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binart · 11 months

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Space Ranger Partner's Adventures Chapter 1

(First) (Next)

A marriage proposal from a complete stranger in the middle of a top-secret alien spy base was, surprisingly, not the strangest thing to happen to Lance in the past 24 hours.

The strangest thing was probably that he was even here. He'd been proposed to a handful of times after his part in the war efforts largely ended; Adoring fans, of course. But in under a day he'd been flown from his family home in New Altea, introduced into the very secretive very select ranks of the Blades of Marmora, got his ass handed to him by some cat alien who was currently standing 10 feet away and therefore very likely his new teammate, and—possibly most surprising of all, realized he was going to have to ask his buddy keith out because apparently he'd gone off and gotten hot in the past three years.

"No, no. I told you no proposals." From beside him, the very same Keith Kogane—his ex-teammate turned leader—lurched forward and extracted Lance's hand from Torat, one of his new teammates. Though the alien stood well over a stocky 8 feet, he had dropped to one knee before asking Lance to spend the remainder of his apparently short life with him. His large hands had all but encompassed his own, but were shockingly gentle.

"Have I.. conducted myself improperly within the ritual..?" Torat questioned in a small voice, much to Keith's clear chagrin.

"You forgot a ring!" Kestin, another of Lance's new teammates—their pilot—helpfully supplied.

"Not supposed to do it in front of a crowd unless the other person says you can!" To the right of Kestin, Hedrox joined in. They'd met yesterday, and the blade seemed all too happy to join in on the fun.

"...Yh.." The lanky cat alien, En, stood stiffly next to Hedrox, slightly turned away from everyone. He'd been that way since he and Keith entered the room just moments before. "You cannot simply ask a h-hu-human being to join into such a pact! T-There are numerous prerequisites—to say nothing of the time needed to be spent with the other individual—before such a momentous proposal can be made!" They turned their head to look directly at Lance—Or so he assumed; All members save for himself and Keith wore masks covering their entire faces. Then they gave a human soldier salute. "Lieutenant, Sir!"

Lance had no idea how to respond to any of this. "Y-Yeah. Uh.. Uh. Yeah. Sorry." Man, he really hadn't been around anyone except for his family for a while. He felt rusty. He gave a weak salute in return, before a memory from the evening prior bubbled to the surface of his mind.

"I will do my utmost to familiarize myself with human naming and title customs-"

"It's fine, man."

Oh. Maybe that was related.

"Okay, guys, enough." Thankfully Keith cut in, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "We're not here to—propose to Lance, alright?!" He wiped a palm down his face as if to try and banish the redness creeping in. "We're here to see all the time and effort we've been putting into this project finally see some results."

The room quieted, and everyone stood tall, and tense. Hedrox, however, seemed excited.

"That we are, Commander!" There was a table with a digital surface separating Keith, himself, and Torat from the other three, and Hedrox slapped their palms down onto it. Immediately, several large rectangular screens coated in Galran projected into clear view. The room automatically darkened. "I'm very pleased to say I've been at the helm of this—which, er, Commander? Do we need an explanation for those who are new?" His voice held a pleasant watery lilt to it, and if it weren't for the horn protruding from their forehead Lance would have guessed they were a half-Galran half-merperson or something.

Keith crossed his arms and gave his throat a quiet clear. "I've only briefed him on the basics. Floor's yours."

"Excellent. Gather 'round, team. Here's what we're doing." With deft hands they tapped away at a console and began pulling up several images, as well as additional Galran text Lance struggled to quickly translate. He'd all but mastered Altean since he retired (thanks mostly to Allura teaching him, but sometimes he wondered if the marks she gave him when she thought she was going to die contributed to how effortlessly he learned), but he'd only just started learning Common Galran half a year ago. Frustratingly it was way more context based, and very, VERY heavy importance was placed on sound emphasis. There were also over three hundred individual characters to memorize, whose meaning could vastly differ depending on what other characters were next to it. He was actually pretty glad to have something else to fill his time now; A great excuse to avoid slamming his head against the language every day. He could make out.. Eta-17 pa-facilty..? Facility? Facility. He squinted. Why was that familiar?

"..For the last year, we've been surveying a Galran anti-coalition outpost at the edge of the Ornitier System, which we know is serving as a key point for filtering and channelling intel. I've been doing what I do best and systematically replacing tiny components of their communication terminals with the tech the green paladin and I co-designed.” There was something strangely human about the way he spoke, despite the mild alien accent.

“And now, we stand nearly ready for a seamless takeover.”

Hedrox held up two small devices. "These. Are my baby children. Months of hard work. Cleared—and might I add complimented—by the green paladin. When both are installed into the facility's internal security network and main processing core respectively, they're undetectable. We'll be able to spy on enemy intel with them none the wiser." The ground beneath them gave a weak lurch. Lance could feel the familiar pull of motion, even if he couldn’t confirm via a window; No one paid it any mind, so he assumed it was normal.

“So that's why we're here today. They're too complex for my little helpers to remotely install.” Tiny clicking erupted then spilled from Hedrox's hood; At least thirty floating mechanical looking creatures no bigger than sunflower seeds circled his head. “I've altered the security rounds the sentries take to facilitate an easy infiltration and installation, and as long as they haven't gone and scrambled their normal routes, this should be an easy in and out.” The blade then motioned towards Lance. “The commander had research and development outfit a sniper rifle with a scrambling code that will temporarily freeze any sentries it hits and reroute them in case there's any hiccups in the plan, or someone's about to get caught.” Among other things; the knife and pistol in their respective holsters reminded him of their weight.

“Their monitoring and sentry patrol systems ‘refresh’ once an hour—so, that’s our time limit—and we need to get in so I can upload a new set of instructions to a pre-existing program that will facilitate—That is, uh. It’s—It’s a virus? The green paladin called it a virus. Am I using the term correctly?”

Keith nodded, scratched the back of his head and turned to Lance. “Basically, we need to get in so Hedrox, En, and Torat can upload a virus that’ll make it so we can track down their headquarters eventually.”

From the other side of the table, En growled. “The malignant remnants of the accursed empire and their cowardly tactics..! Always on the run, attacking colonies before fleeing. They’re filth, and we will find them, and cut short their worthless excuses of lives..”

The room grew quiet, and stuffy. There was the whir of machinery and motion from all around. Keith cleared his throat.

“Right. So, the security network room and main processing core are in different locations, but the area where Hedrox and En need to work together will have more foot-traffic. You'll be giving them cover.”

Hedrox brought up additional panels, this time with a 3-D map of several alien-looking floors. He traced what Lance read as “entry-point” labelled in Galran all the way over to the right. “Here's where you'll be stationed with the Commander—route A. First, Kestin brings us in. The Commander and Lieutenant follow route A and get into position and provide cover fire as needed. Torat goes through route C, and En and I head to B. Easy!”

Lance smirked. “That's it? I take out sentries from afar while the hacker blades do their thing? Just like old times?” With a fond smile, Keith let out a puff of air from his nose.

“Just like old times. I’ll be there next to you since—uh, I was originally going to take your spot.”

Lance blinked at him. “Huh? I didn’t know you were good at—“

“I’m not. Just, making due with what we had. Things’ll go much more smoothly now that you’re here watching our backs, and I can focus on troubleshooting if anything comes up.” Keith’s complete faith in him left Lance light on his feet, and he hung his head and chuckled nervously.

“Cool, that doesn’t actually sound all that bad. ��Think I can handle it.” Keith gave a surprisingly gentle nudge with his arm against Lance’s own.

“You got this, Lance.” He turned to the rest of their team. “ETA?” This time, Kestin spoke up.

“Approximately 20 minutes, sir.”

—

Pre-mission anxiety, long forgotten, made its unwelcomed return.

Lance sat pressed against the dark wall of an unsecured entry duct alongside Keith, Hedrox, and En; Though the tallest of them gave him a wide berth likely due to the events of the night prior.

Good. He might have acted the bigger person, but Lance very much did not like having his ass handed to him. He’d get a rematch from them at some point.

His stomach gave another uncomfortable lurch, and he pressed a palm to his abdomen to will the discomfort away. They had to wait for Torat’s initial sweep of the place before they could advance to their own spots; Surprisingly he seemed to be the stealthiest out of all of them despite his size.

“You alright?” Keith’s quiet voice filtered through the internal comms system in his suit. Though now masked, Keith tilted his head back to glance in his direction. He gave a weak thumbs up.

“Nerves. It’s been a while,” he quietly admitted. Three years of therapy had made it surprisingly easy to talk about his feelings, even if years ago he would have balked at the idea of showing weakness to Keith. But things were different now.

Keith reached a gloved hand over, and rested it on Lance’s forearm. Firm, but comforting, somehow. “Hey, you’ll be okay. I’m right here beside you the whole time, right?”

Things really were different now; Even his voice was doing things to him. “Y-Yeah. Yeah. Thanks—We got this.”

“In position.” Torat’s whisper of a voice interrupted the singing in his chest, and prickles of anxiety returned to gnawing deeper into his stomach. “Sentry patrol routes seem randomized.” Hedrox gave a light click of his tongue.

“..I knew they’d start doing it to all their bases eventually, but I was hoping we’d have more time before it got to the ones we compromised..” The blade brandished from his thigh pouch a strange, tiny black capsule that was barely the size of Lance’s thumb. “Guess there’s not enough leeway to sticky our fingers a bit, huh?” Lance furrowed his brows.

“Uh, what?” Keith made a dismissive gesture towards him.

“Pidge’s new tech. They’re tiny, but we use them to collect huge chunks of inorganic matter—usually servers or data storage. Not today, though. Come on, clock’s ticking.”

“Yes, Commander.” Featherlight and silent owed to their suits, the four advanced. En and Hedrox split off into the seemingly endless halls, while Lance trailed behind Keith. Weapons were a last resort, but if anything went wrong; Lance felt the pistol’s weight heavily on his right thigh, and his knife on the left. He’d dealt with sentries hundreds of times before now, and so despite how queasy he was starting to feel, the idea of potentially fighting some of them left his pulse surprisingly steady.

Keith took a sharp turn left to a dead-end, then motioned for Lance to use him to boost up to the small maintenance shaft in the corner. Right, the nest was up in there. Despite himself, Lance felt his cheeks flush and was grateful that they were hidden while he sat on Keith’s shoulders for the short time needed to remove the panel. He slid in with plenty of room to spare, and the other man soon followed.

After half a minute of near-silent upwards crawling, the shaft opened up into what would be Lance’s vantage point. There were seven large, curved window like panels punched out of the metallic dark purple walls, with a dimly shining object rested off to the side on a wall. He made his way over and picked up what was clearly a blade issued rifle, shockingly alike to the one he had practised with the day before. Adjusting to it wouldn’t be an issue, then, other than—

“This doesn’t shoot bullets, so—no kickback?” Lance turned to face Keith, who was now peering through the open panels into the massive facility below; From Lance’s precursory glance he saw walls upon walls of wires and oblong towers lit up in Galran code. The hood on Keith’s head bobbed in affirmation. From behind, he could see just how broad his shoulders had gotten..

“Got you in my sights, Hedrox.” Keith looked around. “Where’s En?” With that, Lance realized he should be doing what he was brought there to do and got into position. He raised the sights and took in the area below, scanning for the wayward blade.

“Eight o’clock, Commander.” He couldn’t hide the satisfaction in his voice, and Keith followed the point of his rifle until he spotted them emerge from a small maintenance shaft. Another pleased half-laugh.

“Good eye, Lieutenant.”

“‘S what I’m here for.”

“Uh, do you—“ Lance turned his sights toward Hedrox working to pull apart the base of one of the strange techno-towers while he spoke in a jovial watery tone. “We have a private line on our comms, Lieutenant, in case you and the Commander want to—Y’know what nevermind.“

“Focus.” Keith crossed his arms and looked away. “Torat, how’s that upload?”

”Forty percent, Commander.” His already quiet voice was a hush of a whisper. Then, “..Patrols have necessitated my heavy cloak function for five dobos—minutes and counting.”

Keith's masked view immediately shot to his wrist with a quiet hiss. Their regular cloaking built in to their exo-suits dampened sounds and turned the outer coating into something like a mirror, but the heavy cloaking function removed any and all methods of detection that the Galra were currently known to use, Keith had explained on the way there. But the power cost was enormous, and could only last fifteen minutes when drawing from the suit’s internal battery. Best used in short bursts, since completely depleting the suit’s power meant no oxygen, and no protection from the ravages of space if they had to be jettisoned out in an emergency.

“Hedrox, anything you can do to help speed it up from there?” Immediately tension shot through the air, and Lance listened with a growing sense of helplessness. “Lance, your left.”

A sentry getting too close to the others, quiznack! He held his breath, took aim, then fired. The rifle didn’t flinch, but the sentry’s head immediately bent at a strange angle, it twitched while standing upright, then turned around and began heading back in the direction it came. He got too caught up and Keith had to bail him out, he realized shamefully. He readied a quick apology on his tongue, but voices buzzed back into his mask.

