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ot8archivesblog · 4 months

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New Years Eve

꒰ ͜͡➸ Pairing: ot8 x Reader

꒰ ͜͡➸ Genre: Fluff, cuddling, kiss, tears (of joy), a little sad at Felix pov but still a lot of fluff!!

꒰ ͜͡➸ w/c: 5,6k

꒰ ͜͡➸Masterlist

Chan:

New Years Eve approached faster than expected and it had been a tradition for Chan and you, to always keep the Christmas tree until after New Year. The atmosphere seemed more cozy with the little tree in the corner and it made you feel more at home. It was sad that Chan wasn’t able to spend it with his family, but you wanted to make sure that he’d still feel comfortable and happy with spending it with you. You had woken up earlier than normal, being happy that Chan was still asleep and started working on the breakfast first. The dinner would certainly be more fancy but first you’d get the breakfast done. Chan normally worked late, meaning he often slept in on his off days, which was lucky for you. You were nearly done with the breakfast when strong arms wrapped around your waist and his head found its way to your shoulder. “Why are you up so early?” You questioned while turning your head to him, to give him a quick kiss. “You weren’t next to me, so I wanted to see what you’re up to.” His voice extremely deep, as he had just woken up. “I figured I could make some breakfast for us, before I get to dinner.” “Oh, about that…” His tone seemed strained and you wondered what was going on. “We can’t spend the evening together. Something came up at the Company, something about plagiarism… I really have to go and sort it out and that could take a while…” He sighed and you tried to not show your disappointment by smiling at him. “It’s okay Channie. It’s not your fault and those are some serious allegations. Just take care of them, I’ll wait here for you.” He apologised a million times during breakfast and you tried to reassure him as much as possible that it would be okay. After that, he had to leave, leaving you alone at the apartment. That was certainly not what you had planned. Not only couldn’t he spend the evening with his family, but now he couldn’t spend it with you either, which kind of made you sad. Not for yourself, but for Chan. He deserved a break and it bothered you that he couldn’t get one. You started watching a series you really liked, while snacking on some stuff. You figured you could just get something delivered when you felt hungry. However, your phone suddenly went off and you saw Felix’ name on the display. “Felix? Is everything okay?” “Yes, everything is okay. I was wondering if you’re free.” “Free? To do what?” “Well, the boys are all at their houses with their families and I heard Chan-Hyung was caught up by work so I figured you’re free too.” “Weren’t you going to celebrate with Hyunjin and his family?” “Yeah, but something came up.” “Oh, well sure. What did you have in mind?” “Lets meet at that one restaurant we all liked. I’ll send you the address.” With that you hung up and started to get ready. It wasn’t something out of the ordinary for you to spend time with the boys, or one of them but it still felt weird. After you got ready you went to the address that Felix send you and waited for him in front of the restaurant. “Hey there, baby.” You immediately turned around and saw none other than Chan himself. “Channie?” You looked around, searching for Felix but he was nowhere to be seen. “Felix is not here. He’s at Hyunjin’s.” Chan chuckled and you tilted your head, slightly confused now. “I wanted to surprise you. I knew you had dinner planned and everything and that you wouldn’t accept my help, so I figured I’d make up an excuse to leave and get you to come here.” He finally explained yourself and you pouted. “You’re a meanie! I was so worried because you had to work on New Years Eve.” “Sorry, sorry.” Chan chuckled and hugged you. You two entered the restaurant, with a beautiful view over Seoul. You were lost in your conversation when you heard the first fireworks. It was 23:59. “They started early.” “No, the big fireworks have yet to come.” Chan answered but you certainly missed them, as Chan connected his lips with yours.

Minho:

You were currently getting ready to make your way to Minho’s. Even though you spend more time at his apartment then yours, you still kept yours. You were too lazy to move all your stuff to his, but you two wanted to do so in the new year. It was one of your goals, that you had set together so that you didn’t always have to go back and forth when you two practically lived together anyway. You were looking forward to Minho but also to Soonie, Dori and Doongie. The three little cats had stolen your heart the moment you went to Minho’s for the first time, so you certainly couldn’t imagine a New Years Eve without them. But moving them from Minho’s apartment to yours would be too uncomfortable for them, as it would be a new environment. The evening would be uncomfortable enough because of the noise already, the change of environment didn’t need to be as well. You didn’t mind anyways. You often went to Minho’s, instead of Minho coming to yours, so it was fine. Your phone pulled you out of your thoughts and your screen lit up with Minho’s name. “Hey.” You put the phone on speaker as you were still applying makeup. “Are you on your way yet?” You could hear a soft “miau” from the background and couldn’t help but smile. “No, I’m still getting ready, why?” “I have to go pick something up, so I was just wondering if you’re already on your way or if I still have time.” “I’ll still need a bit so you can go and pick it up.” You also had to pick something up on the way, so it would take you longer anyway. “Okay, that’s great. I’ll see you in a bit then.” You ended the call and soon finished with your makeup as well. After getting into a comfortable dress, you took your bag and left your apartment. You decided to drive to Minho’s today. It wasn’t too far on foot, only about 20 minutes but you still had to pick something up and you didn’t really want to carry it with you all the way to his house. It didn’t take long and you were finally on your way to Minho’s apartment. “Yes?” Minho immediately picked up after you called him. You were close to his apartment now and you wanted to make sure he’s already back. “I’m close now. Are you still at the out? If so, then I can take you with me. I’m with my car.” “No, don’t worry. I’m already home.” It didn’t take you long to arrive at his apartment, parking your car and making your way up to his floor. He opened the door for you, as you had forgotten the key at your apartment and took the bags from your hands. “What did you get?” Minho asked as he placed them on top of the kitchen counter as you were greeted by Soonie, Doongie and Dori. “Just some stuff.” You answered, preoccupied with the little cats. After a few minutes you finally joined him in the kitchen and only then did you notice a cake. “No way… Is that what you went out to get?” “Yes, remember when we both saw it at the store? We both liked it so I figured I could get it for today.” “Minho…” He looked at you and immediately understood. “You got it too?” He couldn’t help but laugh at that, which you immediately joined in. Now two cakes were sitting at the living room table. You had also gotten a lot of snack for Soonie, Doongie and Dori of course. “Sometimes we really do think too alike.” You chuckled as you snuggled up to him on the couch. “True, but great minds think alike so we can’t do anything about it.” You smiled softly and the evening went rather calmly, until the fireworks started. You softly cuddled the three cats, so that they wouldn’t be too scared, offering them a lot of snacks and petting them, taking their minds of the fireworks. As soon as they were finally done, Minho couldn’t help but admire you openly. “I love you.” “I love you too.” A soft kiss followed, sealing your new year.

Changbin:

“Baby, you don’t have to be so tense.” Changbin’s voice slightly pulled you out of your concentrated state. You had been taking your wardrobe apart since the morning and Changbin finally decided to try and calm you down. His parents had invited you two to spend the New Years Eve together and even though you had met his family quite often, you still got nervous every time. His mother loved you and so did his sister and father, but somehow, even while knowing that, it didn’t calm you. “Binnie, we’re having dinner at your huge house, with your family… I don’t think anyone would be anything but tense.” “But it’s not the first time you’ve been there and met them.” He argued back, leaning back on the chair he had been sitting on for hours now. You had asked him to help you find an outfit and he of course didn’t mind, but the worry on you made him slightly worried too. He hated to see you tense, insecure or sad, so this was really no the setting he had hoped for. He wanted you to be comfortable, not worried. “Listen, baby.” He stood up and softly embraced your form, your head leaning against his chest, listening to his calming heartbeat. “If it’s too much we can cancel.” “No, it’s not that.” “What is it then?” “I don’t know. I just wanna leave a good impression.” “They love you. I doubt you can leave any better impression than you already have.” “You think so?” “Of course, baby. They love you. You know that. My mother and sister literally never leave your side when you’re there and my father likes you a lot too. There’s really nothing to worry about. They're all looking forward to spending today with us both. They even told me I shouldn’t bother showing up without you.” He chuckled at that and you had to join, finally easing your tensed muscles. “Okay, fine. Thank you Bonnie.” He gave you a soft kiss, before he left to get ready as well. It didn’t take long for you to finally choose a dress for the evening and you started to get ready as well. The makeup took you a bit as you weren’t sure what exactly you wanted to do, but you were still on time. “Lets take my car.” Changbin offered, taking the keys for his car, as you both made your way out of the apartment. It was rather chilly and you had forgotten our jacket, but the car was thankfully in front of the apartment so you didn’t walk for long. Changbin’s mother was the one to open the door for your two and she immediately embraced you first, before she did so to Changbin as well. “You two look amazing! Come inside.” She gently took your hands, leading you to the living room. Changbin’s father and sister were also already there and greeted you with the same warmth, his mother had done just seconds ago. You found yourself between his mother and sister, engaged in a conversation while he was talking to his father. It didn’t take long until dinner was ready and the conversation was moved to the dinning room. It was really nice and you felt silly for worrying so much in the first place. You felt Changbin taking your hand under the table and couldn’t help but smile at him softly. It was soon time for the fireworks, so you all went outside. It was even colder than before and you really regretted not taking a jacket. However, as perceptive as he was, Changbin of course had noticed it and draped his jacket over your shoulders. “Thank you.” “Of course.” The soft kiss that followed drowned out the sound of the fireworks completely, as you only focused on him and your beating heart.

Hyunjin:

You woke up rather early, being extremely excited for the day. It was New Years Eve, but that was certainly not the reason of your excitement. Hyunjin had promised to take you to his art studio today. He had been really inspired the last few weeks and had spend a lot of time there. You had often gone there but it felt different today. It somehow felt special. Hyunjin had already left earlier, claiming that he still had to finish a certain painting before you came, so you fixed yourself a small breakfast and readied some stuff you could eat for dinner together. You doubted that you would be back before midnight, so you could spend the evening at his art studio. After you had fixed up something for dinner, which you could heat up at his studio, you started to get ready. It was a loose dress with a pair of black leggings. You wanted to be comfortable for the evening but also look pretty, so you also fixed your makeup before calling Hyunjin. “Jinnie, are you done?” “Nearly, why did you want to come now?” “I wanted to go pick something up from the store first, but I’d come after that. How much more time do you need?” “Around an hour?” “Sure! Then I’ll walk.” You ended the call, grabbed your bag and made your way to the store. You wanted to get some snacks and sweets before going to his studio. You figured he’d be hungry and if you really were to spend till midnight there you would certainly need some snacks and drinks as well. After getting everything you needed, you finally made your way to his art studio. It wasn’t too far but it still took you a while on foot. It had already gotten dark by the time that you had arrived and knocked on the door. “Come in!” You opened the door and were immediately awestruck. Petals of red roses were scattered around the floor, while candles lit the way. His paintings were nowhere to be seen, which made sense because of the candles. You followed the candles and were met with Hyunjin on the terrace. A cozy little sit-area, made out of cushions and blankets greeted you, being illuminated by little hanging lights. It looked like it came straight out of a fairytale. You knew Hyunjin is romantic, but you certainly hadn’t expected this. “J-Jinnie, was this why you came earlier?” “Yep, I wanted to surprise you so I had to move all the paintings to safety and then start on this.” He smiled softly, giving you a red rose before pulling you into his embrace. He took your bags afterwards and you snuggled up to each other in the little make-shift couch, eating and snacking on the stuff that you had brought with you. “I do get to see what you’ve been painting tho, do I?” “Of course. I only moved them to safety but they’re still here. Even though it’s one painting I have been working on for quite some time now.” He helped you up and lead you to a painting that was covered by a cloth. It was the only painting that was on the terrace with you. He pulled the cloth of in seconds and you were left in awe for a second time. He had painted you. “No way you see me as that beautiful.” You couldn’t take your eyes off it and he couldn’t take his eyes off you, when the fireworks went off. “No… I see you as even more beautiful but it would be impossible to capture that on a canvas.” He admitted and the moment you turned to him to disagree he connected your lips, silencing the complaint in seconds. Not that you minded though, it was certainly the most beautiful way to start the new year.

