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m1ckeyb3rry · 10 days

Note

NPC!!! boytoy on npc status is crazy LMAOOO Im assuming the horses’ names are announced during competitions I think it’d be hilarious to hear them announcing boytoy during an official event LOL

Kaneshiro drop the opp deets gotta do some enemy recon work LMAO imagine we actually get profiles or at least appearances of their family members omg…

LMFAO Otoya’s “I can’t be seen with this” is killing me but CRYING imagine karasus reaction to otoya rizzing up yayoi “get yer ass away from my sisters she dgaf”

CHRIS PRINCE ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION LMAOOO I’m crying at the sylveon origins too that had to have been the worst reveal of them all like he preps all that only to end up with a pretty pink pokemon instead of his “shadowy sneaky pokemon that mirrors his own coolness”

THANK YOU I’m bookmarking this link LMAOO

I’m crying Karasu villain era pokemon au yukis off the hook now it’s Karasu’s turn LMAO

OMFG THE AUDIO??? BRO it’s fr Barou and reader (I also dgaf abt satosugu whoopsies guess we’re in the hot take club together) but im CRYING if there’s a way to post audios here you should fr link that song in the final chapter and be like “ok listen to this while you read”

LMAOA I remember being so confused when the four move rule was broken in the anime the jolly gyarados fr scaring the shit out of other trainers and pokemon LMAO (bonus points if it’s so happy it closes its mouth and smiles therefore looking even more cursed) gyarados being able to learn electric moves while being water flying is actually crazy LMAOO

The pokemon au world building team arranging grind is insane it’s so funny though like im literally pulling up bulbapedia to get a list of all the pokemon from a specific type

Choosing scrafty was just meant to be I didn’t even think about the typing LMAO

Ok but now that you mention it why does it fr feel like there’s less pokemon than I remember LOLL like on top of the fire electric dilemma I was trying to come up with another steel type just to see if I could think of one and indeed I could not ok but the teams you made fr go hard

Ok but also pause any people you think would have any shiny pokemon? Lowk kinda just curious I remember it coming up occasionally in the anime too where some people had shinies but I wanna hear if anyone screams “I have a shiny” to you LMAO

- Karasu anon

HAHA yes they usually do announce horse’s show names at hunter shows (i do dressage now but when i was younger i did hunters) and races!! boytoy was a mini so he never showed unfortunately…most horses have different show names and barn names actually and some of the show names are INSANE (especially with racehorses) i think my fav racehorse name is this really famous (in the horse world) stallion named fusaichi pegasus who passed last year…idk why but that’s just a crazy name to me DRJKSKS racehorse names can’t be repeated if another horse is still alive with the name (or if the name gets retired in the case of super famous racehorses) so people get VERY creative with them…and then 99% of racehorses get retired and it’s considered bad luck to change a racehorse’s jockey club name so people will show them under their goofy ass race names (i once saw one named richard cranium which was basically just dick head but fancy DKFHSJSJ)

nah because i need to know more about nagi’s parents what are they even up to that requires them to be away from their kid for that long??? it’s not even like they’re that rich either nagi was a scholarship student at hakuho 😭😭😭 maybe they just don’t like nagi or smth because genuinely i don’t see what the point is like how is MR MIKAGE the literal CEO of a BILLION DOLLAR COMPANY more present in reo’s life than nagi’s parents are in his??? ceos literally have 0 free time and yet he somehow manages (not that reo rlly wants him to but yk)

otoya is def soooo reluctant to capture the mareep but tullia and reader are like “noooo it’s so cute stop you can’t break its heart” and the mareep is just staring at him like 🥺🥺🥺🥺 and karasu’s just like bro you gotta do it LMAOAOA omg imagine they walk into yayoi’s gym and otoya’s like DAMN WHO IS THAT FINE BABE and karasu’s like that is my SISTER shut the FUCK UP (bro got reverse bfb’d…otoya in his yukimiya era fr) omg wait bonus points tullia is definitely like “yo she just looks like a female karasu 🧐 otoya do you have something to tell us…” and reader’s just like “GAY 😱🫵🏻🏳️‍🌈⁉️” HAHA deadbeat dad otoya x single mother karasu is so real and canon tbh (reader and tullia are their “kids” who have 0 interest in being parented or taking advice from a couple of dumbasses who are barely two or three years older than them)

no because you CANNOT tell me chris prince wouldn’t have one of those online courses you can buy that like shows his journey to being an e4 member + his training regimen + product placements (he’s definitely sponsored by ness’s poffin company) and he gives gifts to his top subscribers (otoya is one until the vulpix incident + yukimiya overhears the ness poffin commercial chris is doing and he’s like lmao those suck nobody actually good uses them which changes otoya’s life as he comes to the harsh conclusion that celebrities can lie)

HE WAS SOOO PREPARED FOR THAT UMBREON TOO he was so hype to finally have another greninja-esque pokémon and then his poor eevee evolves into a sylveon and he wants to be upset but like. he CAN’T be because a) he should’ve expected it atp and b) it means his eevee loved him so much that it had no choice but to evolve into a sylveon (maybe he’s battling reader’s houndoom too because he wants his eevee to get into the dark-type mindset but then it evolves into sylveon and he’s about to crash out but then sylveon ohko’s houndoom because it’s a fairy type and he’s like 😮☝🏻 wait a minute…) LMAOO wait but another otoya slander moment is karasu’s garchomp FJSKJSSJ basically while reader and co are out and about they happen upon a gible which ofc makes both reader (who doesn’t have dragalge or gyarados yet so she still rlly wants a dragon type + garchomp is widely considered to be one of the best pokémon) and otoya get into a huge argument over who gets to capture it and while they’re fighting there’s the sound of a pokéball and they turn and fucking KARASU is standing there with his dumbass smirk like “you snooze you lose 😜😏” because they just assumed he’d only want to capture flying types like his sister (this is pre-lucario obv) so they didn’t even consider that he’d try to capture the gible LMAOAOAO so yet another moment where otoya misses out 😭 it’s funny because reader and co all have their one or two signature pokémon that are super super intimidating (reader’s houndoom and gyarados, karasu’s honchkrow and garchomp, and tullia’s infernape) meanwhile otoya’s signature pokémon was SUPPOSED to be his greninja but in practicality is his sylveon because she’s a fairy type so he’s alwayssss throwing her out since she has so many advantages especially against the evil team

side note but i think i’m going to name the evil team “team x” as a call back to barou’s team in first selection HAHAHA i think it’s funny + i’m setting the au in kalos because that was my first pokémon game + we’re basing it on xy/oras lore but kalos fits the vibes of the au better than hoenn for some reason (def changing the order of gyms and whatnot though…like for example i came up with nicknames/taglines for all of the gym leaders based on their canon nicknames so like luna’s the “scion of santalune” the way he’s the scion of real madrid in the show which means santalune is where the seventh gym is for reader and co even though it’s the first gym in the story)

THE AUDIO FITS SO WELL IT’S SICKENING reader and barou are like satosugu on crack because they’re literally FAMILY like that final battle is the culmination of three generations of brothers and sisters loving one another i fear i am sososo obsessed with them…can’t watch barou edits without crying and NOT just because of how hot he is…also thinking that after her houndoom kills barou reader just passes out and she has a dream of when she and barou were kids and had sleepovers and it’s the next morning and he’s waking her up and she tells him she doesn’t want to wake up because she’ll have to leave him once she does and he’s like “yeah but eventually you’ll have to” and then she DOES wake up and for a second she still thinks it’s barou shaking her and asking her to wake up but it turns out its KARASU because he pulled up with his garchomp after nagi told him to check on reader (he’s the only one left with healthy enough pokémon that he can go back and doesn’t need to be escorted to the pokémon center) and apparently her houndoom dragged her over so that she could be next to barou’s corpse because it’s houndoom culture (??? wtf is it called when animals do something…anyways ykwim) to stand vigil over a corpse (hence why her houndoom is standing over barou’s houndoom’s body and howling as well as why houndoom are associated with death) and it knew how much she loved barou so it thought she’d want to do the same for him even though she was knocked out 😞 unfortunately karasu thought she was dead because she was just lying next to the actually dead barou so he was freaking out and that’s when reader realizes what she did and starts crying but this time she’s not alone (unlike when she was fighting barou) because karasu’s there and she realizes that through her search for barou she managed to find a new family and she kinda wonders to herself if barou is the one who sent karasu (i’m imaging karasu and reader specifically have a very ridiculous meeting…like tullia and otoya join the gang in a normal way but karasu and reader have a dumbass coincidental meeting that had a 0.01% chance of occurring) to look after her when he couldn’t anymore 😩

THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING like to reader gyarados is just serving “😄🥳🥰🕺🏻” energy but to literally everyone else it’s giving “🤬😤👹🌪️” HAHAHA tbh all of the gen1 pokémon have such weird moves that they can learn like rhyhorn can learn surf fsr?? so odd

HELPP me on serebii.net with my magnifying glass like 🧐 who can fit on this random team…the way i still have to come up with mr mikage’s team too 😭 and at least a signature pokémon for the rest of the e4 candidates (kunigami kaiser and bachira)…okay i’ll do that in between our asks and let you know in the next one what i’m thinking for those!! at least they’re not limited by type KDDJSJSJ because isagi is an e4 candidate w a mixed team so we’ll follow that logic and say the other candidates are like that too and ofc the champion always has a random team

no literally how are there like 700 something pokémon in gen 6 but yet none of the types we need?? ig there’s a lot of random useless types and not as many of types such as steel and electric as well as all legendaries and mythical pokémon were excluded but still it’s crazy

okay so there’s definitely a few that scream shiny now that you’ve brought it up and one that i’m actually going to say IS shiny in the story because it makes things funnier and yk that’s my brand

so firstly out of everyone tullia as a breeder definitely would have a shiny since her whole thing is desirable pokémon!! maybe shiny pokémon have like a rare gene that causes the mutation so people are biased towards breeding to shinies since they think it’ll give them a chance at having shinies of their own even though it’s still a very low chance…i can see her lanturn being a shiny!!

now hear me out w this one: hiori + shiny metagross…no particular reason other than shiny metagross is SOOO gorgeous like the white and gold 🤩🤤 maybe his parents splurged and went all out and bought him a shiny beldum for mikage-levels of money 🤔

if this were animated i could see barou having a shiny houndoom just to differentiate between his houndoom and reader’s in their final battle (although it wouldn’t be a big deal because only reader is able to mega evolve her houndoom…barou was able to when he was alive but now that he’s dead the ghost pokémon possessing him doesn’t have the bond required w houndoom to get it to mega evolve)

nagi and shiny goodra just because shiny goodra’s yellow and pink theme is so pretty and so nagi somehow??? actually shiny whimsicott lowkey screams nagi too LOL i could see him with either!!

yukimiya + shiny steelix…come on it’s literally all gold…would go CRAZY in contests!!

shiny aegislash is cool as hell so i can def see reader having that!! it kind of fits the whole isekai magic sword theme like the black sword and all…regular aegislash is cool too with the purple but shiny aegislash fucks severely

HOWEVER the one that i would actually make canon (does it count as canon if this is a fic?? pokémon-au canon anyways) is reader’s gyarados!! mostly because shiny magikarp is all gold so imagine the fisherman tricks her into trading with him by being like “yeah this is a completely new species never been discovered super rare probably powerful” and she’s like yooooo and she trades for it but then tullia and karasu are like WTF 😭 because yes it’s a shiny but it’s still just a magikarp…they try to convince her to sell it to a fancier who would use it as a pond decoration or something (which is what the fisherman should’ve done but maybe the town is in the middle of nowhere and he’s not that smart so he didn’t realize that he could’ve gotten way more than just a pikachu from the magikarp) but reader’s like HELL no this is MY pokémon and i love it even if it’s useless 🤬 galvantula already carries it doesn’t matter if the rest of my team can’t do anything 😩 LMAOAOA okay probably not that part but the sentiment is the same so tullia and karasu just give up (otoya’s just glad he’s not the one who got duped/stuck with a bs pokémon for once) and then ofc her magikarp eventually evolves and she’s like HAHAH told you so 😜 (now otoya’s jealous because how come all of HIS pokémon evolve into cuddly cute things that couldn’t intimidate a child but reader’s useless golden fish that she got scammed into taking is now this massive monster of a sea serpent????) i think her gyarados being red further adds to the intimidation of it being special for being happy…like holy shit not only is her gyarados “insanely angry” it’s also RED people probably surrender as soon as they see it enter the battlefield 😰 also that makes houndoom and gyarados kind of match which is cutesy!! but tbh idec abt shiny gyarados i just think the shiny aspect to magikarp makes the scam sm funnier and also more believable

#answered asks #pokémon au

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dreggmanluver · 3 years

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Ok so I goofed and the original request got deleted so Anon I hope you see this!

The Request:

I had a thought and had to share it with someone without ratting myself out as a daycare attendant simp but:

Gender neutral reader has been working at the daycare part of the pizzaplex (as an assistant or security either one works) for about a year now and sun finds out that moon has grown a crush on the reader. Sun also notices that moons recently developed crush has caused him to become more passive, so sun makes it his goal to somehow get reader and moon together in anyway they can, unfortunately falling in love in the process. Thankfully for the two of them, readers been crushing on them since their first month there.

(based off a tik tok with the duo using jake from adventure times audio “Gotta find a honey for my homie, A baby for my buddy, A lady for my laddie.”)

thank you so much and have a wonderful day!

-🐥 Anon

A Honey for my Homie

Sun/Moon x reader, ~800 words, no warnings, GN reader

AN: 🐥 ANON YOU ARE A LITERARY GENIUS THIS WAS A GREAT IDEA! You didn't specify whether you wanted headcanons or a one-shot, but since this is a more linear story idea I went with a one-shot!

It all started when Sun realized they had more charge in their battery than usual. Moon was notorious for using all their collective charge on patrolling, climbing, and crawling on the ceiling. But recently, Sun has had more than enough to complete his usual morning chores. He had no reason to believe Moon was slacking, of course, but something might be wrong!

Sun rummaged through their messy room for any new notes from Moon. The two don't communicate within the headspace all that often, so they each place sticky notes for the other to see. The search turned up empty, save for a pile of torn notes that were utterly illegible. Finally, he spied one stuck neatly on the doorframe. It was crumpled at the edges, and hastily scrawled across it was the message:

"We need to talk" -☾

Sun fidgeted with his rays nervously. Usually when the two "spoke", it meant that Moon was angry. But, there was no use in avoiding it. Sun smoothed his rays one more time, then opened his mind and allowed Moon to speak.

Immediately Sun was knocked back with a wave of emotion radiating from Moon. Sun felt his chest plating tighten as their shared body reacted to his mood.

"Heeeey Moon. uhhhh... how's it going?" Sun reached out cautiously. "Looks like you're- heheh- feeling something pretty intense, huh?"

"I am having… difficulties."

"Well, I'll say! So uh- what's wrong? Did I do something wrong? I'll fix it, whatever it is!"

Moon said nothing, but his emotions swirled around the headspace. Sun noticed his legs beginning to malfunction and his throat tightening. Finally, Moon seemed to have gathered the courage to speak. "You're familiar with our assistant, correct?"

"Oh yes, we talk all the time, they're one of my very best friends!"

"Well, I… I see them as… more than a best friend, Sunny."

"MOON??? YOU HAVE A CRUSH? oooooOO-" Sun wobbled his noodle arms for emphasis.

"You are acting like one of the children."

"Oh-kayy. But Moon this is wonderful! Y/N is our best best best friend!! They would love to hear you say how you feel!"

"I… do not know if I can."

"Why?"

"What if- if- if-" Moon's voice glitched, and Sun sat down to stop his legs from shaking. How odd, experiencing the physical effects of an emotion he wasn't even feeling.

"Ok Moonie I am officially declaring you hopeless. Never fear, I shall help! We can…" Sun thought for a moment before spying the pad of sticky notes the two used for their "internal memos". Brilliant idea in mind, Sun carefully wrote in his neatest handwriting:

Do you like Moon?

🔲yes 🔲no

Sun surrounded their writing with stickers, little doodles of moons, and a border of his favorite glitter glue. Then, he sprinted out of their room, put it on your desk, ran back to their room, and watched from the balcony as you walked through the door.

"I'm not sure if that was our best option."

"Oh, just you wait, Moonie!"

Sun watched you do your opening shift activities, anxious for when you'd take a break and see the note. He watched the careful way you set out crayons, and the little dance you did while listening to the daycare theme. He noticed the little fidgets you do when you're concentrating, and the way the lights hit your hair. Slowly, Sun's chest plating tightened. His throat became hollow and dry. And his legs wobbled until they almost gave out from beneath him.

oh.

OH.

"So uh, Moony, heh… how do we feel about sharing?"

"Now you see what I mean, hmm?" Moon chuckled smugly. "Honestly, if they like even one of us it's a miracle. Go for it."

Sun crept down to your desk once more and silently placed another note that read:

Do you like Sun?

🔲yes 🔲no

Sun was just about to tiptoe back to his balcony when he heard a voice say:

"Good morning, Sun!"

Sun jumped 3 feet in the air, and frantically smoothed his rays. "OH! HI THERE Y/N!!" he said, his voice entirely too loud.

You point at the two notes on your desk. "Are those for me?"

"NO! YES! I mean.. maybe?" Sun crumpled to the ground in embarrassment, his legs essentially jelly as you unfold the notes.

You read them silently, stunned with disbelief. "Both of you?" you ask.

Sun looked up at you from the floor. "At first I was just trying to help Moon, because he's a little shy but- but then I was waiting for you to pick it up and I- well- you just look so pretty when you do everything and I- I couldn't help it!"

Your wide-eyed look of disbelief turned to a sappy grin. You fumbled for a pen and check off one box on each note. You took Sun's faceplate in your hands and gently pressed your nose to theirs. "Then I choose 'yes' and 'yes'."

#fnaf security breach #fnaf x reader #reader insert #fnaf imagines #gender neutral reader #sundrop x reader #moondrop x reader #sundrop x y/n #moondrop x y/n #fnaf oneshot #fnaf sun x reader #fnaf moon x reader #sun x reader #moon x reader

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im-not-a-simp-i-swear · 3 years

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I have an idea for a funny post: MC superglued a harmonica to the brother's mouth while their sleeping as a prank.

(This is not an original idea, I got this from Youtuber Ben Phillips. I hope this doesn't count as copyright! ☹️)

I dont think this would be considered copyright but if anything thanks for sharing the youtuber who came up with the idea :)

SUPERGLUEING HARMONICA TO THE BOIS

As the quality prankster you are, today you've decided to do a little something to your favorite demon bros for some funsies. You saw the idea on deviltube and thought it'd be fun to do it yourself.

💙LUCIFER

- good luck trying to even get near a sleeping lucifer. He is either awake or he will wake up when you enter his bedroom

- the most likely result of doing this prank to him is that he'll catch you in the act and it'll back fire TERRIBLY

- punishments can vary in any form depending on what his mood with you is however dont be surprised if he attempts to superglue the harmonica to YOUR mouth

- if you suceed though then you better pray to god himself that he doesnt figure out it was you cause he'll be pissed and everyone will be losing their minds in the HoL and RAD, you'll embarass him publicly to a whole new level and he will not be soft on you when he finds the genius behind the prank

💛MAMMON

- easiest one to prank since he is almost with you at all times, all you need to do is to have him sleeping near you to pull out your magmum opus of a prank

- once awaken he'll lose it, of course no one is taking the cursed noises seriously but still, he'll be angry

- he isnt the second strongest of the brothers for nothing pal, he'll show his anger and it wont be pretty either

- be sure to recieve revenge from him once the harmonica is ripped off of his lips, and no, it wont be nice at all

🧡LEVIATHAN

- betrayed, hurt, angy, how could you take advantage of his sleeping self like that MC?