“Working on it. Not great at multi-tasking though. En, gimmie a hand.” Hedrox’s normal ease had sharpened into something else. The cat-eared blade made their way to his side and took the panel passed to them before typing away nearly as quickly as their partner. “Couple yottabytes of code to implement Commander, this is gonna take some time on both ends.”

Quiznack. Another two sentries from either side. Inhale, hold. Position, fire. Position, fire. Another sentry turned the corner just as soon as the other two turned away. Exhale, inhale, position, fire.

“Torat, are the sentries letting up?”

”Forty-two percent. ..No, Commander.” Inhale, position, fire. Lance spared a quick glance at Keith, now clearly growing more tense. He returned his focus. Man, there were so many! Three more marched in a group to Hedrox and En’s flank, and there was only a narrow gap of space to get them as they approached. Exhale, inhale, position, fire, position, fire, position, fire. The sentries turned away, and so did Keith.

“We may have to call this.” Keith's tense body language betrayed the even way he spoke. Inhale, position, fire.

Lance could hear En’s breathing pick up as they typed furiously away beside Hedrox in between shots. There was a shocking number of sentries, and Lance couldn’t help but wonder if having less bases to work within meant the anti-coalition Galrans could stuff the ones they did still have full of them. “An entire Deca-Phoeb worth of operations, wiped away..?! Commander there must be another way.”

“No. Torat, abandon the upload when your suit gets down to two minutes. I’ll extract you.”

Inhale, position, fire. Silence.

“Torat.” An authority from Keith Lance hadn’t witnessed before emerged from his suit. “Is that understood?” Harsh. No room for further discussion.

“….Yes, Commander.”

In between breath after dizzying breath, the seconds and then minutes ticked by as everyone worked in frantic silence. He watched as Hedrox and En practically glued themselves to the small walls of the gutted tower, hands flying over keys faster than even Lance’s eyes could keep up with. Distantly in his ears, Torat updated the upload percent every sixty seconds as he, too, typed away. Sweat beaded then dripped down his neck as stiffness crept up it. His rifle smeared and shifted until it looked like his old bayard, and Lance ignored it and continue to fire.

Thirteen minutes in, it was clear to everyone there wouldn’t be enough time. Keith’s steadying presence had knelt next to Lance by that point, intently watching the battery of Torat’s suit drain and pause, then continue draining via a small screen on the underside of his wrist. He stood up, and shook his head.

“I’m calling it. Torat, abandon the upload, rendezvous at the extraction point.” A muted, miserable sound. En? Inhale, position, fire, position, fire, position, fire, exhale. No, Torat.

“We must succeed, you have worked too hard, Commander.”

“There’ll be other outposts. Now, soldier.” Again, silence. Inhale, position, fire, position, fire.

“..Failure here, for a life that may not even see il’E’s newest sun.. No, black paladin sir. For this I would gladly go without its warming rays.” Keith froze. Lance glanced at him, then back to his scope. Shit, shit, what was happening?! Inhale, position, fire, position, fire. “If ever you are able to retrieve my capsule from the vent below, have my family bury it under the spire by our sea.”

Before Lance could even register what was said, he was pulled. Keith vanished from his view and he felt a hand grip the back of his suit’s chest piece before being yanked very quickly from the room. It happened so quickly that he nearly fumbled and dropped the rifle, but managed to keep his hold. He was then hoisted up by—he realized now it was Keith—and manoeuvred until he was then sliding down the shaft he and Keith had crawled up before. “En, Hedrox, heavy cloaking, now. Keep your work out of sight. Abandon mission when I give the signal.” Steady, clipped.

“Yes, sir.” Keith was sliding behind him now even though he couldn’t hear or see him; The heavy press of his palm against his side to keep him steady nearly burned. He felt pressure lift his hand and press down on his palm—oh, right, the button to cloak himself. Then, in through his mask,

“Get your pistol ready, set it to stun, follow me.”

They shot out from the end of the maintenance crawl and Lance tore after the back of Keith’s head.

“The upload will proceed as planned. It’s been an honor, sir.”

Keith did not respond, only sprinted and twisted down the endless hallways as they dodged around sentry after sentry. Lance had strapped the rifle to his back and readied his small pistol as commanded, even though he didn’t understand. Were they going to extract Torat? He tapped the side and slid a piece into place to ensure it was set to stun. He trusted Keith, he knew what he was doing, and he could—he wanted to help in whatever way he needed him to.

The sound was different, somehow, but Keith’s voice once again came into his ears, panting with exertion. “He’ll have to uncloak for at least half a second for the capsule to recognize and capture him. When you see him, I want you to shoot him in the forehead where his eye is, Lance.”

The capsule? The one for.. inorganic matter? If organic matter like a person was compressed into it—wouldn’t that definitely kill them? Through the adrenaline, it distantly clicked what Torat was intending to do, but he couldn’t waste time thinking about it. “O-Okay.” Lance hooked his arm against a corner and pulled, narrowly missing a towering sentry as he caught up to Keith. Half a second to make a shot when he was practically wheezing though; Hesitation crawled up his spine. “How far—until we—get to him?”

“End of the hall, dead left.” Keith showed no signs of slowing, and Lance through the haze of it all wondered if he was cut out for any of this, and what would happen when he failed. If he failed. He was going to mess this up. He was going to get Keith killed somehow, wasn’t he?

Their feet silently pounding against the neon lit floor came to the end of the hallway. As they did so, Lance took in the most even breath he could muster, prayed his pulse wouldn’t throw off his aim, whipped his pistol up to the left, and aimed. Keith jammed his palm against their open com channel and flashed back into view.

“Torat, look at me—That’s an order!” The blade in question materialized suddenly in front of them, holding the same thumb-sized black capsule in front of his chest. Time slowed. In that millisecond of a moment, Lance realized he didn’t have a clear shot of Torat’s third eye. The capsule glowed a clear enough target, easy to shoot out of his hands, and his thumb was still hovering over the button on the top. Time moved another inch, and the hulking blade twitched, then could not help but turn his head towards his commanding officer.

“Forgiv—”

Lance took the shot.

—

Debrief was quiet.

No one spoke except for Keith. Lance, foolishly, felt like he was eight years old again and in trouble, for some reason. A memory of something his therapist said to him once drifted into his mind as Keith grumbled out a report. Lance couldn’t even remember the exact wording, but it was something to focus on while he ignored the ache in his entire body, and his pounding headache, at least. What was it, again..?

Hyper aware of mental states of those around him.. Discomfort around emotions regardless of where it was directed..? He couldn’t really remember. While he was reflecting, he decided to explore the room they always met in back in New Altea; Two o’clock sharp every Friday, warm room facing the sun, post-modern in decoration and very comfortable. Photos of her family on the desk, two dogs. Always enough tissues when he went there because he couldn’t cry around his family who would worry, but he could cry around a stranger who didn’t matter.

A stranger he would outlive, since she was fully human.

Torat swayed next to him, but soon righted himself.

“Understood. You have completed your mission, if nothing else.” Kolivan’s ever serious visage stared down at them from a bizarrely massive screen. Did it need to be that big? If he had nose hairs Lance would have been able to see them. “Dismissed.”

They were supposed to meet in the rec room after showering and, if needed, a trip to the med bay; A Keith mandate since his team was supposed to set an example that it was normal and good to relax after a mission, but.. was that still okay to do?

Lance probably had some of the best aim in the universe, if he was being honest, but with that aim he had just shot one of his teammates in the head not even an hour ago! The suits obviously had eye protection, but Torat dropped like a rock back in the facility, and they only managed an evac without being seen thanks to Keith’s ridiculous half-galra strength. While he dragged the unconscious Torat, Lance covered them with the rifle, and somehow En and Hedrox finished up on their end without being seen.

They did everything they set out to do, but it really felt like they failed.

The silence was broken with a soft clearing off Hedrox’s throat. “Wellll, I’m beets. Time for a shower, then uhm. Whoever feels like it meet up at the usual spot..?”

En pointedly kept his sharp gaze toward Torat, who did not look up from the ground. Sneering displeasure was evident on his now unmasked face, but he eventually turned to face his horned companion. “…The correct term is being ‘beat’ as in ‘beaten, and exhausted.’” The taller blade pressed his palm to his other set of fingers and stretched his wrists as he began to walk away. “But yes, I shall await you in the showers.” Hedrox jumped comically before slapping En’s arm.

“Don’t say it like that, shh!”

Lance blinked as he watched the two aliens saunter away, with Kestin soon to follow after giving Torat a sympathetic look. How was it Hedrox seemed like the most human out of all of them? Lance felt awkward, and guilty, and didn’t know what to do with himself.

He looked over at Keith, who ripped his furious gaze from Torat and regarded Lance with an unreadable expression. His eyebrows furrowed, and he looked like he wanted to say something; He only shook his head, turned, and marched off, leaving only Lance and Torat remaining in the room. Lance peered up at the blade and saw he couldn’t entirely hide his trembling.

“..Hey man, is your eye.. Did I—hurt it?” He wanted to apologize, even though he knew he’d done the right thing. Keith must have realized the only way to keep Torat from.. killing himself was to knock him unconscious, and he needed Lance’s arm to make sure the job got done correctly. Lance wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but there was still guilt shining through. Above all else, he really didn’t like hurting people.

Torat gave a nearly imperceptible twitch, then brought his large palm over his masked eye. “Bruised, but unruptured. I will be fine, Lieutenant, thank you. Please excuse me.” Quietly, the larger blade nearly tiptoed away through the opposite door of Keith.

Lance wanted to go after him, even if he wasn’t sure what to do or say.

There’d been times back in the castle of lions where he used to catch his teammates sulking alone, or when Silvio was upset and would hide in his garden, and he always went after them to at least make sure they didn’t feel alone. He could only crack stupid jokes, and maybe he annoyed them more than he helped, but it still felt like something he needed to do.

A shower, first, Lance decided. Then, he’d track down Torat and—at least make sure he went to the med bay or something. After that, if there was time, rec room with the others.

He wanted to spend much more time scrubbing the sweat and grime off of his aching body in his shower, but tingling urgency didn’t allow a long stay. Lance popped into his most comfortable hoodie and grey sweatpants, slipped on his sneakers, then began his search.

First, he went to the obvious location, Torat’s room. No one was in, so he went to the med bay next (after signing a few autographs from some fans on the way) and once again did not find his teammate. It was at that point Lance realized that despite how the mission turned out, Torat might have just gone to the rec room. Maybe Keith was trying to foster a more tight-knit team unit thing, but before all that, and even now, Lance was pretty sure death in the Blades was a very common occurrence.

Approaching the hallway connecting to the rec room, a loud slam sent Lance a foot into the air. A sharp cough came from just around the corner before he heard a growl that undoubtedly belonged to Keith. Was he in trouble?!

“—That was the whole reason I even formed this unit in the first place!” Keith hissed, and there was another grunting cough. Lance sidled up against the wall and tried to figure out if he was needed.

“Your work is—ghh—more important than my life, Commander..!” That was Torat’s strained voice. There was some shuffling, and Lance could at least piece together that they were having an argument.

“You don’t get to call me that. My work, is showing the rest of the blades that we can do our job without throwing away our lives for the sake of—knowledge. Understand?! No matter the mission, you keep yourself alive.”

Quiet pulsing buzzing from the blue-tinted lights above hung in the air. “..I-I.. If—this is what you wish, Commander.. I shall.. try.”

A dull thud, then footsteps. “No, you’re off the team. I’m not risking keeping someone on who’s fine with killing themselves if it means the mission succeeds.”

Torat gasped. “Commander, please..! Allow me to stay—I shall make up for my transgressions, this I swear..!”

Should he leave?! Lance felt like he shouldn’t be hearing any of this.

Boots scuffing on the waxy floor. Keith turned back towards him? “Make up for it by staying alive on a different team.” His clipped footsteps faded in the opposite direction. Lance needed to leave, right now. His throat was feeling hot, and it was getting too hard to focus.

He couldn’t help Torat at this point, that was becoming obvious to him.

The muffled sounds of the rec room and even quieter alien cries faded from Lance’s fuzzy mind as he stumbled back into his room and hid under his desk.

Breathe. Deep breaths. In through the nose. Count to—how long? He couldn’t remember. Okay, okay. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t focus. Try to breathe.

Keith flashed into his vision, an impossible view of him in the cockpit of a tiny cruiser as Lance watched him try and fly into the barrier at Naxzela. His death in exchange for the mission succeeding. They never talked about it.

Allura in the Blue lion, about to be killed; A split second decision to trade his life so Voltron could go on with its heart intact.

Keith was a hypocrite.

No! People could change their minds. It had been years since he pulled that stunt. People could change. Lance mushed his soggy face into his palms and shuddered.

Stupidly, all he could think about was how terrifying it was for Keith to be so close when he shot Torat with the stun round. With Keith’s armor, even if he had somehow accidentally missed and hit him, he couldn’t have killed him. There was no way. But his dreams were always so vivid and he was always accidentally killing Keith. To be there next to him in that situation felt—surreal.

Lance managed to get his breathing under control. It took a few minutes, but eventually he calmed, and shuffled over to the bathroom to wash his face.