Jisung:

You really worried about Jisung at this point. He had spent a lot of time in the studio in the past few weeks. At first you had thought that it was because he was working on a song with Chan and Changbin, but they both had told you that they had already finished all the songs they had been planning to finish before New Years Eve. They wanted to take it easy and continue in the New Year with new and fresh motivation. They were of course already planning their next comeback but it wouldn’t be too stressful for now at least. However, Jisung still rarely left the studio and you really wondered what he had been working on. He didn’t tell you and apparently neither did he tell the boys. None of them knew what he had been working on, but Chan suggested that it might be a new solo song or something close to that. Maybe he had gotten some inspiration and was now thriving in it, not wanting to stop until he was finished. Typical for artist and the boys all knew the feeling. You however didn’t, so you worry only got worse whenever you saw him return to the apartment, completely tired. Every night until today. It was New Years Eve and you were surprised when you were met with a sleeping Jisung in your shared bed. It was still rather early and you hadn’t heard him when he had returned last night, so he probably had pulled an all-nighter again. You got up as quietly as possible, so that you wouldn’t wake him, wanting him to rest as much as possible. Wanting to surprise and energise him, you started on making brunch, as you knew he wouldn’t wake up for breakfast, so you would just have to combine them. It wasn’t a rare occasion and you didn’t mind, you just wanted him to have as much rest as he could get, before he would get back to working again. He woke up around 11 am, softly hugging your form when he saw you. “Did you rest enough?” Your voice was quiet, seeing that the sleep hadn’t left him completely yet. “Mhm.” “Should we eat something?” He only nodded at that and you two made your way to the kitchen to eat the brunch you made. “Are you going back to the studio?” You were surprised when he shook his head. “Well not alone at least.” “What do you mean?” “Well it’s New Years Eve, so I was wondering if you wanna come with me.” He smiled softly at you, as he took another bite of his food. “Sure!” You had always wanted to accompany him after you had heard from Chan that he was working on something alone, but you also didn’t want to intrude. You knew that Jisung was often insecure about his lyrics or songs, so you didn’t want to push him to show you. So him asking you to accompany him was a huge thing and it made you super happy. It was already getting dark when you two had gotten ready and made your way towards the studio. It wasn’t too cold, so you two decided to walk, as it wasn’t far away from the apartment either. “What type of song is it?” You asked after a while. “I’ll let you listen to it later.” He answered and surprise took over your features again. Telling you about it was one thing, but letting you listen to it before Chan or Changbin did… was a complete other thing. You always listened to his songs, but he only let it happen after Chan and Changbin had agreed that it was really good. Jisung only wanted to show you amazing songs, even though he knew you would love all of them. You finally arrived at the studio and it was rather close to midnight now, after you had also eaten dinner. You wondered what song it was, as Jisung still didn’t let you listen to it. He took your hand softly and lead you to the rooftop of the studio. “Here.” He gave you headphones and it didn’t take you long to understand that the song was about you. “Sungie, I-…” Tears were welling up in your eyes but he didn’t give you any time to start crying, as his lips found yours the moment the fireworks erupted. “Happy New Year, Jagi.”

Felix:

You were really happy that Felix had gotten the opportunity to spend the New Years Evening with his family in Australia. You were currently driving him to the airport and even though you were sad that you couldn’t spend it with him, you were still happy he could with his family. “Do you have everything? Passport, clothes?” You asked for the millionth time this day. You were more anxious than Felix was, not wanting him to miss his chance to go see his parents. You had fussed over him the entire time when he had been packing and he could only smile at how cute you were being. “Yes, love. We’ve gone over it at home, in the car and here. I think I have everything. Don’t worry too much.” He smiled, his typical angelic smile, at you. You would certainly miss him tonight. A soft kiss later and he was on his way to his gate. You stayed until you couldn't see him anymore and then left as well, only then letting the tears fall that had threatened to. You went back to your shared apartment but it felt so empty without Felix so you figured you could go out. Getting ready and wearing something warm, you made your way to the beach. It had become quite a tradition to watch the fireworks with Felix together from this beach. You two had done so the first year you started dating and kept doing it every year, until today. Normally, Felix was too busy to fly to Australia, but this year was lucky and he found the time to do so. You strolled through the beach, your eyes fixed on the ocean. It had already gotten dark and it would only be a few hours until midnight. You pondered over calling Felix but you didn’t want him to see you cry. You didn’t want to make him sad. You sat down at your favourite spot on the beach, the spot where Felix had told you that he loved you. The spot where everything with you two had begun, when you suddenly felt someone behind you. You immediately turned, but you certainly hadn’t expected to see your angel of a boyfriend. “Lixie? But how? Why?” You couldn’t believe your eyes. It was really Felix standing in front of you. “I'm sorry for lying.” He softly started while embracing your smaller form, not too tight so you could still look up at him. “What?” “I didn’t book a flight to Australia. I wanted to, but when you said you wouldn’t be able to come, I decided against it as well. We spent Christmas with my family, so that’s more than enough for me.” “But I drove you to the airport.” “I wanted to surprise you. I told Chan-Hyung about it and he helped me. He picked me up after you had left.” Only now did you notice the little bag and flowers he had with him. He gave you the bouquet with flowers and you didn’t know how you had been able to unsee it. It was huge and beautifully arranged. “Lixie, I-…” “Just accept it please. I know what’s going on in your cute little brain now, Love. But this is what I wanted.” He smiled softly and you couldn’t hold your tears back, hiding your face on his chest. After you had calmed down, you two sat down on the blanket he had brought and enjoyed his signature brownies until the fireworks were only minutes away. “Love.” You turned to him. “You have something here.” “Where-…” But he didn’t let you finish as his lips connected with yours the moment the sky was lit up by the fireworks.

Seungmin:

It was finally New Years Eve. You had been l looking forward to it for months now. You had a huge surprise planned for Seungmin. The boys had helped you to keep it a secret from your lovely boyfriend for months now and you were quite sure that Seungmin didn’t suspect a thing. You had prepared it whenever he was with the boys and the boys kept you updated on when he would call you or when he would leave first, to surprise you. It felt a bit mean, as you would always act surprised whenever he was home earlier, but it was all for the sake of your surprise today. His family had gone on a little vacation, so it would be only you two tonight. The moment his parents had said that, you got ready to make it the most beautiful New Years Eve ever. You were currently working on the dinner for later, with Seungmin together. He always helped you out when he was at home, today being no exception. “Is this good?” He always asked you, as he knew you were quite precise on how things had to be on special days. “Yep, thank you.” You beamed at him and he returned it with a soft smile. “By the way, I’ll have to pick something up at the store later but looking at dinner I might not be able to. Could you do it for me?” You needed him out of the house so you could get the last part of the surprise ready. “Of course. Just tell me which store and what you ordered.” His answer came in a heartbeat and you couldn’t help but think of him as adorable. “Thank you, Minnie.” Dinner was done faster than you had expected and it had gotten quite late as well. You started to arrange the plates and make some side-dishes so that it would look as if you’re still busy. “Can you go now, Minnie?” You asked softly, pulling him out of his thoughts, as he had been focused on one of the side-dishes. “Sure.” He got ready and headed out, not a second after the door shut you left the side-dish aside and called Chan. “Chan?” “I’m on my way already. There was a little bit of traffic but I should be there in 5.” “Okay that’s perfect!” You ended the call, getting the table ready now, placing all the dishes and side-dishes on it before you got the drinks. You turned the lights off, letting only the hanging lights illuminate the apartment. You nearly tripped when you heard the door, praying that it was Chan and not Seungmin. Thankfully, it was Chan and you took the little box from him. “Thank you so much, Chan.” “You’re welcome. Don’t forget to film his reaction.” “Camera is already standing, don’t worry.” You chuckled and Chan nodded, before he left. You couldn’t risk Seungmin, seeing Chan now. It didn’t take long for Seungmin to arrive and put the little cake you had ordered on the table. “Jagiya.” He called out and you could hear the confusion in his voice. “I went to pick up the stuff you ordered but the salesman gave me dog food as well. Did you plan on gifting it to one of the boys?” Seungmin asked as he entered the living room, only to let the dog food fall out of his hands. “Nope, I got it for you.” You stood there, with a little puppy in your arms. Chan had gone and picked him up as you had planned for it to be today. It had taken a long time to find the perfect little puppy at the shelter but when you did, you were overjoyed and the workers were more than happy to help with your little surprise. You knew how much Seungmin had wanted one. Chan had told you that he had even thought about buying you one, as he wanted to raise it together with you, so you figured that you could do so, in the new year. “No way… Jagiya you’re… Amazing.” He chuckled softly, before embracing the puppy and you as softly as he could. Connecting your lips the moment the fireworks erupted, while also covering the little puppies ears.

Jeongin:

“Should we pick it up before we go or on our way?” Jeongin’s question pulled you out of your thoughts and you turned to look at him. “The cake, Princess.” He chuckled softly. You were completely engrossed in your makeup that you had barely registered what he had said. “Oh. Let’s just pick it up on the way to the boys. If we pick it up now, we would just make the way twice.” “Then we should probably leave earlier tho.” Jeongin notified before he left the bathroom, where you were currently getting ready. You decided to spend this years New Year Eve together with the boys at the shared dorm. Jeongin and you mostly spend your time at your shared apartment so this would certainly be something else. Jeongin was already finished with getting ready and was just making sure you had everything. Everyone had gotten different tasks and Jeongin and you were in charge of the food. You had all decided to order some food, so that you could just enjoy the evening. You had first offered to get a cake too but Felix insisted in making it with Hyunjin as they would be making brownies anyway. You had already called the restaurant in advance, telling them when the food had to be ready. You were at your finishing touch when Jeongin had done so, wanting to make sure they wouldn’t start preparing it too early. He didn’t want it to be too cold. You slipped into your dress and left the bathroom, taking your bag and finally meeting Jeongin at the door. “You look amazing…” He was awestruck but so were you. Jeongin looked amazing no matter what. “Thank you. I can only give that back.” You chuckled softly and you two made your way to the car. It wasn’t too far but you also had to transport all the food, so it would be easier by car. Jeongin drove while you updated the boys. Chan, Changbin, Seungmin, Jisung and Minho were already at the dorm, meaning only Felix, Hyunjin, Jeongin and you were missing. Felix and Hyunjin had apparently run into traffic but they said that they would be there in around 10 minutes. By the time Hyunjin and Felix arrived, Jeongin and you had finally gotten the food and drove off as well. You finally joined the others, taking the bags out of the car. They had heard the car pull in and immediately came outside to help you with the bags of food. The aroma was filling the dorm and you all sat down around the table to start eating and joking around. By the time you had finally started to eat Felix brownies you were full. So you pushed the brownies aside for now and all went out to sit on the terrace, just enjoying the night view. The brownies on a table in between all of you, being there as little snacks, if anyone craved any. Jeongin had never left your side throughout the evening. Even though he knew that you were comfortable around the boys, he still didn’t want to be too far away. It was the first year that you spend New Year with the boys, so it was still something new and you didn’t know them as well as Jeongin did, obviously. He caressed your hand and it made you feel at ease immediately. It was close to midnight when the boys went back inside, using the excuse that they wanted to clean up the dorm a bit. “Tonight was really fun.” You broke the silence first, while leaning on Jeongin’s shoulder. “Yeah. I love you and I love the boys so this was really nice.” You smiled softly at that. “Thank you for inviting me.” “Of course. I love spending time with you and so do the boys.” “Who loves it more?” You turned to look up at him. “I do of course, Princess.” His signature smirk didn’t go unnoticed as he connected your lips, the sound of the fireworks that just erupted went unnoticed by both of you, as you lost yourselves in the kiss. Fully knowing that the boys would certainly tease you in a second about it. “I love you, Innie.” You whispered against his lips. “I love you too, Princess.”

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entertext · 5 months

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HGSN 22-2

Chapter (Japanese)

(Please hit the green thumbs up at the end of the chapter to show support)

Rough translation by me

(sfx: wakes up)

Yoshiki: Uwahh!

Yoshiki's mom: Dear...! Are you alright!? Why did you go to Takeda-san's place..!?

Yoshiki: Mom...

Mom: Is it true!? That old Takeda geezer went into a rage and knocked the two of you out?

Mom: The researcher? staying there managed to stop him, but...

Yoshiki: Wait...slow down...you didn't call the police or anything...

Mom: A small quarrel within the village that isn't worth getting the police involved over...that's what it will be settled as, it seems. I seem like a fool. Even if I filed a complaint...

Yoshiki: Enough of that, what about 'Hikaru'...?

Mom: He's sleeping on the next bed...

(sfx: curtain swish)

Mom: But he hasn't woken up yet...

(sfx: thump)

Tanaka: (This katana...)

Tanaka: (I snuck it into Takeda's house for an emergency, but it came in handy. It was able to cut "that" better than I thought)

Tanaka: (This confirms it. It took a long time to get to this point. I'm...really lucky... To think that it's manifesting in this era)

Tanaka: (On top of that, how funny! Not only does it have an ego but it made itself weaker!)

Tanaka: (So things are already progressing towards my goal?)

Tanaka: (But....if that's now the case...)

Takeda: Tanaka!!!

Takeda: My father...they said he probably can't be saved. That it was a heart attack.

Takeda: What the hell happened...!?

Tanaka: ...my apologies. I rushed there but didn't make it in time.

Tanaka: I noticed too late. ...It's my fault.

Takeda: ...

Takeda: My father...had said "I'm next"

Takeda: Was that was true then?

Tanaka: ...seeing the beings on the other side means the other side can find you more easily too

Tanaka: If you find them, the more you fear them, the easier of a target you make

Tanaka: That's all that happened to Matsuura-san and your father.

Takeda: I see...no, to be honest

Takeda: My wife and I were relieved...though that isn't proper to say

Tanaka: ...

Tanaka: ...by the way, my sunglasses

Tanaka: have you seen them?

Takeda: They're right in front of you, aren't they...?

Tanaka: ...

(sfx: splash)

Takeda: You...

Takeda: Is it possible that you're blind?

Tanaka: Yeah....

Tanaka: That's right.

Tanaka: But this is a kind of spiritual impairment. Even with a medical examination, there's nothing wrong

Tanaka: Besides, with these sunglasses I can more or less see

Tanaka: Though its annoying that they're company provisions

Takeda: How long ago?

Tanaka: ...since a very long time ago. Are you finished?

Takeda: Wait

Takeda: What the hell is your goal here?

Tanaka: It's my job

Tanaka: My "company" is looking for a particular thing that originates from the other side

Tanaka: They've searched for several hundred years... It's worth that much effort

Tanaka: And that's why they send people like me out to survey any place that it has even the slightest chance of being in

Takeda: No, I'm talking about your personal motive

Takeda: I don't know anything about that company or whatever

Takeda: But for you to do so much, you must have a reason

Tanaka: Haha, you're suprisingly sharp

Tanaka: Regarding "Nounuki-sama"...it's not wrong to say I plan on doing something about it

Tanaka: At the very least... I'm on the side of humanity

Tanaka: ...but I've just gotten a few more things to do now.