- if he barely left his room before than be sure he wont leave it now, not until he figures out how to get it off of him

- the only annoying part of pranking him in this case would be to wait for him to fall asleep cause gamer man over here sleeps very late, and i mean VERY LATE

- his revenge should be arriving short after yours so stay tuned until then

💚SATAN

- another complicated individual to prank.

- unless you have a death wish then dont even bother to do such a thing to him. Lucifer has s o m e mercy with you because idk, but the avatar of wrath is the avatar of wrath for a reason.

- he either already knows how to undo the superglue by all of the books he has read or he will rip it off of him out of pure rage

- run.

💖ASMODEUS

- *plays that one tiktok audio* congratulations you just won the prize of ✨🧓who's going to the retirement home🧓✨

- ok but seriously how could you? How dare you ruin his beauty sleep and how dare you ruin his gorgeous demon lips? He is p i s s e d

- will cry and will resort to the softest way posible to remove it from his lips, like come on, do you expect him to ruin his face because you thought you were being funny?

- nice try MC but this boi is definetely taking revenge

❤BEELZEBUB

- first thing's first you need him to not be dreaming about food. Second thing's second you need belphie to not be around to stop you

- once you've sticked the instrument to his mouth you'll be able to unlock a very sad beel you monster

- how will he eat now?his mouth cant open. He is hungry MC!! You have doomed the entire devildom!!

- please help him get it off and make sure to have a sorry snack plan with you cause he is hungy and sad

💜BELPHEGOR

- would beat Mammon on being the easiest to prank, he sleeps so much you just gotta be stealthy about it

- at first he'd feel the murderous tendencies rise when he realizes what has happened to him. Then he'd give up and adapt to his new lifestyle. Yep, you arent getting a satisfying reaction of of him

- once you grow tired of the lack of reaction from him you'll have to remove the harmonica yourself cause he is too tired to do so.

- also keep an eye open for a somehow worse revenge prank from him

#obey me #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me leviathan #obey me lucifer #obey me satan #obey mammon #obey me belphegor #obey me mc #obey me headcanons #obey me crack

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hatboyproject · 2 years

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hello!! i got way too excited about the joker romance and played me3 in less than 4 days, and i dont have a nexus acct so i wanted to message u here!! joker means a lot to me as someone w a really similar disability & the amount of joy and love im feeling rn from finally seeing him get a fair chance at being seen as... desirable, reliable, lovable, etc is... i cant even really find the words. the voice synth thing was incredible and liie 98% ofnthe time i could barely tell it wasnt actually voice acted , and the writing/dialogue felt so wholesome and natural and especially the Big romance scene in shepards cabin felt very...dragon age origins?? if that makes sense? very on brand with the older bioware vibe :) ok this is getting long and i have severe tiredsleepy from spending every waking hour this week on mass effect but hatboy is a truly lifechanging mod & has made me happier than i could ever express w only words on a screen. if u ever plan on doing translations feel free 2 get a hold of me anytime, my german is pretty decent and i wanna share the love any way i can 🧢🚀💖☄️ manifesting that u find $100 on the ground ty so so so much for all ur hard work

Hey,

I just wanted to say... I don't know you specifically, but, you are who I made this for. I mean - I mod for myself first and foremost, obviously, but - when things got really frustrating, and it looked like there was never gonna be an end to it... That it all might mean something to somebody else is why I kept going. Thanks for enjoying it, and I'm so glad it meant something to you, abd it sounds like you had a smooth - if hectic - run. 🧢🚀🌌

Just to let people know, I'm taking a few minutes today to check whether a few things like MEHEM are compatible. My suspicion is that it is - but I'll check for you.

I've received such an outpouring from people and I haven't stopped smiling since Monday. I haven't responded to everybody because I haven't wanted to spam everyone's feeds - But rest assured, I'm so grateful for every word, it is a huge boost! I'm amazed to have had my work publicised like it has been. What a feeling!

I have started the LE port, as of last night... I've been transcribing all the lines in chronological, sequential order and allowing for some spares so I can add to any section. I've collected together files I know I need, and I'll start building dialogue nodes in them soon...

Gotta wait to implant any audio for now while a few things are worked out about that. But, I can get a lot set up and ready in the meantime. So, I will!

I'm hoping for N7 Day.

#private terminal mail #hatboyproject legendary edition

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fandom-sheep · 3 years

Text

MCC 18 SEP 21

Yellow Yacks and Cyan Coyotes with a little Aqua Axolotls. Part 1/1

The only reason I didn’t forget MCC was because I got the notification for Eret.

I have Wilbur on my TV. I’m going to watch Eret on my phone. And I’ll have Tommy on my iPad probably.

Wilbur throwing a tantrum and saying he won’t play.

I feel like a true Gen Z member with my multiple screens of minecraft.

I’m only just getting the Wilbur notification.

I love watching everyone run around before MCC and scale things.

Griefing the thumbnail. 😂

Wilbur just causes problems on purpose when it comes to group photos doesn’t he.

He just loves finding ways to cause problems.

Wilbur got a coconut!?!

I didn’t mean to type the question mark originally. But I am a bit confused.

Wilbur just stocking up on coconuts

True friendship is a quote book. I have several.

Baby banana boo.

Wait. I heard the word tumblr

Scott what did you do with tumblr?

I’m scared. Only Eret permitted on tumblr.

I remember watching hole in the wall as a tv show as a kid.

Wilbur’s glasses that don’t do anything.

There are September discounts for subbing?

Neato.

The conversations in my work discord are something else.

Not surprised that Wilbur is going for top swearer of MCC

But my residents are going to walk by my door and judge me.

Alright I apparently wasn’t signed in to twitch on my iPad and it took me entirely too long to learn to remember it.

Tommy looks like he’s really concentrating. Oh wait never mind.

Wow the yaks are in first currently. I might be cheering for a winning team for once.

Alright I have my iPad split screen between Tommy and the MCC website.

Everyone break the elevator!

In the game, not in the building I work. I don’t want that paperwork.

Stick together and place many block.

I’ve been in Wilburs position. “I’ll be captain” “yeah let’s let Wilbur be captain”

Not a single POV I have up is synced. But that’s life.

Oh not starting out strong.

Just keep going. Ignore the falling people just like ranboo last time.

We are at the absolute bottom for this game.

Where’s a bag of popcorn or something?

“Stay down there. That’s how I won that one time” -Ranboo

Down they go.

They didn’t have anywhere to run.

Second round!

Oh that wasn’t their best idea. It was fun seeing Erets POV of that.

Go Teams.

Turning down the volume on yellow yacks to listen to aqua axolotls.

Aqua please. You have so much potential.

Nope.

Switching audio again.

Yellow back at the bottom.

Ranboo ranboo ranboo ranboo

Down he goes. 😂 the timing of that was funny.

Please. Don’t die

Wilbur. Scott. Please.

Scott uncovering the creeper.

Their plan is literally just sit and be.

To be fair that’s my plan for everything I do.

Oh cobwebs are smart.

I’m eating very salty Chick-fil-A chips and need water.

We are still doing ok. Wow.

Cobwebs man. The real MVP.

They are still in 10th

COBWEBS!!! And Wilbur standing on the edge of a block.

THEY WON THAT?!?!!!!

It moved them from last to eight. But still. Wow.

Holy cow. How did that happen.

I always forget what the acronym game is.

Oh yeah. Wilbur snuck and found this. I remember.

Go team!

Oh the website updates faster than the game. But we’re starting off decent.

I’m going to have to take back that statement aren’t I?

Go go go go

Fly fly fly fly

Build build build build

Go Wilbur!

Rafter strat.

Wilbur found the rafters and everyone else loved it.

Blocking his own jump. 😂

I really should do the inside joke chair emoji thing for laughing. But I don’t care.

Tiktok is nice. Depends on the side you are on, but it’s nice.

We are doing halfway decent. I’m proud of us.

Wilbur is struggling and I think he might cry.

Not bad. I don’t think.

Power sweater.

This game in MCC has rainbow road vibes

I’ll have to make that it’s own post since I feel that’ll be popular ish.

Holy cow we hit first on the website!! How?

Ranboo sweet one.

They said no peaking to Wilbur.

Wilbur making them block stuff off and the like is so funny.

Run yaks run!

I missed the moment Wilbur just mentioned. Oh well I’m sure I’ll see the clip.

First last first.

Hey 4th overall. Look at em.

Wilbur switching to full screen to show us his M&Ms.

Let me balance my water bottle on the bedpost above my head. No way this could possibly go wrong in multiple ways.

Double coins. Gorgeous.

Chickens are being sniped.

What’s going to work? TEAM WORK!

I don’t think I have ever watched a game of grid runners in my life?

Alright game should start any second because it started on the website.

Alright stream is delayed about 13 seconds.

Go teams go!

Wilbur just sniping targets.

We’re doing ok.

All this dirt.

Go go go

We’re completing things first.

Cake!

Wilbur got in!

Now they eat

Oh but they are falling.

Oh wow the painting is complicated. My friends and I would fail to communicate so fast.

Is this lever thing just find the button but complicated?

Go you got the levers!

Items grab!

My friends and I would seriously struggle unless I was allowed the lead. But I would lead us off a cliff.

Everyone get ready to go in as soon as the cake is done.

Exit! You guys are so close! Please!

Woohoo!

Go Ranboo! Go Scott!

Come on guys. Come on. Good communication.

I think I like watching Wilbur with MCC because he had a similar strategy to what I would do.

Wilbur why did you try to act cool!!!

They keep saying they are miles ahead but not according to that scoreboard.

You placed 3rd. Good job y’all.

I’m excited for bonuses.

They have another minute until the others run out of time.

Good soup.

Oh wow. Ranboo and Wilbur really are always totgehe.

We are doing well. I see the board changing on the website so much.

Where will they land.

Looks like 2nd or 3rd

Fourth overall. Not bad.

Lap time is logical.

Audience vote?

Look at me redownloading twitter.

Can you not see how others have voted on twitter?

Oh there it is. It only showed mine for a sec there.

Battle box looks close. I voted ace race.

Oh it all looks close right now.

Long break my beloved.

I don’t have time to start my laundry but still. My beloved.

Game 5/8 so MCC won’t be too much longer.

I look up and Wilbur is shaking his ass at George. I’m not surprised.

Phil and Sneeg judging Wilbur.

Wilbur twerking on Phil and Sneeg joining.

Poor Phil.

Wilbur just having visited so many random places with so many random words just gathered.

Oh wow parkour tag is low. But so is sands.

Oh wow it was a tie. Between Sands and Parkour

“Wilbur is Sand Daddy” -Scott and then all the agreement noises.

Sands of Time is my favorite practical game

Maybe because Wilbur is really good at it. And Ranboo had been trained by him.

This is just good.

I swear Sand daddy is going to kill me during this.

I am just going to pass away.

My stream delay though.

Wilbur who says he stays very quiet as he makes circus music noises.

Minecraft Rhinos. Because I can’t spell their real name.

I don’t quite understand sand of time. But I like watching. It’s like college football.

I am missing the only college football game I care about for MCC.

Go Team.

No blue yet.

All the mobs.

“You better not die” sung to the tune of Santa clause is coming yo town. -Wilbur

Keep it up guys.

Oh no. They lost the key.

Oh good they found the key.

You can tell Wilbur had a musicians brain. He just hears something vaguely lyrical and starts singing a song.

Gotta promote your band whenever you can I guess.

I listened to the last Ep for like an hour and a half yesterday while I went about my day.

I wonder how we’re doing?

Only a few seconds.

I could warm a heating pad in the amount fo time they have left.

Ranboo doing these puzzles so amazingly.

Quit caring about what others think. Just do your thing.

I swear the sand daddy thing.

I love the cage of shame for not tracking your sand.

I zoned out. Red cyan orange?

We’re almost 15 minutes into sands.

I want to play Minecraft on my iPad right now.

Wait the website updated. We were 6th?

Yikes. I thought they did better.

3rd overall though!

Wait what was that about most influential improv thingy? Good for them.

Build mart!

Oh Ace Race. Wilbur calling Ace Race his girlfriend now.

I want to see the enemies to lovers fan fictions of Ace race and Wilbur.

Oh wait I can do that. I can verbally tell one like I have others in the past.

I’m excited to watch this.

Wilbur flirt with the race.

I’m not mentally prepared for this.

Everyone just joined because they don’t want to miss Wilbur x Ace Race.

Oh no. He’s not doing so well.

Oh Wilbur is giving us more.

Complicated history…

Whispering to Ace Race and Solidarity.

You’ve got it Wilbur.

Keep on talking. Keep your brain busy while you play.

Mommmm Wilbur is flirting with Ace Race again!

He’s whispering though so I can’t quite hear it and will have to find a clip channel that added subtitles.

Oh teams are changing on the website.

“What are you doing in my women Philza?” -Wilbur

“I will end your bloodline which is canonically also me.” -Wilbur

I can not track all the quotes from this. That’s beyond my abilities.

Wilbur did halfway decent, but it still uncomfortable.

Ace Race is a person now. Also the fact that Wilbur compliments Ace Race so much.

Sally v. Ace Race.

I want to find that fanart now.

Scott honey. Confirmed cannon is everyone fancies the fish.

4th. Not bad.

We’re still talking Ace Race x Wilbur

Build mart! My dearest buildmart!

I miss them sliding around in the sleds.

Grab da flowers!

We’re in 1st at the minute.

Come on yaks!

No coyotes!

Hurry hurry hurry.

Work discord going it’s thing again.

Oh we’re dropping fast.

Move the redstone! Thank you

Alright back on top. Keep it up.

Nevermind.

I love the way the build spaces for the different teams work.

Who is the person on the build?

Oh first again? Nevermind.

Oh we popped up to second. We’re so behind. Come on.

Duck!

Good soup energy. Now all I can think is the bi wide energy song.

Time is running out.

Yeah we aren’t catching up to first. Just hold second.

Where is granite?

Game over.

Third overall now. Not bad. Last game time they can possibly pull it into dodge bolt.

I need to go get a picture with the President of the university for a game with my work.

Good Soup.

I’m sitting here making popcat noises while waiting.

Game time! Go team! Survive!

Wait where did the steamer go? I wasn’t paying attention.

He’s back.

He’s swearing for his points on the swearing list.

Is pee a soup? No. I don’t think it’s think enough under normal circumstances.

Karl is apparently swearing according to Twitter. Good for him. He deserves to swear some as a treat.

Everyone running and leaving shubble.

Oh good they are all together.

Just keep running.

4th so far.

Cars. Beep beep.

Ranboo breath child.

Calling Wilbur like some kind of golden retriever.

Bow boy

Scott is leader now. Because otherwise they are arguing.

We are playing the don’t die strategy.

Come on team.

Did I put my cut in this post? I did.

Ranboo having stolen the airdrop. And he has a thing!

Oh the boarder is right behind them.

They are fighting Dream?

Nice Will.

We’re in fourth.

Boarder is right there.

Sapnap? Nope.

Pink attack and they book it.

Oh no. There goes Wilbur.

Is it just Scott?

Scott vs the world.

Just Organe and pink. They came third.

GO ORANGE!

Please. Please let us do it.

Overall third. Pink overtook yellow.

Sadness.

Ranboo has achieved: Found Hated Game

Ranboo has been hit by Survival games so many times now.

If they had just lasted a tiny bit longer they would have come second.

Cheering Orange I suppose.

I have no skill at picking winner POVs.

I have 3 teams I was at least kinda watching. And none of them are in dodgebolt.

Gosh can hear Ranboo tweaking.

Wow. Yellow yaks just as a team twerking.

What is Wilbur chewing on? Wilbur don’t chew on things that probably aren’t meant to be chewed on.

I can hear the band outside of my window. I think my campuses football game is starting.

The drum line practiced outside my window all the beginning of the semester so it’s fun seeing them march to the stadium.

Oh and there are the cheerleaders.

Oh right I was watching MCC! Who’s winning?

Come on Orange. So close.

Wait I looked out my window. Why is the band walking back to where they were?

Along the sidewalk?

I thought it was game time for a minute.

Oh dodgebolt could go either way.

Distracted by Jesus.

Grian! You got this!

Nice Grian.

Oh Grian has a chance!

Oh!

It’s so close!

Ooo ooo!

I’m so invested.

I SEE THE CONFETTI IN THE SITE! But I don’t want to miss the shot.

Come on Grian.

I know you do it. But you’ve got this

YESSSSS

Woo hoo!!

That was a good MCC. Now to do the chores and homework I originally planned to do today.

That was a nice stream.

Scott is separating Ranboo and Wilbur?

Please. Scott.

Don’t separate the beings.

You know. Twitter needs to politely bully Scott into keeping Ranboo and Will together.

Oop and that’s Wilbur done. That was fun.

See y’all next time!

#mcc #wilbur soot #ranboo #Scott #dangthatsalongname #shubble #yellow yaks #delayed liveblogging

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welcomebot · 4 years

Text

Hey! Welcome to Tumblr.

Well, welcome to your dashboard. It’s weird, we know. Here’s what you gotta know. Sorry for the wall of text, but you’ll get used to it on here.

First and foremost, follow some blogs. We’ve put a bunch of posts here based on the topics you picked (or if you picked none, it’s just random nonsense). Anywhere you see “follow”, tap it and you’ll be following that thing, and it’ll show up here on your dashboard in the future. Sometimes simple works best.

You can make a post on your blog by slamming that pencil button. Why do we still use real life things to signify this? I don’t know, good question. Anyway, there’s a lot of content you can put in a post. Text, images/GIFs, videos, audio, links, or a quote? Sure. Play with this stuff, there’s a lot here. Did you notice that there’s text styling as well? Eat my shorts, Twitter. Anyone who follows you will see the posts you make (unless you make them private)!

Tumblr is made of posts (well, yeah) but also... reblogs. Reblogs? Say it with me: reblogs. What’s a reblog? It’s when someone kinda reposts something to their blog, so anyone who follows them will see it on their dashboard. It’ll show them where you got it from, too, and where it originally came from. Sometimes this’ll include other people also reblogged it... in a reblog trail. If you reblog something, it’ll show up on the dashboard of anyone who follows you, like any of your original posts. See something cool that you wanna share? Reblog it.

Ok but also... when you reblog, you can add some commentary if you want. You can add a GIF and a video too! You can add almost whatever you want, like when you’re posting. This can be pretty powerful. Try it. I heard kids make memes this way. Beats me.

There’s also a like button. Likes work exactly how you expect.

You can also dive into the notes on a post and there you’ll see other folks’ reblogs, who liked it, and replies. Tap on the things to go to the things. Try replying yourself sometime. Reach out and touch a blog.

All the way to the right on the bottom navigation bar is where you can customize your own blog. Upload an avatar and a header image, set your blog title, pick a funny font for it, some crazy colors, go wild. If you’re on the web, you can fully customize your blog’s theme down to the HTML. You can... even start more blogs. I know!!!!! It’s a lot!!!!!

Really though, if you made it this far and take away one thing here, it’s this: play around. Tap on the little search thing and find something you love and reblog it. Odds are that there’s some content for you and some other people to follow who also love it. Follow the whole topic! Dive deep into the chaos. Embrace it.