He thought for a second about going and meeting up with the rest of the team, but shut that thought down almost immediately. Instead, he slipped into his pyjamas and slid into bed.

The empty ceiling greeted him without his familiar stars.

And Lance thought back to Torat, holding the small capsule in front of his chest, ready to ensure the blades could eventually track down and eliminate the remainder of the empire with his tiny sacrifice in the grand scheme of things.

And Lance realized he didn't disagree with Torat's decision.

😳👉👈

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#klance #vld lance #vld keith #voltron #vld #keith x lance #srpa #bina's writing

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larkingame · 4 months

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so, i don't usually crosspost these posts, but this week's update on patreon is available to everyone and I know I have a bit of a larger following on tumblr, and I'd really like everyone on the same page so I'm dropping all I have to say here too.

good evening friends!! i hope you're all doing well! welcome to the first update of 2024. momentous for me personally, because this is the year we finish larkin. i am making this post available to all patrons, (paid or not) because I'd really like to start 2024 on the right foot with everyone aware of the road ahead. i am so determined to get it done you have no idea. this is my year. 2024, i christen thee: the year of the vampire cowboy.

okay, so big things ahead, lets talk about the update, explore some of the features we have in the game, plans for this weekends release, the schedule and a couple other things.

so, if you've played at all with the new version of the game, you'll take notice that it's a little bit different than my first image of the game. at first larkin was just a straight interactive fiction following the likes of cog like games, with choices and avenues and split stats and the like. but now, as of 2024 (crazy) we're seeing a game that is more reminiscent of a ttrpg, like dnd or cyberpunk, with stats, classes and dice rolls. admittedly, the very first encounter of the game is well (it's a little rigged) the game, of course, could not really get started if the preacher gets cooked before they've even made it to nevada, so, the odds are a little bit stacked in the players favor this round, but at least, it gives you a little bit of a taste of whats to come. to dive into the specifics of what's important with this first encounter (or just, how to avoid getting your ass really kicked) these first few rolls give bonuses to players with high dexterity and athleticism—-but that's not to say you need to make your character beefed up in these departments. each stat will get their time to shine later down the line.

but let's talk about what i'm really excited to discuss: classes. so with the new version of larkin, i've introduced a system of classes that operate somewhat like your standard dungeons and dragons class, but with a little bit more of that classic background from the original ttrpg mixed in—coloring the way your character sees the world of the game, sort of how a race might effect a dnd character--(a dwarf player is going to have a much different worldview than say, an elf.) for this i was heavily inspired by games like dragon age origins and baldur's gate, and while I do have those original background ready to be dropped a little bit later on the game in relation to your character's perspectives on the abrams family, I really like how these have come to form.

in total there are seven new classes: con-man, outlaw, healer, thief, gambler, showman and slayer. each of these classes warps the perspective of the player character, giving them new motivations, dialogue options, and affects their relationships with the other characters in the game and the world around them. to illustrate this, I'm thinking of making a little bit more of an in depth explanation screen to be added to saturday's update to really get that point across, but I'm still toying with how I want to phrase the specifics of it. what i might do is something similar to baldur's gate with little pop-up tutorials that can be turned off/on depending on how you'd like to play.

to give an example of some of the more in depth motivations/choices each class offers lets talk about the thief and the outlaw classes. the thief class i am especially excited for, because like the con-man class and similar to a few others, it really allows your character to be very money/materialistically motivated. it opens up routes later in the game, like romancing one of the sokolovs—with motivations reminiscent of gold-digging (hehehe very excited for that—i think it will be very fun to write—because you have this idea of a cold hearted player who is entering into a relationship with them strictly for business, versus a cold hearted player who is in it for the cash but also. might be falling in love with one of the sokolovs? ((a lot of fun dynamics afoot here.)) the outlaw class is also one i'm excited to work with because it really puts something of a strain on the preacher and wyatt's relationship—-mostly because you see a strong division in terms of their ethics—the preacher in that case is very 'do what you gotta do to survive,' whereas wyatt believes (key word—believes) he's living by some sort of moral code—that he's failed to instill in the person he views as his child. so like there are layers here boys. layers of resentment, failure—to connect, to teach, to bond. a final tidbit about the slayer class before I move on: if you would really like to play into the enemies to lovers trope with one of the vampires, I would highly recommend giving your player this class ((that's all I'll say))

so: saturday, that takes us to the bar, where each class will get a unique scene, similar to how the scheming tactic section worked in the original game. we're gonna finish up the encounter with the first vampires, meet our guild pursuers and move to the bar. I'm planning also to implement the character customization here—(sort of a way to prep before the player heads out to the bar.) most likely won't get to all classes by saturday's code, but after that, I'm planning to release again on next wednesday, so we're keeping on track. I'd really like to give a full picture of customization for the player character, with all the original options for physical appearance (i might keep clothes vague for now though and let you dress your character later on, until you get a taste of the inventory/bartering system-—you have to deal with MY poor fashion choices for a little bit.) but that being said, about character customization, if there's something that's lacking here and you'd like to suggest an addition I'd be all ears. This is what I'm planning to implement so far:

skin tone

body type*

hair color

hair texture

hair length

hair style**

height

skin details (acne, scars, vitiligo, rosacea)

facial hair

make-up

piercings

eyewear (glasses, no glasses, eyepatch, prosthetic eye)

gender-affirming customization (for ex. use of binding)

* a note on the body type section, I kind of had this idea of digitally drawing some silhouettes of different heights, shapes and sizes, and allowing the player to click through arrows to select a rough estimation of what their body-type might look like. I'm going to do an art dump later this month, and I have a few sketches of what I'd kinda like to do with that, but I'm still toying with it, because even that could be a little limiting in terms of options. if any of you had thoughts on that, I'd love to hear them.

**I think it might also be cool to kind of have drawings of different hairstyles available to the characters, arranged in the card formats like the previous gender options in that same red colored sketch format.

speaking of art though--and this is purely tangential so I apologize, I'm sure you've taken notice of some of the art being repetitive--for the moment that's purposeful. I'm planning to commission some work for the cards to be implemented in a later update--so what you're seeing are just placeholders for now.

okay! with saturday's notes out of the way, plans for the rest of the week. I need to finish the timeline and then I need to make it readable to people other than myself. it is currently incomprehensible and of the few people that have gotten their eyes on it only one (1) could make sense of my mad ramblings. (shout out to friend of the game bianca from exiled from court if any of you are familiar with her or her stuff, we are big bianca fans here.) After that I need to do some edits with the new update and such, and poke at the code.

Tonight after I post this, I'm specifically working on sending a few more emails to betas (know that sending emails is. my personal hell because of intense social anxiety. BUT we must persevere. emails will be sent tonight.) after that, I have to work on the phillip/kc/sam schedule + calendar for this month, just to keep the three of us on the same page. I'm in the process of looking at some stamps.com printers for sending out packages with this next round of physical rewards and ordering the merch (hehehe)

okay. super long update for our first one of the year, but I am so excited to get to keep working with you guys :) i'd like to thank you all for your continued support and I can't wait to show you more of the little universe i've crafted :)

until friday! i'm gonna be posting some cyrus asks/scenarios for you all to enjoy, so look forward to that! <3

#larkin if #devlog #patreon

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judasofsuburbia · 9 months

Text

Jonathan Byers might be the stupidest person on the planet. Because why...WHY did he ask Steve Harrington to model for his photography final? Why did he think he would ever be able to focus enough to capture what he needs to? Why did he wait until the last week of the semester and now, there's no time to ask anyone else and he doesn't want to hurt Steve's feelings—

“Hey,” Steve says, interrupting Jonathan's thought spiral. “Is this where you want me?”

Jonathan looks up from his clipboard and camera to see Steve standing on top of the stool. Jonathan had sent him away with a costume he borrowed from the drama department and hadn't heard him come back in.

Steve is dressed in a toga. The crossbody strap is smaller than it would be on anyone else across his broad, hairy chest. The end of the toga rests delicately on his upper thighs, an inch away from being too short. Steve has quaffed his beautiful hair up and a plastic, golden crown of leaves sits amongst the brunette locks.

All of the moisture in Jonathan's mouth evaporates as he takes in Steve in this, what should have been, almost ridiculous outfit. Instead, Steve is absolutely striking in it and Jonathan is going to lose his mind before he even gets the lights set up.

“Uh, yeah, just hold there,” Jonathan croaks so he clears his throat. “I still have some things to set up.”

“Cool,” Steve replies simply. He shifts from foot to foot, tied up in lacy sandals. He looks around the studio that Jonathan has set up and smiles.

“Excited to see you do your thing,” Steve says. Jonathan trips over a cable.

“What?”

Steve glances over his shoulder and his face is so genuine when he says, “I wanna see you in the zone, you know?”

Jonathan blinks and ducks his head. “In the zone,” he repeats lamely.

“Yeah,” Steve smiles. “I mean, I've seen you take pictures before but never all done up like this. And this concept is really cool, I hope I can do it justice.“

Jonathan's assignment was to take from an existing piece of art, something not photography related, and recreate it. He's always been fascinated by the coliseums and marble statues of Greece, all the Gods and warriors of that time. As he was researching, the only thing that came to his mind was “Steve, Steve, Steve” and before he could even think twice, he shot him a text asking for his help.

“You will, man,” Jonathan barely speaks above a mumble.

Steve hums a song Jonathan doesn't know in the silence that follows. Jonathan finishes setting up all the lights and drawing the curtains of the room. He tries to pull up the screen behind Steve but can't get it to sit on the designated pole.

Steve reaches over him, his stomach resting on Jonathan's shoulder, and hooks the screen into place. Jonathan glances up at Steve's towering figure and swallows dryly. His muscular arm is bulging, his head is cast in the light from behind them like an angel.

Steve winks and says, “You can put me to work, Byers. I don't mind.”

Jonathan's not sure that the thing that tumbles out of his lips is a laugh, per se, more like a weak, nasally huff of air. But he can't focus on that right now because he needs to stop breathing in Steve's cologne. He escapes to the other side of the room.

“You're going to be doing plenty today, I promise,” Jonathan responds while he sets up a little table next to his camera for his notes. “Why don't we start with you sitting?”

Steve sits on the stool with his legs spread, not even realizing that he's near exposing himself through the skirt. Jonathan squeaks and Steve glances down.

“Oh shit,” Steve says, crossing his ankles. “Not used to that happening.”

“It's fine, I didn't see anything,” Jonathan mumbles, writing down nothing on his clipboard of notes.

“I didn't go full commando under here,” Steve clarifies with a small laugh. “I'm just glad I wore white boxers today--”

And yeah, Jonathan didn't need that image either. He starts adjusting his camera on the tripod and says, “Sorry, I should have been more clear about your costume.”

“Nah man, it's alright. I kinda dig it. If we shoot outside, I'm sure the breeze will feel so good.”

Outside? No, Jonathan can't see Steve basking in the sun like this. He wouldn't survive that.

“Gonna have to settle for the AC, I'm afraid,” Jonathan says with a fumbling laugh. “Okay, first shot. I'm thinking you tilt your legs to the side, almost like you're lounging on the stool. Then pop the shoulder closer to the wall up while keeping the other down. Look up at the ceiling.”

Steve follows his instructions but he tilts his whole head up instead of just his eyes.

“Chin down a bit, look with the eyes.”

“Like this?” Steve asks, voice innocent though it runs hot through Jonathan's ears.

Jonathan looks through his viewfinder to see Steve absolutely glowing. His brown eyes holding so much casual emotion that it tugs at Jonathan's heart.

“Mhm. Perfect,” Jonathan captures a few shots like that before directing him to the next shot. And the one after.

Steve nails it over and over again, looking exactly like the ethereal Gods and tragic heroes Jonathan read about. Jonathan keeps telling him he's doing amazing, that he looks amazing. He can see Steve try to fight off his smile for the sake of not ruining the shot. Jonathan wonders if he could shoot that smile someday just for the sake of letting him be happy.

“You're going to give me a big head,” Steve says when they take a break.

“Please,” Jonathan scoffs. “You already have one.”

Steve pouts playfully when he's done sipping his water. “I'm better than I was.”

Jonathan shakes his head with a fond smile. He looks at Steve directly and says, “Yeah, you are.”

Steve's lips part in surprise but then he quickly tilts his head away, sipping more water. Steve tsks. “Compliment after compliment, Byers. I should be your model more often.”

Jonathan's cheeks burn hot. “Yeah, yeah, tell your friends. C'mon, let's get back to it.”

The new few shots require Steve to show off his muscles which had to have been an idea of a deliriously horny Jonathan Byers. He could kill that guy.

“Okay, hold your hands up and behind your head. Then, uh,” Jonathan stammers, “Flex your arms for me.”

Steve raises his eyebrows but he does flex. It's not that Steve Harrington is absolutely shredded; rather, he has the toned muscles of a casual jock. He just cares about his body and his strength. It doesn't make it any less debilitating to witness.

“G-good, that's good,” Jonathan mumbles.

“You good, Byers?” Steve asks. His smirk grows less subtle every fleeting second it takes for Jonathan to respond. “Wishing for someone more buff?”

“No,” Jonathan defends immediately. “No, uh, no, you're good. Great, even.”