Tanaka: I'll be gone from this village for a moment, so you're responsible for now

Takeda: !? Hey!

Takeda: What about dealing with Nounuki-sama!! If someone gets attacked by impurities...

Tanaka: Please fight them with that katana! Takeda-san, you're 6th dan in Kendo, aren't you?

Takeda: Is that possible!?

(txt: Missed Call: Satou)

Next chapter: in two weeks probably

Twitter Extra (link):

If he started speaking before it was stuck back on:

Yoshiki: ....!

Hikaru: How about working at a haunted house?

#hikaru ga shinda natsu #the summer hikaru died #hgsn spoilers

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violetganache42 · 3 months

Note

Be sure to watch the season 2 premiere of Moon girl and Devil Dinosaur because the show is in danger of being cancelled

Yeah, everyone at the Disney Beat server and I saw a couple of nights ago, and we've all been so fucking ANGRY at Disney. 14 episodes getting dropped all at once on Disney+?! What the fuck were they thinking?!

(Rant under the cut.)

It's bad enough they release batches of episodes at once like what Netflix did with Sonic Prime, but they plan to drop around half a season there to where they're making the main channel do two episodes per week?! You seriously couldn't do weekly premieres on TV and have the new episodes get released the next day on streaming, like what HBO Max did with Unicorn: Warriors Eternal and My Adventures with Superman?! The fact they reveal this on the MGDD Crew TikTok and paint it as a good thing does not help either. "How could you not celebrate" HOW COULD YOU NOT REALIZE YOU'RE BEING SO FUCKING DENSE RIGHT NOW?! LOOK AT THIS SHIT!

You cannot make this up! Streaming as a whole has seriously fucked over entertainment. Netflix made the binge format the new norm, and it's not working anymore. If you thought shows getting shorter-lived hype through binging compared to a weekly release was an issue, the quantity is a-whole-nother problem. If it was 5 or 6 episodes getting added at a time, that would be less infuriating, but this is 14 half-hour episodes we're talking about! That's 308 minutes of straight-up binging Disney expects us to do! No one is gonna binge this many episodes in a timeframe like that! And keep in mind, this isn't an earlier season from a finished or ongoing show; this is a whole new season we're talking about. People who haven't watched MGADD yet or don't have Disney+ and/or cable are gonna get exposed to a fuck ton of spoilers. Not to mention Disney Channel is gonna have to spend 7 weeks catching up to Disney+ with the episodes they air on TV. That will do a serious number on the TV views! And don't get me started on the international releases because I was told MGADD has been delayed so much to where S2 of dubbing is done (hence the promos in Japan), but considering the company's crapass handling of international releases, people won't be able to watch it until a much later date. Oh, and there are also countries that don't have the show despite it being dubbed in their language. Right off the bat, that's international views down the drain and the strong possibility of people in the other countries being exposed to spoilers depending on what they come across and who they're following.

You know what the absolute kicker is? They had the fucking audacity to reveal this shortly after they treated The Ghost and Molly McGee like garbage. No joke! The very minimal reruns they gave it throughout its run, its cancellation as season 3 was being drafted, the shitty promotions, them releasing "Jinx vs. the Human World" on iTunes and "The End" on YouTube ahead of their TV and Disney+ releases. I am not kidding about the last part; because Disney didn't temporarily remove them, SpoilerTV reported both episodes received only 63K and 56K TV views! Now compare that to the 375K views "Watching and Dreaming" got; all three TOH specials weren't released on YouTube or Disney+ until after the DC/XD simulcast premiere! And this is the same show that got shortened by the now retired Gary Marsh! The upsetting part is Bill Motz is blaming himself for putting too much pressure on the fans for watching TGAMM and appointing ambassadors to help promote it. No, it's not your fault, Bill. It's the Disney executives and their shitty marketing strategy's fault your show got cancelled. You care about the show you and Bob Roth created, and you wanted it to do well. The higher ups didn't bother to continue promoting the show after it premiered, and that alone just forced you, the ambassadors, and the audience to do their job for them. They're the reason why it underperformed on D+ and DC. Now, it may potentially happen again with MGADD thanks to them!

Why did they pulling any of this shit was a good idea?! The show got ample marketing, from an advertisement outside the Days of Christmas store in Disney Springs and Moon Girl herself appearing in Disney California Adventure to merchandise such as a Moon Girl Funko, a couple of books, and even a graphic novel! It has received nominations and won awards, and the current lead executive Ayo Davis said season 1 performed well in ratings! Yet they turn around and pull all of this bullshit as season 2 approaches! Seriously, what is preventing you from doing next-day weekly releases and continuing your marketing, Disney?! All your other Marvel shows have gotten weekly releases and so much promoting, and regardless of the reception of each show, they all get high ratings! That even includes What If…?, the MCU's first animated show! Just because MGADD is adjacent/not entirely connected to the MCU and is a Disney TVA show doesn't give you the excuse to treat it like crap post-season 1!

I'm sorry for the ranting, but this multi-whammy has been so fucking frustrating. I have been a big fan of MGADD since the beginning, and like I previously said, it helped fill the DuckTales-shaped hole in my heart. I'm glad that it has such a strong start, and I want it to continue doing well, but the upcoming 14-episode release was such a fucking gut punch. The more the active Disney Beat server memebrs and I ranted and vented about it, the more furious we grew to where a few of us—myself included—were in tears; it is such a horrendous decision the Disney executives made! I'm at least glad the past week has gotten people to talk about how shows are getting treated nowadays thanks to streaming, and Disney Beat tweeting about the 14-episode bomb release announcement got deleted. Unfortunately, the higher ups most likely deleted it just to save face and won't reverse the decision in the end. Regardless, more people are catching onto the pitfalls with streaming and are noticing how shows no longer have the opportunities to build audiences over time. They are treated as nothing more as a means of gaining views and instant gratification rather than a medium made for one's enjoyment. With the Animation Guild's contract having been expired for around a few months, I hope one of their demands is to stop the shows' mistreatments and lack of sufficient marketing because streaming left a devastating and worsening impact on the entertainment and animation industries.

#my inbox #anonymous #moon girl and devil dinosaur #mgadd spoilers #the ghost and molly mcgee #tgamm spoilers #disney branded television #disney channel #disney+

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jaemified · 9 months

Text

sunshine - kwon soonyoung

“you’ll always be my sunshine in the rain”

pairing; kwon soonyoung x fem!reader

genre; fluff, drama, unrequited love

warnings; minimal mention of drinking, soonyoung and reader get rained on in the middle

wordcount; 1.6k

synopsis; the one who stayed by your side no matter how many times you got fired from different jobs, tells you no matter the outcome, you’ll always be his sunshine in the rain.

read below the cut !

you had just been fired from your third job within a span of 7 months. not that you really did anything, you were always a competent employee, just the fact your overly.. energetic (to say the least) friend group would always seem to forget they are in public when they visit you. and once your boss found out they were yours, you paid the price no matter how much you tried.

“im sorry. i know it’s not you whos personally at fault, but we’ve been getting to many noise complaints from both owners next door. so we have to let you go, im really sorry again.” your boss, minnie, had told you before firing you from the bakery.

i mean, it made some sense that there would be noise complaints as the people next door were a tutoring company and a book store, but why would you have to be the one to take the blame?

at the end of the day, they were still your best friends, so you tried to see past it. but you really needed the money with rent due soon, not to mention the bills on top of all that. ‘i really might need to cancel my netflix and hulu subscription..’

you do have a roommate, sana, who you of course are close with, but with her being in law school, she was barely home.

of course she paid her share as she was pretty financially stable not to mention she still slept there (sorta) often, yet you never could ask her for money. though you went to high school and finished college together, it still felt weird asking for money.

so you sucked it up and went job hunting online, texting some of your (other) friends if they knew any available positions in the retail industry.

after 3 hours, you gave up. it was about 5pm now, and you had been rejected by around 15 different stores.

you decided to take a break to eat, and made a quick sandwich.

you scrolled through your phone mindlessly, before you received a notification from the one and only tiger lover (you really cringed when he told you to make that his contact name), soonyoung.

hoshi; r u ok

hoshi; srry me and kyeom got u fired

hoshi; picking u up

hoshi; dress nice

hoshi; jk u always do

hoshi; be there in 25

you sighed at his sad attempt to cheer you up. of course, him and seokmin were your best friends (among other things) yet you seriously had no idea how to move forward career wise.

you thought of just not telling them where you worked but they always found out one way or another.

even so, despite the desperate need for money you appreciated all soonyoung did for you. if he wasnt able to support you financially, he definitely always would mentally/emotionally.

with a heavy groan, you drag yourself off the couch to get dressed as you realized the minimal time you had left before he’d arrive.

you put on a yellow dress with yellow frill short sleeves, as well as a random pair of white sneakers before grabbing your bag and phone just as soonyoung texted he was parked outside.

“is that the dress i bought for you a while back?” he questioned while he backed out the parking lot.

“yeah. just never really had the chance to wear it since i was always working.”

“im sorry about that, again. i know you aren’t exactly the most financially stable but just know you can always come to me if you need-”

“soonyoung- weve been over this, i cant just ask you for money. i could never impose on you like that.”

“its not imposing if im the one offering it to you. but really, i don’t mind. im more then comfortable money wise right now.”

“only cause you live in cheols basement.”

“its not a basement- its a bedroom below the main floor. and josh literally has his own room on the same level as me! you know what thats besides the point. but you get what i mean!”

“yeah- you’re a group of 5 grown men living in a small technically one story plus a loft house with a.. not-basement because none of you wanna pay bills on your own.” you chuckled, rolling your eyes as you let the wind blow in your face through the crack in the window.

“hey! you’re saying that like we all don’t pay our own fair share.”

“whatever. where are we going anyway.”

“somewhere.”

“no way. are you kidnapping me?” you dramatically gasped, putting a hand over your chest.

“stop talking or im dropping you off at the nearest insane asylum.”

—

after a good 15 minutes of driving, you realized soonyoung had taken you to the old park you used to always visit together, recalling all the fond memories while the rushed back to you when you first stepped out onto the grass.

you noticed soonyoung taking a smallish basket out the trunk before you connected the dots it your head — he had taken you onto a picnic.

“you coming? this basket isnt getting any lighter.”

soonyoung had brought all sorts of your favorite comfort foods, ranging from strawberry shortcake, to tteokbokki, and even spam musubi.

as you took a bite out of your slice of cake, you let out a little gasp as a bee danced around your fork, before eventually flying to crawl over your dress.

you immediately stood up to shake it off you, sighing in relief as you saw it fly away (thanks to soonyoung swatting it but youre an independent person)

“you’re that freaked out over a small bug?”

“it was a bee! i dont want it to sting me or get in my cake.”

“it only stings you if you attack it first.”

“you’re lucky i didn’t attack you. why are all the bees coming towards me and not you anyway?”

“guess the bees know who the real flower is.” he smiled, before digging back into his own food like it was nothing.

your heart melted at the little comment, but it was expected from soonyoung. you shouldn’t get all worked up from something so usual/normalized, you told yourself.

but if it was so normal, why was your heart beating so fast?

“that was a little sudden. what was that all about?”

“oh that? yeah i like you.” he shrugged like it was nothing, the words rolling off his tongue so naturally as if he was responding to the most obvious question in the world. like, what color is the sky, or, how the hell do you respond to your super cute best friend that you find attractive, saying he likes you but he just got you fired thrice??

you felt the air being knocked out your lungs, absolutely speechless.

“i only said it so naturally cause i know you don’t feel the same, you know,” soonyoung mumbled, seemingly reading your mind. “just kinda needed to get it off my chest.”

“soonyoung..”

“no i get it. i mean i can’t expect you to love me especially ive been such a bad friend. i knew you were struggling and yet i still got you fired. from three different jobs.”

“im really sorry.”

“no need, if anything i should be sorry.”

“you know i still really care about you, right.”

“course you do, its only natural, anyway”. he forced a smile, though he wasn’t quite sure what else he expected.

though, he supposed a small part of him was holding onto something, wishing maybe you could’ve been a little more.

coincidentally, you began to feel small raindrops against your finger tips. you looked up to see the once bright blue sky had turned gray and gloomy.

“that’s weird.. I don’t remember seeing any rain in the forecast..”

soonyoung immediately packed up everything as soon as he could the moment he felt the rainfall coming down harder and faster.

by the time he was done, you both were pretty drenched.

he dug through the neatly packed basket to grab his black denim jacket to wrap around your shoulders as he guided the two of you to the car through the rapidly shifting winds.

soonyoung was meant to drop you off, but you invited him in. despite all his personal protests, he still went in anyway.

you poured yourselves some red wine, sitting on the floor by the warm fireplace after the cold rain soaked you both.

“i dont know if it’s the wine talking but you are really attractive, even if i don’t see you the way you see me.” you slightly slurred.

“well. you know what they say, drunk words are sober thoughts.” he awkwardly chuckled.

“im sorry.” you drunkenly mumbled, your head tipping over to fall onto soonyoungs shoulder.

he quickly took your wine glass to put onto the coffee table behind you in order to avoid staining the fluffy white carpet.

“what for?”

“i still really care about you.”

“well. you’ll always be my sunshine in the rain, even if it’s only ever just as friends.” soonyoung whispered to you, pulling his jacket tighter over your shoulders while you let yourself be absorbed by your own dreamland.