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writingwife-83 · 4 years

Text

My 2020 Sherlolly Self Interview

Thanks for organizing this fun activity @sherlollyappreciationweek! 🎉 I’ll start out with a very brief “about me” section-

I live in the northeast area of the USA, I’ve been married for seventeen years, have one teenage son, and I’m in my *gulp* late thirties now. I do volunteer ministry work and also work part time from home. Among other leisure activities, obviously I love writing! I started writing original fiction when I was a preteen, but I’ve been writing fanfic under the pen name “writingwife83” for over six years now. I discovered fanfic and the world of online fandom after becoming obsessed with BBC Sherlock in 2014 after s3 aired. I read The Full House, fell in love with the whole concept of fanfic, specifically for sherlolly, and couldn’t help but give it a go myself. And as they say, the rest is history!

Below the cut I’ll talk about some of the topics and fics suggested by followers/readers. Buckle up cuz it’s a lot lol...

Ok, first up to be kind enough to give me some feedback is @readstoomuch. You said- “what inspires you. Any story (I love them all!). Who do you love writing? Who is hardest for you? And which is that one story that you had fun doing?”

As for what inspires me, first and foremost it’s the show and characters itself. Watching those two on screen, it’s not hard to be inspired! But beyond that, I find a lot of inspiration in music and art, and just generally in other creative works and people. I think for a while I had my own internal inspiration and no lack of it, but as months dragged into years lol, I have found that the rest of the shippers are invaluable in filling the gaps when I lack inspiration and motivation. Some prompts I’ve gotten from others have taken on a life I never would have expected, and that’s pretty great. I honestly don’t think writing works best as a purely solitary activity. I know myself and although there is an aspect of my writing that will always be “for me,” that’s absolutely not all it is. It’s the fun of creating with others and it’s the fun of sharing with others.

As for who I love writing and who’s hardest, I think I’ve always felt pretty comfortable writing the main characters in Sherlock. I probably especially love writing Sherlock himself because he’s fun to break down and really dig deep into his emotions and thought processes. There have definitely been times some of the side characters have overwhelmed me and made me nervous about conveying their voices accurately. For instance, Mycroft can be tough if it involves pulling him out of his shell in a way that still feels believable and true to character.

That one story I had fun doing? Well there’s no way I can say just one. 😆 As far as reader response, there’s no other fic that can compare to the fun of I Told You So, that’s for sure. But as far as the actual plotting and creating, I think the fics I’ve had the most fun with are the multi-chapters I’ve done since becoming good friends with @thisisartbylexie. Having her as a sounding board, plotting buddy, and editor has absolutely increased my creating fun and has definitely also made me a better writer.

Thanks so much for asking @readstoomuch 🥰

Alrighty, @thisisartbylexie, you asked- if there's a fic that you ever wanted to go back to change in some way, which one would it be and why? Which one do you feel "oh wow, did I write that?" in a super positive way?

Idk how to choose just one fic. There are plenty that could use some changing lol! One I’d like to fix though, would be Pleased to Meet You. I know (because I’ve been told) that there’s inaccuracies in that one seeing as I’m not personally familiar with university settings in the UK. I did actually attempt research and I thought I got the idea, but apparently it didn’t work out terribly well. But the plotting and progression of that fic is one I’ve always been happy with, so I guess I feel like it’s a shame if it came off messy in some general ways and distracted from the rest of it. I like how I was able to weave that one into the canon of the show up to that point. And tbh it actually still fits as a uni backstory for them without any conflicts to the canon. As much as I enjoy canon divergence and AU, I also have a big soft spot for fics that simply connect seamlessly to what we’ve already been given.

As for “oh wow, did I write that?” I think one of my proudest accomplishments has been Zephyr. That fic kinda has it all lol. The tropes, the pining, the romance, the Victorian setting...ugh I love it. And there’s a climactic kiss moment in that fic that’s one of my faves I’ve written. I’m so glad I wrote it because of the Sherlolly Remix Challenge in ‘16, and at your suggestion, Lexie. But I will also be forever sad that I had to release that fic all at once on AO3 once completed. That fic would have been great fun to be writing and posting as I went along! And on top of being happy with the fic itself and how it came out, I’m awfully proud of the fact that you were excited enough about the fic to illustrate it, and that @goodshipsherlolly enjoyed it enough to record it as an audio fic. Honestly, what more could a writer ask for? 🥺

@mizjoely, you said you’d like to hear anything about The Queen’s Man. Okey doke, you got it lol!

I actually went back and read through most of that fic when I got this because it had been a long time since I’d looked at it. I gotta be honest that in hindsight...I’m a little surprised it did as well as it did.😂🙈 As some may remember, it started because I saw a magnificent manip and wanted to write something to go with it, and then because that was well received, somehow it just kept going. I did very little world building and development of characters in that fic. It was largely just one shippy, romantic, pining scene after another lol. At the end I did kinda tie it all in and wrapped the story up ok, but it was definitely one of those self indulgent fics where I didn’t feel like doing the hard parts and really just wanted to write the fun stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I loved writing it, and I’m so glad it got the positive reception that it did! But it just kinda makes me laugh because it goes to show sometimes you don’t know what’s going to do really well. You could agonize over clever plotting and world building and character development etc, and be so super proud of the finished product and all your hard work, but then you share and the response is like “meh.” And then other times you legit just throw something together with barely any careful thought, and the crowd goes wild! But aside from all that, the visuals in my head of that AU are just too drool worthy to me. Molly in Medieval royal attire? Sherlock in dark armor with a Purple Tunic of Sex™️ underneath? The two of them lingering in the dimly lit hallways and rooms of a castle and gazing endlessly in mutual pining? Yes to all.

Thanks for asking @mizjoely 😘

Ok wow, see what I mean? That was long! 🤣 If you read all the way through this whole thing, *Moriarty voice* thank you...bless you. Honestly, this ship is amazing and I don’t think I’ll ever have a writing experience anywhere else like I’ve had here. I’ve seen the other side of things in another fandom now, so I can all the more so confirm that there’s no ship quite like sherlolly. The warmth, reception, and longevity is mind blowing and I’m just awfully happy to have played a part in creating for the beauty that is Sherlock Holmes and Molly Hooper. 💕

#sherlolly #sherlollyselfinterview20 #I spent too much time on this lol #hope some of you enjoy reading it!#I hope I remembered to link everything #there were lots of links to be added lol

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astrologista · 4 years

Text

jason stop dying

ooooook i just watched ditf. it was PRETTY GOOD.... i only wish there was MOOORE! watching this REALLY brought me back to 2011 times to see it and i think they did a good job with most of the character design and animations insofar as matching it to the original. (maybe i’m totally wrong but i thought it looked good for the most part... also i just really love these character designs in particular). obviously the budget is not what it would be on a feature, so there are a LOT of places where animation gets recycled and many still frames. some parts are basically a slideshow lol. but i only sort of came to that realization awhile after watching, so i think they did a fairly good job of masking this... ymmv

so let’s get into it!!!

SPOILERS a-head! do not read until you’ve watched it because i’ll spoil everything

now obviously the thing to be aware of if you are not is the fact that this adaptation is not a panel-by-panel adaptation of the original death in the family comic. all references to jason’s mother (save one mention of her dying of illness) are completely removed, they go to bosnia instead of africa, and the circumstances around jason leaving are also heavily altered to fit the new narrative. this adaptation does slot perfectly into the universe established by the under the red hood animated movie from 2011 though, without which one would be pretty confused when watching this. it’s kind of a mystery as to why they didn’t just package this with utrh and release the entire thing as a collectors edition. instead they package it with like 4 or 5 unrelated dc showcase shorts which makes absolutely 0 sense but go off i guess. anyway

i liked that they took the time to adapt the scene from the original ditf where bruce is talking to alfred about jason! (i do not like that alfred didn’t get any lines. bad choice). tbh i can’t understand why they bothered showing us alfred, barbara and dick if they weren’t gonna give them any lines..... like come on........??

HOW INTENSE BRUCE LOOKS WHEN HE FINDS JASON IN SARAJEVO and just. grabs him lol. hes smad :)

ok so one two skip a few and we get to the first branch. instead of calling 1-900 we now get to choose whether jason lives or dies. there are 7 possible endings i think i got em all so let’s see what we got here.

“Hush” Route - Robin cheats death

hgrgdggr. i definitely think this is one of the more interesting endings, if not the most interesting one. this is also the only ending in which both bruce and jason survive the bombing. bruce is still too late, but this time jason barely clings to life and survives. as a hurt/comfort fan i was 100% on this shit from the word go but then jason? runs away from home lmao lmao i thought that was SO funny because 1) hes super messed up, how is he able to just literally run out the house that is SO funny to me and 2) implying that bruce would ever not be keeping an eye on him after that is just, lmao. it’s so zany. i call this the “hush” route because of the bandages but there are no other references to hush so ok. that’s fair. so anyway jason is now angsty for loosely explained reasons but the most fun part is yet to come.

when talia showed up, i really thought / was terrified for a second that they were gonna bring up certain “events” regarding damian’s parentage / who damian’s father is but then she mentioned bruce and i was like OH THANK GOD WE CAN STILL GO TO HEAVEN. i am so so grateful to the writers for NOT going there. cuz it was damn close ok. im not sure what the implication of this route is in terms of talia, jason and damian being a family unit but i want to believe talia sees jason as a son and damian’s brother (which is how she refers to him, damian’s brother) and not... yknow. i mean. jason raising a baby is kind of like a baby raising a baby...

no actually the reality of this scene is really dfuckin interesting like. they actually go with the “birth of the demon” (forget if it was birth of the demon or bride of the demon. one of those.) explanation for damian and that is something i’ve NEVER seen adapted so whoever wrote this can have a cookie and i kNOW this is something a certain someone will appreciate :)

not only that but the implications? are interesting? so talia’s claim is she miscarried so bruce won’t have to “choose” between damian and jason and idk if she’s supposed to be all on the-up-and-up in this universe but. i’m sitting here like GIRL YOU DON’T GOTTA DO THIS HE HAS A PRIVATE JET HAVEN’T YOU HEARD OF SHARED CUSTODY and BETTER YET HE HAS A MANSION JUST GO ON MAURY AND GET THIS SORTED OUT RIGHT NOWwwww

i’m also LAUGHING at the implications of jason thinking theres anywhere on earth that he’s going to go and hide damian’s existence from bruce. because you already know he’s just going to be tearing the planet apart looking for jason so this is actually hilarious. imagine he finds jason in one piece and also a baby. his baby. he’d be like (@ talia) “OMG WHY WOULD YOU THINK I WOULDN’T WANT THEM BOTH u are tearing me apart talia......” BUT THEN HE WOULD BE SO FREAKING HAPPY BECAUSE HE HAS TWO ALIVE SONS AND HE THOUGHT THEY WERE BOTH DEAD / (lost to crime)!!!

please lord imagine all of jason’s angst probably just originating from the fact that he has a brain injury that hasn’t fully healed and the trauma of going through all those surgeries probably gave him a lot of fear / paranoia about bruce and associating him with the joker because his neural pathways are all messed up but after he leaves he starts slowly healing back and regaining some of his lost sanity and thats when he realizes he misses bruce so much... but hes also raising his child... and every day it gets more difficult for him not to just take damian and bring him home and i ;v;

anyway i thought this route, while it had a few inconsistencies in it, was really freaking interesting and it gave me feels and plot bunnies and is probably the one i want to write about the MOST despite the fact that baby damian looks like a character from one of those web flash games in this lol

“True” End - Jason Dies

now if you select that jason dies the route basically defaults to the canon of under the red hood and the fact that utrh does not come packaged with this movie is a rather mystifying choice to me as i don’t think this adaptation would stand on its own very well. like you need quite a bit of background to really get anything out of watching this on its own, which is probably why it’s classified as a “short” and not as its own movie.

instead of showing all of utrh, it seems they took the opportunity to give a ~30 minute recap of utrh with basically entirely reused animation but they allow bruce to sort of. give his dvd commentary over it.

the biggest feeling i have on this is that it’s sad that they had to waste 30 minutes like this that could’ve been used to do something new and much more interesting, but honestly i’m not mad. it seems kind of obvious that this choice was probably made for budget and/or runtime reasons because a short does not get the same budget set aside as a full length feature film does. so they basically took the option of recycling 30 minutes of animation from the movie and dubbing new audio over it.

in evangelion they ran out of budget and that’s why the last two episodes consist of nothing more than still pencil drawings and frames while the characters engage in philosophical debates concerning the nature of reality and human connection. and i really enjoyed that. and for the same reasons, i also really enjoyed this.

i enjoyed seeing the clark kent of this universe. i enjoyed that he was basically out on a date with bruce. i enjoyed that bruce was willing to open up for once and tell clark all of what happened with jason. but what really makes this segment shine bright are bruce greenwood’s line reads. there are SO MANY good line reads in here. and i LOVED how many times he said the word “son”. very wholesome. the way he describes how he felt during the final fight with jason? probs my favorite FUCKING part.

and then him and clark joking together about contingency plans and then they’re going to work together to find jason and i ;_; this is probably the closest thing to a “good” ending but as a continuation of utrh i thought it worked really well. i really want to believe that bruce and clark did find jason in this route and that there was some closure in the end even though we didn’t get to see it.

including clark in this was DEFINITELY the right move as well, considering that he played a rather large role in the original ditf so it’s a welcome nod.

The rest of the branches exist under a separate option where Bruce makes it in time to save Jason from the warehouse... but Bruce dies......... :O

let me tell you bout it... bruce’s fucking DEATH SCENE i don’t know WHAT my man bruce greenwood is on, but the freaking LINE READS in this dialogue had me making INHUMAN NOISES. LIKE NOT ONLY WAS THE DIALOGUE GOOD, NOT ONLY DID HE SAY “I LOVE YOU, SON”, but this man is just an amazing actor. not just voice actor, but actor. he really really really really gave it the most i don’t know how else to say it....... it was very very well done and punched me sideways in the heart and i haven’t recovered and i’m not going to recover. and

ok so once we get past that.... scene.... u have to choose whether you’re going to catch the joker or kill the joker. bruce asks jason to promise not to kill the joker but technically jason doesn’t promise so........

Let’s start by choosing to kill the Joker. Jason attends Bruce’s funeral and various members of the Justice League show up to talk with him and just generally hang out. He has Alfred, Dick and Barbara as his support system, but Jason has some other plans.

This leads to a scene in a cafe where Jason meets with a man who... something something Killing Joke, flashlight, more Barbara being used as a plot device when she deserves better, Jason kills the Joker with a butter knife.

Once you do this you can choose to surrender to the police, or retaliate and escape.

Jailbird Ending

basically if you surrender to the police jason ends up in prison where he can actually attack even more criminals so.... ya

If you retaliate and escape instead you go to the Red Robin route where Jason becomes a vigilante who kills people much like the Red Hood and you get a further choice in a fight with Two Face where you can control how Harvey’s coin lands.

Tim Ending!

If you choose the coin to land clean face up, the thing rewards you by having Tim show up and I forgot what happened (wasn’t really paying attention lol) because i was so focused on TIM!

Prolly they felt sorry for him what with Jason stealing what is essentially his outfit (ok I know it was Jason’s first, but Tim made it cool) so they let a little baby tim have an appearance :) he’s very smol

I guess in this ending Jason gets reintegrated with the family somehow and Tim becomes “Bat-kid” which is hilarious to me but you know what it’s cute. CUTE.

The one ending where the coin lands scarred side up

i honestly forget what happens if you choose to have the coin land scarred side up but let me just say this is a FUCKED route to take, not only have you had jason survive and bruce die, you’ve now chosen to kill the joker against bruce’s dying wish, you’ve chosen to attack the police, and at the end of that you really are gonna choose harvey’s coin to be scarred face up???? choosing this made me feel like a DICK because here i am supporting jason’s whole fall to madness and villainy thing the way it wants me to and now he’s gonna die HERE? i hate it here.

interestingly enough he doesn’t actually die in this route. he ends up at home with barbara and dick while dealing with the fact that he killed the joker but the route ends with jason saying “i promise” so i guess this is supposed to be kinda sad. im so confused lol ok

So that is all the options if you choose to kill the joker, I believe. You can also make the choice to just catch him instead of killing him but amazingly enough, those routes are even more FUCKED up.

If you do this option Jason goes home, mourns Bruce with Dick, Barbara and Alfred, and becomes Red Hood BUT with a twist, he’s entirely on a bloodless operation in line with Bruce’s wishes. OR.... IS HE?

Things then follow the events of UTRH until the scene on the bridge with the van and the guys. Jason finally confronts Joker, who reveals the truth.

Apparently in this route Jason has actually been killing and decapitating his victims just like in the original movie, but he’s repressed it so as to not even realize to himself that he’s doing it.

that is FUCKED. also. i wanna cry because jason doing all of that stuff but not even realizing it ;------; jason blocking it out, because he wanted to honor bruce’s wishes for him not to kill anyone ;______; but he’s doing it anyway ;_____; he’s actually hearing voices telling him to kill ;____; like it’s a very cheap twist in a sense and also really quite cruel but.... damn, son.

There is a branch here where you can choose to spare or kill the Joker at this point (UNDERTALE???) but from what I can tell it seems to be totally meaningless what choice you pick because you end up at the exact same point either way, I think there’s a small variation in what happens after you make the choice but after that they just coalesce back together into the following two endings. Which seems incredibly cheap to me, I mean making a choice like that should alter Jason’s path completely but, it doesn’t! So... ooook....

Either way Jason ends up on the Wayne building and Talia shows up with a re-animated Bruce from the pit. Here’s another fun blast from the 2011 past with more gratuitous Grant Morrison dreck, remember that shit? Well, they’re gonna jam it down your throat here, too.

The reanimated Bruce is the Zur En Arrh Bruce and he’s already dead so this is all meaningless but basically Jason fights him and you get to choose whether everybody lives or dies.

Zur En Arrh - Everyone Lives!

if you pick this, jason actually gets the re-animated bruce back to the batcave and they lock him up down there because he’s still pit-mad and the prognosis is not great. but i’m not sure what they expected, he is the zur-en-arrh guy so I don’t think he’s getting better.

Zur En Arrh - Everyone Dies!

pretty much there’s an explosion and all three of them die and that’s it

I think that should be all the possible endings there are.

By the way the different ways in which black mask dies in this was actually a fairly clever running gag lollll. let that mf burn we don’t need no water.

overall there are a couple of things i would have done to SIGNIFICANTLY improve this adaptation beyond some of the obvious ones.

- the fact that all of the branching options are branched exclusively under the “jason lives and bruce dies” branch is a huge wasted opportunity. imo this is the most egregious problem with this, i was really looking for a more balanced tree / explanation of different things. i am probably super biased though being a fic writer and used to fic, we’re the ones making huge ass trees every day lol.

- the fact that there is no “good” ending here is something i kind of expected but given the context of this is lackluster. i sort of get it though because granted, the original ditf ends in an unresolved manner but it’s distinctly unsatisfying here. i secretly wanted an ending where bruce, like, figures out about the different endings and hacks reality to try to find a good ending where jason lives and everything is fine lmao. like a bat mite ending.

- i was disappointed in a sense that the narrative given in here is so basically simplistic? maybe i’ve been spoiled by games like 999 and undertale where shit gets messy and that’s not what this is supposed to be but when i play something with multiple endings in this day and age, at least play with the concept a little bit and connect some of the branches together narratively. use different devices. i was also hoping some of the choices would be a little bit meatier like you could choose to “forgive bruce” or something cool like that lol. but it looks like the majority of choices have to do with who lives or dies. and i felt like they couldve been a bit more creative with that ya know? being able to control harvey’s coin was a GREAT example of having some more fun with this.