“What should I do with my face?” Steve asks.

“Keep it smug like that,” Jonathan says, a little bite to his words that comes from the roaring zoo currently in his stomach.

“Smug,” Steve scoffs, voice still teasing. “Just trying to figure you out.”

Jonathan ignores that, he does not need to be figured out today and especially not by Steve Harrington.

He takes the shot and instructs Steve to hold one arm up to the side while the other pretends to hold something. Steve stands awkwardly, clenching and unclenching the fist that's supposed to be acting right now.

“Can you show me?” Steve asks.

“Sure,” Jonathan says. He rounds the camera and is about to demonstrate making an “O” with his fist but Steve holds out his hand and Jonathan doesn't think before he takes it. He shapes Steve's fingers gently and places his arm outstretched to his side. Steve just watches him.

“Should I actually hold something?” Steve asks.

“No, I'm gonna edit something in later,” Jonathan explains, awkwardly dropping Steve's hand because he realizes he's still holding it.

“Like what?”

“I can't decide if it's going to be a sword or a lightning bolt. Armor, maybe,” Jonathan shrugs then looks up at Steve who is beaming at him.

“You can do that?”

“Y-yeah. Photoshop and all.”

“That's so fucking sick,” Steve exclaims. “You're gonna send these to me, right?”

“Yeah, if you want,” Jonathan says.

“Of course, I want,” Steve assures. ”Not only because you're making me into some Greek god but also because it's your art and it's fucking cool.“

“Thanks,” Jonathan breathes.

Steve reaches the posed hand up and pinches Jonathan's chin. Jonathan can feel every nerve vibrate as Steve's fingers fall away too soon. Steve gives him a curious look but returns his hand to the pose. Jonathan shuffles back behind the camera and continues shooting the pictures.

Steve showcases different smolders that make Jonathan's stomach tighten but he keeps pressing the button, keeps seeing how far Steve will go without his instruction.

“What if I shot my arm back like I'm about to throw it?” Steve asks, demonstrating his point.

Jonathan's eyes trail up his torso to the arm in question and he swallows. “Mhm. That looks really good.”

Steve's lips turn upward and he whispers, “So do you, Byers.”

Jonathan's whole body freezes. His finger trembles over the button but his mind is so blank that he can't tell it to push. Steve keeps glancing at him but Jonathan's not registering it.

Steve coughs awkwardly and mumbles, “Just tell me to fuck off, man.”

That gets Jonathan's brain back online. “What?”

Steve jumps, not realizing that Jonathan was actually listening. He drops his stance and rolls his shoulders back, bones popping as he does. He sighs and says meekly, “If you don't like me flirting with you, just tell me to stop and I will.”

Flirting? Flirting.

“You're flirting with me?” Jonathan asks, exasperated.

“I was trying to,” Steve explains, a sheepish look on his face. “But it's obvious you're not into it so--”

“Wait…no, hold on, I honestly thought you were messing with me,” Jonathan admits, walking around the camera again. Steve steps down from the stool to be at eye level with him and Jonathan swoons a little in their new proximity.

“I do love messing with you,” Steve confirms. “But no, Byers, I’ve been flustered all day having you stare at me and do your hot artist thing. That’s not a joke.”

“Really?” Jonathan whispers, his skin flushed.

“Really,” Steve whispers back.

"I am into it," Jonathan responds quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Put you into a toga because I'm so into it--" Jonathan doesn't finish this sentence because Steve is kissing him and he would much rather be kissing Steve than talking.

With the curtains drawn and the studio booked for the rest of the afternoon, Jonathan finds himself in Steve's lap with Steve's tongue in his mouth. He decides about two seconds in that he's got enough pictures for the day.

#EMILY FINALLY WRITES STONATHAN!!!!!! MY BOYS!!!#emily writes #stonathan #stonathan fics #stonathan ficlet #stranger things #steve harrington #jonathan byers #stranger things ficlet #stranger things fic

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midnighttrain-project · 8 months

Text

Hello everyone! It’s time for another development blog!

Thank you very much for the support I received in the previous post! This time, the focus will be pixel art! In particular, we will talk about the creative process behind the new sprites of the remake.

As some of you may already know, MerúM is the artist in charge of the pixel art in Midnight Train. Let’s ask him some questions about it!

🌙🚂 Interview with MerúM 🚂🌙

Lydia: First of all, could you introduce yourself?

MerúM: I call myself MerúM. I am the pixel artist of Midnight Train: New Moon, and I am in charge of the sprites and animations of the characters. I also worked on Aria's Story and the previous version of Midnight Train doing the same job.

Lydia: The character sprites in Midnight Train: New Moon look quite different from the original version. Is there any reason for this change?

MerúM: Well, before the switch to RPG Maker MV, I was already working on the new sprites and animations for the Midnight Train remake. However, once we changed programs, I noticed that the character sprites were very small compared to the current screen dimensions. I decided that this was a perfect opportunity to redo the sprites from scratch as well, increasing their dimensions and detailing them more than the previous version allowed me, without wanting to move them too far away from the previous chibi style.

Lydia: Right now, you already completed all the characters sprites for chapter 1. Was there any challenge or something you’re really proud about?

MerúM: After changing the sprites, the expressiveness of the characters has improved a lot. Characters now have many more unique animations and expressions, solidifying their personalities. I think this new style works very well with the aesthetic of Midnight Train’s world and makes them look quite unique from character to character.

Lydia: Could you describe your workflow and what programs you use to create your work?

MerúM: For my sprites, I use Aseprite. Before starting with a specific character, I tend to draw their base sprites and their walking animations. After this, I receive a list of events that will occur in the game related to those characters, and then I create the sprites and animations that fit into said scenes using the base sprites as a reference. Usually, I am in charge of designing how these scenes will look in pixel art, but with some more specific or complicated scenes I have received a quick sketch of how the sprite/animation should look like as a visual aid, and thus arrive at the version that best suits the scene.

Lydia: I’m just curious about something… Who is your favorite character from Midnight Train?

MerúM: I think all the characters are fantastic, maybe I could consider Neil Lawton my favorite. I think, in the end, we should all be a little like Neil. Even if you are afraid at first to move forward, just do it. This is what Neil does, he may be afraid, but he faces this fear to survive.

Lydia: Is there anything else you would like to tell us?

MerúM: What else could I say? I think Midnight Train: New Moon brings a story that will appeal to anyone who is passionate about mystery stories. By the way, it's fun to mention that in addition to Justice, Purity and some secondary characters, I have been the main designer of Larissa, one of the new characters in this remake. I hope you play Midnight Train: New Moon and get to know her!

🌙🚂 Progress 🚂🌙

I hope you liked the interview with MerúM! I wouldn't have been able to create my games without his help, as I'm pretty bad at pixel art. I'm excited to see all the sprites he will create for chapter 2! I personally can't wait to see Apollo's animations. Now, I want to report about the development of the game. I’m almost finished with the maps of chapter 2, so I expect to start programming this chapter very soon! Literally, there is only one map left…! I wanted to add a new puzzle to this map, so I’ve been stuck brainstorming ideas… Ahh, it feels like facing a final boss before proceeding to the next step.

Thank you a lot for your support and patience! See you next time~

#midnight train (game)#midnight train new moon #midnight train game

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thecontumacious · 2 years

Note

halloooo sandrine~! it's me cookie anon ✨

oh wait, is it alright if i call you by your name? :0

anyway,, i kinda have an idea (a bit sad at the start but it has a happy resolution).

• you can totally skip this if you don't feel like doing it •

i was thinking if it'd be alright to request for shu this time because i learned that he was supposed to be part of the offline collab but wasn't able to due to conflicting schedules... ; - ;

so like, what if since he wasn't able to meet up with nijimilo...y/n surprises him with an offline collab of their own instead so he won't feel sad/lonely/left out ; w ;

no sad shubert, only happi shubert bc shu deserves all the happiness in the world ♡

(aka: cookie anon shu brainrot hours lmao)

thank you as always o7

- cookie anon 🍪✨

(Not) Alone

pairing: Shu Yamino x Streamer!GN!reader a/n: yes u may call me sandrine hehe ALSO FIRST TIME I READ THIS I JUST KNEW THIS AWE MAN POOR SHU :( i hope he can finally have some time to go to an offcollab with everyone as luxiem! while we wait for that, here's something to fill in that gap ;)

warning ahead: this is 4.3k words just so you know that this is not a quick read ^^

reminder that all my work and others in the fandom are purely fiction and intended to entertain, not to be projected irl.

Shu Yamino [NIJISANJI EN]: sorry guys i can't come this time, schedules and all that :/ Nina Kosaka [NIJISANJI EN]: aweee that sucks a lot Mysta Rias [NIJISANJI EN]: NOOO BROTHER Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: luca can't come and shu too? Ike Eveland [NIJISANJI EN]: ahhh that's such a shame Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: i'm sorry to hear that you guys:(

and you knew from how shu had been talking to you privately how excited he was to see if he could fit himself between his schedules to meet up with everyone as nina had planned

you of course couldn't come just yet, but with shu being part of luxiem, it was really crucial that he came

the moment he came for his daily discord call with you that day, you can tell from his deflated voice that he was so disappointed

you sigh, leaning a bit closer to the mic, "it's okay, shu. next time, alright? there will definitely be a time where you can finally go. all as one team as luxiem!"

he chuckles, but the joy supposedly associated with the gesture was very faint. seemed like the sorcerer wasn't in his right spirits.

"i hope so. i was really looking forward to it too," shu mumbles

"hey come on, don't be so down. if you're so down, everyone else will be too. look at the bright side, shu! the longer they wait, the more exciting it'll become when you actually do come, right?" you attempt, however once more, that comes fruitless

shu sighs in response. "i guess so, and thank you, y/n, for trying to cheer me up. but i think i just... i need some time. that okay with you?"

hearing his breaking heart made your own shatter to pieces. shu was such a kind and talented person, there's nothing in this world he didn't deserve

at least that's what your biased heart would say

you nod, "mhm, totally fine. you go get some rest and try to take your mind off of it, alright?"

shu bids you goodbye for the day and you're left to your own devices, forced to get back to work and get some stream related things done

continuation utc!

it's pretty obvious how you and shu met

being under the same v-tuber brand, it was easy to meet up with yamino and because of your job, you guys met up often and there was no shortage of you collabing together on each other's channels

the fandom adores you two so much and luxiem loved your company, so it was as if written by fate that you two would connect

initially, you thought shu yamino was pretty cool. and he is!

but then it wasn't just a first impression thing. it was for all the impressions after.

he was humorous, intelligent and witty, absolutely kind and there are times where you just feel like putting your hands on the screen to pinch his cheeks from how cute he is

especially the times where he gets flustered or teased by the chat

did i mention you're the only one who lets you call him nerd without getting mad?

chat usually (jokingly) attacks you for getting that kind of privilege, but it becomes fuel to their fire of adoring you two

"it's just a crush. he's a coworker," you told yourself, catching yourself daydreaming about shu the nth time that week.

but again, like how the stars had scribbled it for you on the pages of your fate, they don't plan on letting you just to have a crush on the sorcerer

as times passes by, more frequent calls, more collabs, you can't help but just ache when shu excuses himself for the day, wishing you goodbye

though most times you dismiss him after that, you'd be lying if you said you wish you could stop him from disconnecting

when days were bad, you find yourself calling out to shu and it doesn't help that he immediately comes to your side without fail

shu became a safe space for you, one you didn't dare let go

a working wifi connection and a device was literally the only way to keep you interacting with shu

would anything change if you were physically there with shu...?

you hoped it would

what would it be like to hold his hand? did he have soft hands or more calloused? probably the former...

you slap yourself on the head, "stop it, y/n. he's your friend and co worker. how could you think like this?"

lady fate says otherwise as she keeps bringing you and shu together.

and today, she's just done it as nina went to private message you.

Nina Kosaka [NIJISANJI EN]: hey y/n! Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: hey ninaa what's up? Nina Kosaka [NIJISANJI EN]: i couldn't help but think Nina Kosaka [NIJISANJI EN]: what if you and shu did an offcollab together? like just you two?

you wished you could kiss nina for that brilliant idea

Nina Kosaka [NIJISANJI EN]: i thought it was pretty unfair that shu couldn't come and since you and shu are pretty close, i thought i'd pitch that idea in with you if you aren't too bothered by it Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: NINA LEMME KISS YOU THAT'S SUCH A GOOD IDEA! Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: i have a bit of work left to do but once that's done, i can probably schedule a bit of time with shu!! Nina Kosaka [NIJISANJI EN]: oh that's great!! i'm so glad to hear that >w<

you smile upon the thought of meeting up with shu yamino in real life. a dream wasn't it? you imagine all the things you could do with him

probably a lot of streaming together obviously, trying new things, showing each other what they have in your local regions

but then you had a thought

shu was incredibly sad after he said goodbye to you today

what if

you met up with him as a surprise?

you go back onto discord, texting nina

Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: ninaur Nina Kosaka [NIJISANJI EN]: what's up honey Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: do u think management has shu's address? Nina Kosaka [NIJISANJI EN]: i think so yeah, why? why not just ask him? Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: i plan to make it a surprise actually Nina Kosaka [NIJISANJI EN]: OMG OMG OMG THATS SUCH A GOOD IDEA Y/NNNNN GO FOR IT MANAGEMENT HAS IT I THINK GOGOGO ASK

with nina's support, you immediately go contact management and indeed they did have his address. after hearing your request and reason behind it, they are more than happy to give it you and even wished you good luck

after that, you decided to pretty much speedrun your work while planning up your trip to see shu

book tickets, plan stream schedules, accommodation...

it sounds stressful, but to you, all that is shrouded under the idea of meeting up with shu

thinking that it was good idea to consult to his friends within luxiem first, you went to vox for advice

"hello?" he calls out from the other line

you smile, "hey, vox! sorry, do you have time? i have something to talk about with you."

