( x ‿ o ) 🫴

[puckpocketed]

01/04/2024 - SEA @ SJS

smoothest Shark alive Willyek bumps the puck free, speeds into the neutral zone to catch our Goonwag's feed, and protects the puck long enough for everyone to get set up. extended thoughts under the cut!

This will never make a highlight reel but it's inchresting TO ME!!! so, expanding gif by gif:

1. Ekky (SJS #72) gets his body in and uses his reach to interrupt the pass from Ryker Evans (SEA #39), giving our Goonwag (SJS #11) a chance! None of this entire sequence happens without Ekky's play here.

2. Goonwag follows up on the loose puck and starts the rush. He passes it up to Ekky as Shane Wright (SEA #51) is applying pressure on the backcheck - and if you go back you’ll that Ekky was already sprinting deep into the neutral zone to receive the pass...!! he even fumbles it a little but his recovery is so good!! he gets low and extends his whole arm, digs deep and catches up even though he's behind. he WANTS that puck...!!

3. auuuhh.... just really good job keeping the puck safe.. (garth baby also keeping such a tight gap on him..!! love you!!). Ekky, he just is the KING of cutting back in that specific corner of the ice... changes direction and gets the puck on his backhand… he is ALWAYS doing this!! he loves to do this!! also what the hell is his trailing leg doing ..! look at it a few times. whys it whipping back and forth like a boat rudder <3 lol!! HOW does he not fall over even once making this play..?

SIDEBAR okay I don't have gifs or clips on hand so sources: trust me bro BUT often in this exact scenario, he will execute a backwards pass to whoever is standing in the slot. the sharks are somehow 9th overall in the league for behind-the-net passes and I fully believe that stat is on Ekky:

4. So Ekky has cut back here, Evans has peeled off and rotated, Wright is back on and hounding him for the puck...! Ekky almost looks bowlegged here (?) skating to keep his body in position.. the puck is protected between him and the boards. As Brian Dumoulin (SEA #8) pushes him up along the boards he sends off a pass with perfect timing to Bails my perfect metroid bounty hunter (SJS #90)!!

Beyond the gifs, I just like how he absorbed all that pressure. Not that I've watched That Much hockey but ...worse players would've passed the puck much earlier feeling that sort of pressure, turning it over with no one else around them in position to receive it (i have seen this happen!!!).

Ekky is growing so much and he's been thrown into the deep-end with this rebuild... he's the remnants of a past regime, he's the first piece in this new one, and he's not quite the "star-material" that the rebuild and the media and the fans are demanding from him. but. god!!! he's done so well given the circumstances!!!!! he's learning and getting better every game, he's so hungry to win and succeed and he remains determined despite being engulfed in a season worth of losses...!!!

in conclusion nobody cares about the Sharks and no one is paying attention to them. i get that. watching a losing team is hard. but in all of this.. Ekky is sooo fun to watch! I love to see his spinoramas, his zone entries, his schmooves!! i am so charmed by his grittiness and tenacity… he’s just fun no matter what is happening!! ekky im ur biggest fan <3

[uniquezombiedestiny]

what happens when passion becomes obsession? when the search becomes the hunt? the hunter, the hunted?

[caramel-mocha-latte]

Hi hello!!! Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I've just been dealing with some pretty bad depression

And uhhh! I am currently unable to afford meds rn so I'm just gonna...

points at my $5 headshot commissions again

and even link my cashapp. Only $3 extra for a tiny on your shoulder now for my commissions! No charge for having a big hand patting your head or something cause it's actually easier to add than a tiny for me lol

https://ko-fi.com/mocha_latte/commissions

https://cash.app/$Astakoi

So uh.. if any of you want anything/just want to help me out, yeah I'd appreciate it a bunch!

Gonna try to get back into posting more art :> and do a few artfight things before the month ends

[sskk-manifesto]

Atsushi's back in the game!!! ۶( ˆ o ˆ )

[invinciblerodent]

if bloodsoaked killer, avatar of wretched villainy, fetid and rotten, a vile creature to the very core.... why kicked puppy??? why cute round eyes??? why sweet scared girl who just wants to be nice and help everyone????

(in other words it's durge time; monk styles)

(my plan is a Karlach romance, but man, if you deliberately RP as someone who is both very confused and deeply scared, there is something extra reassuring about Gale's confidence. Like I'm trying to lean into Karlach's warmth -both literal and metaphorical- being a source of comfort, and the reason for this character to be drawn to her, but the dynamic of a strong woman who knows nothing and the physically frail man with chronic pain who knows everything IS intriguing...)

(then again, that could just be me being not even just thirsty, but parched for the wizard.)

[dickfuckk]

Hoping for bloopers/outtakes etc when the entire series is finished 🤞