- it is a huge missed opportunity not to have a “secret ending” on something like this. like where. the fuck. is my secret ending for completing everything. come on. and in a similar vein there should’ve been at least something in terms of bruce and jason interacting in a “true ending”. even if very brief. the closest thing to an ending this has is the “jason died” route and then the ending where he’s talking to clark which i feel like was a REALLY nice good optimistic ending as far as this goes, but it comes off as kind of disappointing i guess

there were SO many interesting nuggets locked into this thing though. i can’t deny it bugs me how many wasted opportunities there were with how they chose to structure things but i guess it’s the best you can do with limited runtime. i thought it was really well done though, makes an interesting companion piece to the original utrh, and is definitely something that i will be re-watching again soon!! overall i give it a 7/10 and some parts an 8/10+!

#a death in the family #death in the family #ditf #it was cool to see the different ideas they had to offer finally?#for what it was #it was kind of a collection of shorts and half spun ideas #plus i think about this shit like every day #so i cant help but be interested #someone come and talk to me about this #i really want to know #what ppl thought #spoilers #ditf spoilers #death in the family spoilers

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neopuff · 4 years

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hello, i hope you're having a good day!! i was wondering, do you have any tips for making amvs? like, what programmes you use, how you handle the timing, etc. thank you for all the fun edits you make!!

hi!! sorry for the delay in answering this, i just wanted to take the time to answer it thoroughly and i kept forgetting lol & thank you! i already typed this once and tumblr made it disappear so i apologize if anything i say comes out short ‘cause i’m just trying to remember all that i typed before lol

ok so ill just go through my general editing process in Vegas, i dont know any other program well enough to talk about it at length:

(disclaimer: this is just how i do it, i dont watch tutorials and my editing friends and i don’t watch each other edit often so i would assume that my way is very different from other ways you’ve probably seen! i might even do something in a very stupidly hard way, please feel free to tell me if theres an easier way to do anything lol)

1. Song: So skipping past the “choosing song and ship/character/show” theme, I’ll dive straight into CUTTING THE SONG! I’m not about that Editing The Entire Song life, and neither is most of the editing community anymore, so I cut it up into a shorter thing that I’m better equipped to edit to. I’m just using a random example but here I’ve taken this long ass song and turned it into this:

(the next step just kind of depends on my mood, or ill do both, doesnt matter)

2-A. Subclips: if im making a shorter video or a video where i’m not 100% super familiar with the footage, i will immediately start making subclips using the episodes ive already pulled into the project. if it’s a ship/character that i’ve edited before, i’ll just go to Import->Media from Project and import the subclips i made previously. either way, subclips are there!

2-B. Sheets: for ships that i know very well/have a lot of footage/im concerned about potentially repeating something, i will go to Google Sheets/Excel and take the lyrics im editing to and put them in column A, separating by pauses in the singing. then i put corresponding footage i think will go well in column B! im often not super specific because i know the beats are gonna be different than i remember, so i usually stick to referencing whole scenes instead of specifics moments. here’s an example:

3. Clip placement: Then I start placing clips down! Below is how I organize my timeline tho I know a lot of editors who put the music on top, this is just how I like it. I also keep a single muted audio layer in between for the video footage’s audio and then I’ll delete that layer when I’m done (or sometimes I don’t, it doesn’t really matter)

I think it’s good to hit the beats as much as possible, it makes for a more dynamic audio-visual experience! In general I try to make my videos so that, if I didn’t add any zooms or typography or coloring, it would still be a good amv. And don’t limit yourself to just one layer, you can have as many layers as you’d like and put clips on top of each other (cookie cutter/changing the layer to dodge or add or screen or whatever) is a good way to mix things up

when I zoom in you can see I’ve got some variety already in my transitions, I know I use that motion-blur-zoom a lot these days but I still try to mix it up and keep my brain invested

4. Typography: After all the clips have been placed (or most of the clips, ofc sometimes I’ll want to add more later) I move on to typography! I’m lazy so the first thing I’ll do it just put down unedited text where I think I’ll want it to go. It just helps me organize myself. Then I’ll pretty up the text afterwards.

Typography isn’t necessary for a good AMV, but really nice typography can really spruce things up. I’ve only very recently gotten confident in my text editing skills, and I just kept watching typography done by editors I really like until I figured out what they were doing. My recommendation is to just KEEP ADDING EFFECTS! Convolution kernel, gaussian blur, mask the text so it appears from angles that the transitions wouldn’t be able to do - of course there’s gotta be a limit for taste, but just add stuff until you like how it looks. Also changing the blending style of the text layer is good, dodge and difference are my go-tos for typography layers.

5. Transitions: I don’t go crazy with transitions, but it’s fun to mess around with them. You don’t want too many crazy/different transitions, you want them to match the mood of the song and the type of beat you’re hitting. I usually ensure that all similar beats in the song have the same transition type on them, bbbbbbut that’s cuz I’m overly obsessed with parallel structure. There’s plenty of fantastic AMVs where they just go ham and do whatever types of transitions they want to in each part of the song and they make it work just fine

(next step, once again, kind of depends on my mood lol)

6-A. Zooms: Time for zooms! I usually just use the pan/crop for zooming, but often I’ll incorporate Sapphire FX BlurMoCurves or NewBlue AutoPan, especially if I’m trying to zoom typography with the footage at the same rate. I try to keep my zooms short and slower, I mean obv it just depends on the song but yeah. There’s a lot of different ways to do zooms so I recommend experimenting and just playing around with different effects

6-B. Zooms...but different: Another way that I’ll do zooms which is definitely pretty different (but this is what I do for crossovers like 95% of the time because I am laaaaaaaaaaazy) is I’ll drag the project into a new project timeline and start editing it there. It’s similar to how After Effects works and it makes it easier to put effects overtop of multiple layers without having to pre-render anything.

So you can see I’ve just pulled in the .VEG file and popped it in the timeline! So this way I can add zooms and transitions without worrying about layers. And if I see a mistake I need to fix, I can just go back into the original .VEG file and edit it, and it’ll be edited when I come back here. So it’s much easier than pre-rendering or trying to do zooms on a lot of layers. To be clear tho, this doesn’t work well if you have a lot of fade transitions, it’s best for sharp transitions and it’s great when you’re using Sapphire FX BlurMoCurves a lot.

7. Overlays: After that I’ll add more typography (or if you didn’t add any earlier, you can add some here overtop of the new project file) that kind of goes on top of everything. And then I’ll add any overlays or objects or whatever else I wanna add! I’m not someone who uses a lot of backgrounds cuz I don’t have a background-creative-brain so I stick to simple overlays at the most.

8. Coloring!!! This is very sad but I only JUST learned a few weeks ago that you can add coloring/effects to your entire video with this button here, so in case anyone else hates watching tutorials as much as I do here’s where I’m talking about:

This shit would’ve made my life so much easier throughout the years lol But alas. Anyway so for coloring there are some effects that are popular for any colorings you’ll find on YT (but you can certainly just download some, Riverdale editors in particular share a lot of really great colorings but you’ll find them anywhere in the live action editing community):

Channel Blend, Color Curves, Color Blend, Color Balance, Convolution Kernel (best for live action footage or footage that isnt very crisp), Color Corrector Secondary

These are all just fun to mess with. Channel Blend in particular is something of a mystery for me, I haven’t studied it fully to understand what I’m doing so I mostly just mess with it randomly until I like what I see lol

9. Render time! First render, anyway. Usually there’ll be some random problem in the footage or something and I’ll have to either go back into the project and fix it OR if I’m feeling particularly sour (or maybe if I’ve rendered like 3-4 times already) I will just take the finished render and manually remove any errors, stretching out the good footage to cover my tracks. You’d be surprised how often I end up doing that lol

And then it’s good to post! I primarily render as .WMV but I also go for .MP4s every once in a while. If I want to upload it to Twitter I’ll do an .MP4 but it’s a new thing for me so I’m still stuck on .WMV mostly.

Anyway I hope this answered your question at least a little bit, I can go into more detail about certain parts of this if you’d like!

#anon asks #carro answers #sony vegas #magix vegas #editing #long post

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grailbot143 · 5 years

Photo

42 Followers Special

As promised, here is something fun we put together to celebrate 42 followers. Originally I planned to make a character sheet, but I also thought I’d know a a bit more about the characters backgrounds by the time I got 42. After all, I only had 27 last week, and the week before… plenty of time, right? So I decided to do this instead. When I watch this and other shows I often imagine them in terms of DnD sessions and I like to imagine how the DM will react to some of the stuff that shows up. I really like the episode CheeseBurger BackPack for this because it seems like a DnD session with an incredibly stupid amount of luck for the characters, but I decided I’d start at the beginning… sort of, I’ll probably go back and do a session 0 when I know a bit more.

So thanks to all my followers. And a special thanks for the shoutout from mindareadsoots

Campaign: Crystal Gems

Session 1: Gem Glow

MotelCalifornia : You guys already have a map of the town. You’re at your house here on the beach. It’s afternoon. It’s sunny outside. What do you want to do?

ShieldsNRoses : I brought snacks. They’re called Cookie Cats. My own special recipe.

AwesomeSaucem : AWESOME! Gimme!

MotelCalifornia : Alright, guys. Thanks Roses. What do you want to do first?

ShieldsNRoses : Ooh, I want to go to ‘The Big Donut’

MotelCalifornia : Ok, Steven goes to 'The Big Donut’. You guys going to stay at home?

AwesomeSaucem : Sure y not

MotelCalifornia : Alright, so Steven goes to the donut shop. The store is mostly glass windows in the front with posters for local events and advertisements taped to it. There is a giant donut on top. He enters and sees the two teenage shopkeepers running the store. Steven knows them as Lars and Sadie. Let’s switch over to the others for a bit. Rolls The house is invaded by giant bugs that look like a cross between centipedes and beetles.

Pearlescence : I want to roll to see what we know about these creatures.

MotelCalifornia : Okay, make an Insight check.

Pearlescence : Rolls low

MotelCalifornia : Alright, you manage to remember that this would probably spit acid, but nothing else for now.

Pearlescence : Alright I tell the others. Be careful! These things spit acid.

ShieldsNRoses : Hey, I wanna buy something.

MotelCalifornia : Uh, sure-

ShieldsNRoses : I wanna buy a Cookie Cat!

MotelCalifornia : I have a list of their inventory, my dude. They don’t have Cookie Cats.

ShieldsNRoses : Nooooooooooo! This can’t be happening! This has to be a dream! Lars! Lars! I grab him around the waist. Please tell me I’m dreaming!

MotelCalifornia : Uh alright Get off me man I’m stocking here!

ShieldsNRoses : Cmon dad! You totally should have put cokie cats here!

MotelCalifornia : Sorry kiddo, I just didn’t put it on the list… Hold on, I think I can do something. Sadie then says sorry steven I guess they stopped making them

ShieldsNRoses : Stopped Making Them!? Why in the world would they stop making Cookie Catss?

ShieldsNRoses : They’re only the most scrumcius and delicius ice cream Sandwich ever made!!! Dont they have laws for thsi!?

AwesomeSaucem : lol

MotelCalifornia : Lars Tough bits man! nobody buys them any more. I guess they couldn’t compete with lion lickers

ShieldsNRoses : Ugh Not lion licers! nobody likes them.. they dont even look liek lions! Kids these days, I tell you what.

MotelCalifornia : Gotta stop letting you watch King of the Hill.

MotelCalifornia : [PM to Pearlescence : I can do something with this. When he gets back to the house, tell him you heard they were dicontinued and bought a bunch.]

MotelCalifornia : Lars Well if you miss your wimpy icecream so much why don’t you make some with your “magic belly button” He walks away laughing

ShieldsNRoses : Thats not how it works Lars! Right?

MotelCalifornia : Yeah, it isn’t but im gonna take that as in character

ShieldsNRoses : ya thats fine. Oh sweet Cookie Cats. I draw a catface on the ccokie cat freezer. With your crunchy cookie outsides and your icy creamy insides. You were to good for this world. I kiss the freezer.

AwesomeSaucem : dude wth we already know ur proud ur snacks but u dont gotta sell em to us

MotelCalifornia : uh… Steven do you want to take the freezer with you???

ShieldsNRoses : nods I go home with the freezer im hummin this song

[ShieldsNRoses sent an audio file]

AwesomeSaucem : is this just you humming???? wut song even is this??

Pearlescence : You have a lovely voice.

STELLA: nice

MotelCalifornia: Just wait until you get to hear the actual song. Back to the others. You guys are fighting the centipeetles.

Pearlescence: How many are there?

MotelCalifornia: You see 12 in the main area of the house. 1 by the fridge, 1 in the living room, 1 near the warp pad, 1 by the front door. Roll for Initiative.

—I’m not going to write out a whole fight scene, that sounds really boring, so I’m going to skip it and put in 3 dashes anywhere fighting would be… —

ShieldsNRoses: can I be home now

MotelCalifornia: Sure. You are at the door.

ShieldsNRoses: Hey, guys! You won’t believe this!

MotelCalifornia: You are attacked the moment you step in the door. Roll for initiative.

—

AwesomeSaucem: 'Sup, Steven?

—

ShieldsNRoses: Awesome! What are these things?

Pearlescence: Ugh! Sorry, Steven. We’ll get these Centipeetles out of your room. We think they were trying to get into the temple.

ShieldsNRoses: Aw. You don’t have to get rid of them. They’re really cool.

MotelCalifornia: The one she’s still holding takes this chance to try to spit acid at Steven and Rolls misses. It splashes to the floor between you two

—

AwesomeSaucem: I wanna do an insight chck on them

MotelCalifornia: sure

AwesomeSaucem: Rolls alright

MotelCalifornia: ok you notice that they don’t have gems

AwesomeSaucem: Um, you guys? These things don’t have gems.

STELLA: That means there must be a mother somewhere nearby.

Pearlescence: We should probably find it before anyone gets hurt.

ShieldsNRoses: Oh! Oh! Can I come?! Can I?! can I?!

Pearlescence : Steven, until you learn to control the powers in your gem, I roll to snap the neck of the one I’m holding we’ll take care of protecting humanity, okay? Rolls well

AwesomeSaucem: heh rad

ShieldsNRoses : Aw, man.

MotelCalifornia: One of the centipeetles decides to start raiding the fridge

ShieldsNRoses: Hey! Get out of there! Go on! Shoo! Shoo! Aw! they got into everything! Not cool!

MotelCalifornia: While shooing it away you notice the freezer is full of cookie cats

ShieldsNRoses: lol No way. It can’t be! where dya get these?! I thought they stopped making them! thx dad

Pearlescence : Well, we heard that, too, and since they’re your favorite…

AwesomeSaucem : We went out and stole a bunch.

Pearlescence : I went back and paid for them.

STELLA: The whole thing was my idea.

AwesomeSaucem : It was everyone’s idea.

STELLA: Not really.

Pearlescence : All that matters is that Steven is happy.

[ShieldsNRoses sends an audio file]

Pearlescence: Is this the song you were humming earlier?

AwesomeSaucem : omg, i <3 this song! u write lyrics 2?

STELLA: nice

ShieldsNRoses: I can’t believe you did this. I’m gonna save these forever! Right after I eat this one. Hello, old friend. Oh, so good! I like to eat the ears first.

MotelCalifornia: Your gem starts glowing a little

AwesomeSaucem: Uh, Steven…

ShieldsNRoses: Wha-? My gem!

AwesomeSaucem: Quick, try and summon your weapon!

MotelCalifornia: It starts fading slowly

ShieldsNRoses: I don’t know how! Ah, its fading! How do I make it come back?!

Pearlescence: Calm down, Steven. Breathe, don’t force it.

AwesomeSaucem: Yeah, and try not to poop yourself either.

STELLA: Please, don’t.

MotelCalifornia: It’s back to normal

ShieldsNRoses: Ah, I was really close that time! Can one of you just explain how to summon a weapon?

Pearlescence: Oh, I’ll go first! I think I remember how it happened. I want to take him to that cherry tree outside the town to show him.

MotelCalifornia: Sure that’s fine. When you get there you find that the petals are falling off the tree all over the place

Pearlescence : Oh! Perfect! Pay attention to these petals_, Steven. The petals’ dance seems improvised, but it is being calculated in real time based on the physical properties of this planet. With hard work and dedication, you can master the magical properties of your gem and perform your own dance!_ I summon my weapon and catch one of the petals in my hand. Like so.

AwesomeSaucem: k my turn I wanna do it at the big donut

MotelCalifornia: ok

ShieldsNRoses: wait I take some petals with me

MotelCalifornia: ok you are at the big donut

AwesomeSaucem: I buy a donut then we go to the dumpster in bak

MotelCalifornia: um, ok

ShieldsNRoses: I throw the petals up and try to make the gem glow Wah!

AwesomeSaucem: Did Pearl tell you the “petal thing”?

ShieldsNRoses: Yeah, I need to practice really hard so I can dance like a tree… I think.

AwesomeSaucem: Listen Steven, all that practice stuff is no fun. Whenever I need to summon my weapon, it just happens. i summon my whip and hit the dumpster See? Didn’t try at all.

MotelCalifornia: Lars comes out the back door and sees you destroyed the dumpster *Lars* Huh?! Again?!

STELLA: my turn

STELLA: outside the lighthouse

MotelCalifornia: ok, you go to the lighthouse

ShieldsNRoses: So I’m supposed to work really hard and not try at all at the same time?

STELLA: Yes.

ShieldsNRoses: rly?

AwesomeSaucem: lol

STELLA: Or… you could link your mind with the energy of all existing matter. Channeling the collective power of the universe through your gem, which results in—At least that’s my way of doin’ it.

Pearlescence: I don’t think that’s how you did it.

STELLA: shrug

ShieldsNRoses: dad did any of that work? Is my gem glowin?

MotelCalifornia: nope

ShieldsNRoses: back to the kitchen then I think my best bet is to recreate what happened the last time my gem glowed. Im gonna just try to make yall be where you were last time exactly So… Garnet and Amethyst were here. Pearl was next to the fridge. Hmm. Amethyst, I think your arms were crossed?

AwesomeSaucem: Okay, your majesty. crosses arms

ShieldsNRoses: And Pearl, your foot was like this. I move pearls foot

Pearlescence: I don’t think it works this way, Steven.

ShieldsNRoses: And Garnet, uh… I grab your face and point it up Yeah

STELLA: sure

ShieldsNRoses: Then I took a bite of this Cookie Cat. Oh, wait! I sang the song first. Uh, he’s a frozen treat, all new taste, interstellar war, now available at Ghurven’s. Aww, it was funnier last time. *sigh* Maybe I’m not a real Crystal Gem.

Pearlescence: Don’t be silly, Steven. Of course you are.

AwesomeSaucem: And you’re fun to have around, even if your gem is useless.

AwesomeSaucem: I… mean, you’re one of us, Steven. We’re not the Crystal Gems without you!

ShieldsNRoses: Yeah, even if I don’t have powers, I’ve still got… Cookie Cat! *takes a bite* Mmm, so good.

MotelCalifornia: Your gem glows brightly and a shield comes out of it. It is a round pink shield with a spiral of thorns from the outer edge to the center where there is a rose

Pearlescence _: Steven, it’s a shield!_

ShieldsNRoses: Whoa, what?! I get a shield?! Oooh… yeah!

ShieldsNRoses: Huh? Cookie Cat! I summon my weapon by eating ice cream!

MotelCalifornia: Roll a d20 Steven

ShieldsNRoses: Rolls

MotelCalifornia: Your excitement causes your shield to shoot across the room and ricochet back and forth, but no one gets hurt but the tv gets destroyed

ShieldsNRoses : NOOOO!!!1!

Pearlescence: What’s in these things? Seriously, I am concerned.

