#when you get that good at solving puzzles you start to make your own games and puzzles

[needfantasticstories]

CAMPSIDE PRANKS 1: Wild gets bored Waiting for Legend 

Wild had already cooked heart soup, hearty elixirs, hearty simmered fruit, and had at least two dozen stamina elixirs ready to go for the Vet when he finally woke up from his fever. 

There was nothing much else for the heroes to do while they waited for the Hero of Legend to recover. 

As morning became afternoon, The Champion put away the clean pots and ladles, and sat on a log, bouncing his knees and looking all around the camp. Time and Four polished armor, Warrior and Hyrule hung up laundry. Sky cleaned and polished leather with Twilight. Wind sat in a tree with Aryll’s spyglass, keeping diligent watch for monsters. 

This in-between era provided few clues regarding their place in time, and the Vetern’s fever worried them. They’d ruled out black blood right away, and potions had minimal effect on illnesses, and so they resigned themselves to waiting it out. Luckily, his fever broke in the night.  

Wild noticed them watching his bouncing knees. He stopped, and caught sight of the river stones in the stream. They were all oblong and somewhat flat. He grinned, and rushed over to them.

Gathering as many as he could carry, he placed on at Legend’s side, just a few feet from the bedroll. He set another just behind it, and tipped the first. It struck the second nad knocked it down. Grinning wider, he set a trail of stones from the Vet’s side toward the edge of camp and around the perimeter. 

Twilight and Sky finished polishing, and chuckled, then brought him more stones. 

The others soon joined in, Wind giving ideas for a path from his perch.

By the time Legend woke up, grimacing at the bright late-afternoon sun, he found an audience of grinning heroes surrounding him.

He scowled, and rubbed his face, feeling for signs of charcoal or paint. 

“Here,” Hyrule took the tea Wild made and crouched beside him. “You’ve been out for three days with a fever, but it broke last night. Here, this will help.”

He sat up and took it gingerly, surprised at the weakness in his own hands.

“What in Din’s name are you all doing over here?” He rasped. 

“We, uh, well, have a surprise for you.” Wild stammered.

“Wild got bored,” Twilight laughed. “Made you something.”

“Did he? Should I be excited, or afraid?” The Vet sipped the tea. 

“It starts behind you,” Time offered, and Legend turned around.

Legend stared at it, and quirked up one eyebrow. 

“Go ahead. Touch it.” Hyrule smiled. 

A trail of stones, barely balancing on their narrow edges, wound from his side and all around the camp, between trees and up and down rises and dips in the forest floor, through a dry creek bed nearby, and circling tightly around the camp, spiraling inward until it ended next to where it began.  

Legend touched it. 

They all watched the trail of rocks topple one after the other. 

Legend’s sleepy grin made it all worth it.

[inkskinned]

i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".

it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.

do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.

but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.

do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).

you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.

walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.

no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.

do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."

you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.

there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.

i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.

he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."

[cluescorner]

There's no feeling stranger than knowing that something is bad but liking it anyways. Not in a 'it's so bad it's good' way. Because that implies that it has become good. I'm talking like this thing is just kinda bad in the normal ways things are bad, but i like it anyways.

[help-itrappedmyself]

Summoning Game Show Part 6

Masterpost

“You had me going for a bit there, but that was pretty good.” Danny admits, clearing the screen away. “How come you know so much about space?”

“Learned some of it in school.” Red replies, hand coming up to rub the back of his head. “I do some work in the sciences now, engineering, and I’ve actually had to go to space a few times for the gig.” The hand lowers as he shrugs. “ Plus, I just like to know things.”

Danny has stars in his eyes now. “You’ve been to space?”

“Oh. Well yeah, I’ve had a few missions. Miss Martian has a ship that the team took.”

Danny’s expression light up even more and Red looks back at his brothers in confusion. “You know a Martian?” It was whispered in awe, Red could barely hear it, but he nods in response. 

They stand there for a minute, Danny just staring at Red in some mix of amazement and awe before he shakes himself out of it. 

“Right! Well, that’s awesome.” Danny nods to himself and then forcibly turns to face the screen and changes the subject. “Last thing then! You get a letter for the puzzle!” 

The puzzle appeared on the screen again with a wave of Danny’s hand.

“ I would like H, please.” Red Robin states.

“What a fantastic guess, there are three H’s!” Danny is trying to resign himself to the fact that he’ll actually have to deal with being King after this. Red was super smart, he doesn’t think he’s going to get out of it at this point.

“Alright, that’s all the letters you will be getting. Before you take a guess at the answer, I am required to tell you that it is a Proper Noun. Please decide who among you will be solving the puzzle.

Red turns to face his brothers but they all just wave him off, motioning for him to go for it. “That’s me, I guess.” He shrugs, turning back to Danny.

Danny nods “Okay, all you have to do in order to meet the Ghost King is solve two puzzles! First the word puzzle, you have 30 seconds.”

A timer starts counting down on the top left of the screen. 

Red mouths words to himself for 10 seconds, then asks, “High King Phantom?” 

More confetti appears on the screen as the solved puzzle appears.

Danny makes a weird face. “That’s correct!” 

There is a lot of clapping and laughing coming from the ghosts in the stands, but it stops when Danny shoots them a glare.

“Alright, last thing.” The podiums disappear and Red steps back towards his family. “The king has been here the whole time, and you will get your meeting with him, as soon as you identify him. You have one guess.” 

Hood, Robin, and Nightwing all turn to each other to start whispering, but Red just tilts his head at Danny.

“Well, It’s you isn’t it?” Red asks and his brothers all turn back to stare at him. Danny tilts his head in response. “Well you were the first one here, so you’re the only one that’s been here the entire time. And you’ve been running the show, everyone has listened to you. Also, your shirt has a P on it, inside the D, but I figure that if the D stands for Danny, then the P would have to be Phantom.” 

Danny just leans back and groans.

When Danny straightens back as his outfit starts to change, he gains a crown and a cape, his ears turn more pointed and he has fangs now. “So what did you want with me? Is it healthcare? Because we do have a doctor that Hood could see.”

“A doctor?” Hood questions.

“Oh geez you don’t even know do you?” Danny starts rubbing his forehead. “Well, you’ve got to get that taken care of, it’s stunting your core development.”

“ Get what taken care of?”

Danny sputters. “The ectoplasm?!” He waves his arms in Hood’s direction. “It's so old and stagnant and worn out and your core isn’t old enough to make its own ectoplasm yet, so you should really supplement until your core finishes.”

Danny can see that none of them know what he’s talking about and he just shakes his head. “I can’t believe you don’t even know. Haven’t there been mood changes, random bursts of emotions, followed by sluggishness? Aren’t you tired?” 

Now everyone is looking at Hood who grumbles. “Well, yeah. But that’s been happening since I died.”

Danny nods as if that makes perfect sense and Dick really would like an explanation. Red and Robin are also just nodding, having noticed the mood swings themselves.

“Relatable, but condolences. Anyways, we could help with that, but I take it that wasn’t why you tried to summon me, so what did you actually want?”

“Nothing that is more important than Hood’s health, if you can help him.” Nightwing interjects.

“Oh. Well, technically you won, so you have the right to an audience to at least ask for whatever else you wanted.” Danny turns and waves in the direction of the stand, motioning someone down. “But If Hood would like to forfeit his right to the audience, he could have a checkup with Frostbite while we meet?”

Hood nods. “I’ll do that. This… Frostbite will be able to explain?” 

“Probably better than I could!” Danny says cheerily as he turns to the Yeti heading towards them. “Frostbite, Hood here needs a checkup, if you could help him correct the malnutrition so his core can grow.” 

Frostbite nods, “You can come with me, Sir.” 

“Bring him back here when you guys are done!” Danny shouts after them as Frostbite leads Hood away. “Now, you guys can come follow me and we’ll sit and talk.”

[corphneux707]

Dr. Ratio x Child! Reader

Headcanons of child reader who he accidentally isekai'd due to an accident during an experiment. Written as platonic and gender neutral!

・┆✦ʚ♡ɞ✦ ┆・

First off, he'd actually feel bad for accidentally transporting you.

Like c'mon, you're literally a kid. So that means he'll take the responsibility of taking care of you for the meantime, until he finds a way to send you back.

Your opinion of him started to get better overtime. At first, he looked scary. Especially when the first hour of you being transported, he looked scary as he berated some poor soul working in the experiment.

He starts off slow in trying to get along with you, which wasn't THAT tough considering he's the only adult you could depend on.

But he's quite considerate of you.

You'll have your own room and your own stuff. It just took quite a bit of coaxing for you to show what you like without 'shying away'

Actually, you weren't shy at all. You were scared, as Ratio deduced.

It made more sense, everything in this world was new to you.

The toughest part that he had to handle with you is with your attachment to your family. The crying, tantrums, the constant "I miss them..."

It was hard to watch you get depressed

This is where Ratio steps in. He comforts and distracts you from your problems.

This is how he gets close to you overtime by being the adult you could lean on for comfort and overall for everything a child needs.

He'd wipe your tears.

Wipe a tissue on your runny nose. (Albeit, in his dismay).

He'd let you hug him as you cried yourself to sleep. His hugs weren't comfortable, but it was secure.

He even listens to you words, even when you choke on sobs between your garbled sentences.

Feed you after assuring that the foreign looking food is tasty and good for you.

Play games with you

Answers all your questions no matter how absurd they are

His face through all of this? Usually a straight face per usual.

Every once in a while, he'd smile when he manages to give you something that you like.

He's especially happy when you start to pick up some habits of his or manage to apply his teachings to you.

There's something about it that strokes his ego and makes him proud of you.

Speaking of teachings, in the early times where you started living with him, he couldn't just leave you alone at home.

Which is why, sometimes you'd be brought along into the guild.

You'd be sat in a corner where you could be easily seen playing with some kind of silent digital toy.

At first, it was surprising for you to watch a student get hit by a chalk because they weren't paying attention. Nowadays, its kind of expected.

Afterclass, you are SWAMPED by countless students fawning over you.

Aeon help them if you smile at them and show them what you like. You're way too precious for their hearts.