"oh yeah, i'm free. what's up?"

you tell him of your plans and nina's initial involvement, laying out what your basic idea of what you'd been doing

"holy shit, that's such a good idea. and i could definitely tell shu was genuinely super upset he couldn't come with us this time," he agrees. "i'm sure he'd be really happy to see you, y/n. and are you sure you're here to just cheer him up?"

you could hear the mischief in his voice then and you turn a thousand shades red at what he's insinuating

to be exact, vox actually knew that you were emotionally attached to shu. from the way you behave around him, the way you talk to him, the way you treat him

the demon can definitely see that you have some sort of admiration towards the sorcerer

"oh hush, vox. i just want him to cheer up. when i talked to him today on call, he was so so sad. i couldn't bare to see him like that."

and that was true, this applied to vox as well

"you know, i've never seen anyone care so much about shu. of course, we all care about him, but yours is different, y/n. you know that right?" vox points out

you stay quiet, absorbing his words

perhaps he was correct and maybe it was time to admit so

"maybe. i just... want shu to be happy. i sound selfish but if i could do something about it, i would."

vox chuckles softly, "of course you would. and thank you, for continuing to care and worry about him for us in luxiem. also, y/n, would you consider maybe... confessing to him about this?"

huh??

"vox, no! i could never. he probably doesn't feel the same. he doesn't right?"

now you were just denying your heart's own wishes. of course you hoped shu would feel the same, but something else told you that he probably didn't.

and that maybe it was safer to stay quiet about things

you couldn't take such a risk with shu, one of your closest friends

vox hums, "not exactly my place to tell, love, but i have an inkling that it might be mutual."

"stop joking around, you sadist."

he laughs, "i'm a sadist yes, but no, i'm not joking. i seriously think he might have the same feelings. from the times i watched you and shu stream together, there's something so different about him. like, he... laughs more? he looks so much more like himself when he's around you. and i'm 400 years old so i have valid experience with this."

you roll your eyes, "why thank you, milord. anyway, it's still safer for me to say nothing about it."

vox sighs, "alright fine. but consider to do it one day, okay? you guys have been super close for a long time. i thought this one time you get to see him in person would be a good time to do it."

you see his point, you really do. and you would consider confessing to shu about how you feel if only it weren't because of your damned self esteem

days go by and shu has already started to get back up on his feet. the mention of not going to the offcollab tasted bitter on his tongue but he learned how to cope with it

you on the other hand couldn't wait to board that plane and drive up to his house, surprising him for an offcollab together like what he would've had with the luxiem boys and nina

"you know what, y/n? you seem to be in a very excited mood lately. has something happened that i didn't know of, huh?" shu asks you one day, feigning offense like you have been purposely neglecting to tell him something important

you merely giggle, the surprise hidden beneath your tongue, "you're overthinking things, shu. nothing much has happened. i've just been feeling super happy lately is all."

his momentary silence speaks to you in a way you catch that he's not sure to accept your answer

"okay, i'm glad for that..."

you laugh away at his comment, changing the subject quickly to avoid exposing yourself

and that's it!

today's the day you finally get to see shu!

with the rest of the luxiem boys informed of the wonderful surprise (and vox's never ending teases and encouragement), they send you all their support and you're off to see the sorcerer

you'd caught wind beforehand that today shu would be streaming by the time you got to his house, so you planned to show up at the end of his stream

the entire journey there, your stomach was doing flips and you simply couldn't take off the grin on your face

after reaching land, you catch a cab real quick and make yourself over to shu's address. you check your phone and shu is indeed still streaming, nearing the end of his two hour mark.

it felt as though every step you took was lighter, your heart also beat a lot faster the closer you got

phone in hand, you text shu

Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: yo shu, u still streaming? Shu Yamino [NIJISANJI EN]: yeah just about to end Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: good! Shu Yamino [NIJISANJI EN]: um okay???? why????

but you purposely don't answer him, leaving him confused and even on stream the last you checked it. it left you giggling and when you reach the destination the driver informed you of, you get off quickly

you then ring the doorbell

from the inside of the house, you don't really hear anyone. but after a few minutes, you hear some shuffling and rushed steps towards the door

just like the fast pace of their footsteps, your heart too thumps just as rapidly

there are a few clicks sounding from the door then it swings open

you see pale skin, dark hair adorned with its trademark yellow highlight at the top of his head

and then his purple eyes

you thought they were pretty online, never thought they were mesmerizing in real life though

"y-y/n?????" is the first thing shu says, seeing who it is at the door who dare disturb him during his work. his pointy mouth drops open and for a full minute he doesn't believe what his eyes are perceiving

you wave with the biggest grin on your face, "are you gonna say something, shu?"

he shakes his head out of his trance and without much to say, he lunges forward and squeezes you with all his might

you laugh out loud and hug him back, you were about to let him go when you realize that shu isn't letting go just yet

he keeps holding you and there was not a single opening where he was going to ease the pressure of his embrace

but you weren't complaining either

it was a full few minutes before you feel shu shift, "sorry, i was just... super happy you're here. you of all people."

wh-what did he mean by that?

you giggle nervously, patting his back, "i'm glad. i thought you were so upset you couldn't join the boys for the offcollab so, here i am. actually no, nina came up with idea. i couldn't leave you to be alone, could i?"

shu pulls away and gives you a smile you've never seen on him. or was it because you had never seen him smile in real life...?

whatever it was, the look in his eyes was just so gentle. like you were touching the soft fur of an animal. it brings you warmth. and safety.

"all that matters is that you're here now. thank you for making the time to come," his hold on you lingers, like he was reluctantly letting you go (or you wished it to be). shu gestures towards the inside of his house, "come in! i'll get you a drink. your trip was probably exhausting. you can sit on the sofa."

you nod and make yourself comfortable while shu sees to your beverage done

wow

shu yamino in the flesh

his warm hug from earlier left a pleasant burn on you. you wanted to feel it all over again

later, shu comes in with two glasses of iced water. he places one near you and the other near where he sits.

"man, it's so, so good to see you! you're shorter in real life," he grins

you slap his arm, "oh shut up. i'm not that different."

"hmm, nah."

"shu yamino! is this how you welcome a coworker who's gone overseas for you?"

he shakes his head while laughing, "that was your choice, y/n!"

the teasing aside, you were genuinely having a lovely time with shu around, the unnecessary butterflies flapping about in your stomach. but you didn't mind it this time.

you just had to make sure you'd never feel like this around shu, for his sake. even despite vox's encouragement.

...maybe

"look, i haven't set up next week's schedule yet but i kinda wanna plan our offcollabs together now. you okay with that?" the sorcerer grins, looking at you expectantly. you giggle as you nod. he smiles, "cool! so, where are you staying? a hotel?"

"yeah, it's not too far from here. actually, i should probably go check in--"

as you stood to grab your phone, shu suddenly grabs your wrist. your heart stops for the faintest second

almost as if not realizing what he had just done, he slowly lets go of your hand and looks away.

"sh-shu?" you call out

he clears his throat and offers you a courteous beam, "so-sorry! it's just that um... i thought you could just stay here in the guest room. hotels can be pricey, you know?"

he-

you internally inhale, looking away as your ears turn red.

why did he have to be so kind?

"we-well, i can just cancel my booking then, if you don't mind me staying here."

shu shakes his head rapidly. "no, of course not! i offered after all."

way, way too kind. no, wait he's just being polite... right?

after settling in, your stuff already organized and with shu loyally by your side to make sure you have everything ready. he asked if you needed more towels, any extra chargers, toothbrushes and the like...

your heart simply couldn't take it when he continued to fuss if you had everything you needed

"shu, i'm good. i promise. i properly packed my things," you touch shu's shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile in hopes he could finally calm down

he laughs, rubbing a spot at the back of his head, embarrassed. "sorry, it's just that it's been a while since i had someone over to stay. and it's you no less."

every time he said that like you were some special vip coming to his house made you feel like one, as much as your little crush on him said.

the first night at shu's house was mostly just staying in. with shu even cooking dinner for you

you never figured he was a decent cook, mentioning once that his go-to meal was instant noodles

that night, he also invited you to play together for the first time

sure, you two played a lot online but it's always different when you play games together in real life. as shu's eyes focus on the screen with much intensity, you couldn't help but giggle to yourself, catching his attention immediately

he raises an eyebrow at you, "hm? what's up with you?"

you pause, closing your mouth with your hands. it doesn't help that your face is bright red

well, shu just caught you giggling to yourself looking at him. why wouldn't you?

"no-nothing! just thought of something funny is all," you lie through your teeth. but knowing shu, he probably saw right through you

he stares at you head on and you start to feel antsy

"shu...?"

now it's his turn to change red?

stop beating so fast, heart.

for a full minute, you and shu swapped no words with each other, broken only by an incoming discord message from your phone

you look down and see it's from vox

Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: hey love how's it going with shu? met up with him okay?

you gulp, stealing a glance at the still red shu before deciding to message vox back

Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: yeah! he let me crash at his guest room instead of a hotel Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: oh he did, did he? i see:) Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: shut up vox he's in the same room as me rn Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: OH HE IS, IS HE? Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: y/n my dear do u kno how proud i am of you for progressing so far? Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: VOX U BETTER SHUT UP BEFORE I BLOCK U Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: hey now no need to play dirty with your long time buddy vox eh? anyway Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: have you finally considered actually confessing to him soon?

you blink and bite your lip.

the idea was scary, intimidating. all for the right reasons.

shu was your closest friend and one you wouldn't want to lose all because of your silly little crush on him.

okay not little but still

then again, if he was a good friend, he'd just gently reject you and still be friends anyway right? there was no way shu would slowly distance himself from you because of all that

"y/n?" the said man calls out to you, finally breaking the terribly uncomfortable silence. you hum, looking up at him. "you sort of just... zoned out there. you good?"

remembering again that you were still there with shu, you shake your head and slowly stood

"i'm alright, i promise," you reassure him, holding your phone to your stomach. "i'll be back in a minute okay? i gotta respond to this real quick."

without rly waiting for his response, you rush out of the room and into the far end of the hallway

Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: sorry i needed to get out of the room for a sec Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: and here i thought u actually confessed Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: vox istg Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: u kno what nvm serious talk Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: what would happen if he rejects me? Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: hmmm idk for sure but y/n i feel like he's gonna accept you. he probably has a crush on you too you know Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: like i said a few weeks back, i see the signs on him Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: just answer the question will you? i just wanna be sure Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: alright finee Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: in my opinion shu wouldn't be the type to suddenly not be friends with you anymore Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: he's a pretty chill guy and would never want to hurt anyone, especially you Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: you rly think so? Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: yep that's what i think

so, maybe... maybe it was actually okay to confess to him soon?

in the end, you were only afraid that you'd lose shu as a friend if things went awry

knowing that he'd still be there for you like before even after the confession made it seem less daunting

if only by a bit

you sigh, your head starting to feel heavy

Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: alright fine i'll think about it Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: for real?? Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: yeah just not today Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: okay if u say so love, take it easy Vox Akuma [NIJISANJI EN]: i believe in you and shu Y/N L/N [NIJISANJI EN]: thanks vox that means a lot

and you really did think about it for the next few days

when you went to bed the first night, your hands were sweaty at the thought of confessing to shu about how you feel

in the morning, your head pounded because of the lack of sleep but it soon washed away when you saw shu with a slight bedhead and only in his pajamas

it made you smile and your teeth rotten at the sweet sight

but this reminds you of what vox told you last night, thus now your head is filled with nothing but that

the first few streams went successful too! the yaminions and your own fandom were thrilled to see you having an offcollab as the other luxiem members had their own

to the chat, it seemed not too different from how you and shu would collab online

but to you?

you wished it could be like this for as long as the world let you

his smile, his jokes, his voice, the way sometimes his hand would brush against yours, the way he taught you patiently about a game you could not get the hang of

geez

it all toppled over inside you, your feelings

until you simply couldn't handle it anymore

shu noticed this unfortunately, touching your shoulder to catch your attention as you two sit casually to rest after a stream

you turn to him. "yeah?"