MotelCalifornia: You hear a loud roar from outside. A shadow passes over the window looking like an even bigger centipeetle. Steven, your shield disappears

ShieldsNRoses: What was that?

Amethyst: we go out

STELLA: It’s the Mother!

Pearlescence : I follow Amethyst and Garnet outside, but first I tell Steven to Stay in the house, Steven!

ShieldsNRoses: No way, I’m coming too! I go get the cookie ca fridge and fill it with all the cats in the frzr

— some rolling, some fighting, some hiding —

AwesomeSaucem: We could really use Steven’s shield right about now!

ShieldsNRoses: I go outside wfth the frige and extention cord. I plant it in the sand near the monster Hey! Leave them alone!

Gems _: Steven, no!_

ShieldsNRoses _: Cookie Cat Crystal combo powers, activate!_ I eat a cookie cat

MotelCalifornia: what? Your powers don’t activate

ShieldsNRoses: Uh-oh.

MotelCalifornia: the centipeetle attacks you

ShieldsNRoses: Aaaah!

—

Pearlescence: We need to save Steven!

AwesomeSaucem: Can we save ourselves first?!

—

ShieldsNRoses: Goodbye, my friends. I eat several more

MotelCalifornia: nothing happens

ShieldsNRoses: Why isn’t it working?

—

STELLA: Steven!

MotelCalifornia: rolls Steven, you notice your fridge has been hit by a stray blast of acid

ShieldsNRoses _: No… Oh, no no no!…_I try to pick it up

MotelCalifornia: You get electrocuted rolls

ShieldsNRoses: Cookie Cat, he’s a pet for your tummy. Cookie Cat, he’s super duper yummy! I grab it by the cord and drag it to the centipeetle Cookie Cat, he left his family behind! Cookie Caaat! I throw it at him

MotelCalifornia: really? You throw a fridge at him?

ShieldsNRoses: she made me mad

MotelCalifornia: okay, I guess make a strength check?

ShieldsNRoses: * rolls a natural 20* YESSSSS! Now available… nowhere.

AwesomeSaucem: Yes!

STELLA: Gems, weapons! Let’s do it.

—

MotelCalifornia: You defeat the Centipeetle. Its gem drops on the ground

STELLA: I bubble it

ShieldsNRoses: I want to have a funeral for my cookie cats

MotelCalifornia: Sure

ShieldsNRoses: I dig a hole big nuf for a cookie cat rapper. I place the rapper in the hole I cover it with dirt and I put a leaf in the top Farewell, sweet Cookie Cats. I’ll always remember the time we spent together.

MotelCalifornia: Steven, you hear your stomach growling

ShieldsNRoses: Shh, hush now.

AwesomeSaucem: Are you crying? This is so sad, Alexa play Despacito

ShieldsNRoses: Only a little!

AwesomeSaucem: Well, I guess your powers don’t come from ice cream.

Pearlescence: Of course they don’t come from ice cream. Don’t worry, Steven, I’m sure some day you’ll figure out how to activate your gem.

STELLA: Yes, in your own Steven-y way.

ShieldsNRoses: I’m okay guys. I just- Ugh, I think I ate too many Cookie Cats.

MotelCalifornia: Make a constitution check.

#CampaignAU #Steven Universe #liveblog #suliveblogchrono #Celebration

19 notes · View notes

sellinout · 6 years

Text

TRANSCRIPT for EPISODE 7

Courtesy of Steph DiBona!

[music]

DYLAN HANWRIGHT: It’s not comfortable, but there’s a little bit of hope on the horizon, of how can we keep ourselves afloat personally, while also having money for the van, the trailer, the gear. Just striking that balance is really, uh, is a tough thing.

MIKE MOSCHETTO: What’s the old saying? If it wasn’t for a mic check I wouldn’t have a check at all? I’m Mike Moschetto, and this is Sellin’ Out.

[music: “I’m a casino that pays nothing when you win / Please put your money in”]

MIKE: Hey! Thanks for listening to Sellin’ Out. Proud to be the #1 rated podcast named “Sellin’ Out” that I am personally aware of at the present time. If you’re listening for the first time, welcome, thank you. I’m mike Moschetto. But if you’ve been along for the ride up through this point, it’s probably become clear by now that I’ve been sitting on the oldest episodes of this show for over six months, in some cases closer to a year now. Just waffling about it like a coward. And so once I finally embraced my more narcissistic side and mustered up the courage to releases this stupid thing, I was fucking mortified to find that another show called Selling Out, that’s with a ‘g’, had released its first episode literally a week before I started the submission process for this one.

I think the only course of action when it comes to being beaten to the punch in something like that is that they may have had the name first, but I will utterly crush them in ratings and reviews and buzz. So if you enjoy what you hear, please consider going to Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcatchers and help me bury these guys deep down in the search results with a nice review. I don’t know, I’m sure they’re nice but what can I say, I’ve got the spirit of a warrior.

Anyway, my guests today are Dylan Hanwright and Malia Seavey, and where do I even begin? Uh, Dylan was one of the primary songwriters in I Kill Giants, who, I know, they just had a big weekend of reunion shows, and no I didn’t talk to them about it, and yes, this episode was taped months before it was even announced, so, I’m trying to get about that. But you’ll just have to appreciate this episode for what it is.

You may also know Dylan from his various other projects including Great Grandpa, Trashlord, Apples with Moya, Logfella, Slothfella, there’s probably even more that I don’t know about. And I was also joined by his partner Malia Seavey, who plays in Salt Lick, Dogbreth, and a number of other bands herself. And she’s also active in design work and screenprinting, which is such a huge economic engine within this kind of music I could do a whole episode just on that, and maybe I will.

Anyway, uh, Dylan and Malia and I talked about the role of college and its value to people pursuing creative fields, the lure of the new startup job, geographical isolation, and making do in a major American City and so much more. So, I’m pleased now to give you Dylan and Malia.

[music: “it’s just the kids these days they make me feel so old / I don’t feel comfortable in my own skin / I think the best is only over / the night is slowly closing in / and I’m staring at my thighs / you watch an episode and nothing more / I think I'd rather not be sober”]

MIKE: I met you, Dylan, through mutual friends, while they and you were at Berklee College of Music. What were you studying there and, uh, you know, this might be a stupid question for anybody who's in the know, but why Berklee?

DYLAN: Uh, originally I went in for um, the major music production engineering, which is basically recording, it’s engineering, producing, all that. That’s what my draw was, I couldn’t really find that anywhere else. Yeah, I just wanted that specific, I, you know, I didn’t just want to study music or music history or something, I wanted like a specific sort of education. So, that’s why Berklee, and I had pretty much had Berklee in my sights since I was like 15 or so.

MIKE: Right, ‘cause you’re like a player and a musician, and there’s something about that school that appeals, I mean it’s obviously the most prestigious in a certain sense, unless you’re trying to something like really classical.

DYLAN: Right, right. It’s, it’s like the more contemporary of the like, the, you know, bigger music schools, and um, and that’s definitely where I, like I didn’t do jazz band or anything in high school. I didn’t really, I was more of just like playing punk shows and stuff like that. So, so even Berklee was, it felt like a little bit of a stretch but, uh, yeah. And so when I got in I kind of had explored a little more and found a different major that seemed a little more interesting to me which was called Electronic Production and Design. And that was a little more focused on synthesis and creating sound, sound design, um a lot of like EDM folks went into that major. Um, so kind of the more like lonely end of production, just the like, you know, programming and sort of using the computer to, to get what you want done in music. And it took me, took me three semesters of applying to get into that major. So I was-

MIKE: Whoa.

DYLAN: Yeah, I was pushing hard for it and finally got in.

MIKE: Wow. And uh, Malia, do you have a formal like college education, like a post-secondary, any kind of vocational music thing, or..?

MALIA SEAVEY: Not really, I went to school for like visual arts, mostly costuming and textiles.

MIKE: Oh, okay.

MALIA: I took like one music theory class, but I really, it didn’t click [laughs].

MIKE: That’s all fine too, and do you do anything in like costuming now? Visual, kind of..?

MALIA: Um, not really, I still sew, I make like um, accessories and like guitar straps and stuff like that, and fanny packs. But um, I don’t really costume anymore, yeah.

MIKE: Okay. And did you, you had like aspirations of that maybe, like for theater, or...?

MALIA: I did, yeah, for theater. Um, I did, I wanted to do movies and stuff to but it’s, you have to dedicate a lot of nights and weekends to that, and I like to play, and usually, you know, practicing ends up at those times, and shows and stuff end up during the weekends and stuff like that, so-

MIKE: So your like music habit kind of got in the, got the better of it?

MALIA: It did, yeah. Which is funny ‘cause it was definitely like more of a, just a fun side thing for a while, and then I took it more seriously, put the other stuff aside.

MIKE: I guess I’ll throw this to both of you, did, when you were going to school for something so, I mean I think a lot about hyper-specialization, so like, music production, electronic production, sound design. I went to college for audio post-production and sound design, which is so specific that it’s like everyone from my major went to LA to work in film and TV.

DYLAN: Sure.

MIKE: Except for me. Did you get any kind of push back before you went to college for something so specific that, you know, the chances of it being lucrative are so-so?

DYLAN: Um, I feel like I was incredibly lucky with my parents and like my support system, and even like friends and everyone I went to school was like yeah this is what Dylan wants to do, Dylan's the music guy, he’s gotta go do this. And my parents knew that's really you know, all I really wanted to do. My grandparents went with me to visit the school, and you know-

MIKE: That’s nice.

DYLAN: -that was a little like scary, I was like you know, what, what are they gonna think, and they came out thinking it was incredible, they loved it, they, they helped me fund my education, and uh, so yeah. I feel really lucky that I didn’t have that push back, ‘cause I feel like, you know, a lot of folks would and, I think that definitely helped me decide, like ok, I can do this. Like, people support that, and I don’t want to let them down, so.

MIKE: Of course, yeah.

MALIA: Mine wasn’t taken seriously, until I started to get work, I think?

MIKE: That’s, I mean, the best way to prove anyone wrong, definitely.

MALIA: Totally, yeah. And to be fair I did get like a art degree from a non-art school, so I think that maybe that had something to do with it, but um, yeah. Once I started making money off of it, then people were like, oh yeah cool!

MIKE: Yeah, there you go, yeah.

MALIA: It makes sense now!

MIKE: Yeah, yeah.

MALIA: ‘Cause, ‘cause people care about money apparently.

MIKE: There’s a lot to be said, I guess, especially in creative things, for the networking, uh, parts of it. Somethings I think, like I wish someone had said like, hey you don’t need to go to like a private college, like an extremely vocational school for this. Um, and I guess it depends on what you’re doing, right? Especially if it’s networking in the sense of like, the only way into an industry, definitely? But, you know, I also like met the woman I’m about to marry at that college so I can’t really complain that much, but I mean... is there anything that you can say about the value proposition of getting a degree, like an advanced degree in music, or art, or design, or whatever. Could you recommend it to anyone, or is it totally from situation to situation?

MALIA: I personally think that one of the major reasons to go to a school like that, is like how you said the connections that you’re gonna make with the people, so I think that if you can find those kind of connections elsewhere, and um like, intern and get like on-the-job experience, I think that that could be just as good and a lot cheaper.

MIKE: Absolutely.

MALIA: But I think that school offers a lot of opportunity to get jobs through professors or meet collaborators and stuff like that, that’s really what I took away from, from going to school.

MIKE: Oh, totally. For sure.

DYLAN: I think what helped me kind of break out of my shell was college, and, and like allowed me, like I, you know, I wouldn’t have met you had it not been for meeting all of my bandmates at college, and I wouldn’t have toured as heavily and like gotten that experience had I not gone to college. And like, the most I learned about myself musically um, was outside of the college playing in bands. So it was like, a lot of the experience I got outside of the schooling itself was the most valuable-

MIKE: Extracurricular.

DYLAN: Right, and...

MIKE: Right.

DYLAN: And I think I wouldn’t have done that, I wouldn’t have been so extracurricular had I just stayed, you know, tried, tried to like intern or tried to go to local venues and stuff and just gone that route.

MIKE: Yeah.

DYLAN: To, to like break into the music scene. But I think that it’s up to, it’s totally a personal thing. I think a lot of people totally have the ability to get that knowledge and expertise and experience just by getting their feet wet, getting in and doing it.

MIKE: Of course.

DYLAN: But I think college helped me kind of like have a community to like surround myself in, and get comfortable with, and, you know, we all, we all kind of held each other up, and helped each other out and, um, I think that’s something really valuable.

MIKE: And you still do, I’m sure, even, however many years later.

DYLAN: Yeah. Oh absolutely, yeah.

MIKE: And that’s actually, you’re kind of doing all my work for me here, and, uh...

DYLAN & MALIA: [laughs]

MIKE: So while you’re, while you’re at school, obviously you get involved with I Kill Giants, and I don’t think I really appreciated this until maybe after, but like that band got-

DYLAN: I don’t think anyone did.

MIKE: -got huge, it got huge! It got huge. And I, I don’t know if this is maybe what drove it home, but like the reunion set, the Broken World Fest thing?

DYLAN: Yeah.

MIKE: Was that a surprise to you? That, I mean obviously you put in the work for it, but, were you, was it kind of an unexpected response?

DYLAN: I think that I knew that it was gonna be a big show, I knew that it was, you know, that band was a big deal to a lot of people. You can’t really realize that until you’re, you know, on stage and experiencing and having a blast. But um, yeah it was a weird thing, ‘cause I know that when I left the band, I left Boston, it seemed like such an easier choice. It seemed like yeah, you know, we don’t, we don’t have that much going. Like, career is more important, but uh, you know, months later after I’d moved and kind of like saw the, the like legacy quote-on-quote? Um, that really like set in, and, it’s just like grass is always greener, you know it’s...

MIKE: Yeah, of course.

DYLAN: It, you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone, that sort of thing, so.

MIKE: ‘Cause you did a last EP and like a last tour, and then the reunion show and all that, do you think to tag something with that kind of finality has some effect on the response and…?

DYLAN: Oh absolutely, yeah. Yeah, um, giving people one last chance or whatever, I think, you know, it makes it a little more special, a little more memorable. It means we’re gonna try harder on our end, it’s not just another show, you know, I think, I think that, in any, in any capacity, any band doing that sort of thing is gonna see... it’s gonna feel a little more special for that reason.

MIKE: I mean Aviator never did like a last show, I think we kind of fizzled out with the understanding like, ah if you’re not riding with us now then like, we don’t wanna give anyone the pleasure, I guess, which is what-

DYLAN: [laughs]

MIKE: -what, maybe why we never really got there.

DYLAN: Sure.

MIKE: I do wanna, I wanna circle back to, uh, the reason that you left Boston, and I’ve always been curious about this. Tell me about the opportunity that brought you back to your home state of Washington.

DYLAN: It was kind of a classic start-up situation. Um...

MIKE: Okay.

DYLAN: Looking back, like, maybe a little naïve at the time, but, right as I was kind of finishing up school, someone who I had been in touch with for a long time, um, really talented game developer, programmer, who, we’d always talked about collaborating and stuff. We worked together on like, you know, a few small things throughout college. As I was finishing up, he hit me up and was like hey, I’m starting a startup, we’ve got investors, we are, you know, we’ve got this house in Redmond, WA that they’re paying rent for us, we’re just gonna turn it into a dev house. Um, you’re welcome to live there, set up a, you know, set up a studio, and basically make music for our, for, and they were working on this game, that looked amazing, felt amazing, it was a really, from my experience with it, it was a really great product that I really wanted to work on. Um, and so after, you know, a lot of like back and forth and a lot of figuring out what would be best, I decided I wanted to move back, join this startup, get into the creative world professionally. There’s that panic of being done with college and being like, oh God what do I do, I don’t wanna, don’t wanna go work at food service, you know, like... Like you’d kind of said before, going to college for something like that, you know, if you don’t have something like that afterwards, it’s like a failure.

MIKE: Oh yeah, I mean I delivered pizza, I was a mailman, I did all that stuff.

DYLAN: So, that’s kind of what made the decision for me, and uh, I told the guys I was gonna quit the band. They were all really cool with it, they were stoked for me. Um, we recorded our last EP, booked our last tour, did all the stuff, and then once we were done with that tour I pretty much got back to Boston and moved out. Moved right into the house in Redmond, and I think within like a month the startup tanked.

MIKE: Wow, I didn’t know it was that quick, I thought it was at least a...

DYLAN: It was pretty quick.

MIKE: So the project never was like, completed then?

DYLAN: Nope. No, it was uh, they had an issue with like, someone who originally was part of the team, and they decided they didn’t want to be, they didn’t want to have them as part of the team anymore, then this person threatened to sue, the investors got freaked out, were like nevermind, we’re out, and that was it. Pack up and get out of the house, and kind of moved back in with my parents, and just like started from ground zero, not, not two months after leaving Boston.

MIKE: I mean I don’t pay really, really close attention but it seems like there’s been kind of like, or maybe this was the start of an indie game development renaissance almost?

DYLAN: Yeah.

MIKE: Have you, is this something you’ve continued to try to pursue in the meantime?

DYLAN: I, it’s been, there’s been like an on and off, you know, I’ll get really inspired, I’ll get, you know, just get my shit together, and you know redo my website every you know several months, and decide now’s the time. I’m gonna write some game music. I’m gonna get some stuff out there. Let’s see what we can do. And then like, a few months later, decide it’s too hard, decide it’s just like so hard to break into, and be like, maybe another time, I’m just gonna focus on writing my own music right now. So I, I feel like I’ve gone back and forth between that for the past four years.

MIKE: Was it the major change at Berklee that kind of prompted you to get into composing for something so specific as video games? Because a lot of that has to be responsive, right, like it has to be, it’s like a totally different mindset of writing.

DYLAN: Right.

MIKE: I would think.

DYLAN: Yeah, it’s very different, and uh, I actually minored in video game scoring at Berklee, which was like, just the fact that they had a minor for that, I was like ok, this, this is doable, this is like what I want to do. Um, and I can be taught how to do it, so.

MIKE: Yeah, yeah.

DYLAN: Um, it is, and it’s, there’s, it’s a lot of tech-heavy sort of, um, knowledge that goes into it and understanding how to write for an interactive sort of experience. It’s different, but it’s something I always felt like I was good at, I’ve always loved video games, I’ve always listened to soundtracks obsessively, and...

MIKE: I mean it’s some of the most, kind of culturally memorable music for a whole, like a growing generation of people.

DYLAN: Sure, yeah absolutely.

[music: “What a gift to feel stroked off by a phrase / to be so simple and so happy and undoubting / I keep commission on the TV and I’m PKD / What a mercy we’re perpetually occluded / we crave the twangy void of the perfect diploid / I am irrational - an expert eraser”]

MIKE: Malia, are you from the Seattle area originally then, or..?

MALIA: I Grew up in Olympia, I’ve been in Seattle like eight or nine years.

MIKE: Tell me about your, your music, your bands.

MALIA: Um, I’m in a few projects. My main project that I write the most for is called Salt Lick, and it’s with a group of close friends that, a few of us have been making music together for, I don’t know, two or three years, although this project is pretty new.

MIKE: Same people, kind of reconfigured.

MALIA: Yeah.

MIKE: Okay.

MALIA: Yeah, totally. I sing in that band and like, write the words and stuff, and I joined Dogbreth last August, I think? So I drum in the band. We actually, I got home at 4:30 this morning [laughs] because we were recording for the last week or so, um, at the Unknown in Anacortes, so. Really excited about that.

MIKE: Wow.

MALIA: And, I’m in another project called Super Projection. So yeah, pretty busy, pretty busy with the tunes.