The difference between how he treats his students and you is outstanding. He's usually gentle with you, but still somewhat stern.

Your toys mostly have some underlying lesson that'll help you develop your brain. Like, puzzles or mazes.

Show him what you accomplished and you get a smug face from him after he says you did a good job.

Proud dad, really.

Would brag about it.... by incorporating it into his unsults.

"If your problem still hasn't been solved, is it possible that the problem is you? Even a my child could do better."

Or something like that.

On the other hand of your accomplishments is Ratio's dismay of your antics

You're a child, yes. But he finds himself always questioning what the hell goes on in your little head.

You learn all the types of sighs this man has

Theres the annoyed sigh. Bored sigh, and many more.

The most type of sigh you get is the 'What the hell? I'm too tired for this' with the 'What the actual fuck does that mean?' look

Imagine saying present slang like gyatt, fanun tax, rizz.

Like-

You'll see a student admiring Dr. Ratio while he's seated beside you during lunch and you'll say to him "Wow, you have a lot of rizz"

Or when you're trying on matching outfits and then you ask, "Do you feel bonita?"

He's ???? but picks up on it by context clues.

Eventually he'll be incorporating it when he talks to you.

It's like your silly little codes (to you atleast) between the two of you !!

Baths with him are really nice. You get pampered alot by getting a head massage as he shampoos your head, at the same time you get to play with the bubbles and his rubber duckies!

When its bed time, he tucks you in and makes sure that you are asleep.

Usually when he works late, he'll come into your room to check on you. He'll fix your blanket so it completely covers you and pats your head softly before going to sleep in his own room :3

That's all for now. I'm in the process of making a fic and adding more stuff. I didn't even think I'd go this far but oh well.

Thank you for reading one of my first few posts!!

[donutz]

Yandere Smiling Critters x male child reader[pt. 2]

Requests from Tumblr and Wattpad—!, but not really

(Minus the fact I didn't include you being turned)

—☆You are a human in this

Sadly, you couldn’t stay here forever.

You are home now. Adopted. You did spend your time at Playcare for a couple of years though, everybody knew you, everybody in Playcare that is. The critters and kids knew you, the staff knew you, Miss Delight knew you.

So you had a mark on the place when it was time for you to leave. To get your own house. You were happy to get a home, but sad you had to leave your friends behind.

Maybe you could revisit this place again. Come back. But you couldn’t.

Something happened.

8/8/1995

You don’t know what happened that day, but you guess it was something pretty bad. It caused the whole company to shut down. You no longer saw any commercials of the toys.

Rumors were spread around, maybe somebody died, maybe a toy hurt somebody, maybe.. Maybe an experiment happened.

Anyways. There was a letter. A letter in the mail, something that related to your old home. Find the flower?

.

.

.

Sure. Why not, you were seventeen, you can handle yourself.

Which is something you shouldn’t have ever thought, after what you’ve been through.

It’s been scary. You haven’t died yet, but death has wanted to shake your hand a few times.

You almost bumped your head on a metal pipe while passing through a dark hallway, nearly broke your leg because you wanted to jump off a platform, wanting things to go by faster.

You’ve been chased through vents, and ended up at a dead end. You didn’t know what to do. You almost got shredded. But, were spared.

“.. Huggy?” He stared at you, maybe he recognizes you, even after all these years.

He didn’t kill you. He let you down on the second level of the metal stairways with his arm, and went back to where he originally was.

Then you were solving puzzles, with a particular doll following after you.

But the doll got snatched up, by a spider. Mommy Long Legs. She did remember you, you were the one who wasn’t so good at the games..(for the sake of your life in this story)

But she thought you left her to die, so she still forced you to play the three games. The first game has Bunzo! He was hesitant to kill you, you were the kindest kid to him when you lived here.

And for the first time, you actually beat the game! He was so proud of you! He wasn’t proud of his unfortunate fate in the future, but at least he didn’t need to kill you.

Then the small Huggies. They also remembered you, so they were sparing you. You also beat that game! They were happy, letting out tiny purrs at your success.

Then Pj— Wait. Since when were you so good at these games? The last I checked, you failed every single one of them! Fine. I’ll just sabotage the game for you, to make sure you never leave.

You could see Pj coming out of his pug-a-pillar hole, and you were sweating a little. Hopefully he remembered you too.

He did, once he saw you he stopped in his crawling tracks, taking a pause. He missed your younger adorable face when he gave you a small bump on your back, signifying that the ‘game’ was over.

But he unpaused at the start of the music playing.

You escaped. Out of there. That’s fine. I could just chase you myself

Three chases. You got chased THREE times. How desperate was she to kill you?!

You were putting the blue hand on the scanner, when you heard Mommy’s quick steps towards you.

You looked behind you— Eyes widening from her abrupt appearance. For the fourth time.

The door opened! And.. Mommy got killed, by you, by your hands.

A hand crept out from the thin crevice of a metal door. It took Mommy’s left over body, to wherever. You didn’t know what it was. Where it took her. But thanked god(or not, depends on your thoughts) at the fact that you weren’t Mommy at this moment.

Now you are somewhere. The train crashed, and you could feel the back of your shirt being picked up. You were sliding down a pipe, into somewhere.

You don’t know where it was, but you needed to get out, fast.

Doing some parkour, you looked around, and saw a long tail(plus paws) crawling up inside a vent.

“... Catnap?”

You went through some doors, and ended up seeing where the crashed train was. Going somewhere, you could see the recognizable entrance you went to at age 5. The way to Playcare.

You could hear the sounds of steps. Hurrying up you went inside the much smaller train compared to the one you were originally in.

“My name is Elliot Ludwig.”

Hm. Those words you could remember.

“When you look around at the world today,” You repeated after him.

“what one thing do you think it needs more of?”

“Playcare!”

Even at seventeen years, you were still mesmerized by what was shown.

You looked down, and could see 3— no. Five creatures walking or crawling around, resembling the Smiling Critters.

“Oh.”

Some of the critters could hear Elliot’s voice continue about Playcare, eyeing the moving train.

They saw your shadowed figure. Not knowing who you were. But a light is shown on your face.

Bubba, Dogday, Kickin, Hoppy, and Bobby saw your face. You’re back?

No. They must be seeing things. You were gone. Away from them.

But Dogday could recognize those eyes. Your skin, your curiosity, your hair(if your hair changed colors, or texture after growing up, then.. Yea, he still remembered you).

“Angel?” (Even if you didn’t really save him, he’s going to call you Angel. Because I needed a nickname for you. Y’know, because I can’t list every single name of the people who’re reading this?)

The other critters heard his whisper. … Maybe it was you.

The train stopped. But you were kind of scared, were they like Huggy or Mommy? Were they going to chase you down?

“Ah shit.”

‘Language.’ Dogday thought, dogs have good hearing y’know!

You were trying to find a way for two possible outcomes of being down here.

A) Try to make the train go back if the critters try to kill you

Or

B) Somehow reminisce in meeting your old friends

B sounded a lot more better than A.

And.. B did happen!

The 5 critters went over to the train, while you were standing there. Waiting for whatever will happen to you.

Dogday crawled over to you, it was you! Your scent!

He gave you the biggest hug while his tail wagged(really fast, it’s kind of crazy).

He was still fluffy even after these 10 years.

“Angel I missed you so much—!”

You were trying to hug him back, but a little too scared because of the critters staring into your soul.

Dogday noticed their silence and spoke up—

“Guys! This is Angel!! You don’t recognize him??”

Silence.

“THE ONE WHO WAS HIDING BEHIND PICKY..??”

“OHH”

“YOU’RE BACK?!?”

“I was thinking that it was him but I wasn’t sure…”

“ANGEL!?!?!?”

You were escorted out of the train, and were greeted by a bunch of animals pawing at you.

You couldn’t get a word in!

Picky, Crafty and Catnap came over, hearing all of the excited animal noises.

Now you were crowded by a bunch of animals. You were so tiny compared to them, so they had to be gentle.

So much noises were going on that even the smaller critters came over to see the commotion.

You were back home!

Now you can’t leave.

[spiceofvy]

🐙 here. again. How about Stray Kids as sugar babies? I don't mean that they're like, broke, but like if their partner treats them so much and so often that the sugar baby sugar parent jokes speak for themselves.

Anyway, who likes what kind of gifts; such as For-maximum-eyecandy-effect, being taken to events, cool tech, treated to food, that sort of thing. ...something around those lines, I mean, you're the writer so maybe you got a cooler spin on this.

Am currently unemployed and can't treat nobody rn but I feel the itch to be a sugar parent nowdays.

Hope you knock em dead ✌️

Spoiling SKZ with gifts

cws: fluff, gender neutral reader, two sensual innuendos (hyunjin, jeongin)

Chan: Noooo don't buy him things. He is the one that wants to spoil you instead. That's like his duty in the relationship. But he will wear anything and everything you buy for him. Especially if it's skzoo merch, but only if you also get something matching for yourself or else he will get it for you. Will pout and blush when you give him something but when someone asks him about it he will proudly tell everyone that you got it for him.

Minho: Shamelessly asks for things he likes but only he is 100% percent sure that you don't mind spending money on him and actually enjoy buying him stuff. Would totally love some expensive cat toys, or those treat dispensers that cats have to activate by pressing a button or solving a puzzle. Also enjoys being taken to super fancy restaurants, but he always insists on paying for the dessert. Once send you a picture of a fancy kitchen appliance as a joke and was very shocked when you actually got it for him.

Changbin: Our rich boy makes a challenge out of it. Who can spend more money on the other? Doesn't love to go out to restaurants but likes to get luxury takeout instead. Also enjoys a lot of expensive workout gear. Sends you even more workout pics afterwards. Answers any gift of yours with one of his own. Also shares every piece of food with you that you paid for and asks you to come to the gym with him so you can see him in the new gear.

Hyunjin: Less shameless than Minho, he wont straight up ask for things but instead sometimes just sends you links to stuff he likes. Especially likes being taken out to art shows or galleries. Or full shopping trips. Always models the stuff you got him afterwards for you. Especially when it's jewelry or perfume he wears only the jewelry and the perfume. Will totally tell the other boys that you paid for it, like the proud sugar baby he is.