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marsgod · 2 years

Note

Hello again! I’m the person who requested ‘Reader Overblots’ and I’m here to request something that is also blot-related.

May I request Riddle, Azul and Jamil who severely injured their S/O during their overblot and only find out about it after accidentally bumping into their injury either in class or on one of their dates :DD

Love your writing! I hope you’re having a good day or night!!

omg… i love this a lot<3

Also!! Tysm!! I’m having a lovely day so far, and to you as well~!

*＊✿❀【Ｈｕｒｔ　Ｄｕｒｉｎｇ　Ｔｈｅｉｒ　Ｏｖｅｒｂｌｏｔ】❀✿＊*

| Info you need! v

Riddle, Azul, + Jamil finding out they hurt their s/o during their Overblot!

Warnings; Reader Injury,

i’m trying to practice writing scenes so just skip to the “keep reading” thing after if you don’t want to read it:)

Your love and yourself are walking around, being tasked with getting some more ingredients for an upcoming party.

You nodded along to his quiet ranting, something about food, you couldn’t bring yourself to remember more than little snippets of what he was saying.

It’s been a week since his overblot, but your foot hasn’t felt any better, on account of you wanting to be there for your boyfriend and not “Taking it easy”. You had managed to escape the worst case “Maximum Damage”, but not without a close call or two, where you ended up scraping your hands and with a sprained ankle after launching yourself out of the way and tripping over your feet over one of this attacks.

“-And then they had the audacity to tell me, “It’s the same thing.” Can you believe that?” They, who was in front of you, turned around to get your input, only to stop confusedly, “Are you okay, [Name]? You look like you’re going to keel over.”

Having saw you were limping before, having brushed it off with a reminder to put your foot up when you told him that it was from Mr. Vargas’s training.

There was, in fact, no Vargas Training, only neglect for your own health.

Anyways, after you do actually keel over on the ground, He rushes to your side in a mix of panic and confusion. He ends up cast a levitation spell on you and leads you to the Infirmary but your hand to keep you near.

Once there, and explaining that they didn’t tell him what was wrong besides previous training with Mr. Vargas.

Later, after going to sit in the waiting room, is told that you needed to rest for the day and that he was dismissed if he wasn’t injured himself.

AZUL is clearly worried, he keeps smiling but it’s clearly saying “God please help me, if you even sound a bit angry even if its not at me then I’m going to have a nervous breakdown and I’m sorry-“

…Yeah, He’s still got sum issues, this is before he finds out “Oh shit this is actually my fault”

When he does find out though! he’s muttering apologies and bringing small peace offerings (cut up fruit and chocolate) even if you say that he doesn’t need to bring them to you.

He apologizes but is also confused on why the hell you went a fucking week on your injured leg, and thinks that you didn’t tell him cause you didn’t trust him which makes him feel worse

After learning you just wanted to be with him through his “recovery period”… Yeah, good luck w that because he keeps you in bed for however long your recovery period lasts so ha

JAMIL isn’t clearly worried, he practiced his rbf for years you ain’t seeing anything “clearly”

He asks the basic questions If you’re okay, do you need anything, what happened-

Oh? It was from his overblot incident from a week ago?… and, you thought you could power through it because you wanted to be with him?

He stares at you, unblinking, in silence until he finally opens his mouth and calls you dumb

and that he loves you, but god you’re so dumb

He feels bad ofc, and apologizes for it but also why would you do that? and keep it a secret?

Jamil won’t be able to keep you company a lot… Is what Jamil and you both think until Kalim learns you’re injured and floods your house with flowers and claims they’re going to stay with you to be at your beck and call.

Jamil is partially okay with it, but also “Kalim please they need to actually rest.”

Anyways, Kalim is the one that.. supports you and gets whatever Jamil tells him to and Jamil actually does the cooking, etc.

Amazing, house husband<333

RIDDLE feels so horrible and won’t leave you’re side, and is also more irritable than normal because he’s mad that he believed such a foolish lie

He doesn’t know exactly what to do but he does buy some if those herbal tea’s for you to drink and sorta relax with

After learning it was, indeed, his fault, he does also feel horrible but has a hard time with it so he just puts his head on your should and apologizes

Trey helps check up on you, and cooks because Riddle will badger you if you try to get up

the type to tie you in a bunch of blankets before he leaves to ensure nothing happens

Riddle won’t leave his dorm, but if he’s not in actual classes (with no other tasks) then he’s at your dorm, helping you with whatever until you tell him you’re okay or you fall asleep.

Riddle, at some point, probably fall asleep while in your bed but you don’t have the heart to wake him up (plus he’s a fucking heater) and yeah<333

#there was an attempt #{..no identity found..}#twst x reader #jamil viper #jamil x reader #riddle x reader #riddle rosehearts #azul x reader #azul ashengrotto #gn! reader

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shenrickyz · 3 months

Text

ITS TIME TO GO (ft. predebut yohan!)

yohan doesn't even think the loudest person would be able to snap him out of the daze he was having.

it was really just the loud music blasting through his headphones distracting him, he was much too focused on the movement of his pencil on the page to even notice that someone had walked into the room, and too focused to realize that person had been banging on the door for a good ten minutes.

maybe he is at fault for that.

it's only a tap on his shoulder that finally snaps him out of his daze, and he lowers down his headphones, turning around in his chair to look up at the person who decided to tap him. "yes?"

haeseong scoffs, not even surprised by his teammates behavior. "i was calling you for like.. ten minutes! you didn't hear me?"

yohan stares at him blankly, they both already know the answer to that question. "my volume was turned all the way up" he smiles teasingly, watching as haeseong gets even more irritated than before.

"anyway.." haeseong rolls his eyes, used to how yohan was already. "luca was asking if you wanted food".

yohan shakes his head, and haeseong was honestly expecting that. "what have you even been doing for the past fifty minutes?"

"writing poems" yohan answers in insane speed, sparing no additional glances to his teammate as he turns back in his chair and back to the papers that litter his desk.

haeseong raises an eyebrow, glancing at all the papers on his desk, just barely being able to read the writing on them before yohan pushes them all into his red folder. "is that all you wanted?" he mutters.

yohan just wants to be alone.

haeseong clears his throat, nodding. "yeah— yeah that's all i needed".

"cool" yohan puts his headphones back on. "close the door on your way out".

"what do you mean you want to leave!?"

yohan is more surprised at areum's surprise to his decision than the fact that his younger brother cooked the meal he was currently enjoying. "what else am i supposed to do? stay?"

"um? yes!" areum is much more head on than she likes to admit, but she just wants the best for yohan, and he knows that, she just goes about it in an aggressive way. "you said you wanted to become an idol!"

"i can't become an idol if my company won't do anything but just stuck me with like five men and make us just dance, they have nothing ready for us, for me" yohan exclaims, and hyeri hums around her spoon, not wanting to talk with her mouth full of food.

"you made this?" hyeri inquires, looking over at her youngest brother. yisoo looks offended, his brows furrowing as he leans against his cheek.

"why are all of you asking that?" he frowns, and yohan just snickers, patting his back. "do you not expect me to know how to cook with parents that are literally professional chefs?"

"it's all jokes!" hyeri yells, ruffling her baby brothers hair. "it's just that you were such a baby and now your here cooking!"

"i'm in university.."

"your a freshmen" areum deadpans, and yisoo gasps at the words. she ignores his reaction, turning back to yohan and putting the topic back on his idol life. "so your leaving, what are you gonna do now?"

"i'll figure out what to do after that.." yohan mumbles, which is code for: he has absolutely no idea.

"there's a company holding auditions" yisoo suddenly pipes up, and hyeri seems to have an idea of what he's talking about, because she immediately nods. "you could go there".

"rix's company! apparently they're creating a new boy group!" she exclaims, lacing her fingers together and placing them onto the table.

"rix? you have all their albums.."

"you can go there! they aren't even that far from us!"

"and how are you so sure that i'll get in?"

areum deadpans, staring at yohan like he just confessed to committing a crime. "why wouldn't you get in? you can sing, dance, and your good looking, your a package!"

yohan narrows his eyes, thinking for a moment. "when do they open?"

"next week actually!"

yohan bites his inner cheek, sighing.

"i'll think about it".

and that results in a cheer from his siblings.

#⊹⋆ ⨾ meliora !#fake kpop idol #fake kpop oc #fictional idol group #idolverse #kpop boy group #oc boy group #idol au #fictional kpop community #fictional kpop oc #fictional kpop group #fictional kpop boy group

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fivenightsatfreddysfanfiction · 2 months

Text

Vanny Night

Vincent helps Gregory work through and dispel the nightmare of the Vanny Confrontation. What he learns gives him a lot of concern for the future of his friends and Vanessa and Gregory.

Time Set: Post-SB, pre-Ruin, Vincent POV

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

“I know it’s tricky to find a therapist that can handle your unique situation, but I don’t think I can maintain this kind of work for you guys for the long term,” Ven sighed, letting Vanessa and Gregory into the apartment. A couch in the den was already set up with a soft pillow and a plush chair pushed nearby. A graphic tablet rested on the coffee table, screen dark and pen tucked into its stand. He’d been doing work on a commission when he got the request to help with the return of Gregory’s nightmares. Hearing Vanessa’s words over the phone had resonated with a sense of fear and worry, so Ven figured letting Vincent deal with the situation would be best.

Sooner this was done, sooner he could get back to work. Rent was coming up and he still had to pitch in his part for the shared apartment.

“Sorry, we’re still trying to find someone who can work with cases of amnesia, and then I gotta figure out how to explain how our amnesia was something deliberately caused by Elizabeth Afton,” Vanessa apologized and explained, fluffing the pillow as Gregory climbed up and lay down on the couch. “There’s so much baggage we have to deal with thanks to her. It’s a mess.”

He understood. Sometimes, Ven wished he could find outside help for himself and Damien and Stephanie. Best they could do was talk things out with Vincent and have the spirit soothe their thoughts and disperse the negative build up of energy. Still, there were more and more people being brought into the group who had been affected by the Aftons and Fazbear Entertainment, and Vincent clamored to help them all as much as he could. The drain on Ven as backlash was just even more of a pain to deal with.

“Probably doesn’t help that the last few therapists I’ve talked to before all ended up disappearing,” Vanessa muttered, a faint scowl on her face, “Wonder if that was also Afton’s fault?”

“Makes you wonder how much bleach that company burns through,” Ven quipped, taking a seat in the plush chair and settling in. “Okay, Gregory, remember how we do this?”

“Yeah, I just relax and act like I’m getting ready to sleep and try not to fight against you knocking on the door,” the boy said in a bored tone that didn’t match up with the exhausted expression he wore. “Freddy keeps me company at night, but he also said that it would be better if I actually slept, so I hope this stupid nightmare can be made to go away.”

“Vincent should be able to find the root of it and pull it out. If he can’t, he can disperse enough of the nightmare to make it easier for you to sleep at least.” Well, that was Ven’s hope; as the man’s reincarnation, he was well aware that the counselor would go as far as he could to help a kid. Ven just didn’t want to pay the price for it after, it was so annoying.

Gregory nodded and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and then relaxing. Ven did the same, receding in his mind and letting the soul within himself awaken and reach out with the Remnant wrapped around him.

With Vincent now in control of the situation, the Remnant carefully touched onto Gregory’s mind, a gentle ‘knock on the door’ as the boy had described. There was no response, no reaction, and then a sudden surge and a blast of neon color.

One hand raised to shield his eyes as he blinked the spots from his vision, Vincent Heliotrope stood still, making himself as harmless and open as possible while giving Gregory time to verify that his mind wouldn’t be in any danger. In a way, it wasn’t surprising to him to find that the boy was fiercely protective of his mental faculties. Gregory’s Remnant had been scrubbed slowly over a long period of time, memories shredded and soul weakened to make him more vulnerable to being possessed by a far stronger spirit. Whoever he had been before Elizabeth Afton got her hands on him was likely destroyed beyond recognition.

And yet, Vincent still harbored hopes that he could pull some of those lost memories up to the light, restore a bit more of who Gregory had been. Each session of these nightmare dispelling trips had him pulling apart complex nightmares and unrealities, but very little in the way of old memories came through.

Gregory’s mental world was a reconstruction of the Pizzaplex, essentially his whole world for much of his life after the memory erasure. Glowing neon signs abounded in the empty pizzeria complex, a number of attractions were sealed off with concrete walls, thin gray fog hung close to the floor, and the Glamrock Fazband were on stage in the atrium, performing as normal. The ideal Pizzaplex, according to the boy who called it home once upon a time.

The prickling feeling on his skin faded, Gregory’s check complete, and Vincent breathed a sigh of relief, lowering his hand and flexing it to work the last of the stinging out. Still no sign of Gregory. Where was he this time?

He started walking through the atrium, the click of his work shoes against almost familiar tile echoing despite the rock music from the band. In a way, Vincent was glad for the security guard uniform he wore as an awakened soul. It helped him fit in with this particular mindscape and the soft navy blue color was drastically different enough from the Pizzaplex guard uniforms that Gregory was more accepting of his presence.

“Gregory, I need you to show me where the nightmare is originating from,” Vincent called out, stepping onto escalators that didn’t work and climbing them to reach the next level of the atrium floors. With how big the Pizzaplex was, he could get lost for ages just exploring, even with a lot of areas blocked off. “Can you tell me what is in this one? What images do you see? Are there any aspects you recognize?” he asked aloud. There had to be something he could grab onto as a starting point.

