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punkshort · 5 months

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look what we've become - ch.6

Chapter Summary: You arrive at Ellie's family's house, but it's not what you expected.

Chapter Warnings: language, mentions of child abuse (not SA), mentions of slavery, angst

WC: 6.3K

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Ellie was quiet the next morning, picking slowly at her granola bar and bent over, staring at her book. It was the day you expected to arrive at her aunt and uncle's house, and you had a hunch she was feeling bittersweet about it. When you woke up, you had a pit in your stomach that you assumed had something to the conversation you had with Joel the night before, but as the morning wore on, you realized there was a different reason. You weren't ready to let Ellie go.

"Hey," you said, nudging her knee so she would look up. "You excited to see your family?"

"I guess," she said with a shrug. Joel appeared to only be half listening as he nursed his coffee across from you.

"I'm sure they'll be happy to see you," you replied. "They probably don't even know you're alive. You said you were taken from their house, right?"

"Yeah," she said with a nod. "After my parents died, they took me in. I can't really remember much, but I know it was nighttime and I had a bag over my head, but I don't remember them breaking into the house, I must've been asleep."

"And it was the Fireflies who took you?" you asked.

"I'm not sure. It wasn't Marlene's group, if it was. There was more of us, they kept us all in this gross basement or something. No one could tell where we were, and whenever they moved us, they had the bags over our heads."

"Jesus," Joel muttered to himself with a shake of his head.

"How do you know it wasn't Marlene?" you asked gently, curious to learn more, but worried about upsetting her.

"Because after a few months, they took me and a couple others to Marlene's camp. She never made us wear the bags," Ellie explained.

"They hurt you?" Joel asked. His eyebrows were pinched as if he were bracing himself.

"A little," she admitted quietly. Your gaze dropped down to your hands, trying not to show her the emotion on your face. "They'd hit us if we weren't working fast enough, or trip us just for fun, I guess."

"I'm so sorry, Ellie," you whispered, reaching out a hand to place on her knee.

You exchanged a pained look with Joel before dropping the subject. At least she was going back home. She might not be excited yet, but you were willing to bet she would be once she saw her family again.

"We're doing the right thing," you murmured to him when you were out of earshot as Ellie packed up her belongings. "I know you weren't on board with this at first, but we're giving her a chance at a decent life."

"Second we get back I'm tellin' Tommy we are cuttin' all ties with these people," he said through gritted teeth. "I don't care what they got to offer."

You nodded, feeling the anger rolling off of him as he aggressively folded up his sleeping bag. You grabbed your pack and kicked dirt over what little fire remained, snuffing out the embers before reviewing the map once more.

Thankfully, her family didn't live within the city itself. Cities were heavily populated, which meant more risk of infected, soldiers, or hostile people. You tended to avoid them at all costs. They lived in a small town outside of the city called Morristown, which didn't have much outside of a post office, a school, and a fire department. The residential homes were built far apart from each other, scattered and disorganized. You got the feeling that people who used to live in this town knew everyone's business, it was so tiny. And you also had the feeling these were the types of people that shot first and asked questions later, given the extent it appeared they went for privacy.

"That's my school!" Ellie said excitedly, pointing down the street. Joel was focused on the map, trying to find the way to Spirit Drive, but you twisted your head so you could see the building she pointed out in the distance.

"That's cool, Ellie," you said warmly, happy to see she finally had a small smile on her face. "What was your favorite subject?"

She went on to tell you about her art class and a teacher she adored, and all the while you stared at her, listening to her stories while your heart ached. You imagined her in that school, with her friends, playing sports, eating lunch, and something inside you burned. It almost felt like jealousy, but that didn't make sense. It was a feeling you couldn't put your finger on, but you thought you knew what it was when you turned down her street, swallowing the lump in your throat when the realization set in that you were minutes away from never seeing her again.

"This the place?" Joel asked Ellie, squinting his eyes between her and the map. The house didn't look like much. It was a small, brick ranch with a long, gravel driveway that led up to a dilapidated grey barn. The hinges on the storm door to the front house were originally black, but now orange with rust. White paint chipped from the door in long strips, and the front garden was long abandoned and overgrown.

"Yeah," she said, looking at the barn.

"Do you think they're still here?" you asked, a flicker of hope igniting in you. Maybe if they weren't here, you could convince Joel to take her back to Jackson.

"Oh, yeah. They're here," she said confidently. You both glanced down at her.

"How're you so sure?" Joel asked, and she tilted her chin up towards the corner of the house. You both followed her gaze, noticing the cameras for the first time. They were small, it was no wonder you missed them, but they were there and definitely working. You could see a little red light flashing in the lens when the camera swooped across the lawn and over the driveway, where you all stood.

Joel slowly flicked his eyes around the house, counting at least seven cameras that he could see from his position. Then his gaze traveled to the barn, where he thought he could make out at least five more.

"How in the hell did you get taken from this place with all these cameras?" he asked. She didn't reply, and he wasn't really expecting an answer.

"So, what do we do?" you asked Joel quietly. "Do we just go up and knock?"

Joel twisted around to glance at Ellie, but she wasn't paying attention. She fidgeted her fingers inside her long sleeves as she stared out across the wide open dusty, dirty land the house was built on.

"I'll go up and knock, you two stay back," he decided, wiping the sweat from the back of his neck before venturing further down the driveway. The sun was blazing, even more so in the desert with little to no shade. You couldn't imagine how uncomfortable Ellie must have been in her long sleeves.

"That's far enough!" a man's voice rang out. Joel stopped dead in his tracks, whipping his head around to try to locate the source. Then he saw movement. An older man with a scraggly grey beard and balding head emerged from the barn, aiming a rifle right at Joel. He held his hands up in the air, showing from a distance that he meant no harm.

"Is that your uncle?" you whispered, holding your hands up as well.

"Yeah, that's Uncle Dave," she said, but she seemed unbothered by the threat. In fact, she shoved her hands in her pockets as she waited for him to approach.

"We aren't lookin' for trouble," Joel called out as Dave slowly made his way closer, his eyes transfixed on Joel. "We're here-"

"Toss your weapons on the ground!" Dave ordered, readjusting his grip on his rifle.

"Okay," Joel said, nodding, and slowly reached around to pluck the handgun from the back of his pants with two fingers. He held it up and gently tossed it on the ground in front of him.

"You too, missy," Dave said without even looking at you. You followed suit, slowly removing your gun and tossing it on the ground at your side. When you were no longer armed, Dave relaxed a bit, letting his shoulder drop but still aiming the rifle at Joel's chest. He finally allowed his gaze to drift behind Joel, looking briefly at you before his eyes landed on Ellie. He hesitated and swallowed roughly before forcing out a harsh chuckle.

"Well, I'll be damned," he said, a slow smirk spreading across his face. "Junebug! Get out here, you ain't never gonna believe this!"

A rounder woman with glasses and tight curly blonde hair emerged from the barn behind Dave, a scowl painting her features as she walked forward, aiming a revolver at Joel. When she looked over and noticed Ellie, her expression changed. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise and she let her gun fall to her side.

"Ellie!" the woman cried out, trotting clumsily down the driveway towards you. You looked down at Ellie, expecting her to finally show some excitement, but she only offered them a pained smile.

"Hiya, Aunt June," Ellie said before being enveloped in a huge bear hug.

"Oh, my sweet girl! I thought I would never see you again," June said with tears in her eyes. Dave watched the two reunite from his position in front of Joel, the rifle now slung over his shoulder.

Ellie stepped back and introduced you and Joel to her family. She explained you were helping her and keeping her safe, and the two adults began to warm up to you after that.

"Please, why don't you stay the night?" June offered. "We'll make you dinner and give you a warm bed, it's the least we could do." Ellie turned to you and nodded, a genuine smile finally spreading across her face.

You felt Joel hesitate next to you, but you quickly accepted her offer, not ready to leave Ellie just yet. He gave you a sideways glance before giving June and Dave a tight smile and followed them into the house, only after picking up your weapons from the ground.

The inside of the house matched the outside. It was well lived in and dated, but it was clean. You glanced around the living room, noticing there didn't seem to be any family pictures around, just landscape art and a clock on the wall.

June gave you a brief tour of the small house and showed you their spare bedroom, where you and Joel left your backpacks.

"Why don't you help me in the kitchen, dear, and leave the men to their own devices," June said, her pink cheeks pinching into a smile. You looked at Joel, trying to read his expression. He gave you a quick nod, confirming he was comfortable with being separated, and you returned her smile.

"That sounds great," you told her.

Dave led Joel down into the basement, explaining along the way that he would be 'blown away' by his set up down there. Ellie had mentioned they were preppers, and based on the cameras, you had to assume the basement was remodeled to be a safe room or a bunker.

You helped June chop up vegetables while she kneaded dough to make chicken pot pie. Your mouth watered at the prospect of a home cooked meal.

"We've been traveling for over a week, eating mostly trail mix and rabbit. This will be wonderful, thank you so much," you told her.

"Of course, dear. It's no trouble at all. Ellie!" June called out. Ellie came around the corner, her sketch pad hanging limply at her side.

"C'mon, girl, you forget how to help out around here?" June asked, her brows furrowed for a moment before she realized how harsh she sounded. She turned to you and laughed, her features relaxed again. "Kids, you know?"

You smiled and looked back at Ellie to gauge her reaction. She seemed quiet and closed off, but you brushed it off, chalking it up to the long day.

June held out a butcher knife to her, and Ellie hesitated, her eyes flicking from her aunt to the knife.

"Auntie, please don't make me," she said, eyes wide.

"You know the rules, don't tell me you forgot now," she replied lowly. Ellie reached out a shaky hand to pick up the knife.

"What is this?" you asked, putting your hand out to stop her.

"Well, we need chicken for the chicken pot pie, don't we now?" June said sweetly, and you were beginning to feel like that ruddy smile of hers was a little fake.

"I'll do it," you said, stepping in front of Ellie, hand outstretched for the knife.

"Now, I appreciate the offer, dear, but Ellie understands it's part of her chores, right?" she said, narrowing her eyes at Ellie. She nodded slowly, her gaze drifting to the floor.

"She can chop the vegetables and I'll take care of the chicken," you told her, your tone becoming more insistent.

June's watery eyes wavered between you and Ellie as she weighed her options. You glanced down at the butcher knife in her red, flour covered hands, then looked back at her.

"I insist," you said darkly, dropping the fake pleasantries. June's gaze dragged up to remain locked on you.

"Girl's gotta learn to be comfortable with killing," she replied, but you reached out and snatched the knife from her grip before she had a chance to blink.

"That's alright, I could use some practice, myself," you told her, refusing to break eye contact.

The tension in the room was thick, even Ellie was shifting her weight, trying to make herself as small as possible. You waited for June to try to argue with you again or say something to Ellie that didn't sit right, but it never came. As if storm clouds passed, her eyes cleared up and she blinked at you, a smile spreading across her flushed cheeks.

"Well, then," she said, dusting her hands on her apron. "Coop's out back. Suppose we should thank our guest, right Ellie?" June said, raising an eyebrow at the girl. Ellie nodded and looked up at you.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"No problem, kid," you muttered, giving June one last glance before heading out the back door.

"This here's an AK-47, got maybe six of these fuckers," Dave said, his fingertips grazing the weapon on the wall as he passed. "Just about anything you can think of, I probably got two of 'em."

For someone who hoarded weapons in an underground bunker, Joel would have thought the man would be a little more subtle. A little less eager to show a complete stranger his entire stash. But then again, men like Dave loved to show off. If they couldn't boast about it, then what was the point?

