#i mean i dunno cause i do funny text main post and just go off in the tags | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cactuslester · 5 years

Text

Broken Vases and Literal Wheels of Fire

Summary: A slow domestic morning set in the winter of 2017 where Dan and Phil plan Interactive Introverts while having breakfast in bed.

Word Count: ~1.5K

Genre: fluff, domesticity

Warnings: none

A/N: Hey guys! This is just a little fic written as a prompt fill for @thoughtfullightcollectionii for prompts 98 (“You’re not as innocent as I thought you were”) and 99 (“Just please...no birds”) on this post (so sorry I had to remove the link because the post wasn’t showing up in the tags, I’ll add it back if tumblr fixes their godawful tagging issues) . This is unbetaed, so sorry if there are any mistakes. As always, all feedback, positive or negative, is greatly appreciated!

AO3 (same issue as the link for the prompt post, my AO3 is linked on my blog fic page though)

Dan jolted awake to the sound of glass shattering and a string of expletives being shouted from the kitchen. “Phil?” he called out, “You alright?”

“Yeah, just dropped something.”

By now, Dan knew that the sounds of glass breaking or things falling weren’t really cause for much concern; Phil was clumsy enough that things like this happened nearly every week. But Dan also knew that Phil was clumsy enough to cut himself on the broken glass, so Dan had better get up and help him. He grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around himself before leaving the bedroom. The T-shirt and pyjama pants he preferred to sleep in were not enough for him to brave the cold of their London apartment in the winter mornings. He arrived in the kitchen to see Phil also in his pyjamas gingerly stepping around the glass to get to the broom.

“What’d you drop?” Dan asked, looking at the clear glass pieces that now covered most of the kitchen floor.

Phil’s face fell a little, “The vase.”

Dan laughed, “The one you drink out of?”

“Yeah, unfortunately,” Phil answered with mock melodrama. He found the vase quite funny and it was his third favorite thing to drink out of behind two truly amazing mugs, but he wasn’t deeply sentimental about it per se.

“Good riddance, you’ll finally stop getting comments on your videos telling you it’s a vase. C’mon I’ll help you clean this up and then we can make breakfast. Actually, I was thinking, can we have breakfast in bed today?”

Phil rolled his eyes fondly, “No, we have so much to do today. We have to work more on set design, and then we need to finalize and send out that list of props we want to get.”

“Please? We can talk about it during breakfast and do work in bed.” Dan pouted and looked at Phil with wide eyes, feigning innocence.

In the few seconds that Phil stood there deliberating, Dan pouted more dramatically and made his eyes even sadder until Phil caved, “Okay fine, let’s have breakfast in bed.”

“Yay,” Dan pressed a kiss to Phil’s cheek as he picked up the broom, “Love you.”

Phil just smiled, but Dan knew that was as good as a verbal response.

Dan swept up the pieces of glass while Phil made pancakes and scrambled eggs. As he did, he reminisced on their Manchester days when he would make scrambled eggs for Dan every morning because that was essentially all he knew how to cook back then. Then, Phil had just finished his Master’s degree and Dan was having daily crises over his law degree. It was both a much simpler and much more complicated time. Simpler because they were just making Youtube videos and not planning a world tour while also maintaining three main channels at the same time. Complicated in that their relationship was new and confusing and became even more so when it was suddenly under the scrutiny of thousands of pairs of eyes. Phil was so proud of how far they had come, and knew that he was living a life that he wouldn’t have dared dream of ten years ago.

Phil divided the eggs and pancakes on two plates and poured two glasses of orange juice. He placed this all on a tray and picked it up, walking imperceptibly slowly towards the bedroom.

Dan laughed as he saw Phil walk by, “I bet you could still drop it even being that careful.”

“Don’t bully me, I made us breakfast!” he cried somewhat indignantly. After an agonizing three minutes, he made it to the bedroom and placed the tray on the bedside table without spilling a drop. Ten seconds later, Dan appeared and immediately jumped into bed, the blanket he had brought to the kitchen still wrapped around him. Phil brought the tray to the center of the bed, resting it on their legs as they dug in.

