#that cube makes a whole lot more sense now doesn't it

[catierambles]

Public Relations Ch.14

Pairing: Clark Kent/Superman x Charlotte Danvers (OFC)

WC 1355

Warnings: Eh?

@kingliam2019 , @greensleeves888 , @peaches1958 , @brattymum96 , @ouroboros113 , @summersong69 , @henryownsme

Charlotte printed out the article once it was released and framed it, hanging it up in the workshop. The main focus had been on her cars and restoration projects, but they had mentioned what she does with those she doesn’t have room for anymore, as well as some puff lines about her and Clark’s interactions. The terms “down to earth” and “genuine” were featured and Clark hoped it would quiet the naysayers claiming that he was only with her for her money.

She was in the study when he got done having a swim in the pool, sitting at her computer with WoW on the monitor.

“What’s that?” He asked, moving his head at the box wrapped in plain brown paper sitting on the desk next to her, his hands holding onto the towel around the back of his neck.

“No idea, just got here via courier.”

“Who’s it from?”

“There’s no return address.” Charlotte said and he perked a brow at it, going over to her desk and picking it up, weighing it in his hands. It was slightly heavy and he focused his vision, looking inside.

“It’s just a box.” He said and she looked at him.

“A box within a box?” She asked and he nodded. “It’s not going to blow up if I open it, will it?”

“I don’t see any wires or anything that could be a detonator. It’s literally just a box.”

“Well that’s weird and kinda boring.” She said, “Not that I want to get blown up, mind you.” He set it back down again with a shrug, relaxing his vision.

“You hungry?”

“I could eat.” She said and he leaned over, kissing the top of her head, making her smile.

“I’ll make us some food.” He said, “Any preference?”

“Not really.” She said, shaking her head. “You know I’ll eat just about anything.”

“I’ll be back up in a bit.” He said and she made an acknowledging sound, turning her attention back to the computer.

Clark was just about done with the sandwiches he was making when a shiver ran down his spine, the hair on his arms standing on end and a feeling of dread settled in his gut.  A scream, her scream, ripped through the air, filled with pain and he was out of the kitchen in a blink, racing up the stairs and to the study.

She was in front of her desk, suspended about a foot in the air, held in some kind of field, her hands clenched out at her sides as another scream tore from her lips. He tried to go to her, to grab her, get her away from whatever it was that was holding her, but he couldn’t get close to her, some kind of barrier keeping him away. He pushed at it, his teeth and jaw clenched, but it held strong and he was suddenly thrown back as a blinding flash of light filled the room.

Clark picked his head up from the floor where he had landed across the room, the light fading and he saw Charlotte lying on the floor so very still and it didn’t look like she was breathing.

“Charlie…” He scrambled towards her, pulling her into his arms and cradling her gently. Holding her up, he put his ear to her chest, but the sound of her heart was so faint that he almost didn’t hear it. “Baby,” He brushed her hair away from her face, “Stay with me, sweetheart, stay with me.” Looking up at the desk, he saw the cube as it collapsed back down again, a golden glow fading from within.

Bruce paced slightly as Clark sat in one of the chairs in the command center beneath Wayne Manor, Charlotte laying on a bed hooked to monitors in the med bay. He didn’t know who else to bring her to, as this wasn’t a normal circumstance, and he didn’t know what exactly had happened to her.

“Victor is looking at the cube.” Bruce said and he nodded, “It’s gone dormant again, no energy signals coming from it that he can tell.”

“It was definitely emitting some kind energy.” Clark said, “I saw it. I felt it when I tried to get to her.”

“She’s alive, Clark.” Bruce said, “Focus on that.”

“We know who sent it?”

“I found the customer's copy of the manifest from the courier service in her study after we got her settled and Victor and I went to get the cube.” Bruce said, “Tracked it to a shell company, more a front than anything else.”

“Owned by who?” Clark asked, but he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

“LexCorp.” Bruce said and Clark’s jaw clenched.

“She had a meeting with Lex Luthor months ago. According to her, he said a whole lot of nothing and she ended up walking out.” Clark said.

“Luthor is a narcissistic egomaniac.” Bruce said, “He probably didn’t like that.”

“So what the hell did he send her?” Clark asked, looking up at him. “What is that thing?”

“Why don’t we ask the man himself?”

Clark walked past the receptionist at her desk outside of the office, ignoring as she told him that Lex Luthor wasn’t seeing any visitors and pushed into the office, crossing the room quickly throwing the large desk out of his way, Lex jumping up from his seat and backing against the wall, holding up a small can with a spray nozzle.

“Unless you want a face full of aerosol kryptonite, I would think very carefully about what you’re going to do next if I were you.” Lex said.

“What is it?” Clark ground out, “What did you send her?”

“Did it activate?” He asked, his eyes lighting up, “Oh, please tell me it activated. Then again, you wouldn’t be here looking to rip my lungs out if it hadn’t.”

“What. Is. It?” He asked again.

“Is she still alive?”

“You wouldn’t be if she wasn’t.” Clark said, feeling his eyes start to heat.

“Eh eh.” Lex said, his finger tensing on the nozzle. “Settle down.”

“Lex,” Bruce said, “Answer the man’s question. What did you send her?”

“I’m calling it the Creation Matrix.” He said, “Catchy, right? As far as I can tell, it has the power to rewrite a person’s genetic code, kick them forward in evolution.”

“Why?” Clark asked, “Why did you send it to her? Because she walked out of your damn meeting?”

“Oh, please.” Lex said, rolling his eyes, “That meeting was just a way for me to get her DNA. As polite as she is, she didn’t refuse the glass of water that was offered. Once I had that, I started testing. You see, it only reacts to certain people, not everyone. She wasn’t the first person I tried, but when I synthesized and replicated her DNA strand, it reacted to it, started doing all kinds of interesting things. Opening up, glowing. So I looked into her family. Her dad is dead, she doesn’t have any brothers or sisters, no aunts or uncles. I thought maybe her mom made her special, but it didn’t react to her so I disposed of her.”

“You disposed of her?” Clark asked.

“I did you and Charlotte a favor, trust me. I approached her on the pretense of starting a smear campaign against the lovely Ms. Danvers, seeing as she cut the purse strings.” Lex said, “Meredith was all too happy to agree, bitter as she was, but it wasn’t her genetic code that the Matrix reacted to, so I didn’t need her anymore.” Lex said, “And like I said, her dad’s dead and cremated so I couldn’t try him.”

“You said it rewrote a person’s genetic code.” Bruce said, “Rewrote it how?”

“I don’t know.” Lex said, “Isn’t that exciting?”

“If she dies,” Clark said, “If that thing kills her. You’re going to need more than that little spray can to stop me.”

“I will be very disappointed if she dies.” Lex said.

“I don’t care how you would feel.” Clark said and turned, walking away from him and out of the office.

[official-impravidus]

Could you do “Why did you choose me?” for Parkner?

"Why did you choose me?"

Harley's head turns suddenly, the words registering in his mind but not fully comprehending.

In his defense, he isn't expecting that sort of question while they're standing in the canned vegetable aisle of the grocery store.

Harley had been in an intense mental debate between two different brands of baked beans when Peter said the words that still aren't making sense.

"To go... grocery shopping with me?" Harley asks slowly.

"No. I... to be with you."

"At the grocery store?"

"In this relationship."

Harley blinks, the confusion quickly shifting into concern and alarm. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Something's gotta be wrong if you're asking questions like that while holding a can of Del Monte corn. Which, maybe set that down before you crack it open." Harley gently pulls the now very dented can from Peter's hand, his touch slackening his grip. Harley intertwines their fingers. "Where's this comin' from?"

"There's a lot of corn in the world."

"...Yeah I guess so. Tennessee's more of a soybean state than corn, but I know there's the yellow and purple kind. Probably more. There's blue ones right? Because the chips are blue." He pauses. "We should get some salsa."

"Harley," Peter says, grabbing Harley's hand as he starts to drift towards the canned tomatoes. "There's a lot of corn in the world. There's corn on the cob and the kind that come off the cob in freezer bags and kernels that turn into popcorn—"

"I don't think I'm following."

"—and there's the kind that comes in the can," Peter finishes, breath heaving like he's just single-handedly fought of a whole hoard of aliens. "And... and the kind that comes in the can is tinny and it's submerged in water and you've gotta drain the water out and when you warm it up it gets hard but if you don't then it's lukewarm unless you put it in the fridge and have it cold but then the can is cold—"

"Peter," Harley says, grabbing Peter's face in his hands.

"I'm like canned corn. I've got all these extra steps and extra problems and extra baggage and trauma and you could have the corn on the cob or the frozen corn or anything easier than canned."

Harley stares at Peter, mind racing as it finally clicks. He runs a thumb over Peter's cheek and presses a soft kiss to his forehead.

"Corn on the cob's gotta be shucked. It makes a mess and doesn't always break easily and you gotta cook it and it doesn't taste the same if you boil it or broil it or grill it."

Peter's eyes go wide, clearly not expecting this response.

"Frozen corn's gotta be warmed up too. You can put it in the microwave but when you pour it, it's got boiling hot juice and condensation that spills on your hand when cut it open. And if you leave it in the fridge too long it gets stale and covered in frost and gets stuck together in one big ice-corn cube."

Harley taps his finger on Peter's chin, making a face like he's pretending to think. "And, y'know, now that you say it, I don't actually know how to make my own popcorn. I just get the kind that comes in the bag that you pop right into the microwave. I'm guessing it takes a lot of skill to not get everywhere and cook just right."

Harley smiles. "But I like canned corn a lot. It's reliable. You know what you're getting and you know it's gonna be good. And yeah, sure, cooking it might be a pain, but I don't see anything wrong with how it is. Just a spoon and a can of corn, juice and all."

Harley shakes Peter lightly by the shoulders. "I love you because you're you, Peter. Not because it's always gonna be easy. Not because you're the simplest choice. But because you're you, all of the tin and juice and inability to warm up."

Peter chuckles wetly.

"So you know what? Even if you've got more extra steps than the frozen corn or more problems than the corn on the cob or more trauma than the corn kernels — which, in my opinion, I think whatever that process is to turn it into popcorn is so much more traumatic than whatever you've got," Peter laughs again, "know that it's all worth it. Because I love you. And you're worth taking the extra steps. And you're also worth not taking any extra steps at all and just accepting who you are already."

[ilexdiapason]

(part one here) (part four here)

Oli doesn't try to broach the subject again until the pizza is delivered and the ice cube is a soaked-up puddle in a napkin on the coffee table.

When he does, though, it's with his hands in his lap and his best efforts to not sound like a scolding teacher. "You wanna tell me what that was about?"

Martyn, in lieu of answering, pulls open the pizza box and wiggles a slice free from the still-stringing cheese. His fingertips bounce it between them, ginger; he bites down and clearly regrets it. Still, he chews, mouth caught in a conflict between ventilating the heat and keeping his secrets sealed tight shut behind it.

"Come on," Oli continues, gentle as he can push it. "I can't help you if I don't know what the problem is."