"Real nice set up you got here," Joel murmured, knowing the man was waiting for a compliment. Dave's chest puffed with pride before he opened a sliding door in the back of the basement, revealing a small room filled with different sized monitors, cameras all cycling through the different angles he had covering his property. Joel was wrong: he had way more than just the cameras he saw. They rotated to different views all around the outside of the house. He noticed the only cameras that were monitoring indoors were in the barn where he saw an old John Deere tractor and a pickup truck flash on the screen.

"Jesus," Joel whispered, taking a step forward, but still not entering the small room. "How the hell you manage to watch these all the time?"

"Ah," Dave said proudly, tapping his finger against his temple. "I got motion alerts. Sends out an alarm when I'm sleeping or taking a shit or whatever. Gets annoying, though. Mostly just birds or other animals, so I turn it off during the day. But sometimes... sometimes I get something good."

"Like us?" Joel said, and Dave laughed.

"Yeah... yep, exactly like you," he replied, trailing off as he stared at Joel.

"Y'know," Dave said after a moment, stepping back to shut the door. "There's folks around here who pay good money for things, if you're ever in the market to buy or sell."

"We don't got much, but we're doin' just fine," Joel said, beginning to feel uneasy.

"Nah, see, that's where you're wrong, friend," Dave replied, pouring two glasses of whiskey and handing one to Joel. "You do got somethin'."

Joel held the glass tightly, bringing it up to his lips and pretending to take a sip before setting it down. Something told him he should keep his wits about him. He raised his eyebrows at Dave, waiting for him to continue.

"That girl with you up there," he began, and Joel felt his stomach twist at the mention of you. "She would fetch you a fair price with the folks I know."

Joel froze, doing his damndest to not let his emotions show. The pieces were starting to click. He clenched his jaw and swallowed lightly before taking a deep breath.

"That right?" he replied, urging him to continue. He needed to get back upstairs, for the first time realizing you all might be in danger.

"Hell yeah. Medicine, food, weapons. I'm sure of it," he said with a click of his tongue. "I make one radio call and they could be here in two days."

"Hm," Joel replied, clenching his fists behind his back. "Lemme think on it, yeah?"

"Sure, sure," he said with a wave. "Don't think too long, though. One day, someone'll take her. It's just a matter of if you get to benefit from it or not, you get me?"

Jesus fucking Christ.

"Yeah," Joel said. "I get you."

Joel decided you weren't leaving his sight. He was relieved when June called down, letting them know dinner was ready, so he could make sure you were okay without making an excuse to leave and raise suspicion. A man like Dave with a whole arsenal at his disposal wasn't someone he wanted to tangle with. He had to be careful.

A cynical part of him wondered if he should be worried about the food, but he knew you helped prepare it. You were smart, you would have noticed if something was going on.

But when he climbed the stairs and locked eyes with you, he knew something was wrong. You didn't show it, but he could tell by the way your smile didn't reach your eyes.

He settled down at the table as you and June scooped out the meal on everyone's your plates while Ellie silently brought everyone glasses of water. When she set Joel's down, he tried to catch her eye, but she wouldn't look at him.

"Ellie, why don't you get Joel 'n me whiskies. You ladies want anything stronger?" Dave asked, tucking his napkin into his shirt. You shook your head and politely declined as you took your seat next to Joel, your knee purposely knocking against his under the table. He glanced at you, your lips pressed in a thin line as you looked down at your food, not wanting to raise suspicion but desperately wanting to warn him that these people seemed off.

"You know, I've been meaning to try that margarita mix we traded for last week," June said thoughtfully. "Ellie, let me show you how to make it." June waddled out of the kitchen and into the living room, behind Ellie. You heard their voices carrying over faintly as June instructed her how to make her drink.

"This looks great, honey. What's in it?" Joel asked, turning and giving you a pointed look. Honey. He never called you that. It got your attention, and you gave him a quick, curious look before you understood his underlying question. Is this safe to eat? Your gaze drifted back to Dave, who was watching the two of you talk.

"Just normal stuff," you told him. "Nothing special. Veggies, chicken."

His eyes bored into yours, trying to communicate silently with you. You figured it out. Something happened in the basement that worried him, the same way June's behavior worried you.

"Alright, let's dig in!" June said cheerily, entering the kitchen with a yellow drink in her hand. Ellie followed dutifully behind with two glasses of whiskey, placing them in front of the men before sitting across from you.

"This is great, Junebug," Dave told his wife after a few forkfuls. June smiled as she sipped from her glass. You and Joel choked down the meal, offering your compliments and thanks once again, while Ellie silently pushed her food around her plate.

"Not a whiskey man, Joel?" Dave asked, his eyes growing glassy from the drink he had in the basement and now his second one.

"It's just been a long journey," Joel explained, but took a small sip anyway. "Feelin' real tired, is all."

Ellie glanced up and looked at Joel, knowing full well he wasn't tired. In the short time she knew him, it was like pulling teeth to admit he was tired. She looked back and forth between him and you, trying to read your faces without being obvious.

"Quit playing with your food," June told her harshly, finishing up her margarita. "You should be so lucky to have a roof over your head and food in your belly."

Joel stiffened next to you but didn't look up from his plate, his mind racing, trying to formulate a plan.

"You know what? That drink looked good," you said suddenly. "Ellie, why don't you show me if you remember how to make it?" You stood up from the table and Ellie jumped to her feet to follow you.

"Bring me another, too," June barked as Ellie followed you around the corner to the bar cart in the living room.

"What the hell is going on here, Ellie?" you muttered quietly, picking up the margarita mixer and pouring it into a glass.

"It's how they always are," she whispered. "They aren't exactly good with kids, but it's fine."

"No, it's not fine," you whispered back, holding your hand out to keep her from pouring tequila in your glass, choosing to just drink the mixer, not wanting alcohol to dull your senses. You nudged her hand to make her pour a little extra tequila in her aunt's glass. "This isn't how you should be living."

"Well, I don't have much of a choice, do I?" she asked sharply before turning on her heel and heading back into the kitchen. You trailed after her, finding your seat next to Joel and taking a sip of the fake drink and trying to ignore the guilt. You had no idea how you were going to be able to leave her behind with these people.

You helped June clean up the dishes after dinner while the men filed into the living room. Joel had drank his first glass, but held up his hand when Dave offered a second, rubbing his eyes and reminding him how tired he felt. He needed to get you alone and get you the hell out of here, paranoid that Dave would call those people to do a "trade" for you like he was already suspecting happened originally with Ellie. What else would explain kidnappers being able to bypass his security system?

As if reading his mind, Dave asked "Think any more about what I told you downstairs?"

Joel yawned, trying to hide his anger by contorting his face.

"Lemme sleep on it, get back to you in the mornin', I'm beat," he said, hoping he wasn't laying it on too thick. If he was, Dave didn't seem to notice, the whiskey doing its job by keeping him oblivious.

"Alright now, Ellie. Time to get ready for bed," June said, her drink sloshing in her glass. "Say goodbye and thank you to your friends."

You could see the despair in Ellie's face. Trying hard not to cry, you wrapped her in a hug and whispered it will be okay in her ear before pulling back, swallowing hard. She was about to reach for her sketch pad when, much to your surprise, Joel suddenly leaned down and pulled her into a hug. Ellie also looked shocked, not sure what to do at first but eventually brought her arms up around his ribs. You thought you could see him whisper something in her ear, but it happened so fast, you weren't sure.

"Okay, off you go," June told her, and Ellie quickly walked down the hall without another word. You watched her go, tears threatening to spill down your cheeks.

You sat next to Joel, trying to appear interested in what her aunt and uncle were talking about, but you realized it didn't matter the more they drank. Joel's hand dropped on the couch next to you, grasping your hand and stroking his thumb over your knuckles. You looked up at him sadly as he tried to wordlessly say it's okay, I'll get us out of this.

After another hour, Dave stood to tend to the fire, stumbling in the process. June chuckled, her face redder than usual.

"Time for bed, old man," she teased, and he grunted in response, pushing a log around with the poker before straightening back up.

"Suppose you're right, Junebug," he replied. You could hear the alcohol in his voice, the way he spoke slightly louder and slower than usual.

"You two need anything, you just holler," June said, pushing herself off the couch. "Clean sheets are in the closet."

You and Joel stood, watching as they made their way slowly down the hall to their bedroom, June mumbling to Dave until their door quietly clicked shut.

You immediately swiveled around to Joel but he clamped a hand over your mouth, shaking his head. You nodded and he removed his hand, leading you down the other end of the hall to the guest room, and shut the door.

"Joel-"

He held his finger to his lips before he made his way around the room, checking the furniture and closet for any possible hidden cameras or bugs. When he was satisfied, he finally spoke.

"Don't get comfortable. When they fall asleep, we're leavin'," he whispered.

"We can't leave her here," you said, sweeping your arm towards the door.

"I know," he said, and you breathed a sigh of relief. "They'll sell her off again the first chance they get."

"Wait, what?" you asked, eyes wide. "I thought someone snatched her?"

"I really fuckin' doubt it," Joel said, running his fingers through his hair. "When we were in the basement, that asshole was tryin' to convince me to sell you to slavers. Said if I don't do it, somebody'll take and sell you anyway. Sounded awful lot like a threat, if you ask me."

"Jesus Christ, Joel!" you whispered, wrapping your arms around your ribs and pacing nervously around the room. "So you think they sold Ellie into slavery? Their own niece?"

"Wouldn't put it past 'em. You should see the shit he's got in that basement. Must've cost a fortune. I'm sure Ellie wasn't the only one they sold off."

It started to make sense. The way June spoke to and treated Ellie like she was a servant didn't leave you feeling warm and fuzzy.

"But they seemed so happy to see her," you said, thinking back.

"Yeah, probably saw her as another paycheck. Two for one," Joel said with a scoff.

"So what's the plan?" you asked him, biting on your fingernail anxiously.

"Give it an hour or so," he began, sitting down on the bed. "Make sure they're passed out. Then, you go get the kid, and I'll go to the basement. I gotta figure out how to turn off the motion alerts on those cameras so they don't wake up. Then we get the fuck outta here."

"Okay," you said quietly, sitting down next to him, stunned. Twenty minutes ago, you just thought they were bad guardians. You had no idea it was this bad. You buried your face in your hands, feeling guilty for bringing Ellie back into this house. You should have fought harder to get her to stay in Jackson. Now, you all ended up in danger, anyway.

"We have to try to warn Tommy and Maria," you whispered. "What if something happens? It'll take us a week to get home."

"Maybe not," Joel replied. "I saw on his cameras that they got a truck in that barn."

Joel stuck his head out into the hallway, craning his neck to listen for any movement from the master bedroom. After a few minutes of silence, he looked back at you and nodded. Quietly, you followed him down the hall, pausing outside of Ellie's room. Before you could open the door, Joel put his hand over yours. He cupped your face and quickly pressed a kiss against your lips, then pulled back to look deep into your eyes while his thumb caressed your cheek.

I'll get us out of here, I'll keep us safe.

You nodded, understanding without him having to say a word. He dropped his hand and made his way down the hall to the basement door, clicking on his flashlight before descending the stairs.

Taking a deep breath, you slowly pushed the bedroom door open. You took care to close it gently behind you, then turned around to find Ellie fully dressed and waiting for you at the foot of her bed.

"Hey," you whispered, and she stood up, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"I'm ready," she whispered back.

"How did you-"

"Joel told me," she said quietly. "He said to keep my bag packed, and not to fall asleep."

So he did whisper something in her ear when he hugged her.

"Okay, good," you breathed, trying to hide your nervousness.

"I packed all new clothes, and a few other things I wanted. Do you think I need anything else?"

"You have your flashlight?" you asked.

"Yep. And I got this," she said, proudly reaching into her pants pocket and pulling out a switchblade.

"Where did you get that?"

"Does it matter?" she replied.