Jisung: Mostly asks for food. Like snacks and (imported) candy. Ask absolutely shamelessly for it. Especially at food stands, picks like every different taste and makes you try it with him. Gets super happy about the good food. Also likes to be taken out to carnivals and theme parks. Prepare to pay and wear silly headbands and pose for all the photo ops. Also always buys you something in return.

Felix: Really enjoys being treated like that. Blushes dark red when you give him something and thanks you by plastering kisses all over your face. Especially like some fancy gaming equipment or lootboxes or genshin pulls. Totally shows off his new equipment to you and brags about it towards the others. Would never directly ask for anything, except for plushies. He gives them names and then treats them like they are your children.

Seungmin: Was really shy when you started to buy things for him. But he actually enjoys being spoiled. Mostly baseball tickets and manga. Really impressed when you know a new release before him. Gets soft about those gifts and treasures them a lot. Always blushes a little when he gets something from you. Invites you out for dinner shortly after you gifted him something.

Jeongin: Really enjoys being spoiled, full maknae mode. Loves getting clothes and short vacations. But always pays you back afterwards. Models the clothes, and gets you something matching. Massage your shoulders on the beach you took him too. Surely only with the intention to spread sun protection on your shoulders and back. Don't mind his hands wandering lower, and his pretty new clothes landing on the ground.

[rallamajoop]

An absurdly detailed analysis of That One Soldat Photo

Hang around wintersberg fandom long enough, and you'll likely run into a popular crack-theory that, since Heisenberg obviously thinks that building a set of huge, yellow-painted signposts is a good way to point Ethan to the Stronghold, maybe it's Heisenberg who's been leaving all those handy, yellow-painted supply crates all over the place for Ethan to find! It's exactly the kind of fun nonsense I'd enjoy if it didn't feel folks are starting to take it a little too literally (by which I mean I have now read multiple fics in which it's played completely straight ‒ and, like, people do get that it's just a crack theory, right? Like, why would Heisenberg have left so many yellow crates around his own damn factory? Look, you don't have to explain every last game mechanic, not everything is lore!)

But as anyone reading my own fic would know, I'm guilty of echoing the idea that Heisenberg-was-leaving-stuff-for-Ethan myself ‒ just not because of any yellow-striped crates. No, I'm way more interested in this one weird soldat-photo you can find in the village ‒ long hours before you'll ever see your first Soldat in the flesh...

Very creepy. And if you turn it over, you'll find a clue to a puzzle you'll have to solve in order to progress.

(And of course, when you do look out the window, odds are you'll get jump-scared by a lycan just when you're focused on the numbers, because RE8 loves that sort of misdirection ‒ but I digress.)

Anyway, the code you can see out the window will open a safe containing a jack handle you'll need to move a vehicle in the village, as well as the M1911 pistol (which will very likely be your go-to handgun for the rest of the game). The game is full of conveniently-helpful clues like that (heck, most games are), often with no obvious Watsonian justification. And there are other photos around the village ‒ Luiza has a whole photo album ‒ but photos of experiments created by Miranda and her lords don't generally turn up outside their own territory.

For a player exploring the village for the first time, that photo is a lovely little bit of foreshadowing, hinting at monsters and factory stages to come. But on replaying with full knowledge of Heisenberg's later attempts to get Ethan on his side, that Soldat photo is just enough to make you go, huh... did Heisenberg leave that for Ethan? Like, on purpose?

You can find another copy of that photo later, in Heisenberg's factory, along with his notes on his early series Soldat experiments. Which doesn't really prove anything beyond the fact that assets exist to be reused... but it does at least make it pretty canon that Heisenberg has photos of his Soldats sitting around.

Possibly also significant: both the clue photo and the factory documents are tagged 'geekmemo' in the game files. Most everything related to Heisenberg in the files is labeled 'geek'-something ‒ it seems to be an early nickname for his character that lasted well into production. Everything in the factory is geek-something, even the model for the passageway from the altar to the bridge is labeled 'pathtogeek'. Considering that so many soldat-related assets are already labeled 'geek', maybe that 'geekmemo' tag doesn't really tell us anything we don't already know ‒ but it certainly doesn't work against the idea that Heisenberg wrote that 'memo' himself.

Besides, it's not like there isn't precedent for this kind of thing. RE7 had a whole mechanic where you'd have to find 'treasure photos' pointing out the location of a few rare and useful items, all with "I hid something here" written on the back. We're never explicitly told who left those photos lying around, but it's obviously Lucas: he loves playing games, he loves taunting prisoners with the possibility of escape, and who else would it be? The complete population of the Baker mansion is like 6 people and a bunch of semi-sentient mould.

Over in RE8, there are a lot more village resident who might have left that clue lying around. Like it or not though, Heisenberg is very much RE8's equivalent of Lucas: the family's wildcard show-boater who loves making Ethan jump through hoops for his amusement. So how does the game let us know it was Heisenberg who left this particular clue? Well, who else would leave a message on the back of a Soldat photo?

There's may be additional supporting evidence Heisenberg could be involved ‒ most notably the location, being a locked-off cul-de-sac labeled 'Workshop' on signs and maps. The area is full of metal junk very much like you'll later see lying around the factory.

The workshop location does have other relevance ‒ it makes sense that you'd find the jack handle in the village workshop, whether Heisenberg was involved or not. But it also stands to reason that if there's anywhere in the village proper where Heisenberg might hang around and leave clues for Ethan, the workshop is it. And you have to admit that leaving Ethan useful stuff in a safe along with an easy clue that will likely get him jumped by a lycan is 100% more in-character for the guy than just leaving useful stuff out in the open, even if it doesn't really prove anything either.

There's one more weird-little does-this-mean-anything detail: there are three dead crows near the safe too.

It's not the first time in the game you've seen dead crows (there were a bunch outside the village, and I've talked about what that might mean in the context of Miranda's cult before). But I don't remember finding any others around the village itself, other than in this one spot. And instead of being hung from trees like a ritual sacrifice, these ones are just dead ‒ messily, and with blood everywhere.

Now, maybe it doesn't mean anything, but is there anyone in the village more likely to vent his frustrations by violently killing a few of Mother Miranda's avian avatars than Heisenberg? I'd think not.

In conclusion: I still don't think all those yellow crates have anything to do with Heisenberg. And I still don't know for sure whether the RE8 development team wanted me to assume that Heisenberg left Ethan that photo, jack handle and gun. I don't know if we're supposed to read that Heisenberg keeps a workshop in the village and sometimes kills crows out of spite. But the evidence sure does point that way ‒ and it's as valid an interpretation as anything else you might take from this game.

[lingeringdesires505]

horror escape room with nagi seishiro

nagi seishiro x reader

fluff

cw: small mention of fake blood

managing to get the man off his phone and go outside was probably the hardest part of the experience compared to solving the puzzles the horror escape room had prepared for you. 

when you first suggested that you guys go on a horror escape room date, he wasnt very keen on the idea, but after some relentless pestering from you, he finally gave in. 

“i still dont understand why you would want to go. horror escape rooms are such a hassle, not only will they force you to solve a ton of riddles and puzzles while being harassed by some silly people wearing costumes, but will also make you pay them some ridiculous price for wasting your time and energy. sounds more like a hassle to me rather than fun. why couldnt we just stay home and cuddle?” he whined while aggressively tapping away on his phone, trying to beat the current level he was at. 

you could only roll your eyes in response. this was probably the thousandth time he had complained about being dragged outside, the only thing that kept you from beating the shit out of him at this point was his pretty face and the fact that you, unfortunately, loved him way too much. 

as the two of you finally went inside the escape room, you were already starting to regret ever wanting to go there. 

the corridor of the escape room was dark and quiet, with only a few candles on the ground illuminating the area. fake blood splattered across the walls. you hadn’t expected it to be this dark and scary. you were definitely starting to feel a little scared and nervous. 

nagi, on the other hand, was completely unfazed and just stood there, waiting for you to start walking.

werent you the one that kept pestering him to go to a horror escape room? shouldnt you be eagerly exploring the different rooms and solving puzzles already? he thought to himself until he realised that you were tugging on the hem on your shirt — a sign that he often associated with you being scared or nervous. 

as you tugged on the hen of your shirt, picking the loose strings, nagi walks closer to you, intertwining his hand with yours before patting your head gently. “there’s nothing to be scared of, angel, im here. lets get going okay?” he reassured you. 

as cheesy as he sounded, red started to tint your cheeks, you absolutely loved this side of nagi — the way he would show his love and care towards you always reminded you of the reason why you ever fell for him in the first place. 

you nodded your head and followed closely behind nagi. since he was walking in front of you, he had closer encounters with the jumpscares, shielding and protecting you from the actors so as to lessen the impact of the scare for you, making you feel safer and less scared. after every jumpscare, he would look back at you and squeeze your hand, making sure you were alright before the two of you proceeded. 

running and hiding away from the scare actors with nagi as they try to chase and hunt the both of you down gave the both of you an adrenaline rush, making you more excited than nervous compared to the start of the experience. being able to hide under the table and inside closets as the two of you tried your hardest to stifle your giggles, hoping to not get caught in your hiding spot. since nagi was taller and more muscular than your average human, he would often have trouble fitting into the hiding places. he would either occupy more than half the space, squeezing you flat like a pancake, or, would constantly hit his head under the table he was crawling under that was was a little too short and small for his liking. 

unsurprisingly, the man was extremely good at solving the riddles and puzzles given. ( probably because he spends hours in his room doing nothing but playing games that required him to solve more difficult riddles and puzzles ) since nagi knew you would probably want to solve some on your own, he decided to let you solve them yourself and would only step in if you needed guidance or help, which basically turned into him basically carrying you throughout the escape room. 

despite nagi finding all this ‘horror escape room’ nonsense to be such a hassle, he tried to be on his best behaviour and made it as fun as he could while making sure that you were doing fine, and that you felt safe with him; all because he knew how important quality time with him meant to you. being able to see you so happy and excited made his heart fill with joy. 

after the both of you had finished the escape room, nagi insisted that you reward him by cuddling on the couch and watching his favourite movie — eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, for the third time this month. you chuckled at how insistent he was on you rewarding him with what he asked for and nodded your head, promising him that the two of you would do so that night.