"you seem to be distracted lately. are you actually okay?" his brows furrow with concern and the beating of your heart quickens more than usual

it felt like vox's words were tugging at you, urging you to tell shu how much you wish you could be more than friends, how you wish you could protect his smile and be the selfish reason you make him so happy

if shu wasn't here, it would honestly make you cry at the reality those were not real

you take a long deep breath in and take shu's hand off your shoulder, your fingers enjoying the momentary smooth skin of shu (a quality of his you had discovered yesterday) before placing it down on his lap.

you smile and began, "shu, i have to tell you something."

sensing this was no joke, shu put away his phone and properly faced you.

he returns your smile, nodding at you expectantly

"okay," you whisper to yourself. then you look him in the eye, "shu yamino. i... i've been crushing on you for a long time."

then the smile on the sorcerer falters

confidence -1

but you decide to pull through. "si-since a few months after we met. i thought it was just admiration. i tried to control it because you were a coworker. but i just couldn't. i kept falling and it wasn't until a couple weeks before i left to come here that vox encouraged me to confess."

shu still wasn't saying anything.

confidence -5

"on the first night staying here, vox actually texted me about it. that's when i thought, 'fine, i'll do it.' so... yeah, here i am," you squeeze your eyes shut for a bit, then open them back while hoping that shu was finally going to say something

but still, much to your heart's dismay, his lips are sealed shut

honestly, you didn't know what else to say either

sh-should you just give him time to find an answer?

you gulp, reaching out to shu, "hey--"

"sorry."

you pause

"i-i don't think i feel the same."

part 2 here!

Masterlist!

#author chan’s delivery service 🧺#nijisanji en #luxiem #luxiem x reader #shu yamino #shu yamino x reader #yaminoart #shu yamino fluff #shu yamino imagines #author chan’s delivery service ?

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threebooksoneplot · 7 months

Note

Question for G :)) how was your fanauthor workshop experience? I don't know if I should apply it sounds interesting but at the same time almost no reviews or whatsoever. Thank you!

well I ended up doing it a second time, so I'd say it was pretty damn good! I think the reason there are "no reviews" is mostly due to tumblr's format not really lending itself to that? @fanauthorworkshop isn't marketing itself as a product so much as a pedagogical (educational) extension of the existing fandom gift economy—an exchange where you both learn stuff and share/teach stuff!

this answer is mildly off-podcast-topic and it's gonna get super long and wordy, so it's under a cut lol you're welcome

my Fanauthor Workshop experience

personally, I found the FAW perfect for me. I was at the point in my fic writing where I was getting some lovely comments and glowing praise, but also wishing the world in general took fanfiction more seriously, as a craft to be practiced and discussed, something with both intrinsic and literary merit. @bettsfic's first episode as a guest on Fansplaining really resonated with me and kind of spoke to that desire (it's a must-listen for anyone on the fence about applying to the FAW!!)

but I had never studied creative writing at a university level, and barely knew what a crit letter was. I found the FAW was the perfect way to learn that sort of thing in a low-stress environment! I didn't struggle with feelings of burdensome obligation the way I had with schoolwork; rather I was excited to read everyone else's writing and see what it had to teach me. I also loved having an appropriate venue to air all my writing opinions, lol. I found I was so motivated that I managed to attend every FAW session even though it conflicted with family vacations two years in a row. I wrote crit letters from the lobby of a restaurant in a national park because it was the only place with wifi. I even Zoomed into one session from a random public library in Durango, where I managed to alarm everyone else in the irl vicinity with my enthusiastic discussion of fictional cannibalism (shoutout to the story we workshopped that day, it SLAPPED.)

personally, I approached the FAW with the very specific goal of Having Fun first and letting the writing stuff come second (ie, not putting too much pressure on myself when it came to choosing and polishing my own workshop pieces, and not worrying too much about how they were received.) I still ended up getting some AMAZING critiques and responses to my two (very different) pieces—I was deeply impressed by everyone's insights, how much they were able to pick up on, and how willing they were to meet me at my level. the other pieces we workshopped ranged all over the place in technical ability, from "giohvnsksbnf this writing is so good I'm gonna fucking eat glass" to "this person is clearly just starting out as a writer, but even if their prose has some technical mistakes, their story has Good Bones and their critiques and discussion observations have been spot on."

my big secondary goal was to Make Friends and there I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. I now have SO many cool FAW mutuals, a few of which I have hung out with IRL and the rest of which I totally WOULD hang out with IRL if given the opportunity. they're all uniquely creative and clever people who I probably wouldn't have met otherwise, so that's kind of the biggest Win for me. it's so cool knowing I have all these people I could DM out of the blue and be like "hey, would you mind looking over this short story/beta-ing this fic chapter?" and end up with some great insights. there's also an FAW Discord where anyone can kind of bring fandom- and writing-related questions to the floor, as well as share recs and self-promote projects (or in my case, recruit podcast guests who I know have been pre-screened for both their chill lack of pearl-clutching and their basic fiction-analyzing skills, lol.)

I would recommend the Fanauthor Workshop if:

you're a self-taught writer who's done most of your learning in the fanfiction space and you're curious about how writing is actually taught in academic settings

alternatively, you're a writer from an academic background who chafes at some of the more restrictive rules in traditional workshops/you're tired of the irl Guy in Your MFA -types who refuse to or can't engage with your work on its level

you're ok with doing some "homework" (writing two crit letters per week) on the honor system

you're down to read original work in a wide variety of genres/read fic from fandoms you're not in (maybe even fandoms/pairings/characters you don't personally like)

you like what you read in @oficmag

you wish fanfiction was taken more seriously as a craft

your favorite trad-published writers all seem to be workshop alumni (eg: I swear half of my favorite writers are Clarion grads)

you have work you'd like to publish and/or submit someday but you're not sure if it's ready/not sure where to start

you follow writing advice blogs or send them asks

you wish people would leave "concrit" (constructive criticism) on your fics

you wish people would leave concrit on your fics but you're worried they might be too mean or not "get" your work

you wish people would analyze your work and give critique without letting their personal value judgments get in the way (and you're ready to do the same in turn)

you worry your work is too niche, kinky, queer, romance-focused, or "weird" for a traditional workshop (note: but it doesn't have to be any of these things. people also workshopped gen and the equivalent of coffee shop AUs!)

you'd like to hear perspectives that don't come from cishet dudes

you enjoy Class Participation and discussions (or maybe you're no longer a student and miss that kind of thing!)

you think @bettsfic seems like a good teacher (spoiler: she REALLY is)

you like the idea of a creative writing class with no grades or possibility of "failure"

you'd like to meet people you probably wouldn't meet in any other setting, and make some cool friends from other fandoms

if even a couple of these bullet points sound like you, you'd probably get a lot out of the FAW!! I hope the next session of FAW-ers have a blast. I'll be lurkin the Discord rooting for y'all

#asks #fanauthor workshop #anonymous

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hellofromthehallowoods · 8 months

Note

Hi Mx. Wellman! I just finished episode 132, and it was absolutely incredible. I cried for Riot, I cheered for Jacob, and I could listen to Polly and Yaretzi buy groceries and still love it. A bit nervous for episode 133, but mostly excited!

Sort of not podcast related question: do some of the fan interactions on tumblr (or the rest of the general internet) ever make you uncomfortable? I know that "parasocial relationship" is the buzzword (buzz phrase?) of the day, but it seems like people will vent their feelings about an episode directly into your ask box. Especially these recent episodes that have been more emotionally intense. Not trying to call anyone out or anything, I was just genuinely wondering. Thanks for the great show and wish me luck for 133 :)

They rarely make me uncomfortable; I'm very happy to see the buzz and uproar of a new episode, it's nice to know that it landed!

However, as one or two recent posts from fans said so succinctly, sometimes the enthusiasm, live reactions and theoryposting would be best posted for everyone to see, that way other fans can start interacting and having conversations in their own right without me being included.

I think fans having conversations about the show that don't involve the creator personally is a big step when it comes to the growth of a fandom. Especially since some of the theories and reactions that enter my inbox are too spoilery for me to answer, or just not really my place to say something about.

(And for those who don't already, consider checking or following the #hfth and #hello from the hallowoods hashtags sometime, maybe screening out '#hfth spoilers' if you're not caught up? It's a rare day where new fanart or memes don't grace those outlets at this point!)

#hfth asks

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t4kalcvr · 10 months

Text

BEHIND THE PHONE — s. kita smau

[ posted : June 30, 10:30 p.m. ]

CHAPTER 8. The Talk.

“Y/n, c'mon I just- we need go talk right quick. Like a serious one,” Daichi was trying to convince you that he did not mean the talk in a way an actual parent would.

You sighed as you sat back down on the bed, pillows scattered everywhere to keep him away from you. “Fine, go ahead, give me ‘the talk’!” you added air quotes to give your exaggeration a bit of effect.

Daichi gave a long sigh as you both faced each other and he carefully grabbed your hands. “Y/n, you know I love you right?” he began, you nodded with a hum, indicating for him to continue. “You need a boyfriend.” he ever so bluntly stated.

Your jaw dropped almost instantly at the claim, you stammered a little before speaking a full sentence, “WHAT!? I do NOT need anyone, thank you very much!” you were quite offended and Daichi could see that, so he quickly cleared up his intentions.

“Not like that you dummy, I'm not saying you need someone to depend on. I'm saying you have a lot of love to give to someone and you're too picky that you don't!” he took a breath before opening his mouth again, this time you weren't eager for it, “Chizuko...” he stopped breathing as he spoke.

You knew why, he and Chizuko never really bonded well. Sure they did a good job not displaying that but they were always iffy with each other because they both wanted to protect you from everyone. It never bothered you and they never put you between it, they were both incredibly mature and it never caused issues. You loved both of them dearly for that.

Daichi took a second breath as he continued, “Chizuko is with you more than me,” and you could tell that hurt him to admit. “But we both see the way you look at people and behave around them, even through a screen,” he looked you directly in your eyes as he spoke.

“Daichi...” you sighed. You could feel where he was going with this.

“You don't need to keep hiding your face, y/n.” Daichi furrowed his brows in concentration, making sure you couldn't interrupt him. “You’re beautiful and Kita thinks that too, I know he does.”

Daichi grinned as he saw your face light up with a bright red color, usually, you would've said something snarky like “well I don't need a man's opinion” or “I don't need you to tell me that” but Kita? He knew. It was truly rare for you to lose your mind over a guy you've seen once.

He knew you cared what someone would think one day. And although it's not normally a good thing, he couldn't wait for you to meet or have that person. And although he poorly knows Kita besides volleyball-related activities, he knows he's a good guy.

“Why would I- what does that- no!” you finally spoke. Daichi chuckled at your reaction, priceless.

“Y/n, c'mon!” he exhaled, “Go on a date with this guy...” he paused to think up a random day, “Sunday!”

You inhaled, you were going to say no but if he was insisting without even mentioning you asking him out, did he already have this planned? You sighed before putting on a small smile. “Fine, but I'm not the one who's starting this!” your blush deepened.

“You don't have to! I promise!” Daichi laughed as he wiggled your hands in excitement.

You really couldn't believe how Daichi was the one insisting on this. He and Chizuko being the protective type? You kinda wondered what she would think about this right now.

But you kinda couldn't focus on those thoughts because Daichi was giggling and hopping around like a little gossip girl. You loved when he turned into a supportive older sister.

[ text after photos! ]

And despite everything going well for everyone and you being nothing but excited and anxious for Sunday, it didn’t cross your mind about how two posts could make a certain oreo haired boy assume…

“Oh…” he flicked his phone off before setting it down beside him as he laid in his messy sheets…

… he never had a chance.

previous // master list // next

Note :: I was hoping to sneak a little angst in here and I found the opportunity so i took it, also this was kinda last minute so i’m sorry if it sucks! i also decided to add a few more less displayed things and stuff so this chapter was basically MADE on impulse so i’m definitely sorry if it didn’t make sense! i was really in the zone :’)

Tag List 🏷️ :: @idkanymorebuthere @iamapotat @midnightemy35

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sunnydayroleplay · 1 year

Note

Ahh could we get a coulrophobic sunshine x Jack scenario? I hate clowns but Jack is such a comfort character for me 😭😭💕💕💕

Sorry I got to this so late! Drawing them stripper boys is a lot of work! Will post those on my art account! @feralhalfnhalfcreamer

Thanks for such the cute idea, I didn't really like clowns before Jack, but Jack is just a huge comfort to me now. That said, let's write it! Contents Inside: Coulrophobic Sunshine, Some mentions of scream/panic, otherwise very wholesome and sfw.

Just because this is SFW Content, does not mean minors should interact with this post, and this game as it is an 18+ community only. For SFW/Non-18+ Related content/artwork, go follow my non-roleplay account(s) mentioned above. ___________________________________________________________

Jack goes through that T.V screen of yours was absolutely horrifying, no doubt about it.

But seeing that he was a tall blue hair ghost clown as well?

Even more horrifying.

Poor thing, you were just in the corner screaming for dear life while Jack kept trying to calm you down.

Which only made you scream more.

After countless days of 'off and on' sleep, you tried your best to rationalize.

He hasn't hurt you the entire time he's been here.

All Jack ever has done was try to calm you down when you went on one of your tangent panics.

He's cleaned up your house, and wonderfully at that.

He's even made you breakfast!

Who doesn't love a good homemade pancake with delicious fruits and sticky syrup?