"Just be careful with that thing, put it away," you told her. She folded it back up and shoved it into her jeans.

You poked your head out of her door, making sure the coast was clear before taking a step out. You made it two feet before Ellie's hand shot out and grabbed your arm, pulling you back into her room just in time. The master bedroom door swung open and June hobbled out in her nightgown, making her way groggily to the bathroom. You and Ellie stood with your ears pressed against the bedroom door, listening intently as the toilet flushed and the sink ran.

"Where's Joel?" Ellie mouthed.

You pointed down to the floor and mouthed back basement.

You waited until you heard her door click shut and the squeak of the boxspring before opening Ellie's door again. Silently, you made your way down the hall and to the dark kitchen, where you waited for Joel.

"What's he doing?" she said as softly as possible.

"Motion sensors," was all you said back. She shook her head.

"He won't know - I'll do it," she replied, and before you could stop her, she opened the door and made her way down the steps, turning her flashlight on in the process. You went after her as quickly and quietly as you could, knowing Joel wouldn't expect you to be down there.

You entered the bunker, taking a second to gawk at all the guns adorned on the walls. There was also an elaborate looking radio and a workbench filled with electrical parts. You passed five dressers that looked to be filled with different types of ammunition, and you thought you even saw a couple grenades.

"Joel," you whispered, and you heard him shuffle near the back of the room. You swung your flashlight towards the noise, your heart pounding in your ears. He stepped out from behind a tall shelf of canned goods, shaking his head and holstering his revolver.

"This wasn't the plan," he scolded with a deep frown, but before you could explain, Ellie pushed past you both and made her way to the little room in the back that housed all of the security system equipment.

"Ellie!" Joel whispered, going after her.

"I know what I'm doing," she said over her shoulder. He glanced back at you and you shrugged.

"There, the alarm is turned off and so is the recording," she said, emerging from the room. Joel gave her a confused look.

"Recording?" you repeated.

"Yeah, the cameras record everything. So they won't know what direction we go when they wake up tomorrow and try to review the footage," she explained, looking at you like it was obvious before heading to the stairs.

"Did you know-" you began to ask, but Joel cut you off.

"Hey, wait," he whispered, making Ellie stop on the bottom step. He unscrewed the cap of whiskey Dave had shared with him earlier and poured it all over the radio, watching as it sparked a bit. And for good measure, he cut the wire that powered the device before making his way toward the stairs, pushing past Ellie to lead you both out of the house.

Joel led you to the barn, maneuvering on the soft grass instead of the noisy gravel. There was a standard padlock on the door, which he was able to break relatively easily with his hunting knife. He was beginning to realize Ellie's aunt and uncle had all the appearances of being survivalists, but lacked most of the skills. He had lost count of the things he would have done differently if he was defending his own home.

Still, he didn't want to wake them when he was so close to safety. So, he put the truck in neutral and had Ellie steer from the driver's seat while the two of you pushed the car down the long driveway, waiting until it reached the road before making Ellie move to the back and starting it up.

He drove for a few hours until you were both struggling to keep your eyes open, the adrenaline that was previously fueling you both long since worn off.

"Let's pull off here, maybe we can find some gas before we head out in the mornin'," Joel said softly, trying not to wake Ellie.

"Okay," you said quietly, staring out the window as he got off the interstate. He drove for another half hour until he found a volunteer fire hall.

There were a few abandoned cars in the large lot when you pulled in. Joel parked the truck and turned to you.

"Lemme go in and check it out, you stay with the kid," he said, unbuckling his seatbelt.

"I'll come with you," you said, but he held out his hand.

"Stay," he repeated firmly, and you shook your head.

"What if-"

"Just do as your told for once," he snapped. You clamped your mouth shut, too tired to argue. He was clearly annoyed that you improvised back at the house and brought Ellie in the basement.

"Fine," you seethed, and he slid out of the truck. You watched with your arms crossed as he approached the door, shining his flashlight inside the window before working on the lock and pushing his way in. You could see the beam of his flashlight through the windows as he moved from room to room, carefully checking out each one before finally coming back out to let you know it was clear.

"Ellie," you whispered, nudging her shoulder gently. Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up with a yawn, turning around to try to figure out where you were.

"We're gonna stay here for the rest of the night and try to get some sleep before hitting the road tomorrow," you explained as you hopped out of the truck.

She silently followed you into the building, where Joel was waiting, holding the door open. He led you both up the stairs where the firefighters had a small living space with bunk beds. Ellie snagged the first one she saw, curling up with the blanket that was already draped over the bed and falling back asleep.

"You good?" Joel asked, looking over as you flopped down on one of the beds.

"Yeah, are you?" you replied. He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Long fuckin' day," he murmured.

"Why don't I keep watch tonight and you get some rest, I'll sleep in the car tomorrow," you told him. You could tell he wanted to argue with you but his exhaustion won.

"Yeah, alright," he agreed after a moment.

You stood back up, checking your gun before heading back downstairs. After you peeked out the windows to confirm everything was all quiet, you wandered around the first floor a bit. It looked like after the outbreak, the building may have acted as a safe zone. There were abandoned bags, cots, blankets, and trash overflowing in the bins.

You were looking through some duffel bags for anything useful when you heard a noise outside. You froze, quickly pulling your gun from the back of your jeans as you made your way cautiously out into the room. At first glance, your flashlight didn't show anything out of the ordinary. You were about to give up when you heard the same noise again. Whipping to your left, you advanced towards the sound with your gun drawn.

The last thing you remember is a hand gripping your throat from behind and a needle slipping into your neck.

Tag List @nana90azevedo @ninaminaromina @untamedheart81 @taz-97 @nastiasnow @amyispxnk @plz-be-solo @iloveramensm @caitlynsixxx @anoverwhelmingdin @harriedandharassed @jessthebaker @txtattoostark @merz-8 @sarap-77 @sarahhxx03

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tranquilpetrichor · 2 years

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perfectly imperfect

synopsis: in which yunho helps you let go of your fears, one 8-count at a time.

cast: dancer!yunho (ateez) x dancer!reader, mentions of other ateez members.

genre: comfort, some fluff, friendship with implication of a mutual crush

wc: 1.7k

warnings: some negative self-talk, descriptions of physical exhaustion, cursing, some parts not proofread

a/n: sometimes we do indeed get lost in our own heads. there's so much to think about when you dance for a class/career lol but honestly at its purest form (for me) dance should make you feel good. also. there's such a fun feeling fooling around with people after dance practice. anyways enough from me! this one is a little rough, sorry y'all. school is annoying.

taglist: @restlessmaknae

remember what yunho told you. try not to rely on the mirror.

your arm glided above your head, creating an invisible semi-circle as you went through a choreography your friend, yunho had taught you. after finishing the routine, you collapsed on the floor near your phone, and with a bit of effort, stopped the video that was recording.

time to review the footage. having exerted yourself to your last breath, you were more than happy to have a reason to sit down.

"oh? what the hell," you frowned at your screen and made a disgusted face—anyone looking at you probably would have thought you ate something rotten. you might as well have.

your angles weren't clean enough. that part should have been smoother. right arm, not left! yeah, you spent a good few minutes rewinding that damn video. just to make sure you weren’t missing anything, you watched it again while you were rolling out the arches of your feet with a tennis ball.

you hoped that you'd execute yunho's choreography well enough to use for an audition, but right now things weren't looking great.

the door opened, and yunho walked in, noticing how tired you were. he still appeared upbeat, even though you knew he was probably exhausted too. "y/n! thought we were, uh, taking a break."

a sigh escaped your lips. "well, i was. but after you left, i just wanted to run the dance one more time. for myself."

he began to stretch some more, and you couldn't help but always be quietly amazed by how graceful he was. "i expected that," he said with a shrug. "you've always been a perfectionist. one more minute to rest, and then we'll run the choreography again."

you went over it in your head, methodically addressing your mistakes and praying there would be no stupid gaps in your memory when it was actually time to dance.

yunho walked over to the laptop and pressed play, with "hymn for the weekend" by coldplay blasting out the speakers, and then he went to go sit in the corner.

okay, what do i have to remember?

for one, the dance started on an odd count—leave it to yunho to make things unpredictable for you. and he choreographed it mostly to beats in the instrumental, so that's what you were going to focus on this time.

"1, 2, and 3!"

flick, flick, 6 and 7, 8. through, down, 3, 4. fuck, is this even supposed to be the hand detail? whatever.

and before you knew it, you were finished. everything felt practiced, and you thought the dance went slightly better than last time.

perhaps you could chalk it up to muscle memory—thank god that existed! still, there was always something you could fix, but for the moment, you took a sip of water from your bottle, grateful for its cool temperature.

yunho went over to stop the music. "alright, so that was better. definitely! maybe a few details that still need a bit of work, but you definitely know the dance. the major comment i have is relax, y/n. please. i can see you’re not dancing in the moment.”

that was still one of your major flaws—that your brain refused to be at peace. your thoughts felt like a constant whir, hyper-focused on the nitty-gritty of whatever you were doing. that was nice and all when you were reviewing someone else’s dancing, but it seemed to hinder your own.

“i guess habits really are hard to break,” you said, laying on the floor with a groan.

he sat beside you, and you instinctively steadied yourself using his shoulder, almost all of your adrenaline gone. you began to think of all the things you forgot to do during the dance, and remembered yunho's comment about not dancing in the moment.

what am i, a deer lost in headlights?

your thoughts were interrupted by him, probably for the better. “don’t beat yourself up about it. i know you, and you’re trying. you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t. and you’re improving—anyone with eyes can see it.”

instinctively, you looked away from him, down at some speck of dust on the floor. “maybe? i think? i’m not as good as you though, great yunho-ssaem."

humor always diffuses a situation, right?

yunho gently turned you to face him and laughed, but it wasn't out of malice. “don't discredit yourself like that! none of us are perfect—i’m still learning, myself.”

for his youthful energy, he was actually quite wise in his mindset, which is why you trusted him a lot, along with the fact that him being almost a year older wasn't so significant for you.

“i mean, i know you’re right, but clearly i still can't fix my problem.”

he gave a mock gasp. “but of course, i’m right, y/n. no, but seriously. knowing you have a problem is half the battle. some of us never get to that. give yourself time to grow."

you gave yunho a fist bump, and a quick hug. "god, you're the best. what the hell would i do without you?"

it was his turn to look slightly embarrassed, cheeks slightly flushed from the compliment.

"haha, thanks y/n, i try my best. anyways, forget that shit about me being perfect. did i ever tell you about the time i did a duet with mingi but started my section a few counts too early?”

you shuddered and gave him a sympathetic look. "i would rather start late than early, honestly. everyone can see an early start.”

“hey, i did just fine after! and at least it was just a practice. mingi sent the video to me. i'll show you," he said, taking out his phone.

you never missed a chance to learn from other people’s work when it came to dance, and watching videos was a great way to learn.

he stood up and lifted his hand way above your head with a teasing grin. screw tall people.

you jumped, but it didn't get you that far off of the ground. “yun-hoe! oh my god, stop being tall.”

“you’re not even that short,” he said, laughing at you. “but i’ll still always be taller than you.”

“i hate you."

after you gave one more playful attempt to swipe the phone, he finally sat down, scrolling through his camera roll. “look, now you can see how unorganized and chaotic everything is. there's wooyoung twerking, you and san trying to flip—ah, found it."

"haha, you can send me that video of wooyoung later."

yunho laughed. "maybe."

he clicked the duet and the video began to play, starting off with shakiness as a pair of hands attempted to adjust the camera’s position.

you could hear yunho’s laugh. “mingi, stop touching it. i think it’s good now. let’s go!”