The atrium shimmered and then went dark, leaving Vincent standing in pitch black for a moment. When the glow of neon came back, the surroundings had changed to one of the interior attractions, Fazer Blast. S.T.A.F.F. bots wearing colored helmets and clutching laser guns in hand patrolled the maze of colored walls and obstacles. Vincent squinted his eyes nearly shut, waiting for his vision to adjust to the stark gleam of bright colors.

The audio system crackled to life and he winced, looking up as a distorted woman’s voice rang out, “Disassemble Freddy!” He sucked in a sharp breath, eyes widening at the implication of that command. A quick look around had him spot the patrolling bots all turn in unison and rush towards a specific direction. Vincent ran after them, grimacing at the sound of screams and the shriek of metal.

As fast as he moved, it clearly wasn’t fast enough. The S.T.A.F.F. bots had vanished and the neon lights faded down to muted colors to match the somber scene Vincent stumbled across. Gregory knelt by a gutted and maimed Glamrock Freddy, sobbing pitifully over the deactivated animatronic. This must be the nightmare that was plaguing him now, an unreality to strip him of the only ally he had for much of the night in the Pizzaplex before the Guards were able to get inside and turn the tide.

“Oh, Gregory,” Vincent murmured sympathetically, carefully approaching the boy and lowering himself to one knee beside him. Gregory didn’t seem to register his presence. Odd, that was one of Vincent’s abilities; his simple presence was enough to soothe and comfort grieving people, give them a moment to collect themselves and start gaining hope again. Well, time to start dispelling the lie and find the truth buried under the illusion.

Why did this scenario exist? How did it get planted into Gregory’s dreams? Vincent raised a hand to the broken Freddy, gently prodding at it with his own Remnant to find the memories and emotions building the image. Spite and scorn crackled like crimson lightning over the casing of the animatronic, jumping up and lashing at his hand, leaving a nasty burn that had him yelp and jerk away in pain.

Crap, that was going to leave a mark on Ven’s body. He was gonna get yelled at for this later. Clearly whatever implanted this nightmare had heavy negative feelings towards Glamrock Freddy. Vincent pressed forward, hands held over the wrecked animatronic as he threw his own Remnant into the miasma, pulling it apart. The dull orange and red casing began melting away, leaving an endoskeleton that didn’t look like any he’d ever seen before.

Mismatched parts and components, assembled haphazardly; the endoskeleton laying on the carpeted floor was a rusty amalgamation that didn’t look like it belonged in the Pizzaplex. “Gregory, open your eyes! Look at the reality, this was never Freddy!” Vincent urged, pushing the cloud of angry Remnant aside and scowling at it as he kept tearing it apart, burning the energy out of the boy’s head.

“Wh-why? Why do this to Freddy? He’s my friend, he didn’t do anything wrong, he was just trying to help me get out!” Gregory sobbed. His hands were covering his face, shoulders shaking from the force of his grief.

No, not just grief…. Vincent waved his hand aside, ignoring the sting as the cloud of spite finally fell apart, and looked around at a fog of emotion rolling in, heavy gray. It sapped at his energy before he could pull up a mental shield but the contact helped him identify the emotion. This was guilt. Why did Gregory feel guilty in this situation? It was that voice that had issued the command to kill Freddy. Who was it that gave the order?

“Gregory, didn’t you say that Freddy keeps you company at night, when you can’t sleep?” Vincent asked, once more lowering himself to one knee by the boy. Gregory nodded, breath hitching between sobs as he pulled his hands down at last. “Freddy isn’t in this condition here if he’s outside in your home, right?”

“Right… right, he was talking to me last night. We talked about FazFacts. I’m trying to tell him that bears don’t actually eat pizza,” he murmured, blinking as if pulling himself out of a dream, “He’s okay. Freddy didn’t get disassembled. But I remember her saying it. She said it, didn’t she?”

“She might have said it at some point, but it didn’t actually happen if Freddy is able to talk to you while you’re awake,” Vincent explained as his brow furrowed in confusion, “Um, by the way, who is ‘she’?”

Gregory rubbed at his eyes, the cloud of guilt still drifting around them, a misty fog that lingered at their ankles. “Vanny, duh,” the boy replied, the dry snark returning to him as he stared down at the rusty endoskeleton that had posed as Freddy in the unreality, “You’ve seen her a few times, didn’t you?”

A woman in a rabbit costume, crimson eyes and open-mouthed smile, dancing around with a blade in her hand through Gregory’s nightmares like she was gleefully still trying to rip his personality to shreds. He’d seen her, but never heard her. Vincent hummed to himself, lips pursed as he ran his fingers lightly through the fog of guilt, lifting his hand as the mist threaded between them and slipped away. This was too heavy for a child to bear. Where was this guilt coming from?

“This is another one of her fake realities, isn’t it?” Gregory grumbled, glowering with dried tears on his face as he stood up. “This was the nightmare I kept having, I remembered this happening, but… it didn’t actually happen.” Vincent stood with him, gazing over the dark walls of the Fazer Blast game room. Shadows seemed to grow deeper, swallowing the walls and highlighting the rabbit figure swaying in the illuminated windows of a room suspended over the game room.

“Why are there so many fake memories?” he asked, “How does this one end?”

Gregory’s hands tightened into fists at his sides. “I remember going up to the exit and then I wanted to turn back, stop Vanny from making more people disappear, find what it was that she was hiding that I needed to get back. So I told Freddy we were going to face her because she wouldn’t expect me to stay after 6 A.M.,” he began and looked up with a glower at the illuminated room, “But she was ready for us. She took control of the S.T.A.F.F. bots and disassembled Freddy. If I hadn’t said to stay, for us to go after her here, he wouldn’t have been torn apart.”

So that was the source of the guilt. “You’re a kid, no more responsible for the choices made by Vanny and Freddy in this illusion than you were for Afton’s decision to take your childhood away from you just because you were strong enough to withstand her experiments,” Vincent told him firmly, “This is a misplaced guilt. Let those who made their decisions own them.” He gestured outward, throwing his arm out in a direction that could be the main entrance. “Freddy could have refused to let you stay, pushed you right out those doors in that false memory, but he didn’t,” he added, “Think about who Freddy is, you know him best. He would have shoved you out for your own good, wouldn’t he?”

“Yeah, he was determined to get me out and was going to take Knife Lady to where she wanted to go himself, without me. I had to chase after him with Vanessa to make him let me come along,” Gregory agreed slowly, eyes clearing as the memory pieced itself back together for him, “The fake memory version let Freddy agree with me at the start so I’d blame myself, huh?”

Vincent nodded. He caught on, good. By discovering that truth himself, he could rely on it as his own realization, supported and verified with confirmation by a trusted adult. It’d be harder to paint another illusion on top of that. But the false memory still needed to finish to fully burn and dispel it. Otherwise it’d just stay rooted in place and develop a new illusion, a new nightmare.

“How does this memory end, Gregory?” Vincent asked again.

“This way!” the boy yelled, racing for a door marked for employees, flashlight and laser gun suddenly in his hands. Vincent chased after him, hand batting aside the mist as he followed the bright glow of Gregory’s flashlight. His first instinct was to guide him to a more direct approach to Vanny’s room, but if this was a recurring nightmare built on a false memory like what had been done to Damien, then Gregory was the better leader. He would have run the same paths over and over to its conclusion.

Through the back tunnels, Vincent followed Gregory, yelping and ducking when a faceless animatronic lunged at them from the shadows of a dimly lit server room. A buzzing sounded in the air, tension crackling through the air like blood-pink static that irritated his eyes. “Why are we running?! Is something chasing us?!” he cried, wincing at the crashing noise as the animatronic smashed into something.

“Yeah! Vanny!” Gregory yelled back, “Can’t you hear the buzzing?! That’s from her!”

But Vanny was in the room over the laser shooter game. How could she have moved from up there to ground level with Gregory so fast? “That’s more proof this is a fake memory! If you just saw Vanny in that room up in the air, there’s no way she could suddenly be behind you on your way up to that very room!” Vincent called out. The boy zapped a S.T.A.F.F. bot and kicked it at its body, shoving it aside as the wheels carried it away while it flailed. He paused just enough to give him an incredulous look before shaking his head and shoving another door open.

They hurried on through, rapidly approaching the bottom of a tower with a spiraling staircase wrapping around it. A dingy white and pink animatronic missing her mouth lumbered out of the darkness and Gregory shot the laser into her eyes, stunning her long enough to let him run by her and up the stairs. Vincent stared at her in shock before hurrying after Gregory. Was that Chica? Why did she look so badly mangled?

Despite how fast they had run to get away from Vanny, the buzzing seemed to still be approaching them from behind at a steady pace. Gregory shoved open the gate at the top of the tower. “This way! The office!” he shouted breathlessly, gesturing at Vincent for him to hurry up, holding the gate open. The dream guard rushed through, gripping the hand rail that was the only bit of safety for the catwalk suspended high above. He breathed hard, heart racing. Ven was getting too soft for this; maybe he should remind the twins to better take care of themselves, since his strength relied on Ven’s and sometimes Stephanie’s. And that just reminded him that eventually, like Mike Schmidt some years earlier, his reincarnations would eventually grow older and pass on. What would happen to him then? Should he pass with them or find a way to linger in the world since the Aftons didn’t seem to stop trying to cheat death?

Considering Gregory’s age and troubles, it was looking more like Vincent was going to have to call a spirits’ meeting to discuss preparing to reserve their Remnant and reincarnate to assist him and Vanessa.

“C’mon, old man, we’re almost done,” Gregory told him grimly, hurrying across the catwalk with no care as to potentially slipping and falling off.

“Hey, I’m not that old! And use the hand rail! This might be a dream but at least still practice safety!” Vincent yelled in annoyance, chasing after him with one hand hovering over the rail himself.

The door to the suspended office was open and Gregory was already inside, hovering at the doorway with a look of dread on his face. Vincent approached, shaking off the static of the buzzing as best he could and readjusting his hat to seat it more firmly on his head. All that running nearly blew it off and, with how this mindscape behaved, there was no certainty that his Remnant could retrieve it before leaving.

Okay, so what was in this office? He looked around cautiously, lifting a hand as his Remnant reached out and gently probed at his surroundings. There was an arcade machine with a blinking screen, Princess Quest 3, next to a mattress laying on the floor with a rumpled blanket and pillow resting on it. Empty pizza boxes and disposable drink cups littered the floor nearby, and the name Vanny was spray painted on the wall. The exit door had an out of order sign hanging on it, discouraging use of it to escape. And finally there was a security desk with a glowing green button resting in a case that looked like a Freddy head, next to that was a controller of some kind with another button.

The feelings attached here were cold, distant, fearful, and horrified, a mix of emotions that burned ice through Vincent’s Remnant and chilled his soul. Why this mix? What was the intent of this nightmare? The fear and horror radiated thickest around Gregory, rising as the buzzing slowly grew loud, approaching the limited safety of the office. Vincent looked outside the doorway at the catwalk, grimacing at the sight of Vanny skipping merrily along towards them, a pair of S.T.A.F.F. bots rolling along behind her in perfect obedience. He looked the other way and saw only a wall with a sealed vent that led into an illuminated prize room. Maybe it had been a way through at some point, but clearly not now. Inside the office, a button by the doorway under a green-lit meter caught his attention and he pressed it. As expected, the door slid down from above and closed off the room, leaving the window as the only way of looking outside.

“Doubt we’ll be safe in here for long. We don’t know how long the power will last,” Vincent said with an exasperated huff, “Gregory, what comes next? What do we do?”

Gregory didn’t reply, the boy just moving towards the desk to pick up the controller with trembling hands before turning to face the door. His face was pale, the light of the security button and exit sign cast green color over him, making him look far sicker. The fear and horror surrounding him compressed, sinking under the growing heaviness of cold and numbness. Vincent stared at him in confusion and rising alarm. Those feelings weren’t native to Gregory, but they were suppressing his actual feelings. Why? What was the intent behind that? What was the goal for forcing Gregory to suppress his fear?

Square specks of black and shining purple flickered over the controller briefly, spreading to the tips of Gregory’s fingers before retreating, as if testing its range. That didn’t look good. What was that? Vincent stepped towards the boy, hand raising to probe deeper into the Remnant that built the illusion. Gregory didn’t even seem to notice him, his focus entirely on the door as the dread remained on his face.

And then the door slid open.

“Wha-?” Vincent murmured, pivoting to stare at the now open door with wide eyes. How?! There should have been plenty of power to keep it sealed for much longer than this! His jaw clenched tightly, hands balling into fists as tension ran over him, his Remnant pulling inward and coiling for his use. How much of Ven’s serenity was he going to have to consume for this? The backlash was not going to be pretty.

Vanny stood in the entrance to the office, flanked by the S.T.A.F.F. bots she brought with her. Her pose and presence dominated the room, glowing eyes fixed on Gregory, yet she didn’t move any closer to him. It almost seemed like she was waiting for him to make the next move. Vincent looked between the two of them quickly, trying to figure out what was the angle. What was the goal here?

Wait… ‘she took control of the S.T.A.F.F. bots’…. A frigid chill cut through him as Vincent turned horrified eyes to Gregory and the controller in his hands. No. That couldn’t be the goal, could it?!

The dread on Gregory’s face remained even with his fear suppressed, his next words spoken clearly, emotionlessly, “Disassemble Vanny.” He pressed the button and the bots jerked in place before turning their heads to look at the now panicking rabbit woman holding up her hands in self-defense. Right there, in front of him, they were going to-?!