———————————————————————————

thank you for reading!

word count: 850++

feel free to request!

please dont steal

@lingeringdesires505 2024

[lutiaslayton]

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd make a quick post to let you know that...

The complete, definite, will-not-be-edited-again-in-the-future, FINAL translation of London Holiday, is finally here for your enjoyment!

AND it comes this time with an in-character fan-translation that DOESN'T read like Google Translate!

For those who didn't know, Professor Layton and the London Holiday is an official prologue to Diabolical Box; it's a short slice-of-life story in which Luke and Layton are just having some good time solving puzzles, and at the end, they receive the letter from Schrader which starts the events of DB. This game is not really lost content per se, but it's still part of the more obscure Layton media, since we non-Japanese fans have no legal way of playing it ourselves unless we buy the Japanese version of DB.

This isn't really some breaking news or anything, but I still thought it was worth warning you that this is it -- if you wanted a fancy in-character translation, you finally have it!

I will make a small shoutout to @call-me-rucy who helped every now and then with the more accurate translation when I had doubts on how a few idioms here and there were meant to be interpreted. Thanks again for your help, and sorry for using you like this xD I do wish I could send you DMs for reasons other than just asking for your Japanese knowledge hahaha

---

When I say that this won't be edited again, I mean that the only way this web page will ever be further edited in the future is if someone else shows up at some point and asks me to change something. Perhaps I took too many liberties in the fancy fan-translation compared to the original text in one or two specific occurrences, or perhaps someone will want to translate this transcript into another language that isn't English, in which case I would absolutely accept to add it! (and you would be credited for that additional translation, obviously)

---

I heavily suggest you take a look at it if you haven't already, because it provides quite a bit of lore and funny/wholesome moments! We notably get the full story of how Schrader heard about, and then tried to acquire the Elysian box (...story which contradicts the fact that he would already own it in Eternal Diva, by the way), but it's not the only fun lore crumbs this prologue to DB gives us :)

Also, for the fans of the puzzle theory -- I suggest you take a look in particular at what Luke says when he solved puzzle 09. It sure is intriguing that he would mention walking from island to island on foot as if he were... Physically doing it?? Or at least had the impression that he could experience it somehow???

Heh, puzzles and hint coins have mind powers anyway, for all we know perhaps some of them can trap you inside your own mind for a bit while you're solving them. Deliciously horrifying, so much potential for fanfics/comics and lore analysis. So shameful that nobody would have thought of taking advantage of this by throwing puzzles at someone with the specific intent of slowing them down by trapping them in a trance for a bit. smh, Level 5. smh.

[jettermelon]

I think this is a week or two late, but there was some fantastic discussion happening on TTRPG Tumblr earlier this month about incentive systems in rpgs - @thydungeongal, @imsobadatnicknames2, and @cavegirlpoems all have good posts that you should read. I’m here though to talk about incentive systems in games more generally. I’m seeing a lot of confusion in the notes of those posts about why they’re used in the first place (and also because I’m trying to articulate my own thoughts about them! I’m still a baby designer trying to figure out how all this works).

So real quick, let’s all get on the same page. Games are a voluntary limitation of agency, right? While playing the game, participants agree that certain arbitrary actions are off limits, while other actions are desirable. Which actions are off limits and which are desirable then create a certain experience. Go Fish and Texas Hold ‘em play fundamentally differently, and create a different emotional experience in their players, despite literally using the same components. The only difference is which actions are off limits, and which are desirable. We then play those games because the emotional space that play creates is... well fun. The whole point of rules in games is to put players in a specific emotional space. 

This same idea can then be applied to more complex or thematic games. For example classic board game Clue loosely simulates the experience of being an old school mystery novel detective. It drip feeds you clues, and because the first player to correctly guess whodunit wins, players are encouraged to make their guess before they’ve mathematically “proven” the solution. Winning at Clue, then, requires some deductive reasoning skills, and when everything’s working it makes you feel like the hero in an Agatha Christie novel. That feeling is the goal of Clue’s design.

Okay, sweet, so we all agree that systems when voluntarily engaged with can create certain emotional states in the player - and those systems can be deliberately designed to invoke specific fantasies (this is what folks mean when they say “game design is real” btw!). Now I want to take a look at incentive systems specifically. So far the games I’ve used as examples all have the same, very simple incentive system: do a specific Thing and you win. Even with such a simple system, you can get a lot of mileage. Again, to win at Clue you have to name the murderer before anyone else. That “before anyone else” bit is key here. It encourages the player to be risky - to try and deduce what the other players know. That way they can make a call before anyone else has the chance to gather enough clues to solve the puzzle through process of elimination. That single incentive system contains most of the game’s fantasy. Change how you win a bit, and the game no longer fulfills its fantasy. If multiple players could win, you would no longer have incentive to make a call before you had literally all the information and therefore no deduction would be necessary. 

Now obviously “winning” doesn’t have to be the only incentive, especially as your game gets more complex. Let's take a step out of the tabletop realm for a sec (there are other board games I could use here, but all that’s coming to mind are fucking Nerd Games™ and I want to keep my examples accessible) and take a look at the most recent Legend of Zelda games. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have incentive systems a lot closer to your typical TTRPG than something like Clue does. Sure, there’s the main quest to win the game (kill Matthew Mercer), but that’s really difficult to do at the start. And also like... not really the fun part of those games. The fun part is exploring Hyrule. And whether you realized it or not, the Zelda designers bribed you into engaging with the fun part of their game. 

Imagine for a second if Breath of the Wild was missing its Shrines, Korok Seeds and sidequests. Literally the exact same game, same level geometry, same backstory, same enemy placement, just no rewards out in the wild. It would kind of suck yeah? You’d get tired of exploring right away, and just play it like an action game. Even if you added back in the parts of the game most of us consider fun (Shrines, Korok puzzles, actual content to find out in the wild) but withheld the rewards which make Link stronger (loot, Spirit Orbs, Korok seeds, etc), only completionists would bother doing any of that. The rewards are what lured us into the fun part of the game - without the rewards the game would have been less fun. Not only that, but it would have lost its core fantasy. It would have stopped being a game about exploring the wild, and turned into a game about killing an evil pig. All you had to change was the incentive system.

I think you're seeing how this applies to TTRPGs now. The things which make a player character stronger (that is to say, gives them more agency over the gameworld) are the things your players will gun for. A smart designer is going to make sure their incentive system rewards play which guides players to the game’s core fantasy. If your game is about being a badass monster hunter, XP for killing monsters is a fine reward structure. If the game is about making your and your friend’s OCs kiss, then you need a reward structure that incentivizes OC smooching. 

Now some of you are protesting “but my friend’s OC and my OC smooch in D&D sometimes! What gives Lucy?” What you’re doing there is called playing pretend (a fantastic pastime, this is not meant as a knock on playing pretend. I do it all the time actually), but you shouldn’t give D&D or its designers credit for that. YOU AND YOUR FRIEND are responsible for that cool story - not WotC. Take credit for the cool shit you and your friends make, don’t give it to some corporation. 

Idfk how to end this uhhhh.... Game design is really cool, and it can incentivize real neat stories when properly utilized. If you’re ignoring your game’s designed reward structure, then the cool stories that come out of it are a result of you and your friends being good at telling stories (seriously go give your GM a big ol’ hug if you haven’t already), not the game. If you are the GM and regularly ignore your game’s incentive systems, there are probably other games which better reward the style of play you want. Love yourself more than you love D&D and life is good. Or whatever

[phoebepheebsphibs]

Double-Mutated Mikey

Chapter 15: Feral FOMO

Continued from the short story written by @boots-with-the-fur-club

Prev || Next

"Llllleeeee--- ohhhh? Llleeeo! LEO!" Mikey shouts, tail flapping wildly and threatening to smack someone upside the head.

"You did it, bud!" Leo squeals, grabbing Mikey and hugging him close. "Ahh, music to my ears! My name has never sounded so good!"

Mikey giggles and sqeaks with joy before pointing to Donnie.

"Ee! Eee!" he says, hoping they get the hint.

"You wanna learn Donnie's name?" Raph asks. Mikey nods.

They spend the next ten minutes working on enunciating the 'D' in 'Donnie'. It's harder than they expected, and Mikey mostly uses the 'T' sound as a cheat. His voice is gravely and scraggly, worn out and scratchy. But it's there. Just a little out of use.

The vocal exercises and enunciation techniques slowly start to get on Mikey's nerves. He's trying, it's just so hard! And to him, he thinks he IS saying properly, it sounds right! But not good enough for the others.

But it's worth all the irritation, because when Mikey finally makes that 'D' sound, the room erupts into cheering. Mikey is elated.

The rest of the afternoon is spent teaching Mikey to speak again. They focus on sounds, pronouncing them as best as possible. Mikey understands the language, he just has to re-train his throat and vocal chords and tongue. But by lunchtime, he can say various basic words and phrases, such as his own name, Leo and Raph and Donnie and Splinter and Casey, food and cold and human, hurt and happy and scared and angry, among others. Simple things to help him express himself in quick moments. He's getting the hang of it pretty well.

Lunchtime is fun, Mikey shows off his new vocabulary to Casey, who he was calling male human until he learned his actual name. Casey looks a little hurt by that admission, but is blown away when Mikey says his actual name to him, not just signing! Splinter actually starts crying when he hears Mikey's voice, withered and hoarse as it is.

After lunch, Donnie insists on doing some work and suggests that Mikey have fun with the others, looking at Leo specifically.

Leo takes the hint and goes to get a bunch of puzzles, books, memory games, etc. Things to help Mikey exercise his brain.

Mikey, Raph, Leo, and Casey try to work out a huge jigsaw together in Mikey's room. Mikey seems to understand it well, his eyes moving fast and brain piecing it together. His problem-solving skills are on point. The only issue he comes across is getting to pick up the pieces. His talon-like fingers are too big and sharp, he ends up tearing the paper designs on top of the puzzle pieces. The others help him as much as they can, and soon enough they're halfway through.