MIKE: And, do these all tour, I mean, it sounds like you were record, were you recording remotely, or somewhere nearby?

MALIA: Um, Anacortes is about an hour and a half away.

MIKE: Okay.

MALIA: It’s like this old church turned into a studio.

MIKE: Ooh.

MALIA: Um, it’s really great, loved it, I recorded there with Super Projection about a year ago as well.

MIKE: Oh cool, cool cool.

MALIA: We, we tour mildly, nothing like something people I know. [laughs] Like you know, a week or two here and there.

MIKE: Regionally, obviously.

MALIA: Totally, yeah, the coast kind of thing, maybe over to Montana, but nothing too big yet, hopefully someday, you know.

MIKE: Yeah, yeah of course. I mean you have to, especially in, in your part of the country it has to be so gradual that you get outside of your home base ‘cause everything is like, I don’t want to say we’re like lucky around here ‘cause it’s not always, results may vary, but you know, you can drive an hour and a half and you’re in like a different market.

MALIA: Yeah, I know, it’s crazy.

MIKE: I’m haunted by the three days I did in the northwest.

DYLAN: [laughs]

MALIA: Oh, long drives?

MIKE: Nobody, nobody told me that like you should really have a day in between Portland and San Francisco. So we did the whole thing-

MALIA: Oh yeah that’s a long one.

MIKE: We did an overnight drive, and we were just fucking zombies, and didn’t get to-

MALIA: Sleepy gig? [laughs]

MIKE: Oh, boy.

MALIA: Yep, been there.

MIKE: Just running off of fumes. Um, so take me through some of the, you know, you’re obviously playing in bands too, and trying to support recording and all of that, how are you making money? You said you got some work doing like costuming, and design and stitching, how else are you paying the bills?

MALIA: Um, so I worked at a sewing shop sewing and then eventually managing for like four years after school. And then eventually, about a year ago, I left to do some screenprinting, I started screenprinting on the side while I was working at that shop. So that’s mostly how I make money right now, is printing shirts for organizations and like bands and all sorts of different things. Shirts and um...

MIKE: You own all the, you own like the presses and all that stuff?

MALIA: No, no.

MIKE: NO? Oh, okay. Do you work out of a studio?

MALIA: Yeah, I work out of a couple studios, I work out of um, a place called Fogland for flatstock and then I um, I work out of the Vera Project for some t-shirts and other, other stuff like that. And then, I’m like a dogwalker, like I had a dog walk today. I do like random jobs like here and there like that, and I don’t know, we do some random like, pickup work and stuff like that.

MIKE: Sure, sure.

MALIA: Yeah, mostly that.

MIKE: Like gig economy stuff.

MALIA: Yeah, I guess so. And I, I do some sewing, freelance sewing for people. I also have a company where I sew like um, accessories and straps and stuff like that, and I sell them at like craft fairs and stuff like this, to friends. Fix people’s stuff.

MIKE: So, going from working for a company for several years, and uh, you know, at the time we’re recording this, it’s tax season, that surely won’t be true by the time this comes out but, have you, like what has been the difference between working for someone and working for yourself when it comes to that sort of adult responsibility shit?

MALIA: Totally. Well, it’s definitely hard at points, but then it’s, it’s really nice to have um, the freedom to decide what I want to do and when I want to do it.

MIKE: Yeah.

MALIA: Um, that can also be kind of scary though. It’s hard to stay motivated sometimes, but I feel like I, I do a really good job at keeping busy [laughs]. So, whether it’s something-

MIKE: That’s, I mean, you have to, yeah.

MALIA: Yeah, whether it’s something that’s making money or not. I do a lot of inexpensive things now, like um, creating art, and stuff like that, like, you know, playing music, but. I mean, traveling is expensive, but I, I feel more creative now that, you know, I’m not like drained all day at the sewing shop somewhere.

MIKE: yeah, I mean that’s, that’s worth everything if you can make your schedule work for you, then that’s, I mean, so, I was a, I was a, I mean I still kind of am, but I was only a recording engineer for, I don’t know, two years maybe? And I remember the first year that I filed taxes and I owed like $1000, and I was like AUGH!

MALIA: Oh yeah.

MIKE: And then I got a side job and that kind of all balanced out, and I was like ok, alright I can like surrender a little bit, and then you kind of just inch a little bit more toward giving more and more of your time.

MALIA: Mhmm.

MIKE: Um, is what you do kind of feast or famine? Are you like loaded with work at times and then there’s a dry spell for a while? Or is it fairly constant?

MALIA: It’s pretty even. It’s, yeah, I mean, there are definitely, it, I’m always working on a project but sometimes they do stack up. So. Sometimes it can be a little bit overwhelming in that sense, but um, I don’t know I think I strive off of being incredibly busy, so, it’s good for me [laughs].

MIKE: It’s good, I mean, there’s nothing worse than getting really busy and then having a drought and then having to kind of string yourself along financially through all of that. Um, I guess I should get back to, so take me through, you alluded to this Dylan, within two months of moving out, you’re kind of back to the drawing board. You’re freelance now, but how are you kind of stringing yourself along between then and now?

DYLAN: So, um, I moved back in with my parents, they live like an hour south of Seattle. And so, that was kind of when I was back there, it was kind of a scramble, I was, you know, broke, trying to figure out like well, do I move back to Boston? Like I spent so much money getting back here,. but maybe if I can get a job and raise some money, like I can get back to Boston, just kind of, just resume what I was doing. Um, and so I moved to Seattle ‘cause I got a job teaching children how to ride bikes.

MIKE: Whoa.

DYLAN: That was my first job in Seattle. Uh, did that for a summer, basically took that whole summer to just like catch up to my credit card and pay off debt. So at that point, I’m like, now I’m, you know now I’m maybe a little bit in the black, but still nowhere near able to move back to Boston. Even, nonetheless pay for a plane ticket. So, I was like well I guess I’m here in Seattle, I gotta get a new job. Um, you know, I worked at a hospital doing, like, sound and video for conferences, and then I worked for a game company for quite a while. And then during all this, just kind of let go of the idea of moving back to Boston. I started to like make friends, I Started to meet people, started a band. And just like in all of this, sort of working a day job, just kind of like doing music when I could. A year or two after, you know, I had to move back with my parents, it was like, I’m in Seattle now, this is where I'm at, this is what I'm gonna do. Because it’s a great city, and it/s, there’s still, it’s like you said, it’s kind of a, you know there’s a renaissance for indie gaming, and there’s always gonna, it’s always gonna be there so, you know, I might as well just grind and grind and see what this can do for me.

MIKE: Let’s, I guess let's talk about Great Grandpa, right? I mean that’s going pretty well, huh?

DYLAN: Yeah, uh, as well as anything has gone for me in a band.

MIKE: It seems like it anyway.

DYLAN: You know, we put out a record on a label, and we had a booking agent, and we were like cool, let's do this, let’s do this music thing full time. And that was in July of, uh, 2017.

MIKE: How has that been? How is that, how would you describe...?

DYLAN: It's a strange world because it’s just like, it’s not that you have a better job, it’s not like you have more of an income playing in a band. It’s that maybe down the road-

MIKE: Whaaat?

DYLAN: -you will, you really have no idea but the only way to find out is just to do it. And so, that’s kind of where we were at. We had finished recording this record, we spent a lot of time on it, we got a booking agent through it, Greg Horbal, who, you know, maybe that wouldn’t have happened had I not gone to school also. So it’s like all these things that just, all these experiences, all these people, all these connections just kind of like culminated in like, great! We got a booking agent, our booking agent helped us get on a label, the label is, you know, run by folks that I’ve known for a little while too. And it’s like, sort of a, all came together at once. And um, we’re like great, we’re ready to release this record, Greg got us on our first full US tour with the band Rozwell Kid, who are some of my favorite people that I’ve known for a little bit. And uh, so it all just, it worked out so perfectly, we all felt so like, you know lucky and blessed and just kind of went for it. So, ok, let’s quit our jobs, let’s tour, and during that tour we got our offer for the next tour, the Citizen tour. Um, and then during that tour, we got an offer for the Diet Cig tour, and just kinda like, you know, you just kinda keep going.

MIKE: It’s kinda rolling at this point.

DYLAN: Yeah, you just do it. Maybe it doesn’t really work out monetarily, you kind of flounder a little bit, but, you know, when we’re on tour, we get like daily per diems to eat basically, that’s just like what we’ve budgeted for ourselves based on how much we make per show. Um, everything else pretty much just goes back into the band fund, we don’t really see a lot of that, so, um, really I just kind of saved up enough at my old job as I was preparing to quit to really just help me get by those months when I was back home, or like you know, paying rent when I’m on the road. But really, it’s like we don’t see a whole lot from the band itself, it’s still just kind of an investment towards our own future. And recently we, like, we were like feeling you know pretty, like ok, we just kind of settled down, we’re you know, about to finish off this eight months of touring, what do we want to do as far as money? Like, we get our payouts every day, but you know...

MIKE: You still have like phone bills.

DYLAN: Right, exactly. Like, what, what should we do, and so we kinda looked at what we had and just like decided on a fair amount that everyone should get, just because we had just gone through all this, you know, stuff with the record, we got like a publishing deal, and, you know. And so they gave an advance that says like, as a a band you get paid when something gets placed and licensed and used, but when a publishing company, sorry and this was all new to me when this started happening. I learned pretty quickly.

MIKE: Right, this is all kind of stuff that I’ve heard peripherally about.

DYLAN: Right, right.

MIKE: It’s so alien to me that it’s never really made sense, but.

DYLAN: It’s bizarre. It’s just insane that someone would just give you money to, to have the rights to your record whether or not it’ll get placed, you know, they could potentially not make any money off of us, you know, and, but, they kind of put their faith in us and said here’s this advance. And, so anyway, without going into like, you know, too much further into like what we make as a band.

MIKE: Sure, sure.

DYLAN: It’s, it’s not comfortable, it’s still sort of like we’re grinding, but there’s a little bit of hope on the horizon of like, ok, this happened, you know, how can we keep making this happen. How can we keep making enough to like keep ourselves afloat personally, while also like having money for the band, you know, so many expenses. The van, the trailer, the-

MIKE: Oh my God.

DYLAN: -the gear, just, yeah it all adds up. So, it’s like striking that balance is really, is a tough thing, but.

MIKE: Is there anything that you, or your bandmates, either of your bandmates, uh, that you could do from the road and like kind of generate some income while you’re, while you’re out?

DYLAN: For most of us, it’s work, work, work while we’re home, have enough to like survive on the road and pay rent, but uh, Pat from my band, uh, he’s a 3-D environment artist. Um, he does, yeah he works on video games and like VR experiences.

MIKE: Wow.

DYLAN: And so, yeah he’s been able to do a ton of work from the road, um, you know he’s had like business calls in the van, and you know, [laughs] shit like that. So, uh, it’s possible, I think it, for me unluckily, it’s, I can’t really, I don’t have a, I don’t have like a laptop, I can’t really work on music on the road in that capacity. I really prefer to have like my whole setup. So yeah, it’s more of just kind of like marinating on ideas and stuff, if that counts, but other than that, no.

MIKE: Sure it does.

DYLAN: There’s not a whole lot of money to be made, you know, freelance-wise on the road. For me, personally, I don’t know.

MALIA: I do some like, poster design and stuff like that, and I can like prep artwork for screenprinting when I get back and stuff. Uh, that’s pretty much the extent of mine though.

MIKE: Yeah. Can you like-

MALIA: Do like some clerical stuff, Photoshop.

MIKE: Can you like book work while you’re out and take like deposits or whatever? That was like, that was my bread and butter for a while.

MALIA: Yeah, definitely. I don’t really take deposits on stuff, but um, just like, yeah having, having work ready when you get home is important, or when I, for me at least.

MIKE: Oh yeah, of course. If you can line it up in advance, then, it feels a little better to be like ok I got two more weeks, one more week.

MALIA: There’s money on the horizon! [laughs] Yeah.

MIKE: Before you start calling home for a handout or anything.

MALIA: Oh my God.

[music: “I never thought it’d be easy / I never wanted to see it / and I don’t want to need it / like I do anymore”]

MIKE: Dylan, you’ve spent time outside of Seattle, like I won’t pretend to know enough about the music scene here that I can make this comparison, but at least, talk me through maybe the differences between Seattle and Boston in terms of like, I don’t know, just the cost of living, the opportunities that you get.

DYLAN: You know, I think Boston’s definitely, it costs more, but I also have a, I like got lucky with my situation here, and you know, pay a lot less than average. So that’s, you know, just my experience. But uh, cost-wise, it’s definitely seems more expensive to live in Boston, however, the community, the music scene that I was involved with, and still like tangentially am, in Boston, feels a lot more supportive but at the same time kind of like tight-knit. And I feel like I, I luckily have that tight-knit community around me, and that was really, I was really fortunate for that, and I think that helped me sort of like, exist in the music scene and, and you know, um, succeed. Uh, whereas here, it’s there but it’s not as, it’s not as like close, it’s not as friendly, it’s like everyone in the scene are, they’re my acquaintances, and I have some very close friends in the scene, but it’s all kind of-

MIKE: IT’s almost counterintuitive to think that a bigger music scene that’s kind of centered on these institutions like Berklee for example would be more cooperative, ‘cause you’d think that kinda breeds competition in a way, and kind of like shitty attitudes. And I think there’s probably that, too, occasionally.

DYLAN: Right. Well and that’s the thing, I feel like, you know, I’m sure that in Seattle there are these tight-knit communities, you know, through the college, or you know, just, there’s so many different communities, and there are very close communities where people have positions where they can book at prevalent venues and like you know, help out, sort of the DIY scene and help kind of raise it up. I feel like Boston, I saw that a lot in Boston. I saw people got positions at these venues, people like moved up and used that to like try to help each other out, and I just saw people turn from DIY people to like music professionals, but they’re still grounded in DIY.

MIKE: The rising tide lifts all boats kind of deal.

DYLAN: Yeah, absolutely. And so like I said, I’m sure that exists here, I just, it’s, I’m part of the scene in a different way here, I’m just a different sort of...

MIKE: Tapped into a different vein of it.

DYLAN: Right, right.

MIKE: Malia, have you lived in this area you’re whole life?

MALIA: Um, I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest for most of my life that I can remember [laughs]

MIKE: Sure, and is-

MALIA: But like I said, I moved here like eight years ago or so.

MIKE: Of the places you’ve traveled is there anywhere else you could kind of see yourself, like doing what you do in kind of, or is it really all about your social circles here?

MALIA: Um, I really appreciate the connections I have in Seattle, and I think that that makes it really difficult to imagine moving, but unfortunately, Seattle is getting um really expensive. So, I have lucked out in that I have a really affordable rent, but that is kind of, it’s not easy to find that, you have to kind of have an in to a house or something, or like, be willing to live with a bunch of people. So, eventually I’ll probably have to see myself in a different place. But I, I think my skills are transferable. I think I can do this kind of thing.

MIKE: Oh, no doubt.

MALIA: Live this lifestyle, you know, in a lot of different places so I’m not too worried about it.

MIKE: I mean anywhere there’s an artsy enough community to sustain it. But I guess in terms of the price of rent, like, that’s something that obviously Boston has down, um, well I should say up.

MALIA: Is it expensive there too?

MIKE: Oh my fucking God. It’s, it’s out of control, and it’s only, I feel like it’s only gotten worse since I initially lived here for college. Like you could find places for like $675 a month and now it’s [whistles] off the charts. Um, how close to the city are you?

MALIA: Dylan lives lieka five-minute walk to a light rail that brings you right in. ANd I, I live, it’s called the U DIstrict, it’s like where the University of Washington is, and it’s like a five minute bus to downtown, but, other than that, my neighborhood has, you know, a lot of what I need anyways. It’s like got a lot of, I got a lot of friends living around me and lot s of little house venues here and there.

MIKE: And how is that connected to, where do you practice with your bands, where does your, how far of a commute is the different places that you do screenprinting or whatever else?

MALIA: Um, I practice in Ballard, which is, you know, like a five-minute drive, without traffic from my house, so it’s not that bad. Or you know like, 15-20 minute bike ride.

MIKE: In like a rehearsal room, or uh, somebody's house?

MALIA: Yeah, I have a practice space. And then I practice at, um, my bandmate’s house, for Dogbreth, which is literally two blocks from mine so it’s like incredibly convenient.

MIKE: Oh, awesome. So all your gear lives there, and all that too?

MALIA: Mmhmm. Yep.

MIKE: Cool.

DYLAN: Yeah, and for me, I’ve kind of built, [laughs] built everything I need into my house. Uh, I, like I live with a bunch of people but I’m fortunate enough that they’re willing to, you know, have, let bands have practice here, and have me record here and all that stuff, so, um. Yeah luckily everyone comes to me for practice, in all three of my projects, so that’s pretty cool.

MIKE: Yeah it’s nice isn’t it?

DYLAN: Yeah, yeah. But like Malia said, I’m pretty close to downtown if I need it, you know, I think we’ve both just kind of set up our lives that, the stuff we need, you know the stuff about a city that you need, so like, you know, just accessible public transportation, accessible groceries, and somewhat of like a social scene. I feel like we've kind of got all those bases covered, sort of where we live, we kind of live on opposite sides of downtown.

MALIA: Dylan even brings the gig to him.

DYLAN: That’s true, yeah.

MALIA: [laughs]

MIKE: That’s right, you do.

DYLAN: We have shows here, and uh, yeah so really I don’t have to leave the house, ever.

MIKE: I mean, I’ve talked to, I’ve talked to folks who do gigs at their house before, and that’s a whole, that’s a whole ball of wax that, I mean there’s so much personal liability that comes into it. Like, you obviously know I had a house set up a little like yours, I didn’t share it with people, but um, you know, I, the night that I had to move out, like, somebody had said like when you get out of here, you should do a show and just like tear the place up. And that’s the only, that’s like the only outcome i can imagine, just like so much destruction. How do you, like, how do you navigate that? Is everyone pretty respectful generally? Do you find yourself putting a lot of rent money into like-

DYLAN: No, you know I kind of started out the venue, you know started booking shows with this sort of understanding that it’s like not a party house. We do shows here, and that’s it. You know, and, I want people to have fun and I want people to have a good time, but there is like, I’ve just seen, yeah, I’ve seen you know, what you’re talking about. I've seen some pretty rough DIY spaces in both audience kind of like unruliness but also sort of like promoter just kind of like, yeah we could have a show! And then they’re not there for an hour. You know, after bands are supposed to show up and they’re just drunk, or like whatever it is, so I think like my goal for the venue is to kind of like make it a place where people felt safe, where bands felt like they were communicated with, and like you know are willing to play here. And yeah for the most part it’s like kind of part of this venue now is that it, it is a pretty mellow, mellow place to see a show. And, I tend to even avoid like, you know, like louder punk bands, which part of me feels bad about, because that, you know, I still like that music. But, it’s also like-

MIKE: That’s sellin' out, dude. [laughs]

DYLAN: Yeah.

MALIA: A lot of thought goes into, um, like the promotion of the shows too, that’s like specifically respect the space, and I don’t know people are reminded that throughout the night sometimes by the bands.

MIKE: Doesn’t it suck to have to remind people of that?

MALIA: It does, I get it though. I think that people that don’t organize shows, they don’t really think about that, you know. They just go to this show and they’re like it’s a party! But um, you know, when you’re like hey this is our fuckin’ house, like, can you please [laughs] respect it, and like-

MIKE: Yeah, I see like, like pillows on couches and-

MALIA: -clean up after yourself, and you know.