Martyn swallows. He looks like he's deliberating.

He must decide, whatever the stakes of this crisis are, that Oli's worth it, because he does reply.

"You know," he says, quiet, "I wasn't kidding when I said you should keep your computer away from me."

"Do you want me to take it upstairs?"

"I mean - bit late now. But yeah, that'd probably help."

So he probably has the conviction that something, somebody, is listening in through the machine. That's understandable; if whatever his situation was involved him being able to join some random strangers' games, he probably had a computer, and it was probably monitored, which would explain why he's so terrified of being tracked. It makes about as much sense as anything else in this exchange does. 

Even if it didn't, though, Oli still would have taken his laptop back upstairs, tapped out a quick notice that he'd be unavailable for the rest of the day, and tossed it on his bed - and his phone beside it, after a moment's thought. Martyn's comfort is what really matters here.

"There we are," he says on his way back in, "the highest-tech thing in the room now is probably the microwave."

Martyn offers him a thin smile, which feels more like progress than anything else.

"Right." He sits back down, takes his own piece of pizza (which by now is a far more edible temperature than it must have been when Martyn tried it), and gets the whole thing down before he takes another shot. "You want to start, or shall I?"

Martyn exhales amusement. "Go on then. Tell me what you know."

"Not a lot," Oli admits, "apparently. You don't make a lot of sense. You fell out of the sky, you still seem fairly surprised that things are real, you didn't know we’d been playing Minecraft - and you were calling me CHEST agent, which isn't a job title my company offers, as far as I'm aware. What, were you born in a video game?"

"I told you I was born in Nottingham."

"That might have been a cover story!"

"Nah. Wouldn't lie about that. I am a real boy, Gepetto, you can believe me on that one."

"Well, there's one thing I know for sure about you," Oli says. "All this talk of being in there, though. I don't know. VR?"

"Something like. You -" he hushes his voice, even though it's the middle of the afternoon and the neighbours won't be home "- you're, like, a normal CHEST employee, then? Front end stuff?"

"Yeah. I told you, I'm a software dev. If it's a front, I'm not in on the secret."

"God," says Martyn, "okay, so you're still not safe, but… okay, telling you this now, you're not getting the whole truth. But your company sucks and you should quit your job."

"Sucks like questionable QA policies or sucks like torturing teenagers in the basement?"

"I - shit," says Martyn, "a lot of those agents might have been folks like me, huh. Damn. Least I never killed anyone."

"I seem to remember you being pretty handy with a knife."

"Yeah, 'cause none of that was real, I was a bloody rat in a maid dress. You can't be on at me for killing people there."

"Suppose Jimmy killed the gardener."

"Exactly!"

"So, what, CHESTCorp have figured out how to turn VR into R, and you got caught up in it?"

"Not CHEST," Martyn takes another go at his slice of pizza, "just Doc. It's real experimental stuff. You're lookin' at test subject number one, I'm pretty sure."

"And now that you're not a test subject any more," he finishes, "you're having trouble readjusting."

"I guess. It's just… y'know, like, it's nice to be back, but… weird. Incredibly weird."

"Two and a half years would do it," Oli nods.

They take another lull to properly eat. Oli hadn't realised before this how starving he is; he would have thrown something together from the groceries he'd picked up if he hadn't had a guest to entertain. Martyn, too, seems fairly intent on ingesting an entire pizza by himself. His mother’s voice sounds inside his head, urging him to slow down, but Oli ignores it. If Martyn ends up with stomach problems it’ll just be another stark reminder that he’s not… trapped in a virtual reality simulator, he supposes.

“So, er,” he picks back up, once they’ve cleared the wedges and made more than a dent in the pizza, “what now?”

“Hmm?”

“You’ve gone through all that. Nobody’s going to believe you, I assume, if this stuff’s as top-secret as it seems to be.”

“Kinda thing you’d need a two-hour primer with your therapist for,” Martyn nods, “and a lot of faith in doctor-patient confidentiality.”

“But, what, do you just… go home?”

“I’d like to,” he says. “I would really, really just like things to go back to normal.”

There’s a silence. But they can’t rings clear as a bell in the air between them anyway.

Martyn looks down at the last three slices of pizza. “You should take me home.”

“You’re sure?”

He swallows. “Yeah. I’ll just… I’ll be a big surprise for my parents when they get back home from work. And then I’ll add you guys on Discord, and hopefully we’ll be able to talk more on there?”

“Hopefully,” says Oli, meaning it more than anything. His entire life’s been pretty much flipped on its head by this encounter. “We’re always wondering about you, y’know. Or, I mean, I am. Owen probably thinks you’re there from Apo, Apo probably thinks you’re there from Owen, all that, but… Hard not to wonder who the hell you really were, when you would never act like it was actually a game.”

“I mean, it’s all a game, isn’t it, really?” Martyn muses, half-distant. “Just in the long dream now.”

“Is that from the End Poem?”

“Is it?”

Oli shakes his head. No time for all that. “So I’m driving you back to Nottingham, and… you’ll DM me when you can?”

“Yeah.”

It’s the best he can ask for.

Martyn refuses to tell Oli his exact address, just asks him to drive close enough that Martyn can walk the rest of the way home. It’s understandable - a CHESTCorp employee knowing Martyn’s exact location is, apparently, an incredibly dangerous thing - but still a little concerning. He’d at least like to be sure that Martyn won’t be getting poached back by this Doc guy at the earliest notice. Still, Martyn’s comfort remains the most important thing, and so he leaves his Google Maps at home.

It’s a bit of an autopilot drive, even without directions. Oli feels the wheel under his fingers, the pedals under his feet, like they’re abstracts. He looks over once or twice and sees Martyn glued to the window, to the mirrors, hypervigilant; he hopes that Martyn feels a little more real now than he did before.

They’re idle at a semi-populated roundabout when Martyn straightens his back. “Second exit, then pull over,” he announces.

“Almost there?”

“Pretty close.”

Oli obliges.

Martyn, with just the barest tremor in his fingers, pops the car door and steps out.

“You’re sure you’re gonna be okay?”

The words leave Oli’s mouth in a rush, the emotion behind them probably more visceral than Martyn is expecting, if the way he startles at them is any indication.

“Because - ‘cause if you need a hotel, or cash, or -”

“No,” says Martyn, “no, I’m fine. Promise.”

He hesitates, hand on the open car door, a few more seconds.

“And thanks,” he finishes, “I don’t - I’m not - I don’t know. Appreciate it.”

Oli understands what he’s getting at. “Stay safe, okay?”

“Nah, I’m gonna throw myself right in the Trent when you’re gone,” Martyn smiles, and Oli dutifully ignores the crack in his voice. Blame it on the last vestiges of teenagehood.

“And if you do end up needing to - I suppose erase all traces of your old life online… then it’s been an honour.”

“Yeah.”

“... Good luck.”

“Talk to you later,” Martyn says, and slams the car door closed.

All Oli can do, once he’s ambled out of eyeshot, is mechanically drive back home.

So that was InTheLittleWood. Friend group cryptid, unethical experiment, man with more trauma than Oli could ever begin to help him deal with… but man he was able to feed, and house, and walk through an emotional response, which is better than nothing at all. The one person in the world who Oli could almost hit with his car and have that be a better situation than the one he’d just escaped from. Still a mystery, too; he’s left Oli with far more questions than answers, left him returning to an empty house and wishing he’d been selfish enough to make Martyn stay a little longer, talk a little more.

Oli picks up his phone where he’d tossed it in the bedroom.

He has one new email to his work address.

Human Resources 3:04 PM

to me ˅

Subject: Performance Review

Dear Oliver,

You have been scheduled for a performance review. You are required to report to our Shoreditch location by 09:00 tomorrow, Tuesday December 12th. Failure to comply with this request will result in disciplinary proceedings, which may lead to your subsequent termination.

Regards,

Dan

Human Resources

CHESTCorp UK

Ah.

That’s… well.

The word termination is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that threat.

… Okay, so they’re working to a deadline now. That’s fine. He can deal with that. Martyn’s been dealing with far worse, right?

The friend request, at least, flips through from pending to accepted.

TheOrionSound — Today at 16:14

[Attachment: Screenshot_20231025_161408.png]

InTheLittleWood — Today at 16:14

Shit.

(end! now on ao3, if you’d like to leave a comment slash kudos slash bookmark!)

[fandovers]

Hey gamers, back at it again with another huge ramble!! Albeit a bit scrambled, but a ramble nonetheless!!

Say, have you ever enjoyed a character and thought "wow, what the fuck are the writers doing?" That's me right now with SMG4's tv headed guy.

"But Pyro", I hear you say, "what makes you think that?" WELL OH BOY. Let me tell you some things on my mind, my fellow tumblr user. Grab your pepper shakers, because you will need it to compliment how much salt I am about to spill.

V--- Ramble below the cut !! ---V

Firstly, what you could probably guess. The latest arc. Or well, mini arc as they call it. I think things moved way too fast and that's having a negative impact on people's view of Puzzles.

Think about the Puzzlevision Arc. We got hinted at this mysterious figure only a few times over a course of almost a whole year. Making his appearances so sparce added to the intrigue. Who was this guy and what is he planning? It left everyone on the edge of their seats. Just how much of what has been going on, like Western Spaghetti and IGBP, links back to him? Or that in a way, it was his fault these things happened.

And then we see him more in the Mr. Puzzles' movie lineup. We get a mix of the main crew who we know, as well as Mr. Puzzles, both being the focus of the episodes. There is a really good balance of that in these movies, in my opinion. Because of how we only see him in certain moments, it reads to me as "this shows he has complete power, but he isn't getting in the way of his shows or movies in order to flaunt his power TOO much. He is still trying to have the brainwashed SMG4 characters be the main focus. Because it's a part of his plan."

Then the Puzzlevision movie drops and in my opinion, its great. It's wonderful even!! Puzzles shows up more, but the balance is still kept. And at the end when he is punted to who-knows-where, it was a good ending to this villian, who may return with some new evil plan in the future!! Or so we hoped...

After this episode a LOT of people wanted him back. Personally, I didn't want them to bring him back so soon. I had a feeling it would be a disaster to his character. Think about it. Having his seemingly mastermind who hid behind the camera for a year. With thought out plans, a whole bunch of tragedy and chaos that was all his fault because of how thought out these plans were... this guy coming back so soon? I don't think it would go well.

That brings us to the mini arc where I think it proves me right in my worries; it didn't go well. I will get it out of the way and say yes these epsiodes are entertaining, but not fulfilling. If that makes sense?

A metaphor for this could be something like... think of it like you ate a sugar cube and thought "wow, that was good, I want more!!" And over the course of a year, you treat yourself to a single sugar cube. Then suddenly, one day you get a whole bag full of sugar cubes to eat. It's so much-- so suddenly-- that you get sick from how much you now have to eat. Something you once enjoyed, you got sick over because of the amount you got out of nowhere. You see what I am getting at? With how much Puzzles content we have gotten in this min arc it throws the previous balance out the window and it's completely different.