“No!” Vincent cried out, leaping forward to shove Vanny out of the way of the turned bots, back through the doorway so she would be out of the office. She stumbled, slumped against the hand rail, and the S.T.A.F.F. bots turned their gazes to him instead. He barely had a moment to realize the implication of that before one bot grabbed him bodily, holding him down against his thrashing and yelling. The other bot turned away to follow Vanny and continue carrying out the command. “Gregory! Gregory, stop that bot! Don’t let it kill her!” Vincent called out, struggling to pull free of the S.T.A.F.F. bot.

Gregory just stood frozen, eyes locked on the one encroaching on Vanny’s still form and ready to do to her what was done to Freddy. The cold and distant emotions pressed further onto him, his expression growing blank, and now Vincent caught on what was happening. This was a recurring nightmare. How many times had Gregory been forced to command the bots to kill Vanny, been forced to watch her be torn apart in front of him?

Been forced to wake up with imaginary blood on his hands?

“Gregory, listen to me, okay? You’ve already figured out this isn’t real, you know how the nightmare ends,” Vincent told him in as calm and even voice as he could, wincing at the mechanical fingers digging into his shoulder and arm to quiet him. The strain on his limbs was uncomfortable for now but he was sure they’d get more painful if he pressed on. “You don’t have to let the nightmare push your true feelings away. Even if it hurts, even if it’s scary, those are your feelings, your true self!” Yeah there it was, the grip tightening, the bot bending to press him to the floor in an attempt to crush him into silence. Vincent jerked one arm loose enough to shove the S.T.A.F.F. bot’s head back in retaliation. “This is your world, Gregory! You can change the way the nightmare ends!” he yelled, “That strength is in you; don’t let Afton steal that away!”

The boy didn’t seem to react at first, just stared until the S.T.A.F.F. bot’s hands wrapped around Vanny’s head before seeming to snap back to himself, amber eyes blazing with fury. “Freddy! Get ‘em!” he shouted and thunderous stomping filled the air. Glamrock Freddy charged across the catwalk and body-slammed the S.T.A.F.F. bot, crushing it against the wall to the prize room. While Freddy dealt with that, Gregory picked up his toy laser gun and fired it at the S.T.A.F.F. bot holding Vincent down, sending it into a panic and allowing him to slip free and kick it aside. It flailed and then went still, eyes flickering off from deactivation.

Freddy stepped into the office with Vanny, tossing her onto the floor before sitting down beside her and throwing his legs over her back, effectively pinning her down with little harm.

And just like that, the nightmare was altered. Gregory gripped the laser gun in his hands, shaky breathing done in a self-enforced rhythm. Vincent picked himself up, wincing at the aches and pains that meant Ven’s body was sure to be sporting bruises. He made his way over to Gregory and knelt by him, slowly reaching out to carefully pull the toy from his hands.

“Do you feel like a hug would help?” he asked quietly. Gregory swallowed, eyes trained on the floor. Eventually he shook his head and Vincent nodded, simply resting by him. “You did good in taking control of the nightmare. We can pull it apart and find the truth underneath whenever you’re ready,” he added.

He didn’t voice his suspicions on why the nightmare was built this way. That would be for explaining to Vanessa. He absently let his fingers rub gently against the back of his wounded hand, trying to soothe the burn from the cloud of spite from earlier. Beside him, Gregory’s breathing began calming to a more regular pattern, the tension wrapped around him fading in Vincent’s aura of peace and tranquility.

“You knew I was going to kill her,” Gregory said suddenly, his voice toneless, “Bet you know why the nightmare was making me do it.” Vincent winced, humming noncommittally, and Gregory shot him a glare. “I’m a kid, yeah. I don’t know stuff but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid,” he growled, “For all I know, we did actually kill her down in that weird underground pizzeria but I didn’t see a body. So why make me do it here and watch?”

“I have a theory, but I really think it’s better to let Vanessa-,” Vincent began cautiously.

“It’s my nightmare! Tell me!” Gregory demanded, stamping a foot in frustration. The office walls flickered in response to his anger, grime appearing for a moment before vanishing.

“Haa, just to let you know, I really am against this for your own sake,” Vincent replied with an exasperated sigh, shoulders dropping in a slump, “but fine.” He gestured aimlessly at the doorway where Vanny was likely to have been ripped apart by the S.T.A.F.F. bots, “The nightmare ended the same way for you the past few nights, with you ordering Vanny to be killed and watching her die. The implanted artificial Remnant, the mix of code and emotions shoved into you somehow, was set up to make you feel desensitized to it over time.” He swallowed, stomach churning from the sick realization again as he folded his arms over his chest. “I think… I think it was trying to groom you into getting used to murdering someone, to detach yourself from feeling anything about ordering robots to kill someone,” he murmured, “I just… don’t know why the one who did this to you wanted you to learn how to kill. Didn’t they take Panther to have him do the killing for the Afton Family?”

“Sydney was supposed to be Vanessa’s bodyguard, that Afton lady said so,” Gregory grumbled, walking over to the mattress and flopping down to sit on it, elbows on his knees and chin resting in his hands, a sour look on his face. “His job was to look after her so she’d be all pretty for whoever was gonna take over her body and then he’d do any killin’ of stuff for her. Guess whoever was gonna take over my body was fine with killing people themselves and didn’t want me fighting against it.”

“What the hell was going on in there? We don’t even have access to the data in that system anymore,” Vincent sighed and gave Gregory a wary look, “And you’re surprisingly insightful about this.” The boy raised an eyebrow at him, nonplussed.

“Like I said, I don’t know stuff, but I’m not stupid,” he retorted, then went silent, glaring at his shoes hard for a bit before looking back up at him. “Thanks, though, for helping me stop it and change the ending. I… I really didn’t want to see her die again, even if she was out to get me the whole time I was in the Pizzaplex. Busting animatronics is one thing, actual people is another.”

“All I did was remind you that you can influence the path your dreams take. You did the rest yourself with your own strength,” Vincent told him with a wry grin, “Now to uproot the nightmare’s source, we’ll have to see the truth it was hiding. Are you ready?”

“If I say no, can we ignore all this and just move on with our lives?” Gregory asked. Vincent shook his head. “Eh, was worth a shot,” the boy sighed tiredly, “Fuck my life. Let’s get this over with, I guess. Freddy promised he’d make me one of his pizzas when we get home.”

The time to rest was helpful. Even though it wasn’t long enough to heal much of the damage he took, his Remnant had replenished and Vincent carefully stretched the calming emotion out. He narrowed his eyes, concentrating on gently pulling up the layers of cold and numbness without letting the emotion leech into his Remnant. Flickers of irritation cut through, swift but sharp, slicing away at the nightmare energy and making it easier for him to pry them loose and dispel them. That wasn’t his, but it was helpful so Vincent didn’t try prodding at it in case the attempt scattered the assistance.

“Gregory, I appreciate the help, but don’t risk your Remnant at this point, okay?” he muttered, focusing on the last few tendrils of black and purple holding down the true memory.

“I’m not even doing anything!” the boy huffed, pacing around him in anxiety that made the air hum, “Are you done yet? The office is melting and it looks like that melted plastic cheese sauce crap they put on the popcorn in the Daycare Theatre.”

The specks of black and purple stung as Vincent pried them up and snapped them out of existence. Sheer malevolence and madness condensed in the bits of code and artificial Remnant left scars in Gregory’s mind. He soothed them over as best he could, wondering how he could heal this. Threads of pale blue stitched over the gashes in Gregory’s psyche and Vincent watched in curious fascination as they wove themselves into patches that filled in the Afton-inflicted wounds. He gently tested the patches with his own Remnant, searching for what emotions made up the energy.

Huh, there was a bit of determination but he couldn’t feel anything else. Whatever this was, much of the emotions were securely guarded against even his skill at detection. Was this really Gregory’s Remnant? How did this kid develop Remnant that could shield against even him?

With nothing else he could do here, Vincent withdrew his Remnant and blinked his eyes in surprise as a pair of hazy figures materialized nearby, standing in front of a recreation of the Pizzaplex main entrance, recreations of Gregory and Glamrock Freddy. Was this the memory Gregory had talked about, where Freddy had urged him to leave and was going to take Meera’s knife to wherever the Remnant spirit bound to it wanted to go?

“So, you’ll keep following the instructions I left in your memory,” hazy Gregory told hazy Freddy, “and make sure no one suspects I’ve escaped. I’ll let the cops know about Vanny so they can investigate and stop those disappearances.” The Freddy looking down at Gregory didn’t seem like the one lived with him now; this one didn’t respond to the boy’s words, didn’t radiate that same sort of spirit, lacked the Remnant.

Freddy’s head suddenly jerked up into a twitch fit and Gregory stepped back in alarm. The animatronic reached out and grabbed him by the shoulders, holding him in place despite his shouts and struggles. From behind one of the advertising displays a blonde woman dressed in the security guard uniform of the Pizzaplex stepped out, a smile on her shadowed face. She drew closer, hips swaying as she approached the struggling boy.

“You’ve been very naughty, GGY, trying to escape containment again,” the woman purred, tilting her head so her ponytail swished around her, “You’ve been messing with this Freddy’s programming. Loathe as I am to put the other one into duty, the prototype is too vulnerable to you. Guess I’ll have to spend time locking down these memories instead of scrubbing them. Dr. Afton needs your skills preserved so he can make use of them to supplement his memories once he’s ready for transfer.”

She bent, a device in her hands that buzzed as it got close to Gregory and then the memory collapsed like mist burning away in sunlight.

“Wh-what was that?” Vincent breathed in horror, “Was that… was that Vanessa?” But the way she moved, the way she spoke, it was nothing like the woman that had brought Gregory in to the apartment!

“That was the Afton lady. She just looks a lot like Vanessa, which is why I didn’t trust her for so long,” Gregory corrected quietly, walking up to him and squinting at the black field that remained after the memory fell apart. “How many escape attempts are we up to now?”

“This is… your third one,” Vincent replied, still trying to process what he’d seen and heard. If that was Elizabeth Afton, why did she look so much like Vanessa? “How many escape attempts did you make before… before us?” he asked, looking aside at the boy scowling faintly at the black.

“Can’t remember. I thought she was erasing my memories, but I guess she only did it to some and then locked up the others behind the nightmares so I wouldn’t try and get to them,” Gregory complained, “This is so stupid! Why me?! I’m just a kid! They had Sydney; why didn’t they try and put that guy she was talking about in his body?!” He stomped his foot a few times in frustration and then yelled at the top of his lungs.

The black field flickered as a distant shrill shriek answered, faint but chilling, and then everything flashed blinding white. Vincent flinched and shook his head, blinking spots from his eyes, his vision fading back in.

Once more the Pizzaplex was back in place, brightly lit in neon glows as the Fazband performed on the stage in the atrium. He found himself seated at one of the long dining tables on the atrium floor, Gregory sitting beside him in a tired slump. Was that all they could do? There were likely still wounds to be healed, memories of that failed escape to bring to the surface, questions left unanswered. But the boy looked exhausted and pressing any further into the matter would just get Vincent forcibly ejected from Gregory’s mind.

“Will you be alright for now? Do you want to continue finding the memories of this night once you’ve recovered?” he asked cautiously. Much as he didn’t like leaving the job incomplete, he couldn’t go any further without Gregory to guide him to where the damage was done.

“Maybe another time. I just want to eat some pizza and finally get some sleep,” Gregory sighed, one hand buried in his hair as he gripped at it, palm pressed to his forehead, “My head is killing me.”

“Then I guess I’ve done all I can for you for now,” Vincent said, reclining in his chair, “I’ll tell Vanessa about what happened here and to bring you by for another session once you’ve rested. Maybe we can use some of the information we learned here to search for what happened to you and Vanessa once we can get access to the Pizzaplex servers somehow.”

“And what? What’s that gonna do for us?” Gregory grumbled, “It’s not gonna bring back my memories before I ended up in the Pizzaplex. It’s not gonna fix what they did to my Remnant, to me and my… everything. I’m still gonna be a fucked up mess of a kid.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Vincent countered, but even he was aware of how weak it sounded. For all that he and the other spirits had experience with dealing with Remnant and malevolent ghosts and haunted things, restoring Remnant that had been destroyed or stripped of the memories and emotions that made it up was still far beyond them. His thoughts drifted to Digital Lucian, who had the gaps of his wrecked Remnant filled in with code from Circus Baby’s software and that shifted his identity away from how he once was. It caused him to constantly question if he was even ‘Lucian’ anymore despite his family assuring him he was more deserving of the name than the Master File, who willingly scrubbed the emotions from himself that tied him to their past in favor of ‘perfection’.

What must Gregory be thinking about himself, with his awareness that he’d tried repeatedly to escape the Pizzaplex, to warn the outside world, only to fail and have more of himself stripped or sealed away to weaken his soul and identity?

“I think,” Gregory began slowly, startling Vincent out of his musing as the laser show began around the Fazband on stage. Thick fog still roiled around the stage and swirled in eddies close to the floor. “I think, even if I’m still messed up in the head, maybe it’s okay? Cuz I still have Freddy and Vanessa, and they still care about me even with all,” he gestured aimlessly around himself before folding his arms down onto the table, “so I dunno. Maybe I don’t have to care about the memories, just make the nightmares stop and the fake ones go away and I can worry more about making and keeping new memories.”

“Optimism is good. Memories are one thing, but you have family and friends, so you’ll be alright over time,” Vincent agreed with a grin, “I’ll see you again soon, okay?” Gregory nodded, his attention now on the Fazband as a pizza and drinks suddenly appeared on the table for him to enjoy. With the clear dismissal, Vincent drew his Remnant within himself and reached for Ven, carefully pulling himself free of the boy’s mindscape.