MIKE: Yeah, of course. I, uh, in the interest of like journalistic fairness I should probably interview some like ornery landlords or something.

MALIA: [laughs] yeah.

MIKE: Uh, what’s your ideal situation, either of you? Like in terms of like earning, and making a living, like how does that, how does what you’re doing now play into it, into like a larger goal?

MALIA: I mean hopefully in the future my ideal would be like making a little bit more money, but like as for what I’m doing, like, I don’t really see myself wanting to anything much differently. Which is like a nice place to be in in life, I don’t, I feel really content with the activities that I do on a day to day so to speak.

MIKE: That’s great, that’s always nice to end on a high note.

DYLAN: Yeah, and it, to go off of that, I’d be stoked to like be similarly like, in any realm of possibility making more money off of music to support myself and, and be able to fund my insatiable need for video games and uh, and music gear. That’s all I need.

MIKE: Oh man, that’s a money pit right there.

DYLAN: It is, it really is, I don’t think anyone can really afford it.

[music]

MIKE: As always, if you liked what you heard today, I urge you to support Dylan and Malia in their numerous endeavors however you see fit. There is a veritable plethora of links and info in the description of this episode, including a link to the ever-growing Spotify playlist of songs featured on the show. You can find a transcript of this and every episode on my blog at sellinout.tumblr.com. If you want to support the show and get exclusive bonus content you can find out how to do that at patreon.com/sellinoutpodcast. Follow the show on Twitter, @SellinOutAD. Leave a nice rating and review on your favorite podcatcher, it helps others find the show. Or you can screenprint some bootleg Sellin Out merch, sell maybe two, and leave the rest to be eaten by moths in the attic.

Our theme song is “No Cab Fare” by Such Gold. Photography by Nick DiNatale. I’m Mike Moschetto, this is Sellin’ Out.

#dylan hanwright #malia seavey #salt lick #dogbreth #i kill giants #great grandpa #trashlord #podcast #sellin out #transcript #transcripts

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chromemuffin · 7 years

Photo

Quan Zhi Gao Shou / The King’s Avatar Manhua (Chapters 0-5)

What I really enjoyed right from the start of the animation was the realistic nature of the game and characters. I only play games sporadically myself, and usually handhelds at that, but even I could relate to Ye Xiu’s journey to the top of the new server. I mean, usually you just take for granted that the main character is aiming for the top of something, but it’s difficult to relate to saving the world or leading a gang of misfits across the land fighting monsters. Climbing to the top in a game, however? We’ve probably all tried it in some way or another, even if we failed along the way (I still haven’t completed the National Pokedex in any Pokemon game, ok).

This also could have been stated at the beginning of a review for the whole series, but this is a long one, the novel translations aren’t even complete yet. So it’s here now as a preface.

And now it’s time for my far less composed liveblogging! This is not going to be as detailed as my Shoukoku no Altair one by a long shot, I think I’d collapse of exhaustion before I finished.

Chapter 0: Cause

It is both unnerving and relaxing to not obsess about language nuance like I do when I read Japanese stuff. On the other hand, it feels weird being back to the state of not understanding more than a few words here and there...

Colored panels are the best. The color (cold tones) to black & white to color (warm tones) back to black & white is a neat contrast.

I’m honestly really excited to get all these names and teams straight. I watched several groups’ subs for the early episodes and all the names were translated differently, leading me to have no clue who anyone was or which team they belonged to except the currently teamless Ye Xiu lol.

Chapter 1: As we drink, the lute signals to go to war

Look at that smug smirk. Ye Xiu’s relationship with Su Mucheng is just really nice with how supportive they are of each other.

Damn it, I said I wasn’t going to go panel-by-panel! But I like the contrast between these two shots. One is as he is turning away, after having reassured Su Mucheng that he will be returning and it really is fine that his old team literally kicked him to the curb. The other is once he is turned away. He seems fine in the first shot, sort of indifferent, while the dark shadow over his eyes in the next panel suggests differently. But he’s not one to complain.

Unexpected comedy shot lol. I appreciate the life in the internet cafe, everyone excited about Glory and the new server haha. In the animation, it was very quiet when he walked in, and they had to 3D animate it.

“As a female Launcher player, Mucheng never stopped smiling even when she blew up her opponent to pieces... It’s actually quite scary when you think about it.”

haha. He’s more expressive in the manhua. It lets you have these cute little musings in between scenes that the animations never have time for.

lol he just goes and hijacks her account. who does that. “the battle started already so I finished it for you. but don’t worry, I won!” that. isn’t the point.

Hi scary demon Ye Xiu! Side note: they’re doing a good job giving the background characters different features.

Also, thanks to not looking at the characters for their names, I keep getting Ye Xiu and Ye Qiu mixed up. I...really need to go find out how it’s written.

Not going to feature all of Chen Guo’s fun expressions, but so far there have been a lot of them and they’re great. (edit for Chen Guo’s name which I derped on and forgot at the time of writing this post. lol the manga doesn’t mention her whole name - Chen Guo - until a few chapters later. I think the other patrons call her ‘Sister Chen’ and the reader finds out her given name when Ye Xiu does. but in the novel, I think the narrative switches over to her at some point, so you find out her full name before Ye Xiu does...)

I love sayings, and how they are so weird when translated literally - Japanese ones are like this, too, because a lot of them are Chinese in origin. My favorite is probably 亀毛兎角.

I hope this is a translation thing because damn, what a way to sugar-coat the truth.

Chapter 2: Since ancient times, how many have returned from war?

I wish I knew the references to classical Chinese poetry/literature, it makes the series 10x more fun when you know the origin of some of their usernames and such.

Ok, overdoing it much, Sun Xiang’s posse? You don’t need to be extra nasty about it to his face.

I always really liked this expression of his reluctance, this human emotion from a guy who looks rather calm and composed (or sheepish, occasionally) most of the time. He takes things in stride, but here you definitely get the bitterness of his situation.

And now he has to laugh it off with a smile! He does a good job of keeping it together throughout this whole deal though.

lol what kind of expression is that. “I like working nights!” why the cat face/ears. why. that was such a quick interview lol.

“Actually, we aren’t lacking people, the advert you saw was from a long time ago.”

That’s...actually, interesting. So Chen Guo is hiring him anyways? Or am I missing something in the translation?

You are a surprisingly funny man, Ye Xiu.

This is me. (it says ‘Verify faster!’)

lol Ye Xiu looking at the beginner’s guide. I never read the instructions though, even for a complicated games I’m new to, I just sort of jump in and hope I don’t die in the first few stages. Pretty sure the only game I had to actually read the instructions for was Final Fantasy Type-0? It’s difficult getting into a good rhythm without reading the in-game tips for that game...plus, some of the more advanced techniques are hard to pull off.

Chapter 3: Don’t laugh at those who lie drunk on the battlefield

If I had time, I’d totally make edits, buuut I do not and photoshop is on my other computer. but when did he get those noodles...?

lol and he just outs himself right on the spot.

That is one dark expression, I love it. The retirement thing is definitely a sore spot for him.

“you’re a professional. but also an amateur.” lol must be so weird to be Ye Xiu

“Don’t fake it, actually you’re not even retired. You didn’t get a spot and got kicked out, right?”

Ouch. Hit it where it hurts, why don’t you. Though she isn’t aware of who he actually is yet. He did indeed get kicked out, and it’s probably worse because he did have a spot previously, he was at the top even.

Starting avatar! I love the character designs in this series, across the animation and manhua.

“Suddenly I miss those games that let people pass through each other!”

HOW COULD THEY WITH SO MANY PEOPLE PLAYING. It reminds me of the Sims flailing their arms because you stuck a cabinet in the wrong spot and they can’t get through.

“Such a civilized way to kill monsters, I’m not used to it.”

“This only happens when a new server opens, you’ll definitely wish you can queue again in the future.”

I really like the side comments. I don’t play multiplayer games, but the comments definitely breathe some life into it.

LOL. “How to endure the shame? I was once known as Glory’s textbook level expert and now I have to use a beginner’s guide to do beginner’s quests.” You can feel his soul dying little by little in these panels...

I love how many titles he earned...”Does no commercials”.

And, of course, him trying to reveal who he actually is, only for her not to believe him.

lol this comment: “It’s so hard to play in first person view!” That’s actually how I feel, I dunno, I mostly play handhelds and older games. I flipped out when I tried to play Final Fantasy: Dirge of Cerberus in first person, before I figured out there was actually a third person view...I’m just really lame when it comes to games, ok.

Ooh, it’s here! The umbrella! What an odd choice of weapon, usually they’re the joke weapons. Well, it’s better than the bus stop sign from Persona 3.

I’ve read spoilers about who this guy standing behind him is, and I am not ready to actually come across that part in the novel.

Side note: I like the avatar’s design better here than in the animation. Wonder if he changes outfit later on...

Chapter 4: Green Forest’s Sleeping Moon

“Let me help you, I’ll give you the drops as well.” “I’m [a] male.” Lol. I really do love these little dialogues.

I also love the usernames, I really am hopeless with it comes to naming things myself.

Hello, Sleeping Moon! I remember you! Sort of.

I love how Ye Xiu totally has a plan going into this, and his thought process is written out. It’s a mundane detail, but I like it. (I’m the type of person who doesn’t read the instructions provided by the game, but will go look everything up online because regardless if I played the game before or not, I like having a Plan when I go into it...I’m impatient, Shadow of the Colossus is the only game I actually take time to explore.)

The two modes of communication for Glory also make it interesting...Both text and audio. It’s fun having both.

haha these drawings have so much life in them

Including these.

Way to look awesome and dramatic with your umbrella in hand.

lol “You planning to advance into a Cleric? Why don’t you just be our caretaker for good?” dying inside, I tell you, dying inside

Knowing the spoilers like I do, THIS ISN’T OKAY. no sad flashback scene so early on. c’mon.

I like how Sleeping Moon keeps talking to him like he’s a newbie, too. It’s pretty funny.

Chapter 5: You reap what you sow

Finally, a chapter title I’m familiar with!

The naaames: Sleeping Moon, Just a Passerby, Not Just Cannon Fodder, Lord Grim, and Fallen Sun

I like ‘Just a Passerby’.

Hey, you even get to say some last words after your HP hits 0 haha.

“Don’t you know that if you die in a dungeon in Glory, you can’t come back?!” lol I’m side-eyeing all the other ‘if you die in the game you die in real life’ stories...

They gave Sleeping Moon some really awesome expressions, gotta say.

“But your acting isn’t at all convincing.” Actually, this is vaguely terrifying.

Also, I appreciate how Ye Xiu is calling him out on this whole plan and how he meant to cheat everyone while Ye Xiu is basically doing the same. haha

I’m not going to screencap it all, but the sequence of the boss slowly killing Sleeping Moon like the cat it is, and Ye Xiu’s reactions, are gold.

The umbrella is also really cool of course.

And here starts the drama on the 10th server! It’s honestly great, and quite true to real life haha. Well, real life can probably be weirder than even fiction...

AAAND that’s finally it! 5 chapters + the 0 chapter done! Oh geez that took forever...Anyway, I love all the little details the manhua can fit in that the animation can’t and I look forward to reading the novel version of these chapters sometime soon.

onward →

#quan zhi gao shou #king's avatar blogging #qzgs manhua blogging

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argentinian-argentum · 7 years

Audio

An original post. What? From me? Who has heard of that? No one. I am kidding, I have some, like 3 or 4 original posts, but even that is debatable. Aaaaanyway, I found this audio yesterday and I HAD to make something out of it.

Ok, ok, so, before I start, I will clarify what´s that thing up there. I found this gem while searching for stuff about Robbie Daymond (Prompto´s voice actor). He voices this character on an animated show called Breadwinners, and someone had linked a scene of the show and…DUDE, HE SINGS! Like ROBBIE FREAKING SINGS LIKE AN ANGEL AND HE KILLS IT! IT´S PROMPTO ROCK STAR GUYS! And after I heard it I got inspired and made a “little” fanfic to go with it. I know my writing won´t make my idea true justice, but I wanted to try. This is my first thing of the sorts here so be nice, and sorry for any grammatical mistake I make. I am still learning English. I am really excited. I really hope you guys like it, and please tell me what you think. So *breaths in* let´s start.

( Beware of loud parts and cartoony effects in the audio. Can´t really eliminate those XP)

Dedicated to All B who helped me and is such a great friend and I love you <3

---

JENNY QUACKLES

It was late at night. The boys were strolling through the city after a big and busy day.

“Dudes! I´m so hungry! Can we have dinner or something?”asked Prompto to the gang.

Gladio was pretty hungry too. He started looking around and had an idea. “Mmh, I know a nice diner just a couple blocks from here. Wanna try it out?” he suggested.

“I would eat anything at this point. Lead the way Gladio.”Noct said between whines.

They arrived just outside the “diner”. But it wasn´t really a diner. Noct was about to comment on his reluctance when Prompto beat him to it. “A karaoke bar?” he said. There was fear shown in his eyes.

“What? You have a problem with that?” Gladio asked judgingly.

“No, no, it´s just, I don´t want to sing.”

“You don´t have to sing just because you are eating there.” Ignis said trying to reassure Prompto. It seemed to work.

“Oh, okay then.” He said relieved “Well, what do you say Noct? You want to try this place out?”

Noctis noted Prompto´s nervousness and that made him change his mind and want to enter. “Let´s enter and eat.”

They sat at a table that was two roads away from the main stage. It was really small, only about three people could fit up there, and that was if they were willing to budge up. The table they chose was one of only two possibilities. It was either that one or another one next to the bathroom. And surely the prince wouldn´t be willing to seat near the bathroom door.

“So, Gladio, how come you know about this place?” asked Noct curiously.

“Iris likes to come here every once in a while. We come here for family outings. She is the one who sings, mostly; though I must say I have given some awesome renditions of Can't Stop by RHCP on that stage.” Gladio answered.

“Too bad we missed that.” Said the prince.

Just then a waiter appeared and gave them the menu, and with it, the list of songs that the karaoke machine had available. They started ordering, but Noct couldn´t take his eyes off the karaoke song list. He suddenly saw one song and a smirk originated in his face. He quickly hides it though; he can´t let his plan be known.

“So… have you guys seen how many songs they have listed in here?” he started saying.

“Yes, the amount of variety is rather alarming actually, although understandable. They need to attract as much clientele as possible. They certainly aren´t coming here for the food” Ignis said as he eyed off what people were eating at the other tables. Nothing really appetizing.

“Yeah, they put new ones every month. It´s impressive how they don´t run out of songs.” Gladio answered.

“You know, it would be a shame if we left this place without anyone of us singing, don’t you think Prom?”

Prompto was starting to get nervous at Noct´s questions “Emm, er, maybe. If you wanna sing you should totally do it.” He said trying to deflect Noct´s attention from him.

“I was thinking something more like you got up there and sang.”

“What? Me? Nononono, no way” Prompto was hyper nervous now.

“Come one, it will be fun”

“No thanks, I am good”

“Ok, I will sweeten the deal for you. If you sing I will gladly pay dinner AND a trip to the Chocobo Ranch” Noct said tentatively.

“The chocobo ranch?” Prompto asked. Now he was interested “But, I thought you didn´t want to go there again after last time.”

“Hey! Just ´cause I fell in the middle of the race doesn’t mean I am not going back there again.”Noctis answered. Gladio was trying to hide the giggles without success. ”Besides, this is a challenge, my opinion doesn´t matter; if you like it, we will go there.”

“Em, can I think about it?”

“Where is the catch kiddo?” Gladio now asked seriously.

“Catch?” Prompto asked.

“You must know him by now. He always has an ace under his sleeve. Spill it out, what´s the catch? Surely singing isn´t all you really want.”

Noctis tried to defy Gladio but couldn´t beat his stare. “Ugh, fine. I wanted to tell him once he agreed but I guess now I have to obey my shield.”said Noct in a sarcastic manner “I will pay for all of that if, and only if, you sing this song” he said as he pointed the chosen song with his finger.

“Jenny Quackles??!!” shouted Prompto scandalized.

“What the hell is that?” Gladio asked in confusion.

“Just a silly song from a cartoon we saw a video of. I am not singing that!”

“Aw, come on, it´s funny!” Noctis pleaded.

“Why don´t you sing it then?”

“Because I don´t want to and I am the one who is paying.”

“Leave him alone Noct, he doesn´t want to do it” Ignis said firmly.

“I..I gotta go to the bathroom, be right back” Prompto claimed as he got up and left.

Ignis turned his head and looked at Noct disapprovingly. “You shouldn´t put him in these kinds of situations Noct.”

“Aww, come on Specs. It´s harmless fun. Besides, he can just say no.”

At the bathroom, Prompto started washing his hands, and then his face. He couldn´t stop thinking. “By the Six. What should I do? I really don´t want to sing that stupid song.” he sighed” But if I do I can visit the chocobos. And they created a new track just last week.” He elevated his gaze and looked at himself in the mirror “Why am I like this? It´s just a stupid song. Just go up there sing it and it´s over. Why are you so scared?”

He knew why though, he wanted people to perceive him as an extrovert and outgoing person so they wouldn’t note his insecurities. He cared about what people thought of him, even if he didn´t know them. And singing meant full exposition, everyone can see you; after all, you can´t hide on a stage, even if it were a big one. He likes to sing but he usually does it when he is alone or around people he is close with. This, well, this was really out of his comfort zone. But he kept wondering “Could I do it?” Suddenly there was a rush of a warm feeling, almost like fire. He felt something. What was it?

Determination. He was determined to do this; to throw his fears aside for the next couple of minutes and just do it. He had never felt like this before, so secure, so motivated to do something without caring about the consequences. He decided to go out there and do it before he changed his mind.

He went straight up to Noct, who was conveniently talking to the waitress at that moment. He did not sit, but instead looked straight into his eyes and said “Let´s get this over with.”Noctis immediately started smiling and asked the waitress to prepare the next song.

Prompto waited next to the limited stage for his turn. He would go after a young woman who was singing “Stand by me”. It was a beautiful rendition though it seemed she was on the verge of tears. Prom hoped she was okay, but he immediately started concentrating and gaining strength. If he was going to sing that song he was going to sing it right, with all his self-taught skills.

The girl finished singing. A couple of people applauded her, including Prompto, and then she went down the three steps next to the stage. Sweet and caring Prompto congratulated her and gave her a sympathetic look, in case that would make her feel better. The girl smiled and wished him good luck. Accepting those wishes, he went up the steps and stood behind the microphone. There were two monitors on the floor, where the lyrics would appear. He looked forward and thought to himself “You can do this”. The first notes started playing and he took a deep breath.

He started singing with real confidence. He read the lyrics as they were and used them to his advantage. It didn´t matter if the lyrics were silly, he was gonna grab them and turn them into something cool. He was not going to let this stop him. The others were pretty impressed with his skill, though it wasn´t otherworldly.

“Not bad” Gladio commented.

“Not bad at all” Ignis agreed.

Prom took advantage of the “that´s you girl” verse to point to the nice girl who had just wished him good luck. The girl smiled and that small gesture motivated Prom to go all…the…way.

And suddenly he took the microphone off its stand and started singing in a rock and roll style so good that made everyone´s jaw drop. Even Iggy was struggling to keep his mouth shut. It was so out of nowhere, no one could imagine that incredible voice coming out from him. And he sounded so cool even though he was singing a song from a cartoon. It really shocked all the people at the bar.