Anyway back to the tv head. I think what they are going for is to make Puzzles so very power hungry he will do anything to get his power back. He is desperate, which is played off as silly and clumsy. A goofy villian with no power anymore but still thinking he has atleast some power left. Thinking he still has the charm that got him into power beforehand. But he doesn't, not anymore.

Instead of going back to the shadows to plan and think, he wants that power so bad again that he is throwing himself right back in with a less thought out plan. One made in a shorter time frame and is more vague. Get into the Meme Factory and The Comedy Zone.

I get it, they wrote him this way and it's fine, I guess. But this all makes me think. How did Puzzles get into power prior to Puzzlevision? Was he this reckless and straightforward, or was he as we saw him over the year? Everything planned out, sticking to his plans like glue. Keep his cool and make his shows exactly how he wants to get popular or whatever his overall goals are.

This just makes me feel like comparing "Puzzlevision Puzzles" to "Mini Arc Puzzles" feels like night and day. Almost like they are different characters. And I don't say that as a good thing.

We got this villian trying to juggle his power going up and down via ratings. Who is intimidating and feels like an actual threat. He hurt so many people to get what he wants, and he prioritizes his plans above all else. He is scary, he is evil and he is downright awful. But thats what made him a good villian.

Then in the mini arc, we have him going for The Comedy Zone but befriending Leggy along the way. I think they try to hint that despite his exterior behaviour, Puzzles does enjoy Leggy as a sidekick. He suddenly has a change of heart, befriending Leggy to use her. Then he sees she is useful, and that leads to him actually somewhat caring for her how she cares for him. Or that's what we are made to think.

I'll say it outright; I don't think Puzzles cares for Leggy the way she does to him. She goes so far that she throws herself into danger for him, or is actively thrown around like an actual weapon, in order to help him. Because she cares about him. Puzzles doesn't really do that in turn for her, does he?

Also lemme just talk about the end of the latest episode real quick. So, Meggy turns back into her normal self. When she remembers Mr. Puzzles and her when she was Leggy, having "good moments", she smiles. A lot of people read this as her forgiving him.

I think this is moving on way too fast from the pain and torture she was put through. For an entire month during Puzzlevision Arc, Meggy was killed over and over by Wren. Who never would have gotten the power to do so if it wasn't for Puzzles giving him that facility for him to control. "But Puzzles didn't torture her directly during Western Spaghetti" I hear you say. This is true, however he did brainwash her like the others during the movies. He still rubbed it in her face how the events of Western Spaghetti effected her. And yet now she smiles because of a few "good moments" in that last few episodes. Which are really just Puzzles giving Leggy the bare minimum of praise and calling her a friend?

As I have seen mentioned around; I suppose it could be that she is smiling because she sees that he has some good part of him. But the good part she did see, does have the possibility to be a lie. A facade. Honestly if they go with this possibility, that he was faking the whole time and just playing it up like an actor on a set, that would be awesome. Have him in the future in a scene where he can just be alone. Reflect on how much of it was an act and how much he actually did care and felt actual emotion. Have him contemplate his own plans or think over what he has done. If he is to be redeemed like people want, he will have to reflect. If he doesn't, he continues to be a villian and that's great too!! Just as long as they don't fumble his character...

I think the best thing the writing team can do now is keep Puzzles away for a bit. Keep him away until WOTFI 2024 because I am pretty sure we are all expecting him to have a part in that. I mean, he technically caused the last one. Why not cause another? If they are to have him be a physical threat again, in person, they should focus on keeping that balance of who is in the spotlight. Have the episode or movie be not centered around one character but a select few. I feel like he works better when even in Puzzles centered episodes, you see a lot of the other characters too. As mentioned, you have too much sugar and you can easily get sick off it.

Also completely changing the flow of this rant, ramble, whatever you wanna call this. But I have a small nitpick. The recent episode seemed so heavily hinted to be a FNAF parody. However, after watching it, it seems it wasn't at all. We get references to other games but not FNAF. So, why name the episode that? Why hint at an idea just to not use it at all? Why get our hopes up for something that didn't happen?

And oh, one more thing. Let's not forget how odd it is that Puzzles is in the spotlight so heavily all of a sudden. After Puzzlevision, I heard word going around that the SMG4 team "might bring him back if people like him enough". As you could probably see, people more then liked him. They LOVED him. I think because of how much attention he was getting, it only makes sense they would make more Puzzles content. People enjoy him, so why not make a whole mini arc for the new wave of fans to enjoy? It gets them views, fans, attention, and makes the people happy!!

All this just feels... odd. This doesn't give me a good feeling because of the design problem. As mentioned in my latest post, Mr. Puzzles and RGB, (a character from a comic known as "The Property of Hate") both look EXTREMELY similar. The SMG4 team has said nothing about this, and I think they should really be confronted. Asked about it. Whether it be asking them in an email or social media dms, I am THIS close to just outright asking them myself. We deserve to know the truth on this. It's for the best and this silence is driving me a tad batty.

This also leads me to talk about a... misconception? People were saying that the new facial expressions for Puzzles weren't credited. I saw that even an artist of the expressions stated it was alright if they weren't credited. However, in the video's description, it credits the artists who made the expressions. So, was the description edited later? Was it always like that and people didn't see? If I am wrong here somehow, please do correct me. But it seems all that is alright now... unless I am wrong.

I think this is all for my salt filled rant. Please feel free to share your own thoughts on the new episodes and mini arc!! Do you agree with some points I made, or not? I would love to discuss this further and see other's point of view on this!!

Eitherway, I thank you for reading. You take care yall!! ☆

[dinaniktorl]

I don't got no one to infodump about this, so here's my somewhat connected ramblings about the new update.

Spoilers for Underground Blossom and The Past Within!

First of all, why are they calling The Fish a mermaid? I think that's very intentional.

It's not just some random fish with legs, no-no-no. It is its own thing! Which begs the question: what kind of creature is this?

Is it an Asura (demi-god like mr. Crow), a Tiryaka (animal) or a Manushya (human)? What if thos is how Pretas (gods) look like in the Rusty Lake universe? I mean, if this is the future mr. Owl AND this is what he strives to become, then it would make a lot if sense.

Speaking of Owls, why this woman is the only one to wear a mask?

Maybe mr Owl has looked at William, decided "I wanna be a pretty woman too", transitioned and then wanted to show off [his] new vessel?

(I'm obviously joking, but can you imagine if the whole story stops at Jakob getting a sex change and thus ending his cycle of rebirth.)

Also why is Harvey there? I think they're the least lost person in this whole franchise. And what about August 18th, what does this date mean?

P.S. i was informed in the replies that these posters were made by fans, not devs (thanks for letting me know by the way). I'll leave this part though, the posters might still be canon.

Cubes.

How do two cubes result in creation of a tree. I do understand that the infinity sign symbolizes the unification of two timelines and how you need to link two memories together.

But is this a common practice? How did Rose and Albert know about this? Was Rose like "yeah sure I've always wanted to be a cherry tree" and willingly decided she was okay with that?

I still don't understand why SHE was the one to connect two timelines. Did she create them? Is this what mr. Owl tries to replicate with the help of Dale? I don't get it.

And why was she extracting black cubes from HERSELF. My dear Rose, WHAT THE FUCJ ARE YOU DOING

It's definitely painful and definitely takes a lot of her energy. She asks Harvey to close Albert's cage, girl can barely walk. AND THE FACT SHE EXTRACTS MEMORIES?? She can get corrupted at any moment, what the fuck.

I mean she might be extracting ONLY black cubes to cope. You know, her life doesn't seem to be colorfull.

SPEAKING OF.

I've always found it fascinating that Rose always was... How do I put this? She is vibrant.

Yes, she always wears black, her skin is grey, but her fiery red hair shows that deep inside she is a kind and caring person with a will to live no matter what.

And then, the older her daughter grows, the more colorful her appearance becomes. And so does Laura's!

It's almost like she opens up to an idea of being herself!

But then comes Albert and puts her in the Lab. Nine years later, and Rose doesn't look like herself anymore. She's not just getting "old", she's turning grey and dull!

The longer she helps her father, the longer she spends time with his soul, the more lifeless she looks. Notice how she only has eyebags when she's older and when she was a kid! Poor woman.

Anyway... Harvey Run :D

It's a fun game, my little sibling called it a "Subway Surfers" clone, lol. But it's really cool!

Although, I wonder who's corrupted soul this is? That's not Laura for sure, and I don't think it's Albert. And why would this "zombie" run after Harvey of all people?

Well, at least Rose can have some fun.

I'm not skilled enough to get past School Station, but there are definitely answers and more secrets down the line. I just find it interesting that The Past Within is a multiplayer game now. Very fitting.

Either way, can we get Fs in the chat for the Janitor? He was just doing his job, may he be reborn as a higher being.

[goldenpinof]

I'd love to chime in on the wad talk if I may!

I think you saying that you're generally not a big fan of theatre makes a lot of sense as to why for you it didn't necessarily have to be a stage show. I work in live events and I absolutely adore theatre and such so to me it made a huge difference that it was a live show rather than a video. Which is why I think the blanket statement of 'it could have been a video' doesn't work, because the experience of the show is so subjective, especially with the topics Dan talks about. It might not be the most innovative show but I def think the emotional aspect for me and many others was the way it was because it was live and you could experience the energy of the room. That's not something that can be translated to video, simply because it's not the same medium and a certain layer of what the show's about get's lost if you change it! I think it will be interesting to see how different the experience will be now that we will have the recording of it tomorrow, I can imagine for some it might be the same as it was in person, but I also think for other people it might not be the same and both are totally valid! I think Dan choosing the live stage show over a video does deserve to be noted tho, because there is a level of vulnerability and honest that comes with speaking to people directly and in person that gets lost when you have a video and that was a very deliberate choice. He's always done his work with the security layer of the camera and youtube and him choosing not do this, when sharing so much with us in wad I think matters.

just my little thoughts from someone who adores theatre and live comedy and everything else that's 'in person'!