Back in the world of the living, Ven remained dormant to let him finish the session. Vincent could feel the same aches and pains as he did in the mindscape. The injuries definitely passed over. He lifted his left hand and winced at the bandaging wrapped around it; the artist would not be able to do any work until it healed. But, how did it get treated?

“Sorry, I saw you were flinching and then your hand had a burn appear on it so I bandaged it with some cooling cream,” Vanessa explained from her place on the sofa near Gregory, the boy sleeping more easily now. She smiled wryly, patting her purse, “Between Gregory and Sydney’s antics, I just carry a few first aid supplies around to treat what we can.”

“Thank you,” Vincent murmured, carefully running fingers over his treated hand. This would definitely help it heal more easily. “So, here’s what we found for his nightmare….”

Explaining and describing everything he’d seen and experienced and mended took a while. Vanessa took notes as he spoke, likely writing up questions to ask after so she wouldn’t interrupt him or forget herself. By the time Vincent was done recalling everything, his mouth was dry and he wished he’d thought to have drinks on hand to hydrate with. Vanessa just reached into her purse again and brought out a juice box, passing to him.

“Also just in case,” she laughed as he thanked her for the drink. She sat back with her notepad, looking over her writing, waiting as he finished and let his throat recover. He set the juice box down on the coffee table as a signal he was ready. “The black and purple specks you saw, it’s a lot like what I could see in myself and in… that place my mind had been nearly locked in,” Vanessa told him, looking off in the distance as she thought about it. “It’s something from Glitchtrap, the controller of the Pizzaplex network. That some of that code was in Gregory even after his implant shorted out and cut him from the network….” A worried look passed over her face, “That makes what happened with me and Sydney that day make more sense. Think you could pull up leftovers like that from my mind too?”

“In a few days, sure. I need to give Ven’s body time to recover but I can schedule you a session for, say, next week? Do you have any free time then?” Vincent offered.

“I’ll call once I check with the household rotation,” Vanessa replied and went back to her notes, “The nightmare was to force Gregory to become desensitized to killing. That’s awful….” She lifted a hand to her mouth, a sickly expression passing over her. “All of us, we were all being used to one day kill others… for what? More Remnant?”

“Possibly,” Vincent murmured, folding his arms over his chest and wincing a little at the twinge in his muscles, “Depending on who was going to be possessing you, there could have been damage to the Remnant for those spirits. Killing others in specific ways or places would allow those spirits to absorb that Remnant into themselves and basically feed on the emotions and memories to repair themselves.” He looked over at the sleeping boy, “Gregory has an incredibly strong will. Even though he had been made to do that repeatedly in the nightmare, he still held on to his humanity and reasserted his desire to not cause even Vanny’s death. He might have wanted her to hurt, like any upset child would, but he surprisingly is aware enough to know that death is just too far and unwanted.” He smiled over at Vanessa, “You should be proud of him, and of yourself too, for not falling into that hole Elizabeth tried to force you both into.”

“As for the fake me you saw in the memory, that was a shock to me when I first saw her, too,” she added, a puzzled frown on her face, “It’s so strange. How was she able to look so much like me? Are we related? I don’t remember anything, so I don’t know. But whoever she was, that person is gone. That’s Elizabeth Afton now, and she was the one who buried Gregory’s memory and gave him this nightmare of killing her over and over. What a twisted woman.”

“Wait, are you implying that Vanny is Elizabeth Afton?” Vincent asked in alarm. Vanessa nodded. “So she used a body that looks like you and an alias that uses your name… why?!”

“Probably to make sure Gregory didn’t trust me to help him,” she replied dully, “Which worked up until that night all of you guys showed up and exposed what was going on to him and me.”

They talked a bit longer about the dispelling Vincent had done and the limited mending that took place after until Gregory stirred and yawned, bringing their conversation to a close. Vincent showed them both to the door as they thanked him for his time and services. He blinked in surprise at the small roll of cash Vanessa pressed into his hand.

“You took time to help Gregory freely a few times already, so I hope this covers all the sessions so far as well as today’s,” she told him with a grin, “You’re a friend, yeah, but you’re still a professional of a sort and it wouldn’t fly with me to not compensate you for your skills.”

“C’mon, Vanessa, Freddy’s gonna make pizza and I don’t wanna be too tired to eat it!” Gregory whined.

They said their goodbyes and then headed off for home, leaving Vincent to close up and head back to the living room to write out a note of explanation of all that happened, slipping the money into a pocket for Ven to retrieve after. With that done, he tended to the aches and pains by searching out a mild painkiller to take and reclining in the armchair to try relaxing enough to recede and let Ven return.

There were still so many questions and mysteries around Gregory. All he could do is keep supporting and assisting wherever he could while the others made the moves to try and get back into the Pizzaplex and find whatever information they could to discover what happened to Vanessa and Gregory or who they were before their identities and memories were destroyed. What bothered him most was something Elizabeth had said in that memory.

Dr. Afton needed Gregory to supplement his memories. Did she mean William Afton? The same malevolent ghost that had haunted the wreckage of Springtrap after the Fazbear Frights fire? How was he still existing when FuriRosa had sworn that she had torn his Remnant apart during the fire of Meera’s old pizzeria?

The door opened again as he was circling his thoughts in a loop and Vincent looked up to see Damian enter the room, clutching a white paper bag in one hand. Ah, he got his medicine then. “Where’s Steph?” he asked, closing his eyes nearly shut as Damien flopped onto the couch with a happy sigh.

“She said she was gonna go see what Meera was up to at Circus Baby’s after dropping me off. Need to talk to Jonathan?” he returned, putting his feet up on the coffee table and ignoring the disapproving look aimed his way.

“I gained some info so yes, please. He can fill you in after,” Vincent told him and tilted his head at Damien’s little frown in response, “Something the matter?”

“Did… something happen here?” the former Fazbear’s Fright guard asked cautiously, rubbing his right hand a little and gripping his wrist, “I’m getting a little bit of a reaction.”

“Vanessa and Gregory came by, I’m still removing traces of Afton infection from the boy,” Vincent replied, gesturing at the couch Damien rested on, “It was a pretty bad nightmare this time.”

“Everything to do with that deranged hack is ‘pretty bad’,” Damien scoffed, throwing his hands behind his head and closing his eyes to sink into himself, “I’ll see Ven later then, have fun with your talk.”

Vincent blinked his eyes fully open again as he sensed the presence of his partner settle into place. “Hey, Jonathan,” he greeted warmly, leaning on the arm of his chair with a wry grin as now-green eyes turned to focus on him intently, “we might need to move up the timetable on breaking back into the Pizzaplex and getting access to the servers in there. We might not have gotten rid of William as completely as we thought….”

#fnaf fanfiction #fnaf au #fnaf gregory #fnaf vanny #vincent heliotrope #fnaf vanessa #parlourverse au #vanny ending #damien woods

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flo55i · 1 year

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Don’t Pull The Punches

Maxiel. Tw; domestic violence. But fluff? Daniel gets his knight in shining armour. 1.3k.

“Hay, hay! You there in pink. What you in for?” Daniel said to the girl sitting in front.

Though she continued to ignore him, she did glance back once fleetingly as if she was just shy. The black eye on her face told him it was probably more in fear though.

“It’s alright. You can tell me. Does this not look like an honest face?” He said as he tried to give her a reassuring grin. “We could form a union. Demand better conditions.”

“Please stop drawing attention to yourself.” His mum whispered to him like she was trying to keep them being there a secret.

Daniel snorted to himself but everyone sitting silent in the pews around them turned to stare. His mum gave him a look but Daniel just smiled at them all, white teeth blazing.

He was at the local courthouse, a black eye on his face about to get an injunction on the guy that put it there, like everyone couldn’t already guess exactly what happened. What was the point in keeping quiet?

Abandoning his efforts to get the girl’s attention, he started swinging his knees on the bench whilst humming a song to himself and looked up at the big clock that never seemed to move so he didn’t have to face the shame in his mum’s face or the shake of her head.

It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t ask to be hit. Maybe he goaded Brad a little after the first punch. So what? If he was going to go down that route then Daniel was going to make it as fucking hard as possible for him to ever do it again.

He grinned to himself, thinking of the blood he’d spat on the carpet. Let’s see Brad try and clean up after himself now. Fucker never did anything around the house and now he wasn’t going to be able to make Daniel do it anymore either.

Another case was called and Daniel stared up at them; three children, one parent. The mother of course. All of them looked down when the judge addressed them by name. Domestic violence for sure. He felt especially sorry for the little kid at the end, the boy who was clutching the brown teddy bear with visible bruises on his arms.

Least Daniel could fight back.

Uncomfortable in a way he never was in the moment when Brad was beating the shit out of him— hands holding him down, his own laughter echoing in his ears enough to keep him company from passing out— Daniel turned away only to come face to face with the guy on his right. He had a black eye too.

So Daniel was right. The only way you get any help is by playing your part and looking the victim.

“Let me guess?” Daniel said, not even trying to be quiet. “Boyfriend thought you were cheating, am I right? You look the sort to launch a thousand ships and all that.”

The guy looked affronted for a second, as if annoyed at the implications and Daniel could see the anger make its way to his mouth; it tightening in a frown.

“No.” He stated briskly but he shuffled in his seat belying his unease. “My father…”

“Say no more. I get it.” Daniel intervened, as he’d pointed at his own eye. The swelling had gone down but the bruises were starting to ripen to a greenish-yellow colour. He thought it made him look like a badass.

“Men suck. Even after you’ve sucked their dick. Especially then I’ve found.” Daniel explained. That frown was still on that guy’s face though.

“Just tell me you gave as good as you got yeah? Nobody likes a pushover. Won’t last long in this world otherwise.” Daniel elaborated as he stretched his legs out, his body so over sitting here for hours.

It was always such bullshit this part. The going to the cops, telling his sob story over and over. Took two seconds for Brad to do it in the first place, why the hell did it take a million more for him to make him pay for it?

“That is a lot of talk from someone who looks like you do, I think.” The guy said, turning to face him. One arm leaning casually against the back of the bench like this was a coffee date or something.

“Mate….” Daniel scoffed, taking the opening. “You should see the other guy. When I’m done here today he’s gonna wish he’d never even laid eyes on my tight little ass let alone beat it.”

He scooted closer, evading his mum’s attempts to hold him back. Up the front the judge banged his gavel and people started shuffling in and out. Next case, next problem, next black eye.

“The first guy who thought it was ok to touch me got a one way ticket to chow town. The kind you have to eat through a straw if you know what I mean.”

Scott wasn’t a bad person. Could fuck like a dream. He was always such an asshole when he started drinking though. Deserved to rot in jail. Least then he might actually stay sober.

“Sounds like you need better reflexes. And better taste in men.”

It made Daniel laugh because it was exactly what he was thinking. He’d always known how to pick ‘em. This guy looked nothing like Scott though. Or Brad. Apart from the blonde hair he had those blue eyes that looked wary, like they’d already seen some shit. Daniel respected that almost. That he didn’t seem to trust him. It was the smart thing to do. Daniel had never got that part down yet.

“That an offer is it?” He asked, eyes roaming over every available inch of the stranger, trying to see if he could take him if he needed to. He was about the same height but had a slightly bigger build. Daniel wondered if he fought back against his father or not. Wondered if he’s the type who ever would.

“Could be. I’m still making up my mind about you. I think you could be trouble.”

“Oh I am trouble.” Daniel agreed, licking his lips. “But you just gotta decide if I’m worth it or not.”

Daniel always thought it was worth it. Until it wasn’t.

“Max.” The guy said.

“Daniel.” He replied.

The handshake was almost a transaction. Them sizing each other up. Daniel had let Max take his fill knowing he’s got nothing to hide, turning his neck so the bruises can be seen there too.

It was always good to get all that bad shit out of the way first. Check in the emotional baggage so to speak. Let the other guy know what he was in for.

Max did the same for him. Turning their hands so his bruised knuckles were flashing on top. Daniel shivered knowing this was a bad idea but unable to stop.

They exchanged numbers. Daniel marked Max’s name into his phone with an axe emoji at the end as he watched him stand up when his name was called. Verstappen. Huh. That explained the accent then.

His mum had actually shook her head at him when he slid back over to her, her hand suddenly gentle on his arm. “Trust you to meet someone in a court room of all places. You really can pick ‘em honey.”

“What can I say? It’s a gift. I’m a magnet for trouble.” He answered cheekily, flashing a grin her way to try and let her know he wasn’t broken.

He didn’t hear her reply as he was too busy watching the way Max just stood there with a hardened expression as the judge went over his case. He didn’t seem remorseful in the slightest as he read his rap sheet out loud.

Apparently Max cared more about his mother and younger siblings that his father had hit rather than his own fate. Daniel respected that. And he was a little excited to find out it turned him on too.

He turned back to his mum, whispering in her ear because this was definitely a secret worth keeping between the two of them. Like if he said it out loud, it would all disappear.

“Hopefully Max is gonna be on my side of trouble for a change.”

#maxiel #ficlet #tw; domestic violence #fanfiction #max verstappen #daniel ricciardo #f1 rpf #i hate past tense but here it is?#my fic

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e17omm · 3 months

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Are you planning to handle Sim Elysia better than canon in Snippets? She had something fun and morally gray going at first but then… :(

I mean, yes? Its easy to say "yeah I'll write her better!" but actually doing it? Cant know until I try.