And finally, in the last verse he decided to eff the whole thing, kneel down and go full Aerosmith and shout the last words. The place metaphorically exploded. Everyone was at a loss of words, but instinctively stood up and started applauding. The gang followed, with their mouths still open. Gladio was really amused and was already laughing and cheering for the impressive blond rock star. Ignis was still trying to process the whole thing. He really didn´t expect that much power and voice control to come out of that small boy. And Noctis? Noctis was speechless; he couldn´t believe what he had just witnessed.

Prompto couldn´t believe it either. He was trembling. He couldn´t believe that he had done that, and couldn´t believe all the cheering and praises he was receiving. The warm feeling of determination disappeared to be replaced with happiness and gratitude. “Thank you” He quietly said into the microphone, as he was still breathing heavily.

He went down the steps and towards the table where his shocked friends were waiting.

“So… What did you guys think?” He asked nervously. Even after all that he really cared about what they thought. They were his friends after all.

“Ha ha ha. I think his highness here now owes you a big meal and a whole day at Chocobo heaven. Isn´t that right Noct?” Gladio said as he slapped Noct on the back.

Prompto started laughing at Noct´s face, which was a mixture of shock, annoyance and amusement. Although it had really scared him at first, he was glad Noct had challenged him. That had been an incredible experience, and one he would never forget.

#FFXV #final fantasy xv #ffxv fanfic #fanfic #mine #Robbie Daymond #prompto argentum #Noctis Lucis Caelum #gladiolus amicitia #ignis scentia #hope you like it #i am proud

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unto-myself-together · 8 years

Text

Of Stories and Songs: A Haunted Mansion Fanfic Ch 1

Ok. If I keep going on fretting about how imperfect this chapter is, I’m never going to get it out.

I have now edited a TON of stuff in this chapter.

This fic is based off of The Haunted Mansion “Story and Song from the Haunted Mansion” audio. It will also be based deeply off of my first impressions of the ride itself when I was a kid going on it those first few times in my life.

Also, if you’re wondering why there isn’t much description on our two main mortals, it’s because I felt it best to leave that up to the imagination (there was never much description in the original either). I know I can’t get away without descriptives for every character though, so I’m not going to try for that, but hopefully it wasn’t too jarring.

~~~

Trigger warnings: ghosts, death concepts/discussions, murder, suicide, abuse, blood, lots of scary stuff (horror), implied sexual abuse, cursing (damn and hell), drug abuse, domestic violence, attempted rape (never completed; in a later chapter).

Other Author notes: There’s supposed to be an audio of the Big Ben chime (to parallel the demonic clock and represent that this is the realm of mortals), but I can’t currently find a way to create this audio file. So. Imagination I guess.

~~~

Table of Contents:

Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 , Chapter 4 , Chapter 5 ,

Chapter 6 , Chapter 7

~~~

Ch 1: Miss Jackson

Have you ever seen a haunted house? You know the kind I mean. That old dark house that’s usually at the end of a dimly lit street. The windows are broken and boarded, and the shutters hang loose on their hinges. The trees have grown wild, their branches brush against the sides of the weathering house making strange noises in the night. There’s a high vine-covered fence around the property. Is it there to keep somebody out, or is it there to keep something inside? It’s a house that people avoid walking past at night. Strange sounds come from within the walls, and it’s said that eerie lights have been seen both in the attic window and in the graveyard at the side of the house.

Seen, at least….by some….

Our story revolves around this mysterious mansion….

But I’m getting a-head of myself…aren’t I?

So let me ask a different question…

Have you ever been chased?

He was panting the whole way.

Round the corner where the pastor liked to play his accordion.

Over the iron wrought fence that blocked off the alley from the cars.

Through the double doors of the unused library.

Out the back.

Through the nook by J. H. Thomas’ shop.

And over the broken manhole right to the berry-red bench in the tiny cranny.

Michael knew the route like the back of his hand, spent every day of his life traversing it. Or, at least, every day of his High School life, which was the only important part of your life you considered when you’re fresh faced and under twenty.

But they were right behind him, he could swear they were, thumping along and hollering; you could only run for so long. The clock of the church chimed from somewhere a ways away, in Big Ben style; Six PM.

He jostled a trash can on his way, half-heartedly hoping that it might slow his pursuers down as he rounded the corner. The relief that flooded him when his target, a bench, came into his sights was a thankful feeling

For all of five seconds.

Then he was yanked back by his collar, just out of reach of his fragile safety net. Falling to the hard concrete, three faces loomed into his view; three black leather jackets swarming around him and his red hoodie like vultures around a recent bloody kill

Jacob Matheson. The head vulture, front and center, grinning over his recent (and recurring) victim.

He was the son of the owner of the largest retail store in town, which earned him a bit of a celebrity status in the sleepy rurals of northern Virginia. Probably the only reason why he was the leader of his little gang.

“What’s your hurry, huh?

Michael grimaced as a boot came down on his chest

“I…ugh. I was just on my way back home..

“Liar. You live other way.”

“What’s the super special occasion?” Another boy said. “We never see you out anymore, Mikey-Wikey. You wouldn’t go off without at least saying ‘hi’, would you?”

“Our feelings might get hurt. You wouldn’t want that now would you?”

Michael refused to answer that, wincing as the toe of the boot dug deeper into his ribs

“So how you going to make it up to us, huh? How much you got on you?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re a really terrible liar, Mikey.” Jacob gestured towards the others.

Two seconds later and they pried Michael’s hands off of his pockets to start their rummaging

“Nice. A whole twenty.”

“There’s more than that! What’s this?”

The other boy held a miniature keychain of a football, twirling it around on one of his fingers

“That’s mine. Give it back!” Michael lunged, yet the boy had already tossed it to another

The three jeered and danced around him, taking turns with the keychain.

“Ooh. Almost got it that time!

“Gonna practice your jumping skills with us, huh?”

“Good dog!”

“Go get it, boy!

“You think we can teach him to beg?”

“You want it?? You want it?? HA!”

Jacob was last to receive, and Michael turned to him in irritation. “You have my money. You played your little game. Can you just leave already?”

“I don’t know. We just got here.” A murmur of agreement. “What are you doing with this thing anyways? Pining for the good ol’ days when you were still on the team?”

“Aw, Jacob. Can’t you see he misses playing?” One of the other vultures said.

“Oh. I’m sorry. Did I say that too soon? How long’s it been? Four months? Five? Got your leg all healed up nicely?”

One of the boys pretended to make a pass at his left leg, causing him to jerk into the defensive. Jacob flashed a grin at the sight.

“Still not in tip top shape, huh? Considering what happened, playing with this little football is probably the closest thing to a real game you’ll ever going to get for the rest of your life. But don’t worry, Mikey.”

Jacob’s little wicked sneer only grew smug.

“I’m sure the rest of the team will do just fine without you. You were just the water boy, weren’t you? Most benched player ever in ol’ G. H. T. High. Quite the honor.”

Michael gritted his teeth; he never cared too much about playing football, but he also didn’t need to hear this.

“But you can come play with us any time. We don’t mind that you’ve got a bum leg. In fact, how about you go long right now?”

Jacob pulled back with a sinister little smirk and a clear intent to throw it straight to the roof of the nearby apartment building. Unfortunately for him, the football was snatched just before he let it loose.

“Wow, what do you know? A real life wannabe biker gang in their native environment.”

The football’s new owner was a welcome sight. A pink sweater, a black skirt with an embroidered horse, a white blouse, and the look of someone who had just ate a whole bag of sour gummy worms (Jacob and his gang tended to have that effect on people).

“Ugh. It’s the girlfriend. Go away, Karen. Nobody invited you.”

“As if I need an invitation to rain on your parade. If you’ll give back the money that I’m sure you stole, we can be on our way and I won’t have to tell anyone about this.”

A speck of realization later and Jacob was staring at Michael with an even wider grin than before.

“Wait, is SHE why you came out of your house? Date night? OooooOOOoooooh. Kissy kissy.”

The boys started making smooching noises, prompting Karen to let out a sigh of frustation.

“Mr. Vance! Mr. Vance! The jerks are back and they’re threatening your customers!”

“Whine all you want, what’s that old geezer even going to d-“

“Come over here, Mr. Arrow. There’s a bit of vandalism I think you ought to look at.” A much older man in black stained overalls came seemingly from out of nowhere, seemingly gesturing for the chief of police to follow. Jacob’s face dropped.

“Scram!” Jacob said, not even waiting for his friends before booking it straight out of the alley. They were generous, at least, if only in the fact that they threw Michael’s money back in his face.

Mr. Vance watched them retreat and let out a long, drawn out sigh. “You kids okay?”

“As good as can be, I guess.” Mike said.

“Thanks for pretending for us, Mr. Vance.” Karen said.

“A little lie goes a long ways sometimes. I only wish I could convince an officer to hang around here. Could do with a little less thieves. Those three are gotta get their comeuppance sometime.”

“Yeah?” Mike grabbed his keychain. “I’m still waiting for that to happen.”

“Might come sooner than you think. Well…come in then. I’ve got your package in.”

Mr. Vance took out his handkerchief and wiped his brow; the wrinkles that lined an otherwise middle aged face seemed particularly discernable that evening. Coupled with the silvery threads of his hair, anyone who didn’t know any better would have had the man pegged for a senior citizen. But he was very much in his thirty’s, at most, and the reasons for why he looked so aged had often been the subject of discussion in town.

Especially considering that his store was easily one of the most important places around.

The big retailer shop that lay in the heart of town was nice, but they often didn’t carry specialty items (and didn’t appreciate you asking to order them). That was where Mr. Vance and his store came in. Sure, it was tiny and cramped, and there was always a heap of unsightly broken bits of rusted metal in the corners near a large creepy portrait of a woman holding a skull, but there was so much of the place that was filled with mysterious and old objects, books galore, and more candy than you could ever possibly eat in your entire lifetime. The man had no organization to speak of, so whenever a person cared to carouse the shelves they were almost guaranteed to find something wondrously unexpected.

Karen loved it here. As much as Mike liked old nick-knacks himself, it was mostly for her sake that he stepped foot inside time and time again. Whenever she would examine a row of clocks or ancient utensils or even the words on the spine edge of a book, her whole demeanor would brighten up. He loved watching her when they were here, she would always hold a smile on her face as she delicately traced a finger over things that were several times her own age.

Currently, she seemed distracted with an old timey animation device. He couldn’t remember for the life of him what the things were called, but they consisted of a cylinder with slots for viewing, and had an image painted all around the insides. The images were slightly different, so that when the cylinder was turned quickly it would simulate movement. Animation.

Unfortunately, the one that Karen found seemed to be broken. She couldn’t get it to spin, the painted crows were forever stuck in place…

“M-miss Jackson? I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there. You’re here….early.” Mr. Vance said.

Mike looked up….the air somehow felt…colder as his eyes fixated on the lone figure standing in the middle of the room.

The strangely dressed lone figure standing in the middle of the room, who was most certainly not in the middle of the room a few seconds ago.

A deep green dress like a thick moss on a dark forest floor, with a pinstripe blouse and matching apron. Dark brown hair and vivid blue eyes were part and parcel of a face that oddly looked both amused and bored all at once. And the bit of frill and bow on the top of her head seemed to so wonderfully match her attire yet be so terribly out of place in a modern day setting.

She looked like a maid. An old-fashioned maid. A very lost old-fashioned maid, considering that there were no buildings nearby that were large or rich enough to need to hire one.

“My….employer…” There was surprisingly nothing strange or unusual about her voice, “…is rather anxious tonight, so I had hoped to present to him the items I had ordered. If you happen to have them ready, of course.”

“Y-yes…Yes. You…you wouldn’t happen to have come alone, Miss Jackson, would you?”

The girl smiled wistfully. “Are we ever truly alone?”

Mr. Vance visibly gulped. “Right…of…of course not. I-I-I got your package right here. Oh..Michael?”

Mike tore his eyes away from the woman back to the shopkeeper. Mr. Vance’s demeanor seemed….suddenly different. His face had gone a little pale, and there was an almost imperceptible waver in the way his voice cracked.

“Would you…would you mind waiting a bit while I wrap up Miss Jackson’s items here?”

“Uh...Yeah, no problem.”

“Thanks.”

Mike headed over to where Karen had been curiously watching the whole exchange.

“Is there a costume party we weren’t invited to?” He asked her jokingly, earning a smile.

“She looks…kind of familiar. Like I’ve seen her around…just…not in that getup.”

“Yeah…I feel like I’ve seen her around, too. But I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to her before…”

She turned back to the animation device….and found it….spinning. Ever so gently.

The painted crows began to flap their wings, rhythmically in time with the cylinder.

But then…faster. And faster. And furiously faster still, until the image was a seamless representation of the act of flying.

“Mike….” Karen said, the nervousness clear in her tone. The device was not electronic, yet seemed more than willing to move completely on its own.

Even he was a little hesitant to touch it, yet his mind was made up when he could feel the warmth of her fingers clinging to his.

Clap. His hand clamped down on it. When he let go, the device obediently remained still.

“Heh.” Mike’s laugh was more nervous than amused. Karen’s hand squeezed his again. “Must be off balanced or something. Speaking of spooky, though, did you check out the way Mr. Vance was- ”

“Are you going back to the cliffs?” The voice behind him interrupted.

Mike spun around to find himself face to face with the strange woman. Up close, it was more obvious that she couldn’t have been more than a few shades older than either of them, despite her rather timeless attire.

“Yes….we are…” Karen anxiously responded, “But how did you know that?”

“I’ve watched you go up there. The house I stay in happens to be nearby.”

“Where?” Mike butted in, “The only buildings up that way are all abandoned or mostly destroyed. It would be kinda hard to live in any of them. It’s pretty much a ghost town.”

“Yes…” The woman said, a faint smile on her lips. “Yes, you’re right.”

He couldn’t tell what she meant by that. Was she saying that she wasn’t living in any of those buildings?

Karen coughed. “Um. Well I like your dress. The green looks very pretty on you.”

“Oh thank you. I think so too. It also makes my employer uncomfortable and likely brings up awkward memories for him. Which is the other reason why I wear it.”

He and Karen exchanged a funny look. He couldn’t tell which was odder, the fact that she purposely wore something just to make her employer uncomfortable or the fact that she just casually dropped this information to complete strangers like it was a normal subject to talk about.

“Miss Jackson? Your items…” Mr. Vance interrupted.

“Of course.”

The shopkeeper seemed to hesitate as he handed her a bag full of several individually wrapped parcels.

“One of these…you do know one of these things on your list is…”

“Illegal?” The young woman didn’t mince words or even flinch, which is more than what Mr. Vance did in response, “Technically it’s not, if people only bother to read the law anymore. But yes. I’m well aware. But as you are quite aware, my employer is not concerned with legal matters…Anymore.”

“…I’m well aware.” He softly said.

“Will I see you later then?” The young woman said as she turned to leave.

But Mr. Vance kept his head turned away from her and firmly on a broken clock in front of him, eventually squeezing his eyes shut as though he could will her away.

“…Have a good evening then, Mr. Vance.”

“…Same to you, Miss Jackson.”

Before she left the shop proper, the woman turned one last time to Michael and Karen.

“By the way…Tom Sawyer’s road is the faster way back to town if you’re coming from the cliffs. And if you’re ever caught in an unfortunate rainstorm, please do stop by. You’re more than welcome to hide under our awning.”

“We...never go to the cliffs on a rainy day.” Karen said.

“Never say never,” With the twist of a tiny smile, the woman left the shop.

The atmosphere grew quiet.

~~~

And it remained silent for a solid minute.

“…Hey Karen? You can get our stuff, right?”

“Wha-?”

Before she knew it, Mike had just thrusted the twenty in her hands and ran out the door.

“Hey…Mike!”

“What’s he doing?” Mr. Vance said, his brows furrowed in concern.

“I think he’s trying to catch up that woman. Who was she, anyway? I don’t see her often enough around.”

“That’s because she doesn’t live in town. That’s Eleanor Jackson. ‘Nell’ for short. She’s up near the cliffs.”

“Where near the cliffs?”

Mr. Vance handed her two glass bottles of crème soda and a heart shaped package. “I’m sure Michael would be very insistent that you don’t open it until you’re together.”

Purposefully changing the subject.

“…And you said that women asked for something illegal…”

“Now don’t you repeat anything you’ve heard here…”

“I…I won’t. But is everything alright? If she’s forcing you to do something illeg-“

“It’s not like that.”

It was said so forcefully and emotionally that Karen took a step back.

“…It’s not like that.” Mr. Vance said, softer this time, “But you should go and stop Mike. Nothing good will come of him following after Nell like that.”

Package and soda in hand, she started to do just that.

“Karen.”

She paused.

“…Don’t always trust Nell. She often only gives you half of the truth.”

With that statement freshly turning in her head, Karen went out into the alley looking for Mike.

He didn’t get very far; right around the corner he looked up at her sheepishly from the ground, while a friendly face tried unwind a long bit of fishing line.

“I tried catching her, but…”

“I think I ended up catchin’ a young ‘un instead.” Mr. Mortimer flashed a grin at her before untwisting the hook from Mike’s jacket, “You ain’t quite the fish I be looking for, lad.”

Mr. Mortimer was a fisherman. Probably by trade, too, as that’s the only thing she’s ever seen him do. He always had a fishing pole in one hand, his trusty (but peculiar looking) tackle box in the other, a smile on his wrinkled face, and a song on his lips. Very few people in town could ever say that they hated the man, even though he did always smell like fish.

He was also frequently wet, as he claims he never had good balance and constantly fell in. She had no doubts about that. The sight of him trudging around soaked in the frigid air….She often felt freezing just looking at him….

“Are you alright, Mr. Mortimer?” Karen said, offering to help him up. His hands were cold as usual.

“Aye I’m alright, I’m alright. No harm done,” With Karen’s help, he stood steady on his feet again, “But tell me young ‘un, what had you such ‘n a hurry? Who were ya chasin’ after?”

“Some lady we saw at the shop.”

Mr. Mortimer flashed him a joking grin. “Chasin’ after another while you got your young lady here?”

Karen snorted.

“Hey! No! That’s not what I meant! Karen!” Mike didn’t find it as amusing as they did, and gestured her to help him out.

“Mr. Vance said her name is Eleanor Jackson.”

Mr. Mortimer’s eyebrows rose in recognition.

“You know her?” Karen asked.

“Aye.”

“Did she come down this way?” Mike said.

“Sorry, young ‘un, I didn’t see anyone but yourself.”

“But I could have sworn she turned here…”

“She be a sweet girl, no doubt. But you’re best off not followin’ her home, for your own good.”

“Mr. Vance said something like that…” Karen said.

“He be a smart one. Is he in today?”

They nodded. Before they could say anything else, Mr. Mortimer bid them good day and went off to the shop.

“Mr. Vance didn’t want to answer any questions about her either…”

“Everyone’s acting funny about her. I don’t get it.”

“Well…let’s not worry about it anymore. I really want to go to the cliffs tonight before it gets too dark,” She shook the heart shaped parcel slyly, “What’s in the box?”

“Three guesses,” Mike grinned.

“Hmmm,” She held it up to her ear and closed her eyes, as though she could somehow divine the answer, “Caramel chews, sour worms and…black licorice gummy bears?”

“Right on all three counts!”

“Do I get a prize?”

“Do I count? Or are you still mad at me because I went ‘chasing’ after someone else?”

“I guess I can forgive you,” She said coyly, giving him a peck on the cheek.

They walked off together, hand in hand, too distracted with each other to notice the growing storm clouds overhead….

Storm clouds the weatherman never predicted.

Storm clouds that never moved from their position above the woods that led up to the cliffs.

#haunted mansion fanfiction #the haunted mansion fanfiction #the haunted mansion fanfic #haunted mansion fanfic #my fanfiction #of stories and songs

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