Jack's been trying his best to take his time with you.

You can tell from the way he approaches you slowly and refrains from sudden movement, like if you were approaching the neighborhood stray to pet it.

Slowly but surely, you decide to reach out to him for the first time.

As he's cooking your breakfast one morning per usual, you stand next to him and watch the magic happen.

Jack takes notice and side eyes you.

A small smile crept from his lips for a quick second before he put his attention on not burning the cake.

When he finishes, he hands you the plate of flap-jacks.

You tell him to sit next to you, and he obliges.

He slowly pulls up a chair and scoots in beside you, hands on the table and with a soft gaze.

You couldn't help but smile back, he was so sweet.

You felt bad, but he could understand.

I mean he came out of nowhere, and how was he supposed to know you were afraid of clowns?

No hard feelings at all!

You look at him and manage to mutter a good morning to him.

"Morning! H-How are you? Are you alright?"

His tone was energetic and excited.

This would be the first time you ever talked together normally.

He slowed himself down because he didn't wanna scare you off as he just began to make progress.

"I'm alright, thank you..how are you?"

And with that, the two of you began to make conversation. It was rather nice.

You got to learn about Jack a bit more, other than the fact he was a mysterious clown that can come out of screens.

Jack got to get to know you better, and he got you to trust him just a bit more.

That's all he ever wanted, for his sunshine to not be afraid of him.

You appreciated that he took his time with you, and that he worked alongside instead of pushing.

Ever since Ian, it was really needed.

It was perfectly timed almost.

Probably a coincidence though, right?

As a few months passed by, your relationship grew with Jack in the best way possible.

You guys would talk about the most random shit together.

You'd bake goods together, cook something up for dinner.

You let him sleep beside you instead of the couch.

And soon enough, it got more personal.

Sentimental cuddle hours..

Bubbly bubble baths..

And some even more personal things in bed~

And when it came to the question in mind:

"Do you want me to be your boyfriend?"

You couldn't be happier.

You lunged into his arms and he picked you off your feet.

He showered your beautiful face with as much love as possible. The two of you couldn't be in anymore joy than this.

Jack finally earned your trust, and earned the love and devotion you wanted, deserved.

You finally earned someone who loves you and wouldn't hurt you for the world.

#jacktor #sdj jack #sdj jacktor #sdj joseph #sunny day jack #somethings wrong with sunny day jack #swwsdj #sunny day jack roleplay #sunny day jack joseph #sunnydayjack #sdj

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skydigiblogs · 13 days

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oughhh i was plagued by ghost game related thoughts today. this is messy and disorganized and a lot so don't mind me gbdsfhgbdjfg

it's been like half a year or so since i finished watching it so this is mostly unprompted and like

i do kind of wonder what would have happened with ghost game if instead of a bigger focus on purely pick up and go scooby doo shit, they were willing to tell an overarching story with the elements they had

i think i enjoyed it so much if only because it gave us something we hadn't seen much of to that point (that i'm now realizing is one of those things appmon heavily inspired in GG), that being digimon affecting technology in complex ways

(that's to say, not just bricking computers like giant magnets or making binary flash on the screen to ominous messages like makuramon does in tamers)

but like also digimon having more interactions with humans in general? just kind of hanging out and living in the human world? yeah the field exists and digimon can bworp in and out of being visible to humans without VBs, but they also live in a setting where they can mostly get away with just going "no yeah i'm just a very advanced hologram, dw about it :)"

i also refuse to get over the fact that gammamon is like, canonically plural, and i really wish we had more time with gulus after the finale ep reveals about him and the GRB shit.

also, i do wonder if maybe the series shot itself in the foot by not knowing what it wanted to do, plot wise? it gave us expectations in the first episode as an audience--- suggesting big and strange things to be delivered, and didn't seem to know how to really deliver on them while also trying to be that variety of scooby doo shit that doesn't have to have a throughline plot (aka, setting up a mystery inc style story when it's got a stated goal to be more like the original series)

i was still using reddit at the time GG started, and i remember a lot of people really wanting to hype it up as "the next tamers," especially after they saw the tone and structure of the first episode. in general, i wonder if high expectations put more scrutiny on GG than it might have otherwise gotten.

(this of course isn't to say that there's criticism to be had for GG. i mean i just said i personally have beef with its lack of narrative commitment. i'm just wondering if maybe some people got a little too excited to see a series that met the lofty nostalgia of something like tamers.)

anyways, idk, there's not really anywhere i'm going with this one, i just had some idle thoughts at work today about this series.

go read the gray matter ghost game fancomic or something (no i really have no clue why ghost game is on my mind, really)

#sky talks #digimon #digimon ghost game #i did finally watch karn ex's postmortem on GG and yes that is where i lifted the scooby doo descriptor from #because it does really fit bfsdhjbfjshdf #i want to be clear that i do not mean that derogatorily though #i just think it fits the vibes way better than somethign like monster of the week #other digimon series were closer to MotW where it's like #the challenge EXPLICITLY must be Punched In The Face #GG was very much a series about miscommunication confusion and the rare “I Just Want To Shoot People” mons #also if you're wondering where to find the comic i mentioned at the end literally just type “digimon gray matter” into the search box #the blog will pop up near the top i think??#it's a partner swap au #...god this got long #listen we had a lot of boring shit to do at work today 💀

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halfmoth-halfman · 9 months

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I didn’t know the new chapter has been out FOR A WEEK. Thanks Tumblr!

Anyways, lovely start to my morning, pretty sure my pup was enraptured cause he was snuggled with me looking at my screen as I scrolled faster than light to read.

Seeing the softer side of Ghost during the panic scene was really nice and I could almost hear his internal thoughts of “what the fuck did they do, what did WE do”. I feel as though that scene really revealed for them just how wrong they were about her and it was heartwarming to see them rally

Price was a t total DICK at first, but the love confession shocked him into his right mind. This man on his knees DID something to me, we love a man in the wrong on his knees “apologizing” (i’ll take murder as an apology along with a check sir). When Canary is healed she better make him kneel and beg.

Now on to your writing, i’m always impressed but WOW this is by far your best work, you articulated the inner thoughts of a panicked person so well I thought I was having an episode and that I WAS canary for a moment and had to take a breather. You perfectly put into a visual word form complete panic and shattered thoughts. This is a masterwork because everything was written both incomprehensible and sharp, written so that we knew how canary was thinking, with how fast events were happening and how quickly canary had to try and process it while psychologically shattered herself. I keep rereading because i’ve never read anyone write in such a way.

How dare you make me feel these emotions at 8 in the morning. I’m so impressed with your work and i’m excited to see you flourish from here. -🔥

i legitimately think hell will freeze over long before tumblr actually works like it's suppose to.

asldkajsdal not the dog reading along with you, and so early in the morning too omg i'm sorry 😭

ghost def went through a lot of realizations in that moment, the most important being that he was very very wrong about canary and regardless of how he feels about her, he needs to help her. we'll be seeing more sides to ghost in the next few chapters and maybe a few conversations with canary too!

i really like the love confession as a whole, just because it's so quick and so simple but so effective in getting price's attention. like he's just kinda laid into her, and is fully convinced canary's played him the entire time only for her to respond by telling him she loved him. it's the first time she's ever said it to him, and it throws him off enough that his anger is momentarily forgotten.

thank you so much, i usually try to draw from my own experiences with panic attacks and anxiety when i write those scenes for canary. given how quickly things happen for her, esp in the last chapter, i try my best to show how fast she has to process things while it all just keeps stacking onto the panic she's been pushing down until eventually it all boils over and she can't stop it. she's going through so many emotions, she's scared, angry, stressed, lonely, depressed, confused, just so many things that i don't even she realizes what she's feeling, all the while she's trying to keep herself together and figuring out how to save herself. i know it won't relate to everyone's experiences, but i do my best to portray her dealing with everything and the consequences of pushing it all down.

thank you so much again!!! i'm pretty impressed with myself making it this far, and i'm so eternally grateful for everyone coming on this ride with me!! 💜

#anon #🔥#moth answers #answered #cod ask #private

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lastweeksshirttonight · 9 months

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My boyfriend has decided to start watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from episode one to see how it evolves. So in case you were wondering if he and I are similar-minded folk...

Last Lee Tonight (wherein Lee gets slightly personal) Season One, Episode Eight

(original air date: 6/24/2014) Major topics covered: Monarchies, Dr. Oz

Trigger warning: brief discussion of Kevin Spacey/sexual assault; medical issues

"Let's deal with the elephant in the room tonight. I'm sorry that Game of Thrones is not on anymore."

Y'all. It has happened. We have reached the first episode where the only clip of the show on the LWT YouTube is the main topic.

This marks an exciting new era of these recaps... for now. Next week the videos seem to be a bit more scattershot again. Whatever, progress towards the future is being made!

Another major milestone is hit in this episode, as it is the first time that John wears something I would categorize as daring. Let's get "Lee's outfit review and thirst corner" out of the way - pink and purple checkered shirt with dark navy (almost black) coat and matte slate gray tie. I'm giving this a 9/10 because I feel like a shiny slate gray tie would have given it that extra 'oomph', but it is still an excellent look.

We start tonight with me really noticing the Ferris wheel in the corner of the screen for the first time. It's a bold ass Ferris wheel. Was that there before??

Jesus that's a neon Ferris wheel.

This episode starts similarly to modern LWTs, except John says "Quick roundup of the week" instead of "quick recap of the week" to kick us off. I did not realize how ingrained some of his speech patterns and word choices are in my head until this specific phrasing. It's one thing to see something completely different from what you're used to, like in past episodes of the show; this is a tweak I feel like few people would notice, and yet it stuck out like a sore thumb to me.

We start in Iraq, wherein Baghdad has fallen to ISIS. John makes a joke about Kevin Spacey's sex dungeon being the former scariest place in the world that got a huge laugh - three years before Anthony Rapp came forward with his story. His behavior was such an open secret, it's so gross.

The opening segment bounces from Iraq to Thailand, where a coup just occurred and the new regime has started a "happiness campaign". This is the kind of story John loves, absolutely ridiculous on its face with a very real undercurrent of torment because of its origins.

Finally in our early stories, Antarctic tourism! That phrase makes me vaguely ill. John is on top of creating the anti-tourism trailer for them:

youtube

Interesting to look at this short bit in comparison to a much larger exploration of a similar topic years later, Mt. Everest expeditions. Obviously that was a full episode segment as compared to the 3-ish minutes Antarctic tourism gets here, but it's a good illustration of just how much more in-depth John is allowed to go on these kinds of niche topics as the years wear on.

John then speaks about the King of Spain abdicating the throne. ("Who needs decapitations or poisonings when you have a 76-year-old man peacefully resigning?") This gives John the opportunity to mock monarchy, his favorite sport, and to mention the LA Kings, something I did not expect. This transitions into speaking about the general idea of monarchy, how just about every European royal is related to the English crown, and Middle Eastern royalty. He ties it back to the Thailand section as well, to discuss the Crown Prince of Thailand, who is, according to the news, "a buffoon".

Next is "And Now This", which discusses "Political Figures Telling You What They Are Not". Fucking Michele Bachmann shows up again, as does professional dingo Tom Wheeler. Christ I hate Michele Bachmann.

With that, about halfway into the episode (13 minutes), we now get to our main story. Truly, this is the basic structure of a modern LWT!

youtube

The main story is about Dr. Oz, someone who time has made much, MUCH more odious. It's not like Dr. Oz wasn't a complete shithead at the time of this episode - his pitching for huckster diet solutions and miracle pills towards vulnerable people is disgusting. I have so much loathing for people who do this. A huge part of why my health problems are so bad is because, around the time this episode aired, I, and people around me I trusted, were influenced by guys like him, guys selling folksy cure-alls or "conventional wisdom". In my case, this influence caused me to not seek medical treatment for obvious, glaring, red-flag stomach issues for nearly two years, at which point I was actively dying. (I wish that the key for me to go see a doctor had been this episode, but it was not.)

But Dr. Oz got so much worse as time went on. I'm glad that, aside from one joke early on about Dr. Oz's (relative) attractiveness, John puts Dr. Oz's feet to the fire the entire segment. And not just him!

I remember learning about how the FDA is not allowed to regulate vitamins and supplements and being absolutely flabbergasted. Everyone knows that there's hundreds of deaths connected to tainted or irresponsible dietary supplements, and John firmly roasts senators Orrin Hatch and Tom Harkin for taking huge amounts of campaign contributions from the supplement industry and them subsequently killing attempts to regulate said industry. I appreciate the work put in here.

I love how silly the pandering demonstration is. Puts such a massive smile on my face. I would be remiss to not remind you that John Oliver fucking loves t-shirt cannons, and his obvious delight and power trip at holding and using one makes me beam every single time I see this.

Other notes:

Lee, you already did the suit review: Yeah sure I did. But consider the way that John says "regulatory zeal" at 9:52 in the Dr. Oz clip while snapping his fingers and barely restraining his anger.

"Check This Shit Out with Some Guy Named Mehmet" is an amazing title for a show.