That being said, she wont be that crucial to Snippets. Yes, Herrscher of Origin is important for what Elysia did in the past with granting future Herrschers humanity, but as for the present, I dont see many uses for it that isnt just arbitrary.

So with that I can say: I dont think I will have ideas for more than 3 Elysian Realm chapters at most. 1 of them will be when Mobius first entered it to look for Elysia (which she walked past while jamming to Gimme Gimme Gimme, if you remember that.), and I am planning to write that chapter at some point.

But for Elysia herself, I plan to make her just, less supernatural. Like even in the Honkai world, she'd be less unnatural.

She was a normal kid with a mother and father. They die, probably to Honkai, not important. Elysia gets sent to the orphanage, but she's the odd one out, but always tries to be friendly to everyone no matter what, even if she fails most of the time, completely misreading what the other children liked. This would be when she becomes the Herrscher of Origin, but its a very very small Eruption. Its still noticed by MOTH, but they cant find the Herrscher.

And this is where I'd make Origin to be a reflection or representation of humanity.

So, Snippets Elysia would be lacking something human. I dont know what exactly, but she wouldn't really be able to understand other humans, like what we mean or imply. But she would always try to be liked by them anyway.

What the Authority of Origin would let her do, is reflect humanity. What she'd become/act like is different depending on the person she's interacting with. She'd always be a good person, or a reflection of people, in other's eyes. So she would stand out in a group, but most would enjoy her company.

Even if it was all a front. A mask. A deception. Because without her Authority of Origin, its back to Elysia just not understanding humans, and with Origin she can pretend to understand.

And thats what eventually leads her to be outed as a Herrscher before they go to fight the Final Herrscher, with most or half of the Flame-Chaser seeing her as a traitor for tricking them for so long. So she gets discovered as a Herrscher, they fight her, its a rather short fight, and at the end Elysia offers her Authority of Origin/Humanity to the future Herrscher Cores.

Or something.

I came up with most if this right now.

But I think I'll have Mobius be one of those that still/did see Elysia as a traitor, so I can make it easy for myself and just use her to point out some of Elysia's faults.

#spitballing ideas at midnight #asks #tw: elysia

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theperfectrose · 9 months

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Barbie Spoilers ✨ (and a dash of rant)

I just came back from Barbie and… I am amazed (and this is an understatement)!!!! 🤩🤩 I won’t rant here about the “but it’s a 2 hour Mattel commercial” comments (because yeah, Marvel, DC and other movies aren’t…), I’ll just say that this movie hit its right purpose. From starting about how Barbie is not what initially the idea was (of how it warped to fit societal norms (commercialism and money playing an important role, I’d say) and, at one point, box up women in the sense of blond + thin = pretty) to showing what it truly means to be a woman today. I’m gonna be a nag, but the second this (huge ass) speech hit the screen in the cinema, I was stunned. Read this and tell me you can’t find youself in at least one part of it:

“It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don’t think you’re good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we’re always doing it wrong. You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can’t ask for money because that’s crass. You have to be a boss, but you can’t be mean. You have to lead, but you can’t squash other people’s ideas. You’re supposed to love being a mother, but don’t talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman, but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men’s bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you’re accused of complaining. You’re supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood. But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. So find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful. You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It’s too hard! It’s too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault. I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us.”

This was a well wrapped shot to the patriarchy, with lines going even to the end like, “And the Ken’s would get the same treatment women get in the real world.” (don’t quote me on this, I’m 78% sure it’s not entirely correct). And then there’s the “We hide it better now” line when Ken’s being introduced to today’s real-world “equality.” The truth in those words and the not-so-subtle scenes of how Ken is treated differently in the real world… It’s the very sad reality.

I’ll skip the shot to the corporate world and the whole room of men even in a company that produces the epitome of femininity (for most at least) and go straight to the cherry on top - the end. Barbie ended with the most (for me) refreshing ending. It hit the core of what feminism is!! Because it’s not about women wanting to work more than men or wanting to get men’s jobs and bullshit like that. IT’S ABOUT BEING EQUAL! About me being able to walk the same path as you - the one without fucking obstacles around every corner, hidden under the pretense of (you guessed it) being too emotional, irrational, having to watch the kids, cook, etc. Of course, feminism is not just about women. One sentence here explained this perfectly, “I’m a man with no power. Does that make me a woman?”

And how did they decide to show this equality? KEN!

“Maybe its time to discover who Ken is. Maybe it’s Barbie. And it’s Ken.”

Simple as that! This is it - there is no reason for Ken to be the arm candy or “exist only when Barbie looks at him.” He’s Kenough! These two words showed (to those that didn’t manage to see it) how equality is done right! That toppling the patriarchy doesn’t mean getting rid of men! It’s working together i.e. (yes, again) equality!

Finally, I’ll add these three sentences that are really inspiring and made me go 🥺 :

1. “I want to do the imagining, not be the idea.”

2. “Ideas live forever, humans not so much.”

3. “We mothers stand still so our daughters can look back and see how far they’ve come.”

Ps. Barbie going, “I’m here to see my gynecologist!” made the movie 10x better 😂

#barbie #barbie 2023 #ken doll #barbie doll #barbie spoilers #feminism #demolishing the patriarchy #hit on commercialism #equal rights #everything wrapped in everything and then tied with the perfect bow!#sorry for the huge post tho 😅

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bitty-bits · 2 years

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Back In Action

DALL-E 2 Background (Prompt: Dreamy background painting with a checkered pattern grass and blue mountains in the distance), Emojis made for the SineTri Discord. Join us!

After a few months, I'm finally back doing this thing.

I'm back here probably cuz I do have a lot more to say than last time. Tumblr's embeds of posts don't seem to be very good, I've noticed. Oh well. Again you'll likely see me on that dreaded hellsite a lot more than here, but I'll still try to write here to maintain a tradition, and hopefully I won't be gone for too long again. Anyways here's what I've been doing lately.

New Computer

Yeah!

Without giving away too much details as for how this happened, I indeed have a new computer (notebook, specifically, as I've been used to the form factor my whole life, probably) and probably the first time it is almost on par with the latest high end specs, and, no memes, it has an RTX graphics card. What else can I say about it... well, using it so far has been a positive experience for the most part, my only complaint would be how "not good" the trackpad is. Cuz you know, I actually got used to drawing with the trackpad (believe it or not) on my previous notebook, which is still a pretty good notebook that still works and can still do a lot (I was able to play and beat Super Mario 3D World emulated on it at almost full speed, so I think that says something) so I hope whoever uses it next makes a good use out of it. I'd say outside of being "mid" (that's the Funny Word Them Kid's These Dayz R Usein' Right) its only problem is its battery doesn't really work anymore so it'll only work while plugged in, which is probably completely my fault, so I'm hoping to avoid this issue on the new computer. (Tip: There's an useful VBScript you can get and put it on Windows' "startup programs" folder that will show a message whenever your battery is close to 100% charge. Google it!)

Trackpad issues aside, I still have a standard optical mouse to use, but even then, It's still gonna take getting used to... using one again. I'm weird.

Cut it Out, Ninjin! - Preservation Efforts (Post-Warner Bros. Discovery Fiasco Update)

With all the clownery going down lately with the Warner Bros. + Discovery merger, the Ninjin cartoon series (my biggest "brainrot" of the year pretty much) unfortunately also fell victim to the "great cartoon purge" that happened as a result of WBD's terrible (and inefficient) cost cutting decisions. Fortunately, the timing for me to get into this series couldn't have been better, and at least the show staff got to finish a season right before the shitstorm, so finished material didn't go unreleased. That said we can only hope the series somehow makes a comeback or is revived in some form, as at least Warner doesn't own the Ninjin IP (as far as I'm aware).

With the series gone from HBO Max, YouTube and all of Cartoon Network itself (though not without a few exceptions still left here and there), it's important to remember that preservation is a must, and something to keep in mind from start to end in any project. Here's what a staff member at Birdo studio had to say on the matter (Portuguese):

for those who work on animated shows, for the love of god, don't forget to always keep a copy of the final versions of your scenes/episodes downloaded (and if you're the director, back up the entire series) cuz if we just rely on the son of a bitch companies and channels everything will be gone then we won't even be able to assemble an animation reel / portfolio afterwards

As I have shared in the first blog post, I have made an archive of pretty much all the CN Ninjin content that I could find, on a MEGA folder, which I've recently updated in light of the unfortunate news - Every episode is now available as MKV (Matroska Video) files with multiple audio channels (Original Portuguese, as well as the Spanish and English dubs!) which I plan to later still update to have English fansubs done by yours truly (So you don't have to stick to the... not very amazing English dub), you will also find the shorts (which I've already given subtitles!) and some comics too, which I still gotta translate.

I'll also make extra links for easier sharing soon.

We can't let the big corporations win again as they usually do.

You can buy Ninjin: Clash of Carrots (the game the series was based on!) on Steam here, and Pocket Trap's latest game, Dodgeball Academia, here!

Let's try to keep Ninjin alive. Please.

Do it for her.

Calimero Subtitles Project Returns

After staying stagnant for at least 2 years, interest in subtitling Calimero's 1992 anime by Toei Animation (easily my favorite Calimero-related media) ressurged. Likely due to me... having figured out what an MKV file even is and what it can have, as well as coming across what is now my favorite software for subtitle making in general, SubtitleEdit (Not very creative, I know), and learning about the more advanced, fancy subtitle formats a good chunk of anime (fan)subs use. Also the project expanded a little; it's gonna be more than just the subtitles over a single specific dub of the anime, actually it'll have most of the dubs ever made of the show that can be found. A lot of audio tracks in still considerably small files! I sure do love me some Matroska files. The current plan is for me to subtitle the first half of the series (26 episodes, "season 1", if you will) all by myself, while the second half is a bit tricky, as only the German, Italian and Arabic dubs have the entire series found. But I already have a German friend willing to help with those, and there are also a couple episodes from the second half in the original Japanese version found, so if you're fluent in any of these languages and are interested in helping out, feel free to tell me! Once the project is finished we will finally have one convenient place to watch this series, in a variety of language dubs, and English subs, and hopefully more people in the West will acquire interest for it.

My Channel for posting Video Game Music, CalimeroVGM on YouTube

Not "high quality rips" in the SiivaGunner sense, but actual VGM that either can't be found on YouTube elsewhere, or if it can be, the quality kinda sucks, or it's in a video with other tracks. I may have done a lot for SiivaGunner, and continue to do "high quality ripping" over on my music channel (ples suscribe), but I also have been contributing a lot to actual ripping and video game music preservation in general, and decided to make a channel dedicated to it (here), so I don't have to pollute my channel of miscellaneous whatevers, Lu9.2, which is already kind of polluted. So whenever I have any new rips, or even a few "experiments" with VGM, I'll put it on this relatively new channel. I encourage you to subscribe to it at least so I can get to 100 and get a custom URL, because I just am the weird kinda guy who likes neat looking URLs.

What I've Been Playing / Watching

Just in case people would want to know, I'd probably talk about it on Twitter anyways, but let's go:

Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series

I love Klonoa. Babe, GIVE me Klonoa. Played the first game (original PS1 version) back in either 2015 or 2016, though I was already a fan for longer, but loved it. The remastered version is very charming and combines the best of both the original colorful PS1 version and the Wii remake. And with this I was finally able to experience the sequel for the first time, and again, a masterpiece. Wish they kept some of the classic UI for the first game and other minor details, but that aside, this collection needs to succeed. This franchise needs to succeed.

Lucky Star

After giving up on watching it in 2015 (I was watching the English dub and didn't know what type of anime I was even expecting, Oops) I decide to give this another shot, this time subbed. What I can say is - I enjoy. It's fun. I guess my tastes have changed over the years too.

More Stuff

Moving (Again)

Seems like I do that a lot, but hopefully it'll actually stick now. Some unexpected problems rose in the current apartment I'm in. Nothing too serious (though it's only a matter of time) but the new place will be pretty big I think. I just hope I don't lose anything during the moving process again.

Fonts For Fun

Sometimes I also try my hand at typography, mostly recreating stuff I see, and this year I've made a few (and posted some older ones I had) fonts just for the fun of it (though they probably are useful)

You can check them out here.

Where's Part 3 Of Closing Logos Extended By Jukebox AI?

Not too long ago after releasing Part 2 of my intriguing Jukebox AI series, already some of the more "peculiar" logo-obsessed (presumably) children started to "predict" Part 3, some eben by just posting what will be on Part 3, conjuring up facts, classic Greeny Phatom style. Told that guy to wait until August.

...and I really wish I could keep such promises but I really just don't find the time and energy to put into those videos, not to mention the upsampling process that I still have to put some of the samples through. Though it's less time consuming now, there's still the entire editing and visuals part. I'm doing these videos completely for free, you know. Unless you're fine with something half-baked, be patient.

Also there will be more Jukebox AI videos in general, not just the logo ones, I hope you look forward to those too.

Donald Alves' Original Flash Website Is Now A Progressive Web App

Yeah. Did this just for fun. And to see what kind of stuff I can do with PWA features in general. It's still not a full "installable" web app, but it should work as its own thing on your phone no problem. Don't know who Donald Alves is? Well, this is one of those things that you just had to be there at the time, dude.

Conclusion

That was a big one! Hopefully next post will come before Christmas. Maybe before Brazil's presidential elections too... oh god I'm scared

Bitty's Message of the Day

I do not like beans.

#newsletter #preservation #personal

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