“i guess you're right, fighting!”

the two stood side by side, with shared smiles. you knew that feeling well. dance friends were the best.

and then there was the part yunho had mentioned: his early start. it was sorta cute, as he realized he was off the counts and jumped back to his starting position. it would easily be embarrassing for you, but he laughed it off easily.

mingi slapped him on the back in the video. “damn, dude. you got on my ass for missing the timing and here you are.”

after, yunho went to restart the music, grinning. "just remember that i’m older than you, mingi. shut it!”

“it's only by a couple of months!”

the two returned to dancing, this time, starting perfectly in sync. you could feel joy radiating off of the two, and it was clear they loved every second of what they did. you clapped eagerly for them, amazed by how in command of themselves they were.

yunho turned to you after the video ended.

"look, that was only the tip of the iceberg of my embarrassing mistakes. and that wasn't even that bad so far." he laughed sheepishly before continuing.

"but at least, there isn't a person in the world who's perfect. why worry so much about that when you could enjoy yourself? it naturally makes your dancing that much better, too."

he went to grab his laptop, typed some stuff in and handed it to you. "remember our playlist? let's shuffle it and have a freestyle battle! and we could get bbq after. my treat.."

you perked up, especially at the thought of food. he was definitely trying to distract you from your endless thoughts, but you didn't mind, not today.

"you're on. rock-paper-scissors, loser goes first!"

"one, two, three, shoot!" you both yelled, and you shrugged, as you'd lost to him.

"see, rock always wins! do your worst," yunho said.

“i will.”

to your delight, the first song that came on shuffle was a childhood favorite of yours—umbrella by rihanna. it had gone on your shared playlist as soon as you rediscovered the catchy tune.

you started to dance, and although your moves were somewhat slow, they still had a fervent energy to them. everything moved of its own accord. really; the only way to describe it was that there was an amazing sensation you felt every once in a while, when the music could guide you to become a different person entirely.

that was stupidly cheesy, you knew. but it was good to feel so free. it was possible for you.

"okay, then!" yunho yelled after your two 8-counts were over, hyping you up. "that's what i'm talking about! but i'll still kick your ass."

you laughed, glad that you could tease someone, but all in good fun. "we'll see about that."

it was his turn to show off, and he didn't even need to do anything fancy. whether the audience was ten, a hundred, or there wasn't one at all, he performed. the energy he had electrified the room, every kick and flick of the hand holding meaning.

no one's perfect. give it time. you'll get there, you reminded yourself. normally, you'd try to compare yourself to dancers like yunho, the ones who seemed like they had it all. their skills wouldn't stop you from becoming the best dancer you could be, enjoying yourself along the way. there were always going to be things you wished were better, but worrying ate away at your mental health.

in the background, the music continued, its beat making you sway with ease, and suddenly, all that mattered was this moment of two imperfect dancers sharing their craft.

#ficscafe #ateez x reader #ateez imagines #ateez fluff #ateez scenarios #ateez yunho #ateez #ateez x atiny #ateez reactions #ateez angst #jeong yunho #tranquilpetrichorfic

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justanotherpersonsuniverse · 2 months

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All right here we go!

Spoilers below for chapter 71 of PN

Oo nice, marinette POV is always fun in this

Ough little baby… not feeling mixed enough sounds difficult :(

Oh jeeze poor thing, wow yeah she kinda just lost it all in one go

Damn Fei almost succeeded in what hawkmoth has been trying to do for 1 year in like 12 hours

I’m going to be homeless, miraculous-less, I’m going to have to perform on the streets for money and wander through the streets lost and hungry until I eventually die in a trash can.! Always love marinette catastrophizing

Ok but if panthera was there then you two could panic about both losing things together!! It would be great fun.

Christ you really capture marinette’s constant state of high alert amazingly its honestly really funny

French. My god. French. Someone could speak French.

Marinette had found her.. her Shanghai savior. NO GIRL SHE STOLE FROM YOU BUT THIS IS FUNNY AS FUCK

IT GOT FUNNIER HELP CALLING HER A CASH COW????GIRL PLEASE I’M LOSING IT ON A SUNDAY MORNING

Ha idiot, yes Fei you have morals accept it. I know in the Shanghai special they basically had Marinette's epic aura of kindness remind Fei of her dad’s ideals, but i’m curious what’ll happen here

Fei forgor that to scam people you have to be certain type of person. Which she is not.

Nah you got me tricked for a second when you mentioned Rose saying something at the start of Juleka’s POV i was like “girl what we get a rose POV??” but alas

Make Juleka visit Scotland and then I can comment on inconsistencies and shit the internet lies about, it would give me great joy

Bird employee?? Mr Cheng is so cool

The gorilla uses sign language?? Why did i not know this. That’s cool af

Hey Marinette is says gullible on the ceiling look up. Girly really trusts the first person she could communicate with directly after being mugged

Marinette and her slight of hand tricks return again!

Fei being baffled by kindness repaying in its own way is so much fun

Nah not the way Juleka and Adrien are bonding with Mr Cheng before Marinette does it-

Bastille is fun, i enjoy this bird

Guard cat Juleka is so real

Everything. She looked at herself in the bike mirror. Her damaged face, her ruined hands that were meant for outreached protection and kind generosity– gnarled into the claws of a thieving demon. Fei closed her eyes, remembering the emptiness of what should’ve been around her wrist, and remembering the emptiness of where her father should’ve still been standing. This paragraph goes so hard, i love it.

Nah Fei pleeek talk to someone girly your so sad rn

Marinette is so little and darling

Juleka didn’t trust the darkness. Not to someone alone. Not to someone that wasn’t her. Emo ass motherfucker (but also valid AF)

No because why am i still so suspicious about Adrien finding out. Like girl please.

NO BECAUSE THE SUSPICION IS GETTING HIGHER GIRLY IS GOING TO SNEAK OTU

Mr Cheng panicking- oh dear, someone please give the guy a hug

Hey. how does Fei expect Marinette to pay her when she already stole all her money.

GIRL STOP TELLING EVERYONE HOW PRECIOUS THEY ARE TO YOU PLEEK

Wait no girl she needs the earrings. Girl please. Fei why.

HUH WHAT PLAGG CAN JUST LEAVE??

This is so awesome and silly style and i love it

Alright, chapter 72 now, I’m rolling this into one review cause I’ve got the flow

NEVER MIND THE NEW CHAPTER IS 30K I WILL SPLIT THESE

chapter 71 was banging, loved it cap! now the monster that is chapter 72 shall be slain

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

#panthera noire au #sneak a cat

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jackstheprinceofhearts · 1 year

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spoiler-free review on the stolen heir from an ex cardan greenbriar simp

here is photo evidence of me being cringe

alright so I have proven my ex-simp history now we can continue.

alright so first of all, let's talk about what I liked:

I thought the characters were funny, the art on the pages was gorgeous, the hardcover itself was amazing, and I really liked suren and oak as characters!

I also really liked the magic and all that and found it really interesting. I'll talk about the magic again later in the review some more)

I also thought it was just a fun book in general so I rated it 5/5 ⭐. now I do have to say it had no plot and normally I dislike that BUT if the characters are good then I can really enjoy the plotless vibes sometimes but some people just aren't the same like that. but overall I think holly did a pretty good job at making a fun book!

now, for the stuff i didn't like.... I have a few things to go over:

for me, I found the book pretty hard to follow, especially around the end... I was just so confused and maybe I'm just dumb??? but I found it to be really confusing at times.

also, I was pretty disappointed when we were told by holly that we would be getting jude and cardan "crumbs"??? like if you've read it you would know that there is barely anything, they were mentioned a few times and I get that it's oak and suren's story but I really did expect to at least like have them described or see them at some point even just one scene because she kind of made it seem like that.

like yes, there were some but when you hear that you expect there to be like scenes with them you know?? like by crumbs I thought she meant there would be like more of them in it than what we got. so I feel like a few people were just a little disappointed is all.

the next point I have is that all of the character development was at the end!!! like come on bro could we at least have had some foreshadowing or build-up or just SOMETHING to indicate what would happen?? I feel like we needed more build-up instead of just getting this ending for shock value and I was just so confused that I had to ask a few people what happened 💀 because it really just came out of nowhere and not like a "woah that plot twist was so good" like I guessed the twist but how the characters acted is what came out of nowhere but yeah I still liked the ending but it really made no sense.

also the middle of the book?? I remember very little from that because it just felt like the beginning had a lot, the end had a lot, but the middle and a lot of parts I just kind of really forgettable and I'm not saying the story is like bad because of that but I just found it hard to remember stuff but I did read it pretty fast so idk maybe if someone read it a bit slower than I did they may have remembered more but I usually remember a lot.

I also just wish some things were explained MORE. I don't mind when it's left for you to figure out sometimes but honestly, I just felt like we weren't getting AS MUCH as we could be getting, like if suren's abilities had been used a bit more or if we had seen more of what oak could do I think that could've made the story a lot more interesting. and I know yes, yes there's a second book, and oak is supposed to have this air of mystery around him and what not but with duologies, each book has to be able to stand on its own a bit more so I just wish we could've explored the magic just a little bit more

but yeah there is my spoiler-free review of the stolen heir and my thoughts on it LMAO I hope you guys enjoyed this very long review and also if you guys want me to give my thoughts on more books or start posting more about different books then please let me know. (ofc I will still be posting about ouabh & caraval, but I just wanted to make some posts on the stolen heir and share my thoughts since it is currently what everyone is talking about.) love u guys thank you for reading!!!

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aloeverawyvren · 1 year

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A Plague On Necromancy Review

( I was supposed to get it a few days from now, but it came early! This is surprising considering mail delivery services like to pretend I don't exist . Amazon Isn't letting me leave a review rn, I'll try again though) Tldr: I liked it alot and recommend you read it.

Spoilers? Maybe? I talk about Bucklers secrets, but not what exactly they are, just my vague thoughts on them. Also this is super long so buck-ler up we're going on a road trip ( See what I did there? Haha, why are you booing me off stage?)

Oh boy, where should I start?

The concepts of necromancy and plague doctors are interesting on there own to begin with, but the way this book joins them together is really cool.

The setting is London,in the 1700's. From what I can tell its pretty historically accurate, even if it wasn't I would still enjoy it, I'm chill with historic inaccuracies. I just think its neat when stories that take place in the past go that extra mile. The magic system was really neat, it was cool- sometimes literally haha- but not to overpowered, making it more ... Is 'believable' the right word? Like it never takes you out of the story is what I'm saying, it interacts seamlessly with the world in a way that isn't clunky, if that makes sense.

Barty ( who my auto correct keeps calling Barry lol ) is our protagonist, he's a little confused but he's got the spirit. Oh, poor Barty. The author is so mean to him :( /j . Not only did his bioparents die in a fire, his adopted brother also dies, his adopted parents basically shun him, the doctor he was working with gets the plague and dies. I could go on but spoilers ya know.

Tragedy aside, Barty is relatable at least for me, blushing /embarrass easily, wanting to help people but not knowing how, crying alot and choking on food. ( no seriously he chokes like two distinct times that I can remember. Its hilarious) he's human. He has faults, failures, and troubles along side his positive traits. Its how he deals with them though that's so great I think, I liked hearing his reasoning/train of thought. his dynamics with other characters are fun too. he's also new to the whole doctoring thing, (and magic) making him a good tool for exposition.