"the energy of the room" aka people around you, not only Dan. Dan likes getting live feedback, so i get why we went on tour. i still think that his show can be easily adapted into a video based on what i remember.

i think there's a difference between working with the audience and getting a reaction from the audience. and since wad is so heavily scripted it was the latter. he wasn't working with us, he was getting a reaction and moving on to the next bit. which is fine, it's not a stand-up. but a lot depended on how the audience was perceiving jokes and audience's ability to include itself in the show. Warsaw, for example, was very loud, and since the venue was small, people could hear each other and it made the whole experience a bit crazy. like, the fun was coming from both sides, so it was never boring. we were responding as a union to the things Dan was saying (e.g. communism and later putin), but also some people were yelling relevant jokes in response to Dan, thus making everyone laugh. in Berlin, i had a completely different experience audience-wise. the venue was much bigger, we couldn't really hear each other, thus no jokes coming from the seats that could bounce off of what Dan was saying. he was interacting only with the first 5-ish rows, and everyone else was just watching. we could still scream shit for the bit, but it didn't really matter. god, big venues were such a miss during wad, imo. BUT the show itself was better in Berlin because some things were improvised and the stage was bigger so he could move more. i'll try to explain what i mean by "the show could be a video". adjust the bits where we "choose" something by screaming and it's a video. it's him showing us shots and talking. and no matter what we scream or if we scream at all, the show would go on. no matter if the joke lands or not. he has a script and he follows it. sometimes he removes parts of it depending on the venue (aka the cubes, asking people to twist his hand and use the gavel), he also can remove parts if something goes wrong aka the bubbles. a lot of audience participation can be removed. and without it he would still have a lot to show and say. and this could be a video because the script doesn't heavily depend on the audience participation. if the show was more improvised that would be a different conversation. if you think that this show couldn't be a video because of the audience then it's your experience with the audience more than with the show. have a mid audience and remove some bits and that's a video. it's not a bad thing, idk why people are mad at me. the show is not bad, it's just not for everyone. i'm also curious how people will see the filmed version of wad. both those who saw it live and those who never saw it. people who weren't at the venues aren't gonna participate, so it's a different experience. some things will depend on the editing, but i would love to hear people's opinions on the show itself. we all love Dan and wish him success. i'm a dannie through and through ffs, he shines on stage, i'm not arguing with that. seeing him live is better because of how he enjoys being there. and seeing so many phannies in one place making each other giggle worth buying a ticket. but i'm interested to see reviews on the show.

[cloudinterlude]

ooooh I'd love to hear your thoughts about bruce & steve!!!! even if they're rambly lol i love how they're the unlikely introverts of the og6 and how they're somehow connected through the serum! i also really love their first meeting and how respectful steve is about not caring about the hulk!! (i LOVE tony but everytime someone is like "tony was the first one to be friendly to bruce" im like but what about steve!!!!)

AHHH! You have given me the gift of a lifetime. I will absolutely take this opportunity to ramble about Bruce and Steve and everything I think about them before I hit talk fatigue. Please walk with me slowly here because I'm afraid I'm not gonna make a lick of sense 😭 I almost feel like I should rewatch The Avengers and The Hulk movies before typing this...I might...LONG POST!

Ok so Bruce's whole life was consumed by the serum right? He must know every goddamn thing there is to know about Steve, physically at least. In fact, I'd go as far to say that Steve was little more than a subject, a project to him before they met (and maybe Bruce still secretly saw Steve as a something rather than a person before he took time to know him). And you can't fully blame him for seeing Steve that way cause Steve was dead when Bruce was trying to recreate the serum. All this to say that Bruce spent a lot of fucking time studying Steve Rogers and imagine his....awe and fascination when the main subject of his research was right before him. I could imagine Bruce staring at Steve, cataloging every shift he makes. The peak of his life's work - the only success story of the serum that ruined his life, finally reachable. Bruce might even feel...not bitter, but melancholy mixed with his fascination.

I actually took the time to rewatch The Incredible Hulk just now and poor Bruce omg :/ It makes what you said about Steve and Bruce's first meeting even more heartwarming. Steve immediately saying that he doesn't care about the fear surrounding Hulk and whatnot and he MEANS it.

"Word is you can find the cube."

"Is that the only word about me?"

"Only word I care about."

FIRST meeting! And yknow one thing that gets me heated is how some fans will say "Oh but Steve was scared of the Hulk when Tony was poking him yadda yadda" - Nope! Or at least not really. At this point, Steve's only interactions with Tony were being needled and mocked by him. It seemed to me (even on my first watch!) that Steve genuinely thought Tony was bothering Bruce, being mean or - God forbid - being a BULLY. And you know that's Steve's trigger word. Of course he's finna say something. Not to mention he was already irritated with the whole Tesseract mess.

I think Bruce is mostly curious about Steve('s body) at first. About the blood running through his veins. About how the key to unlocking human invulnerability lies within him. Must be a heady feeling. Kind of erotic (but not necessarily sexual if that makes sense).

I can imagine that Steve would be uncomfortable with this knowledge at first, knowing that Bruce is a product of attempted recreation. I think Steve in general is just very upset with what the serum's legacy has produced since he went in the ice and so having an outcome right in front of him, as a teammate, is something that can be hard to face. Up till then, the only "failed" subject for the serum he's encountered was the Red Skull and we all know how that turned out. Overall, I think Steve wants people to stop messing with things beyond their control especially when they're trying to weaponize it. That's why he's so pissed with the Tesseract situation in AV1. Despite this, Steve clearly doesn't hold it against Bruce. He also knows the truth about what happened in Harlem (as opposed to what the WSC said), else he wouldn't be open to working with him. Steve, if anything, would want to grow closer to him, maybe. Knowing how the whole world shuts him out at first glance because they're terrified of the Hulk would drive Steve to do the exact opposite.

Also, let's get into Bruce's morality. Anti-military, wanted to avoid all use of the Hulk if necessary - but he knows its going to be necessary at some point. And he probably dreads the day that Steve calls him up to the plate to unleash the Hulk in combat. Steve got Hulk's cooperation on day ONE. Hulk trusts Steve from the get go which is kind of insane! But Bruce knows that on any given day, Steve is going to choose the lives of citizens over Bruce's desire to never use the Hulk. He doesn't resent Steve for it (maybe a little, but not a hateful resentment) but he knows.

Just now realizing this far in that I'm talking about a version of Bruce that isn't really present in the MCU tbh. I mostly take my Bruce characterization from The Incredible Hulk and Avengers 1 and that's it 🥴. I feel like they didn't really know what to do with his character...or didn't want to fully explore his psyche properly. But that's a different topic.

Anyways, some of my all time favorite Bruce characterization comes from an ao3 author named lettered. They wrote "Let's Stop The Time Warp (Again)" and "The Hollow Men" which are both stellar if you want to read Bruce and Steve in such real ways.

Whew...re-reading this post....just as I thought, barely coherent but this won't be the only time I talk about these two - hopefully next time I'll have proper words to say! Thanks for giving me a chance to spew my Bruce/Steve thoughts out like this! ♡

[madamemachikonew]

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

I find it easy to immerse myself in your work, and wanted to know if you had a technique for consistency haha ( ´ ▽ ` ).｡ｏ♡

Aww, firstly thank you for the compliment! I'm so glad to hear you enjoy reading my work! And thank you also for the question.

Hmm, so I guess I should start with a broad overview of my process. My fics usually start with some kind of favourite scene that will then lead the concept and plot. Or there are certain dialogues that I want to happen and it's non-negotiable that they are cut. It's completely ass over backwards, I know. I will then often work backwards to plot the route of how we get there, sometimes by several chapters. Some of my fics are more episodic, so this doesn't really count because each chapter is almost like a stand alone one-shot but with continuity (e.g. my Enjou and Baizhu longfics). For the episodic fics, I usually keep a list of ideas or scenes for chapters that I want to include but the order is somewhat flexible because there's no real overarching plot as such.

But the Pants fic requires a lot more advanced planning (though I still keep a list of ideas for scenes). So with that one I plot a broad framework using the key scenes or dialogues as the markers and then flesh them out, not necessarily in the chapter order. For example, I have a chapter already written that is plot vital but won't occur maybe for another three or four chapters from now. It can't happen any earlier, but I needed to get it out of my system. And now I have a firm anchor to work towards. It also means I can make sure the intervening chapters are consistent and have subtle foreshadowing, etc. because I know for sure what is going to happen. I like to think that some of these details and foreshadowing also give the fic extra mileage on a reread, because now the reader can spot them (eg Pants's meeting with Signora and Zhongli with the gnosis hits different once you know his life story, which comes in a later chapter). So then I'll go back and forth fleshing out the interceding chapters little by little. I rarely sit down and write a whole chapter in one go or consecutively. The ending arc of my still ongoing Enjou fic was fully drafted around the chapter 10 mark - it's at chapter 39 now and over 100k, but I already know how it will end. But like any chapters I write in advance, I come back constantly and refine them before I hit post. 

As for my favourite part of all of this...I guess the descriptions (as if that wasn't clear enough lol)! Once upon a time I wanted to be a cinematographer and/or director (Narrator: she did not become either of these things, though she did do a lot of arty amateur photography over the years) and I think my writing is probably a subconscious reflection of this in terms of its 'staging' and 'close up shots' if that makes sense? This will sound pretentious af, but since I'm not very good at drawing, I want to convey a vivid picture in the reader's imagination that correlates as far as possible with how I've visually imagined the scene in my mind and the arty background shots that aren't necessarily of the characters' faces. Imagine stuff like a close up of Pants's hands as he throws some ice cubes into a tumbler or a lower profile shot showing how the trinket on his glasses dangles and sparkles off the stage lights in an otherwise dark theatre. That kind of thing. The only way I can do that is through the descriptions as I can't storyboard it like I would a film or animation. I think these subtle descriptive elements bring it more to life. I enjoy imagining the scene from a purely visual basis as much as the content, as I think it's important when you're storytelling.

Another favourite thing of mine is showing contrasting inner thoughts of characters in the same situation, for example the scene where Pants is 'grieving' for Signora. If I was working to a more orthodox 'xReader' format, I could only show you what Reader actually sees or hears from her own perspective (as I did when she sees Signora getting into the rickshaw with Pants). But I also like to show the actual fic readers (as opposed to the character) the full story.

My other favourite thing is integrating lore nerdery. So I love researching tiny details from NPC dialogue or quest lore or whatever and making them part of the plot, to give the whole fic more depth from a world-building perspective and show how they weave into the main characters' lives. Since I normally write for NPCs (Baizhu pre-playable era, Enjou, Pants...) I have to extrapolate a lot from the tiny crumbs we get. A lot of lore goes unintentionally ignored as well because we don't understand the significance of it in the early game, for example, Landa's quest is now more significant than it was when it was released. It's so interesting going back and seeing how it all comes together.

[noblechaton]

so ultimately I really enjoyed season 5 as a whole and think it might be my new favorite season of ml in general since most episode were bangers and the finale eps weren't really any different lmao

but there's two elements that - like other folks I've seen - are kinda bugging me and bog it down a good bit I feel and I kinda wanna ramble about em. ml spoilers below (no salt tho I am complaining somewhat)

the first thing was something I'd caught a glimpse of just before I passed out last night thanks to some lovely blogging from a few mutuals and that I caught onto midway thru the second part of the finale and that is of course the weird attempt at seemingly redeeming? Gabriel in some capacity

now of course he's not at all redeemed to us, the audience, and it doesn't feel like a redemption so much as like. absolving him? but either way like....why at all? 5 seasons (2 specials and a video game too) across like 8 years I feel sorta showed that the guy legit could not be redeemed, especially S5 itself with multiple instances of him doing just. unforgivably heinous things to everyone including that son of his he kept talking about protecting and like for a time in the show maybe I could have seen that path where he was genuinely doing this to improve Adrien's life but that was tossed a long time ago lmao, he's actively tormented Adrien more than anything and that's without factoring in his beatings of Chat Noir, threats towards Marinette, etc.