Until Donnie walks into the room with an enormous grin on his face.

"If I might have your attention for a moment, I believe I have created something quite ingenious!" he states with excitement.

Mikey knows this excitement, he recognizes it well. He remembers having this same excitement whenever he finished a really good drawing or came up with some new... what was the word... razzmatazz!

It's why he and Donnie hung out a lot before... they were both imaginative creators, and wanted to share their work with people who they knew would appreciate it.

Mikey jumps from his seat and runs up to Donnie, purring and circling around his feet in anticipation.

"D-Dee! Dee make? Mikey see! Mikey see it!"

Donnie smiles enthusiastically and leads him to a room filled with ramps and skateboards. The rec room. They look around in confusion, wondering what Donnie's come up with this time. Dee halts, turns around dramatically, and points upwards.

Mikey cranes his neck and gasps in pure delight.

From the ceiling is hanging hoops, bars, levers, huge tubes with windows, rope swings, ladders, and even a slide! Donnie made him a jungle gym!

Leo whistles in astonishment.

"Geez, Donnie, when did you have the time to make this?"

"After the conversation about the importance of physical exercise yesterday, I got to work on blueprints and designs. I made most of the materials last night, and finally finished setting it up about half an hour ago. It is ready for use!"

He turns to his mutated brother.

"Would you care to do the honour of breaking it in?"

Mikey shrieks in delight and rushes for the gift his brother made him. He leaps up and grabs onto the rope dangling from the ceiling, scrambling up with light speed and swinging as he does. He jumps from the rope to a tube tunnel, scurrying through it and then leaping to the monkey bars, doing all kinds of gymnast moves and even using his tail as an extra arm before swinging to the slide and whooping on the way down.

"Well, that didn't take long," Leo jokes.

"Do you like it?" Donnie asks with anticipation in his voice.

Mikey squeals and shrieks in delight, rushing to his brother and pouncing on him, twirling around and around in his arms.

"MIKEY LOVE!!! Dee make... make Mikey happy! Mikey LOVE DEE!!"

Donnie grips him tightly, hoping to hide the tears in his eyes as his little brother shouts in his ear. He doesn't care, he doesn't mind. Anything for Angelo.

Mikey lets go of Donnie and dashes back to the upside down jungle gym and plays with it over and over again, looking down at them from the windows in the plastic tunnels and chirping at them, as if asking them to join in the fun.

Leo smiles and ribs his twin.

"Well done there, Don-Tron."

.

.

.

"How's its heart rate?"

"Doing well, Dr. Timothy."

"Good. Dr. Chaplin is coming in for an examination, you know how invested he is in our little pet project..."

Mikey runs as fast as he can on the treadmill. He's not getting tired, but he is getting bored. You can only run in place for so long... Cords and suctions and beeping things are attached to his wrist, chest, neck, and head as he runs and runs and runs. There are numbers on the small digital screen connected to his arm. The numbers are pretty high, at least that's what the doctors say.

"80 mph and going steady, Doctor."

"Wonderful! And how long has he been running for?"

"Almost twenty minutes... we've only just started."

"Good. Keep it up, Abigail."

A door opens and another man in a white lab coat walks in.

"Ah! Dr. Chaplin! Good to see you..."

"Mmm. Dr Timothy, Dr. Finn," the man hums, his gaze fixated on Mikey. "How's our little miracle monster doing?"

"Wonderfully, considering we've completely rewritten his DNA and molecular structure. We're testing endurance now. He's holding up fairly well -- health is good, stamina great... he's lost a lot of weight, though."

"Will this be an issue, Dr. Finn?" Chaplin asks, turning to look at the young woman with a tablet.

"Not to my knowledge. If it goes down any lower though, we may have a problem."

"Hm. Keep me updated on that. We want him healthy and strong. Speaking of which, let's place him in the Interaction room after this, Prof. Honeycutt has been good enough to create a new batch of machines for the training simulator, and I would like to see how this 'Mikey' creature handles them."

Abigail Finn nods and turns her attention back to Mikey. This poor dumb animal has no idea how terrible his day is about to get...

.

.

.

Mikey is dozing off a bit, letting his thoughts seep in like molasses, slow and sticky and enveloping him completely.

He had been enjoying the privacy of the tubes, resting in them for a bit as his mind wandered and he watched Raph and Leo teach male human Casey how to skateboard. They'd been doing that for a while, and it is now early evening, possibly around 5PM or so...

He comes back to reality when the memory of the labs is interrupted by April calling for Leo.

"Leo! Hey, 'Neon Leon'! Where IS everyone?"

"Rec room," Leo shouts back.

Mikey pokes his head out of the aperture and watches as April runs in, sees the jungle gym and stops to point at it, her mouth opening in surprise as she wants to ask a question before shaking her head and staying focused on topic.

"Leo, Cass just texted me -- there's an issue happening at the Chelsea Piers! It looks like that komodo-mutated Kristoff Van Bradford, and all-star player turned billionaire owner-slash-coach-slash-recording artist, Tim Dunkman!"

"Those guys?" Leo asks, riding his board up the skate ramp and landing with a twist. "Wow, whou'da thunk we'd hear from them again!"

"So I guess it's hero time, huh?" Raph calls back, jumping down from the opposite ramp and tossing his skateboard onto a nearby bench. "Alrighty then! Let's get our gear and --"

Raph pauses, and turns to Leo.

"Sorry. Uh, what's the move, leader?"

"April, text Cass to try and hold them off but stay safe," Leo responds after thinking it over. "We'll be there soon, just need to figure out a few details."

"On it!" she calls, grabbing her phone out and typing quickly.

"Okay, next up... someone has to stay and keep Mikey company."

Mikey yells his protests, swiftly clambering down from the jungle gym and expressing his utter disinterest at being left behind. Leo seems to ignore him as Casey walks over.

"I can stay, if you need me to..?" he offers.

"Great. Mikey, is that okay with you? Do you feel comfortable with CJ?"

Mikey utters sounds and scoffs as he tries to think of words that can help.

"Mikey... g-go! Mikey... angry, Mikey go! Mikey... not love alone, Mikey go w-with brothers! Mikey... ssss... ssssstttt... stttrrrong! Mikey strrrong, Mikey not, not..."

"Weak?" Raph offers, trying to help with word association.

Mikey nods at Raph. "Mikey... help! Mikey good help, Mikey not weak!"

"It's not about strength or weakness, bud," Leo says, crouching to lay a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "I just don't want to risk losing you again. And I 100% believe that you could kick their butts no problemo, but you need your rest. The last thing you need is to go on a mission and risk getting hurt while you're still recovering."

"Awwwww!" Mikey whines loudly.

"No buts, mi hermanito," Leo says firmly, standing tall. "You're staying here for now. We'll only be gone for a short while, and then we'll be right back."

Mikey pouts and crosses his arms, hoping this will change their minds. It doesn't, and Leo starts to lead Raph and April out of the room to go and fetch Donnie.

Mikey chirps sadly at them and tries to follow before Casey places a hand on his shell, causing him to pause. Mikey whimpers at him, begging him to stop them, or let him go. But Casey doesn't lift his hand. He strokes his shell softly, but seems kind, sympathetic. Mikey sits.

Mikey gazing sadly as his brothers walk out carrying weapons. Donatello stops to glance back at Mikey, a worried expression on his face. He keeps walking, though. Mikey follows after them quietly, watching as Leo swipes his sword and creates a portal in the air.

Mikey's eyes widen.

When did he learn to do that?!

The three others step through the portal before Leo, who turns back to see Mikey giving him a sad expression.

"We'll be back soon," Leo promises, a soft smile on his face.

Mikey takes in the smells sifting through the portal. Water. Fish. Smoke from cars and boats and machines, something like rubber from balls like the ones he and the other experiments were given to play with...

Leo steps through, and the swirling blue light vanishes. Mikey yipes a quick whinge, then runs to where it was a second ago.

"Don't worry, they're okay, they'll be back!" Casey promises.

Mikey is not happy about this. He wants his brothers back now.

They left you again. I knew they would. Betrayal. Betrayal. Betrayal.

Mikey starts running immediately.

"Wait, Mikey!! Where're you going?!" Casey calls after him.

Mikey isn't sure. He's following his nose for now... He dashes back and forth, looking for the exit...

He finds the garage where the tank is, but doesn't understand how to navigate the tunnels... Casey runs in after him, out of breath.

"Mi-- wheeze, wheeze -- Mike, Mikey! Would you -- gasp, gasp -- would you slow down for just a second?!"

Mikey can't. Mikey has to be fast. Mikey has to be swift. It will be bad otherwise.

The labs taught us that.

Mikey finds a hatch high up in the ceiling. There's a ladder. Mikey runs to it, despite the shouts of disapproval Casey yells. Mikey makes it all the way to the top and inspects the hatch.

Unscrew. Lift. Simple.

It is simple. Mikey twists the manhole cover and pushes it up. He climbs out and looks around.

LOUD. VERY LOUD.

Mikey ignores the blaring sounds of traffic and the overwhelming smell of bad humans. It's everywhere. He crawls out of the manhole and slinks to the shadows, watching. Looking. Smelling.

Saltwater. Fish. Smoke. Rubber. Look for those. SMELL.

Mikey smells. He can very faintly pick up the scent. He hears Casey yelling after him as he climbs the ladder rungs to give chase. Mikey dashes away over the wire fence behind him before the male human can take him back down.

Mikey is swift and unseen. He manages to snake himself about in secret, dodging all eyes as he follows the scent of saltwater and fish to the pier. Once there, he finds the smells of rubber and smoke. He follows it to a section of the pier where several warehouses and complexes are being evacuated as a reptilian man with long blonde hair, and a tall and thin man wearing a mystic amulet around his neck are demolishing the place.

"Dis will teach you imbeciles to underestimate Kristoff Van Bradford!"

"And I will not let my career be a shambles! If I can't have the basketball championship, then NO ONE CAN! Nobody one-ups 'The Dunk'!!"