I think I'll talk about Buckler now, I had a feeling he was gonna be a favorite of mine and I was right. James Buckler is stern but not altogether unkind, he obviously cares and like Barty he's doing his best really. His dynamic with Barty and other characters was something I liked alot. (When he first met Barty he was a little grouchy for a bit, but Barty was being nosy so it was warranted lol)

I had only heard he had one big secret, I missed the memo that there was another one. I had guessed one of them off the bat, the other one however bitch slapped me as I was only expecting one secret. (I think he should've told Jessica sooner, like I know why but still)

I think its Fabian time, there's so much to unpack with Fabian. Complicated, smart, and very cool. My thoughts when he explained the plan where "ok, what's the catch though?" But there wasn't really a catch was there? he was set up to be the villain by others and ended up being not so much a villain but more of an anti-hero? (At least in this book, he does have the (REDACTED) now doesn't he? Who knows what could happen)

AND OH MY GOD, THE TRUE LOVES KISS THING CAUGHT ME SO OFF GUARD! I WAS LIKE ?!??! it just came out of left fucking field, like "wait, he do can that?" I questioned everything I thought I knew about his powers.

Oh my god , I wanna mention some side characters! I never see anyone mention them and its sad because they are cool too!

Jack the rat catcher is great, I enjoyed all her appearances and her dog (even if Barty didn't lol) .

Agnes, also gets a shout out from me for being a good person.

The zombie rats where oddly adorable too.

Fabian 's gang is extremely interesting aswell, I'm curious about them.

Three particular people are on my shitlist however for reasons. Plot reasons.

this post is getting very long isn't it? If you've read this far, here's a cookie 🍪.

I'm not entirely done though, let's talk about the book as a whole. Its pretty short, but the pacing is good it doesn't feel too rushed or too slow. I'm a fast reader though and finished it in like two-three hours, in one and a half sittings ( I got up to get coffee and my cat sat on the book until she got the required amount of attention and pets before she deemed I could continue, I call it the Cat Tax)

There was one punctuation error I found, a quotation mark was missing after Fabian was talking ( I forgot the specific page), it wasn't to big a deal though and other than it was all good. I also liked the writing style! I'm glad i 've finally read it, it gives the ask blogs lots of context.

I can easily see this as something I would get from a bookstore or library, I think it could get pretty popular if more word got around about it honestly.

(I actually don't have a tiktok, I learned about it through Tumblr)

I enjoyed reading it!

if your reading this and have not read the book, I recommend it! All encounters I've had with the author has been positive, there's also another book about Barty meeting a dragon.

You can find links to both books on Barty's ask blog, @drbarty. Fabian has one to: @lordfabian

(Was Fabian really the one who was assassinated or me? I almost died laughing at 'shite fish' , my favorite bit . I'm still giggling)

(Also I'm going to start using 'shite fish' out of context now, )

if I remember any other notes I'll put them here.

(Readers: How much trauma do your characters have?

The author: yES/j)

(the Author: *slaps roof of characters* this bad boy can fit so many horrible backstories/j)

(Are you even a creator if you don't torture your ocs tho? I dump my ocs in a blender and put them in the microwave on high for two hours and burn the house down then refrigerate for two days, so I'm not actually judging lmao)

#a plague on necromancy #dr barty #books and reading #This post isn't proof read #there's probably spelling mistakes #SHITE FISH FROM THE RIVER THAMES #plague doctor

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nani-nonny · 7 months

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Never thought i'd say this but... Let's review your one-shot joke. (Lord have mercy am about to BURST🤣🤣)

So i see the one-shot and immediately pause to make myself coffee because GOD THIS'S GONNA BE GOOD! I read the comic where F!leo kick tye door into an office and i can't help but imagine a human being writing on a laptop so leo just go there and smack their face XD

Then he start thinking about how scary and dangerous you are and am PAUSING every now and then to compose myself and NOT spit my drink, i kid you not i remembered that Gloom old intro where it says " Billon of years of terrifying villains... And then we have Nonny "🤣

Doing the cliche move of " turning your office chair back to LCD " and am here thinking you would turn, leg on top another and say " Well well well, i've been expecting you... LCD " while petting a cat XD

But damn you're scarier then BM? EVEN KRAANG? That's actually canon, i am a witness AND victim to your angsts. I read DMD/hj

The fact you stood up and again; cliche move of putting hands behind your back like a businessman xD before turning and walking in front of him, i had a funny imagination like in the mulan movie where you get small until you become like this

Until we get to the excitement! The fun part!! Where you Air his dirty laundry in the office and when he talked about how he had to climb up office i was like " wait, how many floors are we talking about?! "

Then wen he stood to fight back i completely spat my coffee when he grabbed the " blue ball " 🤣🤣🤣 YOU REALLY ADDED THAT!!

And in the end he won!! To be honest the way you " died " was so cool! I don't know i he's gonna get an inner peace but i hope so.

I imagined LCD if he were to talk in campfire in am blue, imagine him mentioning you in any way XD

Hehe I’m only spooky because I’m using his image hahah! A piece of his own medicine, I can’t bear him in a fight so psychological it is!

The meme! Tiny little shadow putting up fisticuffs hahah!

Again, the many floors of the office building, I know I wouldn’t be able to take him in a fight. Tire him out before he can get the chance to kill me in one swooping movement lol. I’m playing dirty heheh

I had to include the blue ball! He gave me a heavy migraine with it but hey, I deserve that lol /j

lol campfire story with the peepaws “I fought a shadow version of myself and they pulled an uno reverse card on me”

#Achilles’s revenge: oneshot #leonardo come down #nani nonny answers #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt future leo

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tokiro07 · 9 months

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Martial Master Asumi ch. 9 thoughts

[A Rival Appears?]

Aww, the red-headed girl from the opening color page isn't Kunisaki's kid after all...still, I'm so sure that the American girl from Okiba's flashback is Okome, but we'll be waiting a bit longer to find out I suppose

Now, I could spend this review talking about Himekawa's role going forward, whether or not she's going to be a major rival for Okiba, if that rivalry is going to be exclusively in the sport or in love, or if she's going to join forces with the main cast to form a team, but I'm not going to do that (I don't even know if MMA has teams)

Instead, I'm going to talk about a subtle difference between Martial Master Asumi and Hinomaru Zumou: Hinomaru was about high school sumo, but it looks like Asumi is about professional MMA. Where it took two-thirds of the series for Hinomaru to go pro, we seem to be getting there ASAP in this series

Perhaps there's some key difference between how MMA is treated in Japan compared to sumo that wouldn't facilitate it being presented the same way, but I think it also helps that Kawada has already written a high school combat sport manga, so he probably doesn't want to just write the same story again

In fact, there was a small detail in this chapter that tells me Kawada is trying to get as much distance from Hinomaru thematically as he can: Asumi is tall

I had actually been thinking about Asumi's height and how he seemed to be just as diminutive as Hinomaru, and that it was strange that no one had mentioned it up to this point. The realization that Asumi has been hunched over or slouching for the last eight chapters came as kind of a shock; with a quick glance over the first couple chapters, there really isn't a good shot of Asumi standing tall next to anyone. Any time he's shown next to someone, his knees are bent, and anytime he's shown standing up straight, he isn't directly next to anyone for a clear comparison. I'm not entirely convinced that Kawada was deliberately hiding Asumi's height so cleverly, as full-body shots of Asumi still give the impression that he has smaller proportions than this reveal would suggest, but if nothing else, it matches Asumi's personality really well

He's quite skilled and well-built, but up to now, he'd wanted to draw as little attention as possible and didn't want to use the strength he'd accrued at all. Carrying himself in a way that implies that he's small and unassuming would naturally keep others from knowing what he's capable of, and thus would mean that no one would hold any such expectations of him. As he likely thought, it was the moment that he accidentally performed a perfect recovery after bumping into Okiba that his life started to pull him into the world of MMA that he'd been avoiding his whole life. We'll have to see how this theme develops going forward, but I think the idea of hiding one's true self is going to be a major facet of this story

Actually...Okiba is hiding the truth of her injury, Himekawa was hiding her striking abilities through the tournament, Kazuro clearly has a hidden agenda...huh, I think the dichotomy of deception and truth, secrets and honesty, is probably going to come up a lot in this series, or at least I hope it is, cus there's a lot of potential with that theme

This isn't where I planned for this review to go, but it's a fun train of thought, and more importantly I simply don't remember what I was originally going to say, so...that's that, I suppose

#martial master asumi #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

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tailsrevane · 1 year

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[book review] forgotten realms: the legacy by r.a. salvatore (1992)

drizzt: *literally notices that something is off about “regis”* entreri (disguised as regis): hey drizzt remember ENTRERI, your arch nemesis ENTRERI, that really handsome & deadly & skilled & did i mention handsome ENTRERI? what do you think ENTRERI is up to drizzt: entreri: by the nine, you are taking the fun out of this. I AM LITERALLY ENTRERI. drizzt: you’re acting a little weird today, regis.

you know, i’m suddenly realizing that i don’t think the books i’ve read in this series so far have never actually gone out of their way to say that drizzt was smart? i just kind of always assumed he was supposed to be? is he a himbo twink? i’m starting to think he might be a himbo twink.

i continue to feel basically “whatever” about the drizzt/wulfgar/cattie-brie stuff. i did appreciate cattie-brie standing up for herself, and it wasn’t the most “cishet guy writing a female character standing up for herself” rote shit ever, but it also wasn’t… entirely not that? despite it seeming pretty obvious that some effort was being made? idk, just, mixed feelings here.

wulfgar’s “death” hit decently hard even though he super isn’t one of my favorite characters and i know it isn’t gonna last. the fakeout deaths are getting to be a bit much (a bit ominous considering how early this is in the series tbh), but they’re written evocatively enough that they’re still hitting. for now.

this book… sorta? kinda? slightly? actually takes a few tentative steps forward on the whole awkward racism thing that salvatore himself has publicly “my bad”ed about recentlyish? though, it’s not without its own shortcomings. idk. let’s talk about it.

okay actually, looping back to the cattie-brie stuff, it’s kinda weird that after all the hand-wringing about baby’s first human murder a few books ago (explicitly contrasted with the fact that she’s apparently unfeelingly slaughtered orcs & goblins with no issue), she’s the one who points out that maybe they should have a quick chat with the goblins before using them for target practice? and that that discrepancy isn’t… really… remarked upon? at all? idk, just feels worth mentioning.

also bringing back the sexism angle, drizzt (and the narrator, from what i can tell) seems to think that cattie-brie actually doesn’t give a shit about the poor little gobbies doing their gobby chores (they’re doing a good job!!!!!! be nice to them!!!!!!) and is just sublimating her anger at wulfgar into the whole “hey let’s maybe not do a mass murder without at least offering some non-murder menu options” argument. which, in fairness, cattie-brie does stick to her guns even after the battle that parlaying first was the right thing to do and she would argue for it again. but idk. there’s just so many holes in this thing. like, i’m not expecting it to be perfect or anything, and it did genuinely represent a slight step forward? maybe? but it’s still not great imo.

now, one actual improvement is drizzt actually coming to grips with the fact that his vow never to kill another drow while he kills orcs & goblins & others with impunity is actually pretty fucking racist. that was a genuinely pleasant surprise. i’m going to continue to be pretty guarded about this subject in these books considering, y’know, everything. but it’s nice to see even a little improvement.

but yeah, i think that does it for the stuff i need to take somewhat seriously. so here’s where i talk about why this one mostly ruled.

the fights between drizzt & entreri were obviously kind of headliners for me, and a very big part of why i liked this book so much. also i kind of totally expected entreri’s initial fakeout death to last until the next book he appears in, so having him pop immediately back in like a fucking slasher villain with his freaking bat-winged cloak??? that was so extra, i genuinely love it. no notes. you’re doing great sweetie.

drizzt spent a good amount of the middle of the book tied up and being taunted by other drow and/or entreri, which, y’know, yeah, tie that fucking twink up & show him who’s boss. i am not projecting. i am not.