Gabriel sacrificing himself at the end was something I sorta always knew was coming bc nothing else really made sense. no way he'd go to jail, he couldn't just be absolved of all he'd done and there was no real other option and yet they tried to absolve him anyway?? not to mention how little sense I feel it makes for Adrien to believe this in the least after even just the last few episodes, let alone the season and then some

Paris in general treating Gabriel like a hero sucks - most of the class at least should know better - and while I think there's a chance it'll lead to some juicy drama between Marinette knowing the truth and Lila knowing what she knows, one of them feels bound to take it to Adrien, I'm concerned it'll just be a flat point never to be addressed again

now I've often felt the show is more clever than ppl give it credit for but idk. something about it just feels weird and wrong and not just bc of what it is on the surface - Marinette building a lie into her relationship with Adrien is fascinating and it should absolutely come up in the future, but I'm worried it won't

and the reason I'm worried is bc of how Adrien was handled in the finale - in that he wasn't really handled at all

I understand that the story had him locked up in a cube, I get that he was purposefully tossed aside by that same father he supposedly believes is heroic now but like....why did we get nothing from him past him forfeiting the ring? why did he give up so easily? why was he a total nonentity in the finale of what is, essentially, his arc? in this story that has the most bearing on Adrien, Adrien himself was just....gone for most of it, arguably all of it

I feel like it flies counter to a lot of what the show's been doing especially lately with him in how Adrien is basically stripped of any and all agency by the end of the finale and honestly I hate it lol. him having no say on anything, no knowledge of anything or any real reaction to....anything that happened. we don't see him really react to the lie of what his father did, to Nathalie being returned to health or to the mysterious blonde woman at the pool who may or may not be his actual mom (the storyboards and deleted scene apparently confirm it was, at least, at some point), we don't even see him get his ring back. like I wasn't expecting a reveal at this point - I don't think we're gonna get one tbh - but....nothing??

which is part of why I feel the stuff at the end with him and Marinette in the garden - while very nice and cathartic after 8 years of watching - felt so off, almost hollow. Adrien didn't really get to be a character in the finale and just sort of reappears to finally kiss Marinette again? that's it? he's all smiles and sunshine again after being genuinely, undeniably tortured by his father that he again somehow believes is heroic in some manner? huh??

I think I'd feel better about things if we at least got his reaction to things - if he somehow rolled up on his destroyed house or found Nathalie walking around under her own power or w/e but there's just nothing. like he's an action figure that got lost under the bed for a bit. and again there's a chance we get some of that next season but like, not only do I think we shouldn't have to but I also see it as less likely than the Gabe stuff proving to be a plotline since that feels much more like a lingering presence that sorta needs to be dealt with and honestly Tomoe needs to be dealt with too idk how Kagami could ever go back to her after this

which really has me excited about season 6 more than I was - I admittedly kinda groaned when they revealed there'd be more seasons since I knew about the 5 season arc (especially since main villain Lila did not interest me in the least at the time lol, and still kinda doesn't tbh) but if I'd sorta softened on the decision across the last few years, I've fully turned around with this - so long as they address some of this stuff going forward at least bc I feel like if nothing else there's some really juicy drama and story potential in the Gabriel lie coming undone

ultimately again I loved this season and felt the finale was appropriately crazy - the kwamis in their ultimate forms, Gimmi's appearance, Bug Noir and the fight across the mansion, it all worked really well imo and there was a lot of payoff still in the finale even if I feel they didn't really stick the landing with a couple of rough edges and odds and ends hanging out

I also wanna say that I kinda like the ideas I've seen floating around about how the epilogue might not be what it seems - that Gabriel's wish wasn't so pure in nature, it kinda fits him to warp reality in just such a way after all but idk if that's what's going on here for sure yet. think it'd make a really cool twist if that evil AU special thingy came straight off of this tho, or if we got midway thru S6 and it's like, oh dang we're living a total fabrication!! I love stuff like that lol

also also ngl I am not excited about the whole team being back at all in any capacity lol. think a smaller team - which would now be Ladybug, Chat, Carapace, Rena, Ryuko and Argos maybe - just works better

also also also - addendum that ties into the Adrien stuff - it feels really weird that Chat Noir wasn't present at all during Monarch's defeat right? like. idk that just doesn't sit well with me, like he should have had some impact there, some role. maybe he could have broken out and given Ladybug the ring himself (albeit in a mask or something) or done literally anything. idk. really weird

[theadventurerslog]

King’s Quest II: Romancing the Throne | Part 2

The Adventurer’s Log

King’s Quest II: Romancing the Throne Part 2

I wasn't intending to play the whole thing in one day or I could have lumped all this into one post. But I did, and here we are. On the other hand it's probably better to have a split to avoid a total monster post anyway.

Continuing on, my next goal was to find the key to unlock the first of the three doors.

My first goal though was to find Little Red Riding Hood which took some doing. Ugh random encounters. After wandering and exploring some more--I found more jewellery--and more bouncing between screens I knew she'd shown up in before I finally found her and gave her back her basket of goodies.

Grandma had the basket in her mailbox! Why! Now it's going straight back to her!

The important part here though, was getting a bouquet of flowers from Little Red. To avoid losing a bunch of points we need that for our next step.

That next step was finding a mermaid along the coast. You can gift her any of the jewellery and that will let you progress, however you lose a bunch of points. In fact the only point of the jewellery seems to be giving it to people or trading it, but that's never the optimal solution. There doesn't seem to be any optimal use for it though. I suppose maybe they're ultimately meant to be gifts for Valanice or something.

Anyway, instead gift the mermaid the bouquet of flowers and she calls up a seahorse to give you a ride into the ocean. Ever the trusting sort we take that ride and are taken down into King Neptune's kingdom. Give him the trident and he gives you the key to the first door in return, and so the first clue was solved. A splash was made.

Apparently my next puzzle was simply unlocking the dang door as I over-complicated my commands. Use key with door? Nope. Open door? Nope. Open door with key? Nope. Etc. All you need is "Unlock door". So I got my first door opened and my second clue for the second door:

"Whosoever chooses to seek the key for this door should set their sights high."

As this has caused things to once more change I was able to finally go to the antique shop. The old lady running it had a lamp for sale but wanted two treasures (the jewellery) in return or to retrieve her beloved nightingale back from Hagatha.

I was able to retrieve the nightingale without issue with a cloth I'd found in a bottle to cover its cage so it wouldn't sing and potentially alert Hagatha. There is a bit of an annoying thing in that only the cloth works and not the cloak which doesn't make a lot of sense. Regardless, the lady was delighted to get her bird back.

I got the lamp!

What might it do?

It's a magic lamp of course. Rub it and out pops a genie.

Thanks for the magic carpet, sir. Of course a genie grants three wishes, so if you rub it two more times you also get a sword and a leather bridle.

Setting those sights high it was time to ride the carpet.

A whole new world...

The carpet took me to a mountain top! And I didn't even fall off.

Ignore the big increase in points. I took this after finishing off in this area.

Setting off to explore, I quickly found a big ol' snake.

Take snake!

The game was not impressed.

Now this is something I absolutely would not have gotten without having watched this game. You can kill it with the sword, however there's a better way. A much better way given what happens... Instead throw the leather bridle on it and it turns out it was pegasus that had been enchanted into a snake all along. I'm sure this stems from a story I'm not aware of. The pegasus gives you a sugar cube that will protect you from poison brambles and flies off.

Moving on there's a rock with a hole and a cave. You can look in the hole but you'll face dire, dire consequences...

Space Quest time! Maybe I ought to play one of these at some point too... After several scenes from the game we're released from blatant advertising that ain't got nothin' on Loom Guy and it's back to our own quest.

In the cave is a rock with a key. Fetch key and we're all done here.

Back to unlock the second door and see the final door's inscription.

"Whosoever chooses to seek the last key must have a stout heart."

Well, there's still one area we haven't dealt with yet and that's all that poison water. Across the poison lake there's a castle. Now that the third door has been activated there's a ghoulish boatman with a boat waiting there.

This is another case where you can use treasures, orrr, it's time to don the cloak and ring.

He thinks we're someone else and freely gives us a ride.

Many poison brambles all along the path. Good thing we have that sugar cube. Good thing I forgot to eat it, stepped out of the boat and immediately ran into a bramble and died.

One restore later I crossed the river again, remembered to eat the cube and carried on my merry way. It is possible to go without the cube but it looks like it'd be utter hell to do.

At the castle gate there were ghosts! While a midi version of Thriller played! The ghosts were scared off by my cloak and ring, but if you're just wearing the cross that will work too.

Inside the castle I was treated to Toccata and Fugue because of course. Time to explore.

Wall meat! Er, table meat. Scoop that ham up.

Scary stairs that weren't actually very scary and caused me no trouble. They led to a bedroom where I found a candle.

Actually scary stairs. I couldn't even do anything the first time I got up there either. On my second trip once I had the key for that chest I died several times trying to get down.

But before that I went downstairs...

Where I found an empty coffin. Under its pillow was a gold key for our third door! Now I could have just left, but I knew that wasn't all. Re-entering the room a few times eventually got me a closed coffin and inside was none other than...

Dracula himself of course! With the mallet and stake you can kill him, but it took me a few tries because I once again over-complicated the commands trying to do things like 'use stake' when all you do is 'kill dracula'. If you're wearing the cross he'll turn into a bat and run away but you get fewer points. Getting rid of him causes him to leave behind a silver key.

Now, this whole scenario begs a very important question. The cloak and ring are obviously Dracula's. Why did Grandma have them? Just what is going on there? This lady has been busy one way or another. And that's not even getting back into the whole wolf situation.

With silver key in hand I braved the stairs and got a diamond and sapphire tiara then died a few times getting back down.

Back to the third door and opening that up took me to another world...

Obligatory waterfall and wacky colours.

I found a fish net and used it. Turned out I got lucky and caught the needed fish immediately. I'd reloaded to try something and it took several tries to get the fish. I could do without the randomness in this game especially when you are doing the right thing.

Anyway, catching the fish causes it to flop around painfully gasping for air, so you can throw it back in the water and it thanks you for saving it.

I'm sorry, we're the ones who put your life in danger and you're thanking us for saving it? Okay then... Graham being a real jerk here.

This just looked goofy.

I explored around and found an amulet with the word HOME on it. And then I found the quartz tower! And Valanice! Of course I had to get in and up there.

Gosh. More spiralling stairs.

Gosh, falling off the stairs. Didn't see that coming.

Just a few falls...

I got chomped by a lion. Imagine being Valanice and seeing Graham out the window and then shortly later hearing the crunching... Or the scream of him falling off the damn stairs.

Anyway, two options here. Feed the lion the meat from Dracula's castle for more points, or slay the lion with your sword for fewer points. I of course fed the lion and it fell asleep after a good meal of ham.