The two men create chaos and smash the sports equipment as a young woman fights against them, drawing their attention away from the crowds.

"Kaliiii MAAAA!!" she yells, flipping as she dodges their attacks. "Is that the best you can do?! A BABY COULD FIGHT BETTER!"

Mikey ducks in and watches from a corner. This female human smells like the male human he ditched back at the lair. He wonders...

Mikey suddenly hears a familiar sound. A roar that should terrify him, but instead fills his chest with warmth and a joyful feeling of comfort and safety.

Raph lunges forwards, his entire body covered in red light as a ginormous version of himself that covers him up like armour slams his fist into the komodo man. He flies backwards and lands in a basketball store.

"This would be a lot easier if you'd just show us how to do the Seven-Deadly-Vipers move!"

"Kinda in the middle of something, now!" April shouts back.

Mikey sneaks in closer. His brothers are here. Mikey wants his brothers.

But they betrayed you, and left you...

Never.

Leo slides in, his moves quick and calculated. He slashes the air as Raph throws an entire canister of baseballs into the portal he creates. A separate portal activates across the way and slams into the back of the man wearing the amulet. He yells in pain before clutching the amulet tightly, his body contorting in odd ways before transforming into a giant cyclops creature.

"I am SO glad I kept the magic jewel from that archway!" he cackles, grabbing several of the balls and tossing them back at lightning speed.

Leo dodges them, creating a new portal that lands him on top of the cyclops. As the Dunk struggles to reach behind him and grab the turtle, Donnie creates a huge ray gun that sucks up the Hudson River and shoots it at the two villains, soaking them both and slamming them into a wall. Leo creates one last portal behind the Dunk which reopens above a dented basketball hoop. The celebrity flies into the portal and falls into the net, getting stuck upside down in it. The amulet slips off of his neck and clatters to the floor, the one-eyed monster transforming back into a man with a groan.

"Now that's what I call a slam DUNK!" Leo proclaims proudly, doing a quick fistpump.

Meanwhile, Kristoff Van Bradford crashes into a soccer goal and becomes tangled in the net. Raph grabs the two ends of the goal with his hologram form and wraps them around the man, effectively tying him up.

"All wrapped up, eh?" Raph tries.

Leo boos him in jest.

"The jokes are my thing," Leo scorns. "The hero speeches are yours."

Raph rolls his eyes and smiles as he hangs up the green-skinned actor and pet komodo dragon next to Tim Dunkman so they can't escape.

"Is that everything?" Raph asks.

"I think so," Leo sighs, turning to Donnie. "What's the damage?"

"Structurally, not as bad as it could have been. As for the publicity, I think a few people snapped some chats of us," Donnie informs, clicking away on his wrist tech. "But nothing substantial. We're in the clear. The police are on their way now, so we should get going."

Leo nods, ready to lead the way when he stops, his gaze catching Mikey's eyes glittering from the shadows. He peers at him before his eyes widen and his mouth falls open with shocked anger, realizing what the glowing eyes belong to.

"MIKEY?!"

Uh-oh.

The others turn to watch as Leo storms over to where his brother is hiding. Mikey slowly creeps out with soft chirps, hoping it will smooth things over with his infuriated older brother. It doesn't.

"Mikey, what did I tell you?!" he shouts. "I said you needed to stay home! I said we'd be back soon! How in the f--"

"LANGUAGE!" Raph shouts quickly.

"--ffffffffrrick did you get here?!" Leo grumbles.

"Mikey smell brothers, Mikey follows," he explains. "Mikey no like alone. Mikey want brothers."

He looks at the expressions of the people watching his scolding. They don't like that he's here, either.

"Mikey... do bad?" he asks hoarsely, looking up at Leo with sad puppy eyes.

Leo stares back at him, trying to keep from falling for those big eyes again.

Don't fall for it. Don't fall for it...

He lasts five full seconds before closing his eyes and sighing, relaxing his tense shoulders and kneeling down next to his brother.

"Mikey... I just want you to be safe. I can't lose you again."

Lost. Not betrayed. Mikey was lost?

He stores that information away to ask about later...

In the meantime, Leo hoists him up and lets him ride on his back as he takes him home.

"Come on guys, let's get outta here..." he groans.

"I need to stop at the junkyard," Donnie announces. "I need more supplies for some of my tech."

Leo gives a nod and the group hurry away from the pier, avoiding the crowds as they travel to the Repo-Mantis scrapyard.

Mikey clings close to Leo, feeling guilty for making him mad and disobeying him. He whimpers softly, nuzzling closer and resting his cheek against the area between Leo's shoulder and neck. Mikey vibrates his throat, murmuring his self-pity and hoping Leo can tell how sorry he is.

The group arrive at the scrapyard. It's quiet.

"You think he closed for the night?"

"Not like it matters," Donnie says as he slips through the entrance. "I'm not paying for his scrap metal."

The team wander into the area as Donnie flips his goggles and begins scouting for the items he needs. After a few minutes, something in Mikey stirs. He lifts his head high, sniffing the air.

"Mikey? What's up? Something bugging you??" Leo asks, feeling the change in his attitude.

Mikey's tail spikes raise. The scales on his shoulders lift and curl into quills.

Donnie's goggles sight something in the distance as well, and he grips his tech-bō.

"Be on alert, there's something up ahead..."

Mikey starts to growl.

"What--"

The group are suddenly ambushed as a series of pink and purple people start charging them, climbing from the trash and rubble and rusty metal, roaring and snarling. Their bodies are covered in eyes, globs of putrid flesh and veins, claws that protrude at odd angles, spines and extra arms and faces where they shouldn't belong.

"AGH! Krang zombies!" Donnie screams.

Mikey roars back at the creatures and leaps off of Leo's shoulders at them --

Only to be caught midair by Raph, who grips him tightly and pulls him back.

"RUN!" he shouts loudly.

The team runs away from the horde, seeking whatever shelter they can get. Another group of krangified zombies start running from around a mountain of crushed-up cars, herding them towards the very back of the landfill.

"This way!" Donnie yells, leading them to a small building that Repo-Mantis works out of, trying to open the door. "It's locked!"

Raph creates a giant fist and punches the door down, revealing a cowering Repo-Mantis from the inside.

"Ack!! What're you doing here?!" the mutant bug man yells, jumping away from them. "What the heck is that thing with you?! It's not one of them, is it??"

"Donnie, get the door!" Raph bellows, ignoring the frightened villain and carrying Mikey over to another area of the room and setting him down. "Mikey, you stay here!"

Repo-Mantis stares at the double-mutated freak in fear, slowly scooting away.

"How long have they been here?!" April shouts as she helps to board up the windows, while Donnie creates a special ninpo door that bolts into the framework of the building.

"Three days!" Repo-Mantis sobs. "I've run out of onion rings and pork rinds!"

"You've been holed up for three days?!" Leo yells. "How are we supposed to get out of here?!"

"Why not use your portal swords?" April points out.

"Take me with you!" Repo-Mantis weeps, crawling on his hands and knees as he begs the heroes. "Please! I need to use an actual bathroom so badly!"

"Okay, ew."

"We can't just leave these guys here!" Raph rebukes. "We gotta take care of the horde, or else they'll just go after other innocent people!"

"Right, okay, so if I can make a quick portal to the lair -- April, Cass, you go get the formula and --"

The door shakes. The walls pound loudly, drowning out anything Leo says. The ceiling starts to cave in.

"Here they come!!" April screams.

Raphael stretches his arms out and backs everyone away from the door. One last stand...

The door holds. But the walls and windows do not. The monsters crash through, growling and howling as they all burst into the shabby shack.

Mikey unexpectedly scurries underneath Raph's legs and approaches the zombies. He roars at them, his scutes, scales, spines, and quills raised high and sharp, his talons extended and his fangs to their full length as he snaps and snarls at them.

"Mikey!" Raph yells.

Suddenly, he's back in the hall, and Mikey is about to fight an army of mutant, mangled animals, and turn into something terrifying that he should never have been forced to become...

"No! Not again!"

Mikey roars loudly at the krangified, and the horde freezes...

They stop.

They stare blankly at Mikey, who stands in between them and his family. He clicks angrily at them, his tail cracks like a whip. The horde slowly backs away. Mikey moves forwards, pushing the zombies back and out of the broken down hut they were invading. One of the bigger krangified zombies staggers forwards, growling at him, barking in defiance. Mikey roars in response.

Raph, Donnie, Leo, April, and Cassandra stumble outside to watch this strange altercation. Each member of the team dazed and confused as they watch Mikey. Repo-Mantis just runs the heck away while he still can.

The larger zombie rushes Michelangelo, who is more than ready for him. He swipes his tail under his legs, knocking him down instantly. His tail grabs the zombie and whips him around, throwing him into a pile of metal with a loud crash. The creature staggers and whimpers as it embarrassedly limps to the back of the horde...

Mikey howls at them again, and the krangified stand at attention, cowering under his gaze. Mikey's throat makes a deep and guttural clicking, a warning for them to stay in line or else.

"What... what is he doing...?" Leo asks, voice barely a whisper.

"It... it looks like an animalistic intimidation stance," Donnie responds, just as thunderstruck as his twin.

Mikey snarls at the horde, and they cease their offensive stances, slowly sitting or laying down on the ground at Mikey's command.

Mikey sits down as well, his scutes and scales lowering as he calms.

He turns his head, smiling brightly at his brothers. His tail wags with pride at a job well done.

"Mikey do good?"

Prev || Next

[petra-creat0r]

Deltarune: Fool's Fate Ch. 2 Main Bosses

Time to start on Fool's Fate Dark World two, electric boogalo, aka the Arcade World! Let's get started with the main bosses of this chapter (plus their daughter), the stars of the arcade's most popular cabinet, Electric Rhythm Empire, Empress, Ritsu, and Emperor!!!

(Man the colors on this looked different on my canvas... Why are my colors getting messed up? Particularly Emperor's. He's supposed to be like, a yellowy green. Which I guess he kinda is here?)