(... i may be slightly projecting.)

yeah, ok, yeah. u caught me. mostly i’m just glad to have all the horny drow shit back for the first time since the dark elf trilogy. (which i get was actually the most recent series when this was written & originally released, but i read the dark elf trilogy first because it was the only one i was sure i was gonna read at first, shrug!) we start strong with vierna forcing dinin to kneel with a command spell (what no a powerful woman with a whip saying “KNEEL.” and being compelled to obey doesn’t sound good to me at all, why would *sweats*), and when he turns out to be too mouthy she turns him into a fucking drider and rides him around like some kind of fucked-up horse? which like, no the thing itself isn’t especially appealing, but as far as power moves go, nine hells.

ahem.

honestly the only way these books could pander to me more is if they had more orcs (and if those orcs were characters rather than faceless hordes), but i’m still really grooving on them atm. and my understanding is the next book has even more kinky drow bullshit in it, so can’t wait for that!

b-rank

#d&d #dungeons & dragons #forgotten realms #legend of drizzt #book review #books #reviews

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meiozis · 8 months

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hi peach!! <3

a fic i haven't read from you yet but i want to - i still need to read your hyuck fic!! the one in the diner i think? i remember i saw lily reblog it and i skimmed over the beginning a little and From what i read its actually chef's kiss AS EXPECTED but i still need to read it in full :( once i can find the time i will def sit down and give it the english lit read & review it deserves!!!

something i remember vividly from reading one of your fics - this spans across a lot of your fics but i looove your depiction of night! its always so immersive and quaint and nostalgic and Sad . AND YOU KNOW I LOVE MY SAD MEDIA!!!! which also leads me into my next point but

what i like most about your writing - your prose!!!!!!! another fic author that i'm constantly taking notes on . i mentioned this in my review of parallels & almosts but your imagery and your symbolism is sooooo ,,, it scratches that itch in my brain like your fics are so rich in meaning like WHAT are you doing writing fanfic on tumblr dot com please get published!!!! the type of writing that needs to be annotated . i feel like i'm too smoothbrained to do it Truly and give it justice but just know . just know ..... if you ever write a directors cut for your fics i will be one of the first to read it!

if i've ever shared/talked about your fic to someone else - Of course i have ..... number one advocator for fics and authors that need to be put on the hall of fame!

im really so..... cat firstly i need you to know that this has me tearing up like i will full on start bawling if i read this just once more (to be fair ive read it. a lot of times already just trying to take it in)

i already go back to your review of parallels & almosts every time i feel stuck with writing bc its probably my fav fic i have written and to have you take all that time and effort to read through it and analyze it in such detail it really meant so so so much to me, like you literally made me excited to write again and write more <333

nights are Everything to me and i love writing it so much, sometimes i really feel like a one trick pony but really its just what comes naturally and i write for fun so it will keep happening! but also WHAT do you mean too smoothbrained!!!!!! the way you keep an eye out for and keep track of the little details and take the time to really dig yourself into the story, i put my silly little words out there just for people to read and hopefully enjoy and to get a full blown review is something that i hold so so so dear to me!!!!! and the fact that you think silly old me should be getting published im going to curl up into a ball and cry you are literally so wonderful </333333333 if i develop a god complex im gonna blame it on you 🥺 you are literally doing god's work on tumbler dot com and i love u and i hope you are having a fantastic day cat!!!!!!

#had to add a read more because i couldnt contain myself #cat i need you to know that you are so wonderful #actually i need everyone to know that you are so wonderful #and there might be another sad fic entering the chat soon too bc. well. i love nights and they keep happening #im really so. nobody look at me bc i AM crying #mutuals #cat #save

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toastess-with-the-mostess · 9 months

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Let's Rewind! Toast watches Voltron: Defender of The Universe (1984)

Season 1, Episode 5: The Princess Joins Up

Just from the episode title alone, I know my boy Sven is about to be tossed out like TRASH

I wonder what Zarkon wants with Allura, Lotor hasn't been introduced yet so maybe just a political prisoner or something

All the guards and prisoners are like ??? because haggar swears she'll upgrade the winner of this next gladiator fight so they can go against voltron if they didn't push the "all the soldiers were robots not people" narrative so much I'd agree but one of them asked how she could improve robots,, many ways sir and it's worse because she uses magic

Again some of these robeast and alien designs are so cool, very creative and reminds me biology is a suggestion when it comes to making a new species

A look into haggar lab, interesting actually it's just being used as a torture chamber where she infuses magic into them while they're still awake to feel the pain, horrifying

On Arus again, now it's the team calling out to the remaining Arusians into the tunnel to give them safety in the castle AND LANCE ALMOST FALLS OFF A CLIFF, GREAT START It's ok Keith grabs him before he dies

Pidge and Hunk are also trying to convince some people to come by, too bad their main selling point is wanting their cooking because it doesn't work with them either

I couldn't find a gif of the team sitting on this brick wall which I thought was super cute, and I don't want to screenshot that rn, so now it's up to imagination but fr trust me the team are all cuties

"I hate to give [Allura] the bad news :(" to "Sorry! No one wants to help!" PIDGE A LITTLE MORE TACT PLEASE LMAO

Something interesting, Hunk points out that they can't use Voltron to outright attack Zarkon and Allura agrees because he's a defender Knowing that they defeat everyone at the end after outright attacking castle doom, it seems kind of ironic BUT ALSO in Voltron Force (2011) we get an episode that revisits this legit subject and answers why or why not that would change That'll be a fun episode to review when I get to it

Again why would he want Princess Allura so bad, political prisoner is my best idea here This is probably where the Keith/Allura shipping started because after Coran mentions that Keith is super quick to threaten violence against the guy if he tries to touch her I mean ignoring the fact that it's one of the more obvious pairings lol

An attack! And they destroyed that satellite dish thing that Sven and Allura just finished building, rip

They routinely call the lions "space lions" which I guess makes sense but if Earth or at least the GG have been in contact with aliens for god knows how long it feels like it's kind of redundant to specifically say they're from space

Again with the GoLion references, I don't remember it being this abundant it's just them saying the name GoLion btw, nothing subtle LMAO

This week's robeast is called the Dieklops! They named this one pretty well, so there's some hope for the future, This one is heavier than the last one at only 4100 short tons!

I like to think that the team fights in the lions first before forming Voltron because they're trying to see what it can do, and it's a lot easier to annoy a robeast into showing its cards when there's more of you

Activate interlocks, dynotherms connected, infracells up, mega thrusters are go! They finally did the chant this time! Maybe it's because I religiously rewatch Voltron Force (2011) but I expected them to say "Let's go voltron force!" but instead they just shouted Voltron that's ok too I guess

I didn't comment on the transformation sequence last time, but it's pretty cool because it reminds me of some frankenstein's monster type stuff especially because there are a lot of electricity crackles and zaps seen and heard when voltron forms

AND IM FREEEE FREEE FALLIN

Ok but actually though that's a really interesting landscape near the castle, pretty secure in case of ground attacks but what about when natural disasters hit? It probably isn't that safe

I know the show just pulls phrases out of its ass to sound futuristic but "nucleonic circut" is wild

Alfor CREATED voltron?? Again I'm twisting it to my own version because I can't trust them telling a linear story here, but my thinking is that after Voltron was officially split into five, Alfor later discovered them and had them slowly rebuilt as mechs which is why they form like this now

Man these guys suck at dodging

oh shit now the castle is getting taken apart I know what happens next but it's still wild

HELLO?? CORAN WHY WOULD YOU TELL HER TO SURRENDER WHEN YOU SAID THAT ZARKON NEVER BACKS DOWN

I think it's a nice touch that Voltron has expressions whenever he fights, kind of hints at his magical nature even though in this show they're just treated as machines and nothing more

Alfor ex machina returns and confirmation that Zarkon is the one who killed Alfor

Goodbye decrepit old castle of Arus, hellooo new futuristic version!

OH SHIT WATCH OUT ALLURA STAYS STRAPPED ok maybe I was wrong about this episode being the one where Sven gets nerfed

Robeast is defeated but as Allura monologues they show a slide show of all the lions with their pilots on top, except the first one we see is blue and Allura on top lol that must've been weird for kids who saw it air

Episode end! Another short one it feels like, or is it because it was such a simple premise This is the last one for tonight, and hopefully I'll be able to do one tomorrow, but it's my busiest day of the week :/

#voltron #voltron defender of the universe #voltron dotu #80s voltron #let's rewind!#toast talks #unfortunately real life takes priority #reviewing old cartoons isn't my job 😭#that'd be cool though

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slowdripsunrise · 10 months

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BOOK REVIEW AGAINNNNNNN yippee i have actually been reading... not a lot but well i am ! kinda forgot about this blog ok thats not true i was just lazy and didnt want to write a post. well anyways heres a big post for all the stories i read there are 4 - things have gotten worse since we last spoke by eric larocca, paradise rot by jenny hval, soft science by franny choi, and the country will bring us no peace by matthieu simard ! spoilers under the cut

ok first i read things have gotten worse since we last spoke because i wanted to go on a little kick of reading weird crazy people books at 3 am. and i did! chose this one because i saw it was very short so. anyways i thought this was.... okay. i think what made it a little worse off for me is that i already knew about the whole parasite thing from tiktok, so it wasnt that crazy to me when it actually happened. gonna be honest i do Not remember how the book ends at all so i dont even know if it was satisfying or not. was my experience worsened by it being 3am and me not having any thoughts at all? probably. would i do it again? yeah. i was a lil bit disappointed in the apple peeler part too... i thought it was going to be more relevant than it was unless there are some hidden symbolism meanings motifs going on that i didnt get... actually now that im thinking about it big long unbroken peels of apple + a big long probably worm-like parasite? next to each other thats kinda cool. other than that thought i literally just had now typing this out i didnt see anything else. omg speaking of seeing the tagline and also its mentioned in the book, "what did you do today to deserve your eyes?" crazy ass fuck sentence. i kinda love it actually and this is maybe where i would have like to see the apple peeler come in. she takes the apple peeler to her face and peels her eyes out of her head idk. also i feel like either on tiktok/goodreads they were supposed to be ballerinas? but that wasnt mentioned at ALL? i might be misremembering but that also could have been a cool little anecdote. anyways all this to say i thought the book was alright. i was entertained for like 2 hours. my favorite part of this experience was going on goodreads after and seeing a one star review of the book that just said "men stop writing trauma porn about lesbians." which is SO FUCKING FUNNY. because 1 im pretty sure the author is nonbinary, so hes not a man. 2. WHO IS GETTING OFF TO THIS. sorry i do absolutely not see any fetishization here, and also i think they write stories like this in like collections,, so there are probably people other than lesbians in them. idk i just thought that was funny. jesus christ this is getting long and i'm only 1/4 done. i pity anyone who opens this.

next i read paradise rot by jenny hval, which i had heard was dubbed the "bisexual piss book" intriguing and also a short little story i read at 3am. i did like this one, i thought it was fun and interesting and im a big fan of rot. just in general. vibes were on point. this book was moist. however, not as much piss as i expected. as in like quantities on page. they did talk about piss a lot and by they i mean the narrator. not as horror-esque as i thought it would be but i did like it! ohhh to simply rot away...... would not recommend this to normal people and i like that about it.

soft science by franny choi !!!! really liked this! im going to be honest i do not remember more than one poem from this collection. but i do remember liking them !!! sorry i think i need to train my brain to like and remember poetry more. and not just like the ones from tumblr webweaves even though all of them slay.

finally i read the country will bring us no peace by matthieu simard. i liked this, thought it was super interesting,,, ok i didnt think it was super interesting i thought it was good. god i am trying to program myself out of academic reviews of stupid dumbass books i was forced to read. this isn't like that at all. anyways i thought the whole grief aspect was done very well, the sadness at knowing literally nothing will work or come together to make your life go back to the way it was, go back to being whole again. and that deep deep sadness of not only losing their daughter but also the life they had before, the life they had with each other,,, losing all hope. it definitely got to me i did almost cry i think. i think i have more to say about this but i don't remember it. oh well. i thought the vibes of a hostile small mountain town were cool ! i think one of my favorite scenes was when the lavoie's kid falls from the antenna and they are just standing there doing nothing and simon has to go save him... idk the fact that they were shown as perfect parents for their perfect children and how not great they actually were <- this thought is dumb and obvious you get what im saying. one of my main issues is that the ending did feel rushed... and i was a bit confused,,,, the last line "a bird starts to sing" i couldn't tell if that was meant to be marie and simon hearing birds in the afterlife, in the woods by the bowling alley? or was that just the birds in the town finally starting to sing? because if its the latter i don't really get how simon and marie dying would bring the birds back.. the town is still dying and tragedies will still happen... idk its probably the birds in the afterlife but oh well. ok final thought i think but i think the title in french is interesting. it's called "ici, ailleurs" which means "here, elsewhere" or more like "here, something better. here, a new beginning." i like that, obviously it's what the book is about, and idk i think the translator did a good job at conveying the message. i think i would read this book again but in french, mostly to practice because my french is shit but i think since it only really stays in one setting, there's not a lot of characters, concepts are pretty easy to understand, i think it would be fun !!!! ok im done those are my reviews of all the books ive read in the past week or so thanks to anyone who reads this whole thing you are crazy. peace and love

#thoughts.txt #book review #things have gotten worse since we last spoke #paradise rot #soft science #the country will bring us no peace

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twinhood-2dot0 · 1 year

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Book Review: The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy + Sable

You probably are desperate to know what I think about it, and I need to keep this short and succint, so here goes.