I can't believe I can't find the GIF of John getting nailed with a t-shirt cannon from The Daily Show. I think Wyatt shot him with it. I'm glad I remember literally everything about this except where to find the GIF itself.

Sorry about getting a bit personal in this one. I know I don't talk much about my personal life, aside from being like "damn I'm at work all the time", but rest assured I am much better now and in good health. I have chronic illness so I'll never be 100%, but I am leagues away from where I was when my untreated illness was at its worst. <3

#john oliver #last week tonight #last week tonight with john oliver #last lee tonight #i definitely don't want to tag anything else from this episode lol

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paperplvto · 2 years

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Someone Cool!!

wrote this in the nursing home while we were having birthday coffee with my grandma and I had too much sparkling wine but fucking Jo followed me back (!!!!! thank you??!!) so I have to provide for the Cool PeopleTM so they let me eat lunch with them tehee <3

I shall format this more when I'm not about to hang out with my friends puppy sorry not sorry yes this is a brag please god let the automatic tumblr app read more work I dont know how to add one on mobile

"NO WAY!!!"

Katsuki had been looking at you the second he heard your little gasp (and the rest of the afternoon as well, if he was really honest with himself) but at the sound of your voice the rest of the group turned their heads as well.

"No way they fucking followed me!" You tried to hush your shouting in a whisper, only for your voice to peek through where your excitement got the best of you.

"Who?" Denki asked, too impatient to wait the two seconds it took you to turn the screen in his direction.

Bakugou tried not to notice the little grabby hands the other blond imade and retreated into his lap. Although the subtle feeling of satisfaction from seeing your boundries be respected did help him stay in his seat. He would not stand up and try to look as well. He'll sit here and wait for you to elaborate on your own like a normal person.

"Just- someone cool."

Of course you would start deflecting, he thought.

"Someone... cool?" The only thing worse than the uncoordinated eyebrow wiggle was Kaminaris insinuating tone. And maybe the idea that you might be thinking about talking to someone else.

Not that he wanted to control who you could or couldn't interact with!! He didnt have a problem with you talking to people, he meant like, talking talking.

Didn't Sero say something about having soju in the fridge?

"Yeah, someone from a fandom. It's not like a celebrity or anything but I've followed them for a while and they're really talented. Also they seem super nice."

Super nice. Was that something you paid attention to? Something you valued in others?

He's been called a lot of things but 'nice' surely wasn't on that list. Did you think he was too mean?

"Oooh a fandom, you say? Do we have a little nerd here in our midst? You fantasize about any social media active hero in particular?" Denki teased, though thankfully he was smart enough to keep his fucking fingers to himself. Because the thought of you writing some of the shit some internet weirdos say about him or his friends kind of makes him want to blow something up. And this time it wasnt a quirk related urge.

"Actually we both think it's hilarious how you're more known to fall off a chair during your streams than actual hero work." you countered, earning a laugh from the others and a loud whine from your friend.

In the safety of the ensuing group conversation, Katsuki finally took the chance to quench his curiosity.

"So you can actually make friends with this shit?"

"Y-yeah. They think you're really cool too, by the way."

Oh fuck him, he actually blushed at that.

Too.

They think I'm really cool too.

Maybe you weren't stupid for actually believing you could trust someone you've only met through the very filtered lenses of social media.

And maybe he wasnt stupid for thinking the two of you could work pretty well together.

If 'being nice' was what it took, he could work on that as well.

#bnha bakugou #bnha #bakugou #bakugou x reader #bnha x reader #♡ { bnha }#♡ { katsuki }#♡ { my fic }#♡ { fic rec }

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crazysodomite · 7 months

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my thoughts on fo3

The intro is fine. A bit dramatic for my taste but its okay. The starting screen is actually kinda fun and got me excited for the game even though it's a bit annoying to skip it each time. The intro starting screen music is okay though it showcases what i think their whole intention was with this game. They wanted it to be Epic. Fo3 is an Epic tale of Goodies against Baddies. okay.

The vault 101 intro sequence. Genuinely not as bad as the temple of trials in fo2. The idea in of itself is Not bad! Leading the player through a tutorial in the vault where all mechanics are showcased including resolving conflicts with speech and finding alternative methods to problem solve can be done interestingly but this isn't it. I don't really care about seeing my character grow up with my stupid dad. Also the G.O.A.T exam. Come on bro.

fo1 was actually supposed to have an intro sequence in the vault but they decided against it. It would be more fun if my character already had an assigned job based on what i chose on the creation screen. Whatever.

The Dad thing is fucking stupid and I can't believe they did the 'find your missing relative' AGAIN in fo4. They really thought that was an amazing premise.

I would genuinely prefer it if it was something like. Oh no! The vault door broke and now you have to leave! Like genuinely anything other than this. Anything. I'd rather go hunting for a Vault-Tec toilet brush than my dad

The fallout starting mission doesn't have to be Epic. People should find their adventure by Adventuring and not because their stupid dad went missing. I don't care about my stupid dad. It stifles the roleplaying potential. No matter what your idea for a character is they're always the child of this Guy.

And once again most bethesda games are better when you ignore the main quest. But FALLOUT games led you carefully through the main story and you would discover all the additional stories along the way and in the end you were satisfied with a high-stakes conclusion you were invested in. Also we shouldn't just be satisfied with a bad main quest just because the world is big and there's a lot to do.

I'm going on a tangent but I actually start to think open world games are actually disadvantageous to role-playing unless Each spot on the map is a whole separate quest that can be resolved in any way. Which is incredibly resource intensive. It's better to have a smaller map and a shorter story where you can Really roleplay how you want. Bethesda games are basically dungeon crawling with some roleplay and survival mechanics strapped on top (if you're lucky). Not even saying dungeon crawling is bad but after the amazing roleplaying of fo1?... Bigger and more Epic but really shallow

Graphics: sometimes pretty good, most of the times Boring

Audio: HUGE downgrade from fo1-2

oh! i liked the radio! i like three dog and the way he comments on what you're doing. the song rotation gets pretty old though

Megaton. You, a random nobody, walk into a city. You get offered to disarm a Nuclear Bomb the city is built around. For 100 caps no less. I wonder if this guy offers everyone who comes in to disarm the bomb? I was genuinely expecting some kind of quest to pop up relating to disarming the bomb but no. You just walk up to it and press a button .

the choice here is - do you want to kill a lot of innocent people for no fucking reason (baddie choice 😈) or are you normal.

the karma system. it was always a thing in fallout so i don't consider it an inherently bad. HOWEVER. the whole game being built on making a choice between Baddie 😈 and normal is fucking stupid. There aren't actually many choices where you actually have to weigh the options for anything. most people who aren't doing a purposefully bad person playthrough will always go with the 'good' choice. And obviously the game always decides for YOU what is good and what is bad. the thing is, obviously killing people, pickpocketing, purposefully doing bad things for no reason should carry a karma penalty. but not EVERY choice should dictate if you did 'good' or 'bad'.

A lot of the times in fallout 1 you had to think for yourself if what you're doing is the right choice. And a lot of the times you wouldn't find out until the end of the game or not at all! we will go back to this.

AH ALSO. IT'S INCREDIBLY ANNOYING that looking through containers and reading terminals gives you a karma hit. you can only really find out information by talking to people and passing a speech check instead of actually looking for clues for yourself. unless you want a karma hit and/or to every npc to turn hostile. they understand how it works in dungeons but not in cities. stupid...

this is specifically a problem for me with terminals and holotapes because i love reading terminals! but i also don't want to risk it. you know with the way bethesda code is even if you weren't spotted hacking a terminal the npcs will just randomly turn hostile.

i'm not finished. it really annoyed me that most quests immediately have a 'let me pay you' option. and obviously at a certain point you have enough caps that you just don't care about paying.

the thing is that it discourages doing anything but the easiest possible option. why bother looking for an alternative solution to anything if you can just pass an instant, poorly written speech check or pay?

Oh... I actually liked that if you did very good people come up to you and give you stuff. Sorry I do like that. There are actually good things about Some choices in this game! Like how some special encounters appear based on your choices! That's actually good except you're not guaranteed to see it. I do enjoy if your choices have a real-time effect instead of just appearing in the ending.

I also like how having neutral karma actually has benefits and is arguably the best option instead of just being really good. I wouldn't know though because im a goody two-shoes👼

I liked moira and her quest. Her voice acting was great.

It's incredibly annoying how many quests just have people fighting for you for no reason. You had people fight for you in fo1-2 too but you had to EARN it. Hordes of immortal npcs didn't just appear everywhere you go to help you. Oh my fucking goddddd... This is about the time I stopped taking the game seriously because i realized there will just. be people covering for me no matter where i go. most of the main quest i barely pulled out my gun. why even put me against enemies at that point?

Rivet city is annoying to navigate but who cares. You have a quest marker anyways. Here's what i think. these games are purposefully not built with NOT having a quest marker in mind. npcs have routines and walk around so finding them is a big pain in the ass. you basically Have to have a quest marker pointing to an npc or you will spend an hour running around trying to find That One Person. Fo1 had the benefit of maps being small and all npcs being stationary. so you just had to remember who is where.

The maps and quest are also just not built for you to explore and find solutions for yourself. you just have to run around and shoot people and pass speech checks (if you're lucky). you could actually complete most quests in fo1 without fighting at all, and it was actually INTERESTING! most of the time just going and killing everyone was the most boring option. it sometimes felt like a puzzle game even. in the way you had to find a creative solution BY YOURSELF!!!!

to be fair making a 3d game that is easy to navigate compared to a 2d game where you basically see everything on your screen is way harder. but you have a multimillion budget so go figure it out. they can definitely do it but then you would maybe have to shrink the map. and we don't want to do that. we want More Bigger and Epic-er and more Awesome Stuff.

A reappearing theme in fo3 for me is 'this idea is interesting but the execution is really bad'. This is the quest that really pissed me off with its 'good' and 'bad' choice. THIS seems like a good opportunity to let the player decide what's the best option. but no. the game decides what's good and what's bad. even though arguably you could make an argument for either ending being 'better'. WHATEVERRRR also the themes of american patriotism, anti-communism and xenophobia are really mishandled in this whole game but we'll get to it

the infamous 'stand around and listen to people talk' technique. anybody noticed that this basically never happened in fo1-2? it reqally makes me wonder if good storytelling could happen without this... hmmm...

i'm getting tired....

okay so here's the thing. i was actually struggling with finding ammo and my equipment breaking down throughout most of the game. i actually enjoyed that! i was actually scared of enclave soldiers and super mutants walking around because i thought i couldn't handle them at all. but then i realized they all just die from a few hits. the most challenging enemy in the game is probably the giant radscorpion. ONE scorpion gave me more trouble than a whole vault of super mutants and several rooms of enclave soldiers. sigh.

the repair system. i actually don't mind equipment breaking down and you having to repair it. the problem is having to carry around so much garbage just in case you will need to repair your stuff. why the fuck can npcs repair anything but i can't? it kind of defeats the purpose for investing into your repair skill and i would know this because i prefer using the sniper rifle. which is IMPOSSIBLE to fucking find. i would rather carry around scrap parts to gradually repair my stuff or repair it at a repair station.

also the armor works weirdly in this game. it feels like all tiers of armor are basically made of tissue paper. because why does a radscorpion take out half my health in 1 hit when i'm wearing power armor. this applies to enemies too.

actually a lot of npcs encourage you to carry trash around which is annoying. bring me scrap metal! bring me books! bring me nuka cola! you need a lot of inventory space is what im saying.

do i even have to say anything. this is an insult to even try to compare this guy to the master. wooow.... the president is a compuuuuterrr.... who gives a fuck.

Let's talk about your plan for the purifier.

oh also am i the only one who was reminded of the citadel from half life 2 ... except bad

investing in speech in this game is almost a punishment because of how bad the writing is. there were actually moments in fo2 specifically where i had to facepalm from how dumb a speech option was but HERE. Its ALWAYS really bad.

liberty prime. i genuinely felt like i was in a marvel movie in a bad way. i don't even want to say anything anymore.

the brotherhood of steel are goodies and the enclave are baddies. see, the enclave armor even looks evil 😈 its not actually explained or shown why we should be against them. they just show up and theyre baddies and our dad kill himself. why shouold i care. and then the president shows up and explains their motivations and kills jhimselv.

the brotherhood of steel might as well be the whiterun guard with how full of character they are. whatever . i don't mind the brotherhood being changed to be more open or whaever but maybe keep SOMETHING of their characterization and principles. or anything. instead of them just being 'the good guys'

oh what they did to the super mutants is really bad too. remember the leutenant? remember marcus? remember any kind of gray morality in the game? no yeah they're all cartoony idiots except the two guys who were exiled for not being idiots. i dont care. i just dont care anymore

im tired now . the ending is stupid why shoudkl i care about being a hero. why should anyone die when theres a guy in the room who can do it so everyone survives. why is the ending narration shames you for not killing yourself for no reason. i dont care.

oh. no ending slides too. whatever.

ASND THE THING IS THAT THE WHOLE IDEA OF PURIFYING THE WATER SOURCE IN THE WASTELAND COULD HAVE BEEN ACTUALLY INTERESTING. wasted potential

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