The rulers of the arcade Dark World and their daughter (seriously need better names for these). At the start of the chapter after tracking down one of Chicago's friends, Neil, the party runs into Empress and Ritsu, who were tormenting Neil with rhythm puzzles. After introducing themselves, CK challenges Ritsu to a battle. Emperor isn't mentioned until later and not encountered until the end of the chapter.

Empress and Ritsu take on the Lancer/Queen/Berdly sort of role where they're encountered multiple times through out the chapter to challenge the party with puzzles, battles, funny cutscenes, etc. Though you encounter both Empress and Ritsu at the start of the chapter, after your fight with Ritsu, she throws a fit before being pacified by Remie, putting her out until the 2nd area, thus meaning you're mostly dealing with Empress in the first area.

Empress's personality pulls on Queen (I imagine them having a mom rivalry in Castle Town) though when Ritsu's around, she's rather chill and laid back. She does care about her kid, but also knows her kid is very energetic and can handle herself when playing/fighting a group of other children. Just... Don't hurt Ritsu. You likely don't want to see what happens if you mess with her baby. Empress on her own though? Prepare for an intense DDR break dance fight. Actually multiple of them. In a row. She doesn't like to loose. Even if she can be intense and a sore loser, Empress will still praise your creativity in solving her puzzles and road blocks.

Like I mentioned earlier, one of Ritsu's first encounters involved her throwing a temper tantrum at loosing a battle, so that can give you a bit of a sense of the type of kid she is. She considers herself an idol, literally introducing herself as "The sensational, terrific, all-time idol Ritsu!!!" Other than being a bit of a spoiled brat, Ritsu is very energetic. Sometimes it can take quite a lot of stamina and speed to match her in a rhythm rap battle, girl has BARS.

Emperor isn't encountered until the very end of the chapter, he is a bit similar to King in a few aspects, (again, I see a rivalry between him and King) mostly in being very authoritative and angry much of the time. However I also seem him as a general control freak (Makes sense taking in his Light World item) and probably something of a perfectionist and neat freak. He's mainly even made aware of your presence because you break into the Palace, after which you're quickly seized and captured. Even if we mainly see him as a cruel ruler throughout the chapter, Emperor is also a caring father. Empress and Emperor may both be flawed, but they are genuinely good parents who care about their daughter. Additionally, this guy can totally shred at Guitar Hero.

I imagine in the final battle, you're either mostly up against Emperor, or both him and Empress. Perhaps its a mix of both depending on the phrase and how much control Emperor is taking during the fight until later the two manage to finally work in harmony before Ritsu comes to break up the battle. I don't know, either way it's going to be rhythm hell with both the dance and guitar rhythm sections of this game.

Empress and Emperor's names should be a tad obvious. Like Magican and Priestess, they pull from tarot cards. The Empress and the Emperor. It's also where they get some of their personalities (this half explains their similarities to Queen and King. Those two just fit the maternal and paternal roles that the Empress and Emperor cards represent.)

Ritsu is a bit more interesting because she doesn't have tarot card inspiration. It comes from the Japanese word "律" or "Ritsu", (Electric Rhythm Empire was originally a Japanese arcade game) which Google translate told me means rhythm, law, or regulation. Her full name is Himeko Ritsu, meaning basically "Princess Drum Rhythm". Technically, Empress and Emperor also have the family name Himeko, but I'm not putting their full names since they're ridiculously long and just for a gag. (Well, at least Empress's is.)

As for their Light World counterparts? All three of them together are the arcade cabinet for Electric Rhythm Empire, but individually... Empress is likely the cabinet screen. She uses a lot of flashy holograms and theatrics. Ritsu is the card/ticket dispenser or one of the collectible cards (ERE is one of those rhythm games with collectible cards). Emperor is the control panel, thus his control freak tendencies.

In addition to their items, though, I also have each of them have a different rhythm game mechanic tied to them. Empress is dance rhythm games like Just Dance or DDR, Ritsu is button press rhythm games like Friday Night Funkin or PaRappa the Rapper, and Emperor is instrument control rhythm games like Guitar Hero or Piano Keys.

Backstory under cut

The ruling of Arcade World has always been something of a popularity contest. A long time ago, it was ruled by someone else, but ever since ERE joined the picture, they quickly rose to the top and have ruled supreme, charming the land not through any sort of sorcery or mind control manipulation, but through their charisma and music.

Empress and Emperor were an ultimate power couple, nurturing and leadership ruling side by side. And their daughter Ritsu was a cute little idol everyone adored. As a trio, they were the perfect balance of challenge and fun, bringing in many Lightners to bless the Arcade World. The ERE trio were beloved and sought out by everyone in the land. ... And even by some outside of the land.

One day, a knight arrived. A Lightner somewhat familiar yet still foreign to the Arcade World. Enamored by this land after stabbing into the earth to create a flowing Fountain of Darkness. A brilliant geyser that amazed all who beheld it. After wards, the Knight went straight for the Palace to track down the rulers and present them with the Fountain.

After presenting the Fountain to the Emperor and Empress, the Knight warned that soon a group of Lightner heroes would arrive and try to close the Fountain which now gave this land form. "I don't know when, but soon" The Knight said, before turning on their heel and and departing. Leaving the Arcade World to it's own devices.

Afterwards, the Emperor started to become obsessive over the Fountain. ensuring it remained protected in the Palace. Empress, on the other hand, was more concerned about the protection of her daughter and people, deciding to take on a more direct approach of confronting the Lightners head on when they arrived. Ritsu, being only a child was unaware of the dealings and goings on of adults. Merely caught in the middle of her parent's separate yet convergent goals. Mostly following her mother and excited at the possibility of getting to play new people. And so the dynamic of the Arcade World and it's rulers was ever so shifted... Until the Lightners soon arrived, just as the Knight had said.

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

ELECTRIC RHYTHM EMPIRE: PREPARE FOR SUPER RHYTHM MANIA! Insert Coin to Start

Cheat Code: ⇨⇨-Ⓑ⇧-⇧⇨-⇧⇩-⇦⇧ ⇦⇧-⇨⇧-SELECT-⇩⇨-⇨⇧-Ⓐ Ⓐ-Ⓑ-⇦⇨-START-Ⓑ

Ⓑ ⇨⇨-⇧⇩-Ⓐ⇨-⇩⇩-⇦⇨-⇨⇩ ⇩⇧-⇩⇩-⇦⇧-⇦Ⓐ-⇨⇩, Ⓑ ⇨⇨-⇧⇩-Ⓐ⇨-⇩⇩-⇦⇨-⇨⇩ ⇩⇨-START-Ⓐ-⇧⇩  ⇦⇦-⇧⇩-⇧⇩-⇦Ⓐ ⇩⇨-⇨⇧-⇧⇩ ⇦⇧-⇨⇧-SELECT-⇩⇨-⇨⇧-Ⓐ, ⇦⇦-⇧⇩-⇧⇩-⇦Ⓐ ⇩⇨-⇨⇧-⇧⇩ ⇦⇧-⇨⇧-SELECT-Ⓐ-⇧⇩

Ⓑ⇧-⇧⇨ Ⓑ⇧-⇧⇨ ⇨⇩-⇩⇩ ⇩⇧-⇦⇨ Ⓑ-⇦⇨-⇨⇩ ⇦Ⓐ-⇧⇩-⇦⇦-⇩⇨ ⇦Ⓐ-⇧⇩-⇦⇦-⇩⇨ ⇦⇧-START-⇦⇩-⇨⇧-⇩⇨  ⇦⇨-⇩⇩-⇩⇧ ⇧⇨-⇦⇧-⇧⇩-⇧⇨-Ⓑ-⇦⇧-⇧⇩ ⇦⇦-⇩⇩-⇦⇧ ⇦⇧-⇨⇧-SELECT-⇩⇨-⇨⇧-Ⓐ ⇦⇦-START-⇦⇩-⇨⇧-⇩⇨ 

Ⓐ-Ⓑ-⇦⇨ Ⓐ⇨-⇦⇧-Ⓑ-⇨⇦-⇧⇩-⇨⇨ Ⓐ-⇩⇩-⇦⇧-⇧⇩, ⇩⇨-⇨⇧-⇩⇩-Ⓑ⇧-⇦⇩-⇨⇧ ⇧⇧-⇦⇨-START-⇦⇩-⇨⇧-⇩⇨ ⇨⇧-⇩⇩-⇦Ⓐ-⇨⇩-⇨⇨ ⇨⇩-⇩⇩-Ⓑ⇧-⇩Ⓑ-⇩⇨-⇨⇨ ⇨⇨-⇩⇨-Ⓑ-⇩Ⓑ ⇩⇨-⇨⇧-⇧⇩ ⇧⇩-Ⓑ-⇦⇧-⇩⇨-⇨⇧, ⇨⇧-⇩⇩-⇦Ⓐ-⇨⇩ ⇨⇩-⇩⇩-Ⓑ⇧-⇩Ⓑ-⇩⇨ ⇩⇧-START-⇩⇨-⇨⇧-⇩⇩-Ⓑ⇧-⇩⇨

START-⇨⇨ ⇩⇨-⇨⇧-START-⇨⇨ ⇦⇧-START-⇦⇩-⇨⇧-⇩⇨? Ⓐ⇨-⇩⇩-Ⓑ⇧-⇦Ⓐ-⇨⇩ START-⇩⇨ ⇩Ⓑ-⇧⇩ ⇩⇧-⇦⇧-⇩⇩-⇦⇨-⇦⇩? ⇦⇦-⇧⇩-⇧⇩-⇦Ⓐ ⇩⇨-⇨⇧-⇧⇩ ⇦⇩ ⇦⇧-⇩⇩-⇩⇩-⇨⇦-⇧⇩, ⇩⇦-Ⓑ⇧-⇨⇨-⇩⇨ ⇨⇩-Ⓑ-⇦⇨-Ⓐ⇨-⇧⇩ Ⓑ-⇦Ⓐ-⇩⇩-⇦⇨-⇦⇩