And here we are at last with Valanice. She'll follow us anywhere except down those stairs, and I don't blame her. That leaves no choice but to trust in the amulet, say 'home' and get teleported back.

Side note: you can use the amulet even before finding Valanice. You'll get sent home, Graham will enter the castle and you'll get a message along the lines of it being too bad he couldn't bring home a queen and the game ends.

We came home to a wedding! Everyone's invited!

Dragon and giant from the first game... Grandma just hanging out with the wolf now... Grandma, just what is your story, ma'am? Where's King's Quest: Grandma's Quest?

And together they enter the castle and happily ever after except for the future games. In fact this game ended with immediately advertising for King's Quest III.

And look at those max points!

Final Points: 185/185

Deaths: 17 (7 to stairs. It felt like more)

Time: 2:24

Final Thoughts:

I enjoyed playing it, clearly, as I got sucked back into a second session to finish it the same day I started. That said the plot is thin: rescue girl to get married. You don't really get much off Hagatha. She imprisons Valanice. She steals the antique shop owner's bird for some reason. And she can randomly show up and kill you. Why the bird, we do not know. Evil.

It also felt like a lot of random ideas jammed together. Here's Grandma's cottage in the middle of nowhere. Here's Little Red Riding Hood. Here's the wolf that you can't actually do anything about. Here's an antique shop in the middle of nowhere that happens to have a magic lamp. How about a monastery? How about Dracula's castle?

A lot of screens feel like they're there solely to increase map size. You don't find anything and they're not even interesting to look at. Some water and trees. More water and trees. Throw in some rocks.

I don't know. Like I said, I enjoyed the act of playing it, but it's really not the most cohesive of things. It's also the true start to Sierra stairs... Hmph.

I am enjoying the text parser even though it can be irritating when you say something and it doesn't work and you say something else that means the same and it does.

I'm enjoying mapping things out too. It's something I've only done rarely. The combination of mapping and writing in actions adds some extra layer that's fun and immersive.

This entry is just... awkwardly enjoyable. I'll leave it that.

[just-jayy]

What is your honest opinion of Kaeloo season 5?

This is a difficult one to answer.

Short answer: it's very mediocre

Long answer: I hate the writing, it's extremely weak and boring with the only stand out instances being "Lost Cat", "Quack Quack's Origins", and "You Have Changed" ("Opening Up" is an arguable addition).

And I don't hate the writing because it "isn't good enough", I hate the writing because it flat out makes no sense. Translating the rest of season 5 with a handful of French speakers had us all scratching our heads at how abrupt the endings are.

You have the sudden introduction of not just Game Rules, but Stumpy's 7 sisters, which makes 8 new characters (not including Law and Order). Then you have Pretty being portrayed drastically differently and a little boring with NO explanation ,which makes her a basic copy-paste Kaeloo with some added flare, Eugly is gone to art school, Olaf has a beard...

Stumpy has the most screentime out of any of the main four, which is extremely disappointing because from the get go of season 5's beginning, we get the introduction to an amazing set up for Mr. Cat's character arc while at the same time, wrapping up Kaeloo's. Let's not mention BadK, who is revealed to be more than what triggers him, and yet they do nothing to express this in the season minus "Being Funny".

I love Stumpy, but his sisters are the most boring and agonizing parts of season 5. A lot of people disagree in the fandom and like them, but you know why you like them? They're written to either be liked or disliked. The only true nuance to them is that they're all kids whose personalities are shaped around the effect child neglect has on children.

That's a sign of writers burnout. The fact that they wasted a whole season based around introducing characters that serve zero interest and exist only as filler is so disappointing. For fuck's sake, when Pretty, Eugly, and Olaf were introduced, they made them fun and likeable! The sisters, I just found very boring. Boring and very one note. This could've been fixed with more screentime, probably, but honestly after season 5 I don't want to see another Stumpy-centered episode for a long while.

The humor in this season is bland and very basic. Gone are Mr. Cat's weapons and bombs, now replaced with plungers (???), the slapstick is shown off screen or so miniscule that it feels like the visual effects do more of a job showing impact than the impact itself, and there's a huge lack of... I don't know how to say this, but, personality?

It doesn't feel like Kaeloo. It feels like a kids show trying to be Kaeloo. They even made an episode about this new censorship this season, and it felt like it was Rémi indirectly telling the fans that, "this is what the network wants" and what makes kids happy doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Maybe that's a bleak way to look at it, but that's all I can think about when I watch that episode.

With Xilam's acquisition of Cube, these changes don't surprise me though. Xilam is very family-friendly and anyone who has watched early Oggy and the Cockroaches knows the fate of shows acquired by Xilam goes. This accompanied by the season being made during COVID had an undeniable effect on the production of the season, and I wish people would understand this more.

There's so much to do with these nuanced characters, there's still so much to be done and explained, but we're never going to get it now that Rémi has left, and if we do, it won't be canon. The series should honestly, at this point, be cancelled. I have no faith in Xilam handling anything serious with these characters.

In small addition: I know the show wasn't just made by Rémi alone and he had a co-creator, but honestly, taking away the same creator and leaving it all up to one other creator, it can still have disastrous effects. You no longer have that same person who shares your ideas for the characters, the stories will start getting convoluted, there will be changes no one expects and can't be explained. In my opinion, losing one half of the creative mind that made the show can be just as bad as both people leaving.

Season 5 does have some upsides: Kaeloo and BadK have the best relationship and moments this season, which really resonates with me and my situation. The writers very clearly announce that Kaeloo does have DID and even show her inner world, which is very appreciated and I admire the effort they took to portray that realism.

Mr. Cat shows more emotion than any season, letting us see this new and vulnerable side to him that we never got to see before. We learn about his relationship with his mother, his fear of change, how he age regresses in response to change in general, and that he's sought the help of a therapist.

Quack Quack's origins is by far the best season 5 episode purely for the musical score and the BEAUTIFUL animation styles during his escape. A lot of questions get answered about him, and it feels like an episode made specifically for the die-hard fans who remember the subtle stuff from season one up to this point.

The animation and subtle music is breathtaking. Kaeloo has a new model which feels way more squishy and bouncy, they gave her a bit of pudginess that makes her feel like this Rounded Specimen™ of friendship. She's also extremely expressive, along with the rest of the characters thanks to the change in animation! The studio deciding to switch from Maya to Blender really shows, as there are a lot of animation changes and added weight to the characters that makes them feel more impactful to the environment.

In conclusion, season 5 isn't bad, but it's very mediocre when compared to its previous season.

[eldritchsurveys]

1160.

Have you ever read the Hunger Games series? >> I did! blazed through them during a trip to a friend's wedding. I have to reread them now though because that was 4 years ago and now that the new book is out I want to refresh my memory and then read the new one (and finally make an actual decision about whether I'm going to watch the movies or not)

When was the last time you ran into something? >> the way the doorways are set up between my room, Sparrow's room, and the bathroom... they're really close together in a 3-sides-of-a-cube way, and then the kitchen is where the fourth side would be, so there's this really tight turn going to and from my room and the kitchen and I run into the wall corners all the time because of that. so it was probably that.

Do you enjoy dressing up? >> I very much do, but it's also energy-intensive (not just the act of dressing, but the sustained effort of being in that dressed-up state for hours), so I wouldn't want to do it often.

Do you live in the city or a rural area? >> city

Would you say you have a sense of style? >> I can't imagine what it would be for a sapient being (who isn't a hermit or monk or otherwise removed from general society) to not have a sense of style

What’s your biggest fear? >> incarceration Have you ever been bitten by a wild animal? >> haven't

Are you close to any of your cousins? .

Have you ever been lost in the woods? >> haven't. never been in big enough woods for that, I don't think

Where did you last travel? >> Lansing

Do you enjoy driving? .

What song did you last listen to? >> The Birth / Fata Sidus Oritor / One of Us Must Die from Metalocalypse: Doomstar Requiem If you have a job, how often do you work? .

What time do you normally go to sleep at night? >> I've shifted my bedtime from 22:00 to midnight because of the upstairs neighbour. it's been okay so far, I guess, although it is a bit disorienting still

Do you watch a lot of movies? >> absolutely. this year's official total is 226! maybe 227 if I watch one today. Do you like Tom Petty? >> I don't know anything about him or his music. I'm not even 100% sure he's a musician

Would you rather have snow or rain? >> well... if it's winter I'd rather have snow because it's appropriate and also because rain would just turn into sheets of ice, which, no fucking thank you. but generally I would prefer to live somewhere that just didn't get snow at all Do you own a lot of sweaters? >> I don't

Have you ever tried rock-climbing? >> haven't

Ever ridden in a police car? >> a few times. do not recommend

Favorite decade of music? .

Have any of your best friends been your best friend longer than a year? .

Ever witnessed a murder? >> can't say that I have

Do you care what people think of you? >> if it's someone I feel something for, or that has some measure of influence over my life, then yeah. if not, then no Does your room have a ceiling fan? >> it does not Would you consider yourself poised? >> that doesn't seem an accurate descriptor of me Have you ever tried blogging? >> sure, but then microblogging happened and I never looked back

Favorite television channel? . Have you ever lied under oath? >> never been under oath in the first place What are your religious views? >> I don't have "religious views" as such, I don't think? I just vibe with what I vibe with and leave the rest for others to vibe with

Are you a romantic person? >> sure, but not necessarily in a way you might recognise as such When did you last change your bed sheets? >> this past Wednesday Would you consider yourself a flirt? >> I wouldn't

At what age do you plan to be married? >> I didn't plan for it, but I got married at 32

Do you eat a lot of junk food? >> I don't judge food in this fashion When did you last go on vacation? >> April 2022

Are you resilient? >> I suppose so, although I have complicated feelings about that concept as a whole

Have you ever failed a subject before? >> have

If so, what was the class? >> English

Do you wear more bright or dull colors? >> dull/desaturated

Do you know anyone who has attempted suicide? >> I mean, statistically, I most likely know several people who have

What’s your favorite quote? . Would you consider yourself mature? >> I just don't care about the concept of maturity at all How many clocks are in your house? >> exactly one (it's my Dark Tower clock and it's not actually in use because I hate the ticking sound. it's just a decoration)

Do you play any sports? >> I do not

What is your biggest life regret? .

Have you ever been injured in a car accident? >> haven't

If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be? .

Have you ever had highlights in your hair? . Favorite fast food restaurant? >> Popeye's, I guess

In what country were you born? >> USA Are your eyes more than one color? >> they are not, they're just dark brown Have you ever caught something on fire? >> sure

What would you consider your biggest flaw? . What do you think your best quality is? >> I can't rank my qualities like that, they all have so much value to me

Do you enjoy listening to others’ problems? >> enjoy??? lol no, not unless they're like soap-opera levels of drama or something Do you keep any plants in your house? >> I have two in my room and there's a few in the rest of the apartment

What is your mother’s occupation? .

Do any of your friends like your musical style? .

What are you most looking forward to? >> playing some video game later on

What was your favorite television show as a child? .