The book is awesome. I loved Arthur's character, and the intro was hilarious. The part where that guy is so perplexed that he just lies down in front of the bulldozer without a struggle. I also loved the subversion of expectations when it was revealed that mice were the most intelligent creatures on Earth and they were experimenting of humans all along. I remember wondering what it could be when it was first mentioned, dolphins? Octopi? Sperm whales? (although, there was an extremely gory sperm whale death that I did not appreciate at all. Yeah, I revel in human death and cringe at animal death. Sociopath? Probably). The Improbability Drive is also an interesting concept. :P I'm sorry, if there's one thing I'm absolutely garbage at it's reviewing stuff.

The whole story is just a rollercoaster ride. The weirdest stuff happens and absolutely nothing goes the way you'd expect it to. The humour is on point, I love the worldbuilding and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Sable

Okay, you may be wondering what Sable is. Sable is an open-world exploration game that I decided to play over the vacation, partly because it's somehow only 2 GB??? and would fit on my thumb drive so my dad wouldn't get mad at me for installing games on his laptop.

Anyways, you may have seen the screenshots from Sable on my moodboard for potential artstyles.

Really pretty screenshot I got. Sable is standing on top of the uh chimney??? of a Hercules Beetle (giant, I mean like baby elephant sized) nest looking out onto the ruins of a castle. You can see why I liked this artstyle. Minimalistic, very few colours, simple textures.

Cute creature UwU. They're the queen of the species.

Ain't that relatable.

Aaaannnnyyyywaaaayyyss, damn guess this is why you use launchers, I have no way to track playtime :P, damn you Windows. So, I got the game ages ago, I think around Christmas, but didn't play because I was still travelling, and forgot about it by the time I got home because Epic Games keeps throwing out free games every week. Seriously, I think I have a library of 200 games and played at most 10 of them. So, I booted up the game again after accidentally purging it from my laptop last time.

Sidenote: The game is full of enby characters! Well, at least, people who use they/them pronouns.

You play as Sable, an Ibexii kid who's leaving for her "Gliding". You have to fetch the parts for your hoverbike, and until then you have to ride a broken down garbage bike, and then you go to a temple and receive a mask, and gliding powers, and when you return, you reach the part that made me fall in love with the game. A cutscene plays out where Sable walks out into the exit of the canyon. Control is handed back to the player and a prompt appears on the screen to press "F" to "Call Out". You press F, and the hoverbike glides in from the distance. That felt so awesome, like, it could compete with the "Even The Odds" scene in Arkham Knight.

That's just the beginning though. As you drift off to the outside world, the camera pans out, showing the canyon, with the title card, and an absolutely awesome track starts playing

as you glide on to your next destination over the vast desert. This scene is very powerful in conveying the feeling of leaving home to discover the world and yourself. This is one aspect of video games I wish more games would capitalise on. The interactivity. Since the player is controlling the character, there's a degree of, how do you say this, one-ness. I feel like the best video games are those that allow the player to feel like they're actually in the game world and not just controlling some rando character in a pre-written story.

I've only played a little so far, but the exploration is so fun. I decided I wanted to do a quest, got lost, somehow, maybe I don't know my cardinal directions, and ended up finding pieces of a crashed ship with an AI named Sarin with voice logs. They mention Earth(-hours), so that might be relevant sometime. I discovered that the planet is called Midden, and it's covered with sand, and the only water I saw was in an indoor pool. There are also these curious fish species which swim in the sand and nibble on plant roots. Wish I took pictures, the wiki is scarce.

#sable game #the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy #bookworm #indiegamedev #video game music #Spotify

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cartoonfanorwhatever · 2 years

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Okay, I watched 'Only Yesterday' a couple of days ago. And it was indeed quite the movie. I don't even really know how to talk about it from an emotional standpoint. So i'll start more technical.

The animation was top notch as is to be expected. It was never confusing if you where in present day or in flashback due to how the colours change in the past. Making them more 'dull' and fading at the edges of the frame to indicate the fragility of memories. But even when memory, fantasy and present day start melting together it was never in question what was what. And man, those moments of pure fantasy where utterly beatiful.

The music was also great, it doesn't stand out as much as it does in other ghibli flics, like in Totoro or in Howl, where the melodies remain stuck in my mind for days after. I can't quite recall a single track but the mood was always perfectly set and not a single note was out of place.

But let's not forget to mention that the movie also made perfect use of silence. Moments without music or talking to help perfectly set the tone for a scene or create tension. These moments stayed with me just as much if not sometimes more than some of the other scenes.

The characters where once again so, so, human. Such beatifully ordinary people. You could walk across these characters in a busy street without giving them a second glance. And I'm so grateful i got the privilage to be focused in on their lives for a bit.

The scene where the family just sits together to cut and eat a full pineapple for the first time will stick with me maybe forever. But not just because it was written so perfectly (realistic). Back when i was a kid there was this old series of animated series. Maybe ya'll know it. "Once upon a time..."

And i watchad and rewatch a good handfull of those in my time. But my favourite was "Once upon a time... man." Which told the history of mankind from caveman days all up to and beyond modern day. One of the later episodes takes place early 20th century, don't remember exactly when. But the family it was following that episode saw and bought the newly imported bananas for the first time.

And that was something so profound to little 8 y/o me. The idea of something that I'm so used to enjoying arriving here for the first time. Globalisation at work before it was all encompassing yet. Nowaday i can hardly imagine not being able to get something created in another, distand part of the world. But watching that, and now also these pineapple scenes, I can experience what it was like for the world to get smaller and the options for the 'normal' people to get 'bigger' all at the same time.

That was kind of a side tangent but it was something I deeply experienced while watching this. A kind of themathic sequel for something I experienced in childhood.

Back to Only Yesterday.

I did not expect this story to be a love story as much as it ended up being. It was a pleasant surprise though, because the chemistry between the 2 leads was quite pleasant. And them getting closer trough sharing their own experiences growing up, while going on the car rides was interesting both writing- and cinematografy-wise.

Also I would absolutely delight watching the people who got their panties in a twist over 'Turning Red' react to this film. They'd go absolutely feral. (If you know, you know...)

I highly recommend watching this film. Especially when you feel you're on a turning point in your own life. It'll leave you inspired if not at least deeply moved.

A perfectly made slice of life in the truest sense of the phrase.

Next I'll be watching 'Porco Rosso' (which i'm actually already halfway trough as I'm finishing writing this) which promises to be great fun.

The previous and first post in this "review series" can be found: here

#lj watches #studio ghibli #only yesterday #ghibli review

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floppyhatwitch · 4 months

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This is Part 2 of my 2023 new year's resolution recap. If you want to see part 1, click here.

And we're back! If you've read the first part, you're all caught up with the gist of everything, so I'll spare the extensive intro.

Long post coming up again, art under the cut :)

This is one of my favourites

I saw some tips on how to make a sketchbook more fun that included working with the fact the drawings are within a book and so I decided to make a portal between two characters.

How whimsical!

I reused the cutout bits to decorate the glossy front cover of the sketchbook too, which resulted in me having to glue it back on more times than I'd like to admit.

The return of my son <3

I think the key features to really nail down when drawing bonnie are the upper jaw and the eye socket. Obviously not the be all and end all, but they really add to his signature style. I mention this only because my bootleg bonnie plush is widely different for both those features, which I find funnier than it has any right to be.

This one was a joke about drink driving and getting pulled over, but it was probably the best anatomy lesson I had all year. I somehow managed to portray the likeness of my friend half decently while working with dramatic lighting. I mean, it's no like, groundbreaking work or anything, but it's one that I take great pride in.

I LOVE HATSUNE MIKU AND JERMA!!!!! RAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

If I could do this one again (which I inevitably will because look at them) I would definitely make Jerma more like the creature he is and exaggerate his distinct features a little more.

Anyway the reason I put this up is because I accidentally titled it "Jerma and Hatsune Mike" because of autocorrect, which led to the creation of

HATSUNE MIKE!!!!

Miku's older and less famous sister. Although from what I've been told, her slices are the best in Queens, hands down.

Quick Australian politics tangent. We recently had a referendum that proposed adding an advisory group for First Nations peoples into the constitution. It was like the tiniest step forward towards actually repairing the generational trauma and long-term effects of colonialist genocide by simply asking Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people how they could be best assisted.

Despite being one of the easiest choices I've ever seen in my life, the referendum DIDN'T PASS. I was genuinely pissed when I found out so I tore up the bullshit misinformation flyers handed out by the opposition volunteers and made it into this. It's probably the most "teenager with too much angst and no actual action" thing ever, but it was how I felt at the time.

After that whole debacle I went through a phase where I used a lot of imagery of revolutions to try and process the feelings I was experiencing on the matter.

I thought the foreshortening and perspective on this one kinda popped off. The decision to place the viewer at the level of the executed was intentional. It's one of the only angles anyone would have seen a guillotine this close up in practice.

On Day 300 I saw the FNAF movie and wow was it different than what I expected. I drew my son looking on in horror as his character was assassinated in front of his eyes. Looking back, it might have been a little dramatic, but I'm just like that at the end of the day.

BONUS: If you wanna see my full review of the FNAF movie, you can read it here

I really wanted to get some expressive posing and particle effects going so I took inspiration from that "THINK FAST CHUCKLENUTS" meme and tried to imagine what it would look like if it was an overedited comic strip.

I lobe scou tf2 :))))

This was the day before my Media exam and holy hell was I nervous. If I'm remembering correctly, I was actually so anxiety-ridden that I was nauseous, which doesn't happen often. I channeled my borderline religious regard of the exams power into creating a monument to its supreme importance. That's me praying underneath it.

As you can tell, I was hoping so hard that I would do well on it, which makes the next one just even more satisfying.

I DID WELL ON IT!!!!!

I legitimately felt like omni man afterwards, so I did a study of that scene where he crushes red rush's head. It's a bit rough around the edges but that final panel still gets me. I should watch the new season.

Spidergwen Spidergwen Spidergwen Spidergwen Spidergwen

I'll know I'm a good artist the day that I make a couple pages as good as Miles does in atsv. Like that dude is talented as hell WHY CAN'T I DO THAT.