Ⓑ ⇩⇧-⇩⇩-⇦⇧-⇦Ⓐ-⇨⇩ ⇩⇩-⇦⇦ ⇨⇩-Ⓑ-⇦⇧-⇧⇧, Ⓑ ⇩⇧-⇩⇩-⇦⇧-⇦Ⓐ-⇨⇩ ⇩⇩-⇦⇦ ⇦Ⓐ-START-⇦⇩-⇨⇧-⇩⇨ ⇩⇨-START-⇨⇨ ⇩⇨-⇨⇧-⇧⇩ ⇩⇨-Ⓑ-⇦Ⓐ-⇧⇩ ⇩⇩-⇦⇦ ⇦⇦-⇩⇩-⇩⇩-⇦Ⓐ-START-⇨⇨-⇨⇧ ⇧⇧-⇦⇨-START-⇦⇩-⇨⇧-⇩⇨

[borderlinereminders]

hi april, thank you so so much for this blog <33 about two years ago, I lost two favorite persons at once when they started dating and we cut contact, and it's been an uphill climb with my BPD ever since. In that time, though, I've started dating my wonderful boyfriend and I've made a lot of strides in communication and managing my feelings. No small part was due to your advice and insight, and I've come to understand my own feelings and urges a lot more rationally. That said, though, I did want to ask directly for your thoughts on something. I'm not sure if its a common experience for other borderline folks or if its just me, but a lot of times when I'm with my boyfriend/FP in person and I get mad about something, I turn away or leave the room to gather myself. However, almost every time I do, being alone (even while in the same room) lets my thoughts spiral out of control. I don't want to constantly rely on my boyfriend's presence because then I risk blowing up at him. But, I feel like I risk making myself more upset whenever I leave too. Do you have any tips on how to manage your feelings in a face-to-face conversation with your favorite person? Or, failing that, how to collect yourself when feeling isolated and abandoned? thank you so much!! <33

Hi anon,

I definitely feel similar when I walk away. I deal with this by distracting myself with something. For me, TikTok or my puzzle game are super distracting and give me something to focus on. ACCEPTS is a great skill for distraction. Sometimes I might need to start by using my Urge Surfing skill first though!

Things like self-care boxes, fidget items and grounding exercises can be good for calming down.

Once I’ve done that for a little, I look at a list of things my partner has done that made me feel loved or happy. Things like surprising me with flowers, or times he’s really been there for me. I might also read cards or letters he’s given me, or read screenshots I’ve saved. This part helps me with the black and white thinking. Reminding myself that there is so much good about him is important to me because of the black and white thinking. When I’m upset, it’s easy to forget.

Once I’m reminded of the good and how much I love my partner (lack of emotional permanence sucks) I think about the conflict and analyze it. I check the facts. Sometimes it’s my irrational thoughts creating a conflict, and in this case, I might challenge my irrational thoughts. Sometimes I need to talk it out with my partner but I do it in a way that is more me asking for reassurance.

Sometimes there’s an issue we need to resolve, so I figure out what that is and possible solutions or compromises.

Then I go back to my partner, and if he is also ready to talk, we talk. We both give each other a chance to have our feelings heard. We both validate each other’s feelings and remind each other we love each other. If there is something to take accountability for, we make sure we do that. Sometimes it’s one of us. Sometimes it’s both.

And then we discuss the problem with the intent of solving it together.

I may use things like DEAR MAN, GIVE and FAST or a combination of more than one of them to help me communicate. (I’d try and plan out a rough idea of this in my planning stage). But how I communicate largely depends on the situation and the goal.

For handling the conflict itself, I wrote a bit more about handling conflict in this post.

Make sure you don’t forget to give yourself credit for trying. And don’t beat yourself up if you mess up. I still sometimes mess up and have to apologize. It’s normal. And I think it’s amazing you’re aware of this and working on it.

[gothcryptid-art]

simon 'ghost' riley x reader headcanons

fully gender neutral + no descriptors because ghost is for the people. implied that reader is military tho. all lowercase bc im cool. wacky ass writing. no other warnings besides ghost being a deeply insecure individual

(literally just writing this bc i have the brainrot so bad i spent 95 hard earned canadian dollars on this stupid game im not even good at it its amazing i love it anyways enjoy u filthy animals)

- he's a dog guy. he secretly wishes he couldve had a stabler life so maybe he could have one or two. If you have a dog, he is ALL over it. will buy treats, toys, enrichment, literally anything and everything. he just wants to spoil the lil baby

- absolutely does not know how to cook, he can only use a microwave smh. if you can cook for him tho, he will absolutely get all heart eyed kickin his feet under ur dinner table twirling his hair round his finger he is in LOVE

- THAT BEING SAID!!!! he makes a bangin cup of tea. his fav is earl grey and he loves a good london fog, but with his line of work he just doesnt have the time. thats why every time he actually goes home, the first thing he does is make a proper cuppa.

- it's very difficult for him to trust anybody, much less fall in love, so when he falls he falls HARD. he'll go out of his way to do nice things for you. if you're out on a mission together and have some downtime he'll just grab your knives and sharpen them for you. He's already doing his own, why not yours too? He lovesss doing small acts like that for u. he knows a little kindness can go a long way.

- the same goes the other way around, if you do literally anything for him the man is SWOONING. he's about to head out but can't find something, and u pop outta nowhere to place it in his hands with a kiss on the cheek of his mask? he's planning a proposal as soon as hes out the door. he loves u. amazing.

- he knows he's a good looking guy, but before he shows you his face he's super scared about you not liking how he looks. He worries that he isn't your 'type' and once you see his face you'll get bored of him and move on to someone more entertaining like Soap or Alejandro

- He's not great at verbalizing his emotions, and tends to bottle things up. if he does it for long enough he'll get way too in his head and he'll start distancing himself from u (unintentionally). one day it gets to be too much and u just sit him down and make him tell u whats up

- he's just. not good at talking abt his feelings. his sentences have super long pauses where he overthinks everything he's saying. he's trying not to hurt your feelings if it's something relating to you, but sometimes that means he wont tell u the whole truth. but hes trying ok? he WANTS to communicate with you, he's just gotta learn how essentially from scratch.

- but man if ur able to break down his walls a little, and he can tell that you see him as a person and not just some mysterious puzzle to solve, he will go to the ends of the earth for u.

- he will devote a lot of his downtime to just being around you. he just likes your presence, hes the type of guy to want to sit in a room together and do your own things. he'll post up at a desk and look over the next mission's paperwork while you chill in a corner with a hobby of yours

if u made it this far hell yeah i hope u enjoyed, this is absolutely just self indulgent but i figured the world must be blessed as well. have a good one yall

[desirepathzine]

Pentiment: Now Look What You Have Created

A note: THIS ESSAY WILL INCLUDE SPOILERS FOR PENTIMENT. I highly recommend you experience the story however suits you best before reading this.

Pentiment is a tricky little video game. On the surface, it is a beautifully crafted point-and-click mystery game set in medieval Bavaria over a period of twenty five years, revolving around a series of mysterious deaths that traveling artist Andreas witnesses, and in turn must judge the town based on his (and your) observations. But it presents concepts and moral quandaries that I find video games of its nature often refuse to acknowledge.

Games sometimes have trouble placing weight on the decisions that any given player makes. Permanence in choices can close off large swaths of a game that so many people worked so hard to bring to life. Save scumming and cloud saves can help get around this concept, but Pentiment asks you to make some extremely hard choices, oftentimes without the most solid of evidence that you might expect from a mystery game.

And not only do you have to see through the carrying out of your judgements, you must watch the wide branching consequences of these decisions over the entire period of the game. And in a story that lasts over two decades, those consequences feel weighty. Further more, you never discover if you "guessed correctly". The game never tells you who actually committed the murders. It simply asks you to make a judgement.

That is not to say that it does not give you a variety of motivations. You must be convicted in your own beliefs, your own judgements. And you will see the bloody results of those judgements. Much has been made of how Pentiment makes you watch the execution of whoever you accuse of the crimes in its first act. It's one of the most brutal moments in a largely beautiful and pastoral game. It's one thing to cross of somebody's name in a list of characters. It's another to watch them speak their last words in the town square before their beheading. You have to look. And it feels so strange, because in most video games, you get a CORRECT or INCORRECT prompt when you make a decision like those in Pentiment, or a character will lecture you, or there is some in-universe way to tell you "hey good job" or "you messed up". There is a right and wrong answer. Pentiment does not give you such a privilege. You only have your reasoning. There is no amount of story you can uncover that will reassure you more than your initial investigation.

Of course, you later find out that Father Thomas, the local priest, has been manipulating the town to advance the Church's agenda, using what he hears in confession to blackmail and agitate townspeople, as well as manipulating Sister Amalie, the anchoress of the church who is plagued with ecstatic visions. But as ever, you can discover motivations and reasoning, but not THE CORRECT ANSWER or even THE TRUTH. Just your intuition.

Pentiment also prompts you to consider what happens to this town after the game itself is over. Video games only exist as you play them, and usually do not task you with considering what you have wrought after your time in their world is done. You save the day, solve a puzzle, destroy some great evil, and then credits will roll. Not here. The core of the third act, with a surprise protagonist change, revolves around creating a mural that chronicles the history of Tassing, a town you have now spent quite a bit of time investigating, both its known and approved history from the church, and the wilder corners of its history that are starting to be erased. It's up to you what to focus on, what to leave for Tassing to remember forever in its town hall, amidst pressure from the church to present their approved vision. The final sequence of the game is a long and detailed pan over the mural that you crafted with your decisions (set to music featuring Desire Path fave Kristin Hayter).

This is hardly a surprise from the excellent folks at Obsidian, responsible for some of the greatest role-playing and choice based games of our modern era. There are so many incredible touches to the game that completely transport you (the script that the characters 'speak' in changes based on their level of education and background. They will occasionally misspell words that are then corrected and when they are angry, ink blots will dot their speech bubbles). This was clearly a labor of love that accomplishes so much and charts new territory.

I completed a playthrough in February of this year and think about the game at least once a week, whether it be someone else I could have accused of murder, a sweet conversation with a townsperson, or the delightful characters populating the illuminated menus (I am especially fond of a silly cat illustration). It is well worth the journey, but be prepared to sit with your choices, and to see what kind of Tassing you create, for better or worse.