Are you afraid of insects? >> amn't! I love bugs

Are you cold-natured? >> possibly

How old were you when you got your first pet? >> like toddler-age Did you / do you enjoy high school? >> I did not enjoy it in the slightest

What would you say was your favorite age? . What annoys you most about social networking? .

Are you the center of attention most of the time? >> I'm never the center of attention

What are you currently reading? >> PDA by PDAers by Sally Cat (well, compiled by her)

When did you last go to the library? >> whoof

Are you ill at the moment? >> I wouldn't say so, my very short bout of sinusitus seems to have been neatly resolved by putting a damn humidifier in my room finally. I do have a minor cough (probably from spending all Monday using my damn voice when I normally don't talk for like days on end, and also vaping lol), but it's nothing to write home about Do people tease you about anything? >> I mean, Sparrow does, in a banter way How late did you stay up last night and why? >> midnight, because that's my current bedtime

Have you ever written poetry? >> long time ago

Curtains or shades? . How many people have you spoken to in the last hour? >> zero Do you tend to text a lot? >> I don't text at all Ever lost a great best friend? .

What is your favorite kind of flower? >> sunflower, dandelion Do you own any guns? >> I do not

What would you say is your favorite book of all-time? >> I wouldn't say that about any book Do you think you’re living a good life? >> I think I'm doing my best with what I've got and my best can be pretty damn good sometimes ngl

What’s your least favorite part of the day? >> whenever I have to do A Task Are you an over-achiever? >> amn't, my perfectionist impulse comes out in other ways

Have you ever won an award for a speech? >> haven't Do you tend to curse a lot? >> you know it

Have you ever played on the Ouija board? >> haven't ever gotten to do this

Do you sleepwalk? >> I do not

Have you ever slept on the floor before? >> slept on a floor for years

Are you a fan of public displays of affection? >> I don't have any feelings or opinions about this and I'm fascinated by how strongly people seem to feel about them

When did you last attend a yard sale? >> whew

Do you wish your life were simpler or more interesting? >> I have this constant feeling that my life is Not Interesting Enough and I'm starting to figure out that it's basically because I feel like I have to perform some kind of grandiosity or interesting-ness in order for people to give an iota of a fuck about my existence but frankly I think my life is really interesting and complex already, but it's all very internal and personal and not like... shiny glitzy stuff I can post on social media, yknow

What goals do you wish to accomplish tomorrow? >> tomorrow is the first of January! I don't know what I'm going to do to mark that occasion yet. also there's the dinner at Sparrow's parents' house that happens every New Year's

When is your birthday? >> May 28 Which is worse: going blind or deaf? >> I couldn't say, but also I feel like it's a bit inconsiderate to be like "oh having this disability would be SO AWFUL wow my life would be OVER" so casually when people with these disabilities very much exist and are living their lives every single day and I imagine them having to experience people going "man if *I* was blind I would just fucking DIE" has got to suck

What was the best part of today? >> I've only been up for a few hours but it's been pretty ok! I watched some YouTube and had sweet potato gnocchi and chai and I'm just vibin

Do you attempt to stay away from drama? >> I don't even have to attempt, I just don't attract any/am never in situations where drama is happening What liquid did you last drink? >> tea

Do you ever prefer to be alone? >> most of the time, yeah Have you ever had a deadly animal as a pet? .

Favorite Disney movies >> Lilo & Stitch, Enchanted, the POTC series (most of them, anyway) Have you ever been to the beach? >> I have

If you have, how many times have you been? >> like... quite a few

What was your dream occupation at age ten? . Are you terrified at the idea of weight-gain? >> hmm. I have complicated feelings about weight gain because I'm very much a "weight is a neutral property as is health etc" type bitch and I think the insane social messaging around fatness is ridiculous as well as harmful, but I've also lived fully immersed in this society my entire life so the messaging lives inside me whether I want it to or not. and that's what I'm most angry about, because I feel like I can't even form my own fucking opinion and feelings about my body and any potential weight it might gain. I have to constantly fight to maintain my actual values and remind myself of my actual self-appreciation. so yeah, I'm knee-jerk afraid of gaining weight, because I Live In A Fucking Society, but I also think I probably will not vary from my current weight range anyway unless I develop a condition or something, in which case I'll deal with that when the time comes (and I will probably deal with it by spitefully loving it out loud until it starts feeling true)

Do you drink a lot of water? >> I would prefer not to (I hate peeing lmao) Does your room have carpet or hard-wood floors? >> hardwood

Do you take naps daily? >> I don't, but I want to start making space for naps because after observing the patterns, I think my body is probably most comfortable with a 6hr nighttime sleep and a half-hour midday nap

Who were you named after? >> my name belongs only to me

Do you plan on traveling this spring or summer? >> can't make plans like that, the money situation isn't stable enough

Do you know anyone who is colorblind? >> we were at Lotus Brew for their "we're shutting down and moving to a new location after this" party and there was a person there who was like "I'm gonna play this game that's all about how good your colour vision is, because I'm colourblond and it would be funny" they also were wearing a red-and-black tie with like, a grey shirt, I think? and they were like "yeah, this tie matches because it's... it's grey, right? it's also grey?" they didn't know it was also red LMAO like it still matched and looked great but the "NO WAY. IT'S RED????" was hilarious

Have you ever been a teacher’s pet? >> I was, because I was precocious and also completely inept at interacting with people my own age

What is your absolute favorite hobby? >> video games

How many times a day do you brush your teeth? >> once

Ever been to a tanning bed before? >> haven't

Are you satisfied with your financial stability? >> what financial stability

Who is your favorite actor / actress? >> Tony Todd

Are your nails painted? >> they aren't What’s the meanest thing you’ve ever said to someone? >> whatever it was, it's probably something I've forgotten but they remembered for a long time afterward. because that's usually how this sort of thing goes

Do you ever accidentally talk to inanimate objects? >> not accidentally

What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? >> Trader Joe's horchata

Have you ever kissed someone of the same gender? >> pretty sure everyone I've kissed has had some sort of gender but I have none (none that make sense in human terms, certainly), so,

Do you receive any hate mail? >> I do not Have you ever sent a letter in the mail? >> many moons ago

If you could, would you have a pen pal? >> I wouldn't, I don't think I have the kind of disposition that makes it easy or fulfilling to keep up a slow long-distance textual correspondence with me What color are the pants you’re wearing? >> grey

Have you ever had a stalker? >> haven't

What is your life philosophy? .

Who last sent you a goodnight text message? .

Do you own any clothes that are your favorite color? >> just one, a scarf. I should go see if that sweater is still at the vintage shop now that I have a bit of money... it's so beautiful to me that it probably isn't, but maybe no one else cares about it the way I do LOL Have you ever been in a hot tub before? >> I have, for approximately 15 seconds before I thought my heart was going to explode so I had to get out

What’s your favorite comedy movie? .

In which year were you born? >> 1987

[spaghett-onaplate]

Something I've been thinking about recently is that Simon isn't completely open to any one person. I'm sure it's been talked about before but I want to organise my thoughts and break it down some more. The people around him - Linda, Sara, Rosh, Ayub, August and Wilhelm only see what he wants them to see about him. (I can't be bothered to take screenshots right now so the following is from memory, forgive me if there are any mistakes)

Linda - he tells her that he and Sara were invited to a party, not mentioning how they can only go if he gets booze. He doesn't tell her that he's an outcast at the school; she only finds out about his bad grades when he needs an excuse for the tutoring fee. He doesn't tell her about drug dealing, which makes sense considering most teenagers wouldn't tell their parents about that, but still. He hides his struggles from her.

Sara - He hides the drug dealing from her. Which again, makes sense, but he hides other things too. He hides his visits to Micke. There's the whole "no more secrets" conversation, but he still keeps the drugs from her. Plus she's dealing with her own problems, which she verbalises, so he's busy helping her deal with those.

Rosh & Ayub - I think they probably know the most out of everyone, since they know about the drug situation and they know about Wille, to a certain extent. But they didn't know about his ambitions to get out of Bjärstad, and they're taken aback by the idea of it. And they see a different, hidden side of him when he fights August, one that he'd been hiding.

August - To August, he acts tough. No nonsense. He's friendly at first, but still direct in asking for his payment. Then when it's not given, he's very direct, in the sense that he assaults him. So he hides his true personality from August, and puts on the exterior he needs to deal with him.

And finally, Wilhelm - He doesn't tell Wille about his past with Micke, and he doesn't tell Wille about his problems with August or the whole drug situation overall. Wille has his own truckload of problems to deal with. And I don't necessarily think this means he talks to Wille less than he talks to Linda, Sara, Rosh or Ayub, just that it's easier to think of more examples. During the infamous music room argument, Wilhelm finds out about Simon's drug dealing and it shakes his previous view of him (this is a great post that goes more in detail about that specific scene). More than that, Simon's carefully kept appearance is knocked down.

To me, Simon is a cube. Weird analogy, I know, but stay with me. He's a cube, with multiple sides - in this case, those 'sides' are probably his relationship with Wille, his drug dealing, his past with Micke, struggling at school and his overall well-being, mainly. And with each person he knows, he lets them see a different face, maybe multiple. But never all of them. That's why it's so jarring when they see another side to him.

I don't know. I've just been thinking about this a lot lately, and I've been itching to make an analysis. It saddens me but also makes for such a nuanced, realistic character. I hope he'll open up more to people in S2. Because this hurts, man

[solomonish]

Dork Solomon Agenda

You say sexy shady sorcerer I say nerd and love of my life

Solomon is a sad lonely little man why just wants a genuine connection us that so much to ask???

No but seriously like. It's totally fine if you hc Solomon as this man-turned-lowkey-sex-god with a million succubi and more at his whim whenever he wants and would be a tough one to put the ol' ball and chain on like to each their own for sure! But that's not MY hc

(Thats not to say my hc means he doesn't ever engage in casual sex like that and wanting a genuine long term relationship at some point [or finding out thats what you want when you meet someone] are not mutually exclusive yknow)

So like Solomon isn't the type to be short with you or keep you at an arm's length (i mean...u get what I mean. Once you're close enough and all that jazz) or get annoyed by you wanting to be affectionate?? Hello??

He LOVES the little things you do (some on accident tbh). You feeling affectionate today and give him a kiss or three on his face before you leave to go to your separate classes? Adorable, he's fallen in love again. You do that thing where you like.. forget how to walk straight and just accidentally bump into him? No come back he likes being close to you :( He doesn't SAY these things but there's a light, airy laugh he has that gives him away.

If you're ever facetiming he will say "boo!" when you connect instead of just. Greeting you like a normal person.

His fuckin. His devilgram name is monSOLO. My mans is a star wars fan!!! I dont know any of The Discourse bc I'm not super into star wars myself but he has IN DEPTH opinions about the movies. Seriously rivals Levi in this aspect. Please make time for movie nights where you watch the movies together 🥺 especially if you haven't seen them before he'd love to convert you 🥺

Didn't Solomon also have a thing for TSL??? Or am I just imagining it??