Speaking of the dude. Spider-Man, Spider-Man and his pal Spider-Man. Technically spectacular spider-man, but I kinda messed up the head shape a bit so it's not as obvious. Whoopsieeeee

I will always consider myself superior to fish because if I saw a mysterious hook in my environment I would simply disregard it. I will however, walk blindly into a situation that will inevitably lead to my downfall under the pretense that it will be beneficial for my future. No I don't see the irony in that, it's different I swear.

FUN ANGEL FACT! While it is technically correct to refer to these as "biblically accurate angels", they aren't the only forms of them. These are specifically referred to as Ophanim, and they're like wheels? I don't know, my knowledge kind of falls off after that point, the way they're described reminds me of those eldritch horrors that make people insane from their incomprehensibility.

Anyway I adore theological imagery but steer far away from the actual implications of any of it. To quote one of my favourite tumblr posts of all time, "narratively christianity is pretty cool i think it should have been a jrpg instead of a religion though" - Roisheep

This one came straight out of the brain tubes after I accidentally created an endless loop in my twine project and I got scared shitless that it was gonna brick my computer or something. In reality, it was the equivalent damage of refreshing a page a whole bunch of times, but I'm always jumpy when it comes to techy stuff.

One little detail I really like about this one is that the green light from the screen is actually reflected on the face and eyeballs! How fun!

This is how I'm gonna die, if it has to happen. To dissipate into a swarm of butterflies and have your cloak float down to the ground is to have lived a fulfilling life. They gotta have some pink ones though, I like those ones.

I saw a tiktokker who shades with a whole bunch of dots like some crazy kind of pointillism (if you know who I'm talking about PLEASE tell me, I can't find them) so I wanted to give it a crack.

It's nowhere near the same thing that they do, but I think it really sells the macabre and grotty nature of the cow skull and doesn't look half bad in the process. One day I'll do the cool stuff though.

WIZARD! TESTICULAR! TORSION!!!!!!!!!!

Still gotta learn how to render cloth folds.

This was me dramatically kicking the door down when I realised I had a new idea for a video game to make. This is definitely a more accurate depiction of how inspiration feels for me than anything else.

Madvillainy!

I knew from the moment I started studying metallic objects under light that I had to take a crack at the illest villain. Even just from recreating the album cover, I feel so much more knowledgeable in shading metal. You gotta get those hard transitions between highlights and shadows to sell the shine.

Almost there! This was a tribute to all the PHENOMENAL art I find on here. Like HOLY HELL everybody is so talented. Sometimes it can be demotivating, but then I remember that I could be phenomenal if I keep up with the practice. And that is the BEST feeling.

Seriously though, if you're an artist on tumblr and you're reading this, without exception you are unbelievably amazing at what you do. I haven't seen a single piece that didn't absolutely rock.

And that brings us to the last one!

I did a little caricature of all the different forms of art and expression I did throughout the year.

Clockwise from the green we have witch, punk, cyber, trans, goth, everyday, Rodney (character in my short film) and media versions of who I am. Isn't that cute?

Decided to go back and do a rundown of all my pieces and make a little recap within a recap.

But that's the lot! 2023 was a super fun year and I attribute a majority of that to this project. If you're reading this and you have something you want to do, this is your sign to just do it! Forget about new years resolutions, start today. Right now. Doesn't matter what it is, if you start now and do it every day, you'll get it done. 5 minutes, an hour, 30 seconds, whatever. This is the best choice I've ever made and that's why I'm doing it again!

A lot of the stuff I make is private or classified, but I'm gonna post all the publicly presentable stuff here, cause why not!

Anyway, that's all. Take care, stay hydrated, eat your greens, love you xx

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cosettepontmercys · 4 months

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Happy new year!!! Sorry that's a little late and that I'm just replying now. I actually just now listened to New Year's Day finally..I feel like a bad swiftie haha but I didn't listen to new years yet or what are you doing New Year's Eve either. Anyway I hope you had a nice time ringing in the new year! Honestly I just had a few drinks and my sister went to bed pretty early. I stay up.late all the time so it's not a big deal to me. What about you? I was gonna ask you about your plans before but I didn't get a chance. I hope you're feeling better if you are still sick! Did you think of any resolutions yet? I haven't yet.

Oh I'm glad you got stuff you enjoy. The scarf sounds nice and I'm also a pink girl but don't really like raccoons lol. Christmas was fine..I got a blanket and the 1989TV tangerine vinyl which I think will be more for my sister since she likes orange and i already had the pink one. Also the calendars I mentioned before. We ate a lot of desserts too.

Oh what did she think of the movie? I'm not sure what to expect and don't think I will have time to see it now. Overall it looked pretty good and I do like the original movies which have songs so hopefully she still enjoyed it. It's the same with my family too, but I think they thought In The Heights was okay. I won't be able to see the Color Purple either, and I haven't really heard anything about it yet or if it got good reviews. Hopefully I can also watch eras again when it goes on streaming.

I'm curious to see the differences for the Color Purple movie versus musical but I can hardly remember the musical. So I think I will like watching it again, but I won't remember it as much compared to something like Mean Girls I guess. That was the case for the Holiday Inn musical..I could barely remember the musical while watching it, but it seemed a little bit different to me but maybe I just didn't know it that well haha. It could be cuz the movie is older too, but I still enjoy both. They also mentioned New Year's which was something else I didn't remember. Oh that's a fun story..I liked that I watched it at the right time, even though they mention all the holidays. I figured you knew about it! I think Rent also has a New Year's song too, with the lyric it's gonna be a happy new year so I'm manifesting a little bit haha.

With Christmas songs, there's a lot of different ones so I always like hearing them. Maybe I would do a more classic one that sounds like Christmas and maybe a more slow or melancholy one. When I think of those, I think of John Lennon's or my grown up Christmas list which are pretty different. Then there is Taylors which sounds more joyful and the feeling of this time of year versus Twenty One Pilots who released one a few years ago, and it's called Christmas saves the year. Just one of the similarities between my two favorite artists. But then Taylor has New Year's Day which sounds melancholy but isn't, versus Sabrina's song. That's cool..maybe finally learning one of those instruments will be part of my resolution..but I've been saying that for a while now.

Those are good choices! I always try to go for something newer but couldn't think of any from 1989 or Speak Now vault tracks. I also forgot Bejeweled..to be more confident cuz I need some of that energy. Maisie also has a lyric about New Year's but I like her lyric last year I had to focus on survival..now I'm in my holy revival or there it goes! The universe is shifting and it's all for me. twenty one pilots has a song called Shy Away but the lyric is don't you shy away and I like that but that album is older now too. I'm hoping for new music from them this year soon!

I'm happy you were able to finish The Night Circus and Les Mis in time! I didn't know you were planning to read the Starless Sea in January too..so I will definitely try to read them together at the same time. I just don't know how far I will get or if it's the best time right now for me to read quickly. I mean Since it's the start of the year, I haven't gotten into good reading habits yet. But I guess I can try. I briefly looked at your list and will listen to your recommendations so you'll have to let me know if you like any of them. I'm interested in this is me trying cuz of the title and I like that kind of story. One book I added to my list is called Pink Mountain Nights and I recently remembered two other books I was in the middle of a long time ago so maybe I could finish those this year. Also omg how was Funny Story? I'm glad you loved it! I'm really curious since the plot didn't really grab me at first from the description. But it kinda reminded me of Happy Place and People we Meet on Vacation cuz of the opposites and fake dating I think, but I guess it was more similar to Book Lovers and Beach Read then? You are making me wanna start them again and maybe that's a good thing haha. Maybe I will read a little bit today cuz they are comfort reads to me so I can remember it and hopefully finally finish them this year.

Idk what Taylors new album will be. I've heard a lot of different theories too. Like maybe it will be the same vibe of 1989 ish? Cuz she's thriving right now so then that would be pop I think. I still don't know if she would release it during the tour, but some people think she will and play it acoustically on tour. If that's the case, which would kinda make sense for a breakup album, then I see it being more like Red..which still has some happy/upbeat songs too. I'm sure she will surprise us cuz I think she can do any genre, but I would hope for more guitar, rock, and instruments..which could be similar to Red so it's exciting. But I do think rep is next..she didn't announce it for new years, so I see it being announced when she goes back on tour in February. I'm really excited for the vault songs! So basically twenty one pilots could release a new song around the same time too I hope and that would be a dream! Fun fact..a while ago, I actually had a dream that said new music for them was coming in February lol. They are my two fav artists and weirdly their albums match up so well together cuz they also do eras and Easter eggs. I can explain more if you want, but I would definitely recommend their music!!! They were actually on tour with Paramore before. I'm glad you are liking Paramore, Lana and Fall Out Boy. For Paramore, I would also recommend their sorta unreleased songs from that era..called Oh Star and Adore. I think Oh Star was actually the first song they ever wrote together or something, but I still love it. It's one of my favorites. Those are some of my favorite Lana songs too! For Lana, there is so many I forgot to list cuz I didn't know which ones you already knew. I do love her newer songs too, but love the old albums. I think that's great..I already kinda listen to a new album everyday too, basically but you should also take your time. I haven't made my list of songs and albums of the year yet but I can recommend some if you want next time so let me know, but listening to Lana should take some time too. Aww thanks for saying that..I hope the same for you. I'm pretty busy this week..so I don't know when I will be able to reply but I hope you have a great week and start to your year!

you're totally fine! not a bad swiftie at all! there are no rules here 🤍 i ended up cancelling my plans because i'm still sick :( (which seems to be a recurring theme this winter) and went to bed early! i have a few bookish resolutions, and then i'm also habit tracking in my hobonichi (we'll see how that goes)! happy to share both if you're interested 🤍 do you have any resolutions?

omg the 1989 tangerine vinyl!! i keep thinking about getting it for sweeter than fiction, but i can't really justify getting a third 1989 tv vinyl, since i already have the pink and the yellow (which was a gift)! what kind of desserts did you eat?

the family friend liked wonka! but their family also likes timothee chalemet a lot, which i think helps in this case. i still haven't seen the in the heights movie! speaking of musical movies, did you see the tracklist for mean girls? what are your thoughts?

if you could learn any instrument, what would it be? sometimes i think about trying to learn guitar or piano again, but i don't have space for a piano, not sure if i have the self-discipline it'd take to practice a musical instrument frequently enough, and also i think i'd just get annoyed/stressed out that i'm not ~ instantly good ~ at it haha. even if it has been years since i last took my lessons.

maisie's holy revival is a good lyric! i put "the universe is shifting and it's all for me" in my hobonichi, and my friend (who is also venturing into the world of hobonichis with me) put the holy revival lyric ("now i'm in my holy revival") which is fun! i haven't listened to twenty one pilots, but i know you like them a lot, so maybe i'll add them to my little album challenge. i know i was like "haha 365 albums in 365 days is a lot" but here i am! i've decided to do it! we'll see how it goes. i'm sure there'll be days where i have to play catch up (especially when i'm traveling), but that's okay!

i absolutely LOVED funny story! i wrote my review of it last week and will post it on my book blog closer to publication date, but i really, really loved it. i think i'm a january (beach read) sun, nora (book lovers) rising, and a daphne (funny story) moon. i just loveeee emily henry's books and her characters. i support you in reading whatever makes you happy! it's not a competition, and it's all about what you're having fun with!

would love to hear you explain the twenty one pilots lore/comparisons! i listened to paramore's self-titled album today (my album of the day!) and i really liked still into you (which i already knew before going into the album) and hate to see your heart break! i think the interludes were fun, and almost reminded me of dodie's music, if that makes sense?

hope you're having a good week! 🤍

#post: answered #🩷 anon

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