I feel like his ideal date would be exploring something new, whether its this new spooky forest or "hey have we been down this alley before? Let's check it out!" but ideal date number TWO is movie night. Even if it isn't Star Wars. He likes to sit on opposite ends of the couch throwing popcorn into each other's mouths (and big candies like peanut m&ms where you both have almost choked before) and maybe a footsie war if he's feeling real devious. Then at some point you grab a blanket and snuggle up to him and you both fall asleep on the couch

Simeon yells at him when you leave because there's popcorn EVERYWHERE

LOVES when you laugh super loud. Idk man he just thinks its great when you have such unbridled joy and then he laughs too 😊 not as loud though he's more of a quiet chuckle kind of guy (most of the time).

Is friends with Asmo so is extremely great at slumber party gossip. Catch him in his pajamas, cross-legged on the floor while clutching a pillow to his chest and listening intently to you rant about the brothers.

"Come here I have a secret to tell you" (blows air in your ear) "okay okay I'm sorry but come here again" (blows air on your neck) "okay okay last time! I actually have something to tell you. Please? Its important...." (kisses ur cheek) "like u a lil bit xo"

Never the type to send "good morning beautiful" or "good night 💞" texts. Instead he'll send you something at 4 am like "the infinite cosmos will eventually swallow whole all familiarity and life as it is now presently known and despite the adaptations humans or demons or angels could make i will still have to adapt and face the world as an alien in the realm I love so dearly. Funny how the strongest of beings bow to the whim of space and time. But sometimes my eternal journey doesn't seem so daunting when I realize that with my everlasting life will be the memory of you no matter how distant and the survival of the vessel you loved...."

And then at lunch that day when the brothers pull you away he'll send you a picture of the lasagna they're serving with "this kinda looks like you? Don't worry I'd still hit it" and then two minutes later "you not the pasta"

Is the type to think randomly "oh damn I love you so much" but has an impressive filter about it. Or he thinks he does until Luke grumbles "ugh get a room thats the fifth time you've seen that since monday" ok, sometimes he has a good filter about it

He can't help it! Sometimes you just say something really smart (or something SPECTACULARLY dumb) or you do something cute like lean on him or smile a specific way or-

Sir.....you're head over heels sir :/

The type who would go to a playground at night with you and just swing on the swings talking about life

Wants to have a secret handshake with you!!

If you're ever on a road trip with just the two of you, you can get him to join in on the terrible singing but he'll be a lot quieter than you

Also will only join in if he isn't driving. If he is and you aren't talking, he's just humming underneath his breath. Will drum on the steering wheel though

Cooking

(Yes, it gets its own section because MAYBE I'm obsessed with the idea of MC teaching Solomon to cook and the food still turning out terrible but at least it isn't a void when MC is helping)

The type to flick water at you every time he washes his hands. Will chase you down just to do it.

"Hey, tilt your head back and open your mouth MC" (proceeds to dump too big a handful of shredded cheese in your mouth)

100% the type to lean over you just to hinder your cooking abilities. Who cares if the sauce splashes he's tiiiired.... you'd let belphie do it :(

Puts a hand on your lower back when he passes behind you. Hopes you'll lean into it/step back and offer him a kiss 🥺

Believes in always having a proper table setting. Prepare for whatever juice they have (or water) in wine glasses if you're having a nice-er meal

Under the assumption that a spell ruined his sense of taste (and not that he's just bad at cooking) he hates spicy food. He can feel the burn but he gets none of the flavor??? Wack. Don't hurt him like that MC. If you do because its hilarious to watch him try to be cool about it he will pout

Gets cheesy aprons. He just likes them.

Will hit you on the top of your head with a whisk to hear the noise it makes

Will buy every kitchen hack tool there is. A ketchup dispenser that looks like a gun? He's got it. A fish that helps you squeeze out the egg yolks? Yes! A dinosaur soup ladle? You bet! Pizza scissors? A tool that makes hard boiled eggs into cubes? Something that's gotta be like 200 years old and no discernable purpose? Absolutely! He wants a hot dog toaster. Do they even have hot dogs in the devildom?

Will sneak bites just because it bothers you

Overall

Look at him. He hasn't had friends in centuries. He's playful!

Look at his DEVILGRAM NAME

His funky little WAND

This is a man who is a huge nerd, thrives off of cliches and just wants to have a good time. So let him! Its mentally exhausting having those pretenses up all the time.

[lokigodofaces]

any ace loki headcanons? 👀

I have a lot of them, as you can imagine. Because I don't want to retype things, I'm also going to have links to previous posts of mine.

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it's been something he's struggled with for years. Asgard doesn't really have a concept for the aspec, and are super sexual with a lot of things. so he's been sitting in the corner metaphorically for 1000 years, not able to understand anyone. and it doesn't help that as a royal, he's supposed to marry and have children.

or you could go the other way and have Loki never be pressured to marry while Thor is. and at first Loki assumes it's because Thor is going to have the throne, so he's the one that need to have an heir, not him, and he's just glad Odin isn't after him for never dating. but then he finds out he's Jotun & Odin didn't want him dating because that would be a quick way for Loki to find out, to have a half Jotun child. & Odin doesn't want to "curse" any Asgardian woman to having to marry a Jotun and have half Jotun children. so now Loki is sad he never was pressured into it because the only reason Odin didn't do it was because he didn't want Loki to have children and would have tried to break up any relationship Loki did have

Fandral makes him uncomfortable at times bc he's such a womanizer, and sometimes he's womanizing for Loki, if that makes sense. like he's trying to be a wingman and get women to flirt with him, and it's all with good intentions but Loki did not sign up for this

his relationship with Tess is really nice bc Tess is in no way trying to have sex bc she's a cube. it's freeing to never have to worry that someday she'll want sex and be disappointed by their relationship

when he does start dating Tess, they take things slow physically. they don't kiss on the lips for a long time, don't kiss tongue for a long time, that sort of stuff. cuddling is okay, but kissing is more eh. it's all kind of muddy, but as an asexual i can tell you that at least for me, it's muddy too! some physical touch is okay, some isn't, some needs to happen later, some can be immediate, that's just my reality (and Loki's, since I project on him an unhealthy amount)

sometimes he hears things about the Greek gods (many of which were down to f*ck at any second) and some of the Avengers will ask if he and Thor are anything like that and he just nopes out of the conversation

someone says he has an ace up his sleeve just in reference to the whole trickster god thing, but he thinks it's the funniest thing

the Avengers buy him a cake when he comes out to them because Tony went to google for what to do if your friend comes out as ace and someone said aces like cake

everyone Loki associates tries to filter out sexual things once he comes out. like they warn him if a movie they recommend has a sex scene or avoid talking too dirty around him. he appreciates it a lot

it takes Thor months to figure out what the heck Loki is talking about bc Asgard doesn't really have an understanding of aspec people culturally (there are aspecs on Asgard they're just struggling bc there isnt a word for it or its an uncommon word with a small community)

when Loki finds out he's Jotun, at first he thinks he doesn't want sex because he's Jotun. it's a combination of aphobia and jotunphobia. Jotuns are inferior people, sex is a necessary part of being Asgardian, thus he doesn't feel sexual desire because he is part of an inferior race. at this point he doesn't know about asexuality.

it's confusing bc he's biromantic so like he wants a partner but not a sexual one but he rarely is attracted to anyone bc he's greyromantic & it's hard.

favor

[volzaannir]

Bdsm tastes for Erik the slayer, Kaidan, Onmund, Argus, and the wolf twins?

sure thing! though im not sure who Kaidan is? im not too big on modded followers if that's who they are, but the rest i can do!

Erik the Slayer

This mans father totally sheltered him, yeah? So of course now that he's finally free to do what he wants, you know damn well he wants to try SOMETHING freaky

I feel like he'd get too excited and want to go all out right away, so try and keep him chill and start with the basics

Mans got a lot of pent up desire and fantasies, there's no way he doesn't after been cooped up on the farm his whole life

Acts like a dom but he's totally a switch lmao

Get a little assertive or praise him to hell and back, and he's putty in your hands

He'd be into light bondage, maybe some spanking, and absolutely roleplay

Always fantasized a scenario where he's the bounty hunter/mercenary rescuing a captive from some bandits

He's new to all this, so don't be surprised if he fumbles or breaks character now an then. And totally don't laugh or giggle, no matter how adorable his little mistakes make him seem

Onmund

Oh my god, this boy radiates sub energy to me

As a mage, you know he's experimented with magic for a whole new kinda sensation play

Very small doses of ice/heat/shock? He's so down for it

And if his lover is a mage or magic user? Even better, cause now he can be tied up and held to their mercy

I can see him being into a little bit of humiliation; make snide remarks about how dirty he is for getting hard during class and he'll let out the most pitiful, yet lustful whine

Not big on roleplay except for one scenario: Tutor and student

Despite liking magic sensation play, he's not into impact play at all. A well-placed smack to his ass, though, is more than alright if he's already lost in the sauce

Argis the Bulwark

This guy.... this guy Doms™

Look at him and tell me he isn't into throwing his lover over the nearest surface, chaining them up, then going to absolute town on them

Loves to have his partner tied up in some way, his favorite involving both arms AND legs being tied down/together

With long hair like his, he's totally into hair pulling, both on him or his partner

Even though he's the dom more often than not, he enjoys waxplay on himself

The quick burn from the wax is enough to get his nerves going; and besides, the way it drips over his muscles? [chefs kiss]

The GOD of aftercare. Need a bath? He'll carry you there. Spank marks sting? Don't worry, he's already got the salve ready. Muscles sore? One grade-A massage, coming right up

Farkas

For me, our resident himbo is probably insanely shy about BDSM at first

He's be so worried he'd hurt his lover, so it'll take some convincing to get him to at least try some light stuff

He's likely a switch leaning submissive

If he's the one domming, be prepared to have him constantly checking in on his partner, and I mean constantly. Like, every time he even lightly spanks or bites them

After some trial and error, he'd likely be into being the sub for BDSM scenes

Finds that he rather enjoys sensation play; feathers, ice cubes, the whole shabang

He likes being blindfolded, surprisingly! Heightens his senses and puts him on edge, in a good way of course

For the love of the Divines please praise him, he'll melt on the spot

Our resident Farkas simp @korvanjund could maybe add to this or give their input if they wish 👀

Vilkas

Also pretty new to this type of stuff, but unlike his brother, he takes to it much easier

Switch, but leans towards dom

Even if he's been cured of his Lycanthropy, he's still keen to bite and scratch a lot. Call it a habit

LOVES having his partner tied up and blindfolded, totally at his mercy. Makes him feel In Charge™

Most likely into degrading/humiliating his partner, just some teasing, non-offensive stuff

Pet names GALORE

Likely one of the only ones on this list to like having their partner standing nude while their wrists are tied up at the ceiling, allows him to circle them and make them squirm. Again, a habit, but a weirdly sexy one

^ Bonus points if he can bring sensation play into this, like light touches or even some teasing knife play