“So,” Dan started, mouth full of pancake, “We have the neon for the set design but do we want anything else?”

“What if—also don’t talk with you mouth full—what if we had fire like on stage during the wheel part? That would be so cool!” Phil was emanating excitement.

“Phil, you just dropped something for the third time this week and you want fire on stage? You know you’re going to stand in it accidentally.”

“Okay fine, what about fire behind the wheel or somewhere that’s visible but neither of us will accidentally touch?”

“Hm, okay fine, send the email to George then.”

Phil penned an email to their stage director in between sips of orange juice asking if they could have fire on stage. “What if we had birds?” he mused quitely and half to himself as he sent the email.

“What?”

“Like birds, on stage,” Phil explained rather poorly.

“Phil, what do you mean ‘birds on stage,’ like live birds? On stage? Where would that even fit in the show?”

“I dunno, but wouldn’t it be cool?”

“Phil,” Dan started slightly exasperated but also rather amused, “We already decided not to bring live dogs, birds are arguably harder to deal with.”

“Yeah but—”

Dan cut him off, “Just please...no birds. Imagine if we had birds and fire, that would be a disaster.”

Phil knew he couldn’t argue with that logic, “Ugh fine, no birds.”

“Okay good, that’s that settled. Now for the props list, we need to finalize that.”

“Already on it,” Phil pulled up the document that was a neatly organized list of props. Under each prop were notes on whether it had been approved for use yet or not, how much it cost, and if they had acquired it yet. Phil may leave socks around the whole flat and spend hours looking for something he had lost, but he had a mind for organization when it came to directing and projects. It was something Dan had always admired about him, they way Phil knew exactly where each file regarding the stage show was, how he responded to every business email almost immediately and with a perfect balance of friendliness and professionalism, and how people in the industry always loved working with him no matter how difficult or complicated the project was. “The only thing left we haven’t told Robyn about yet are the tear-away shirts.”

“I still can’t believe that bit was your idea. I mean, I can,” Dan clarified, “I’ve known for a long time that you’re not as innocent as I used to think you were, but I know at least some of the audience will be shook when they learn it was your idea in the directors’ commentary.”

“Hey, maybe it’ll be a good way to ease them into a rebrand.” Phil replied as he typed out the email to Robyn, their props mistress, and Dan texted Martyn about tour merch.

“Have you decided if you’re gonna do that after the tour?”

“I’m not like 100% sure yet, but I think it’s almost time for one, don’t you?”

“Yeah I guess, although you have dropped a lot of the innocent persona on the gaming channel this year, so it’s like you’ve already started easing them into a rebrand. Maybe it’s already started, it’s just not as dramatic as mine.”

“Mm, that’s probably true.” Phil finished the email and sent it, then closed his laptop and tossed it to the end of the bed. He got out of bed and picked up the tray, this time walking a bit less slowly to the kitchen before placing the plates and glasses in the sink. He grabbed the plant mister from the kitchen counter and made his way to the lounge where he began to water his half dead succulents and cacti.

He was interrupted by Dan calling from the bedroom, “Philllll,” Dan whined, “Come back to bed.”

“In a minute.” he called back, smiling to himself at how Dan was just as sappy and clingy now as he was years ago. Phil walked back to the bedroom and was greeted by Dan who had also thrown his laptop to the end of the bed and stretched his arms out when he saw Phil.

“Dan, we have work to do.”

“I know, but we can have a ten minute break and you should come cuddle with me.” he said matter-of-factly.

“Fine,” Phil crawled into bed and into Dan’s arms where Dan’s space heater-like body warmed him up immediately, “Ten minutes.”

“Love you,” Dan said softly as he closed his eyes and reveled in how much he cared for Phil and how heart-burstingly happy he was to be able to spend every day with him.

“Love you too.”

#phan #dan and phil #phanfiction #youtube #phanfic #phan fluff #dilhowltersquad #phan support squad #cactuslesterfics #my fic #mine #org

43 notes · View notes

heyoricohannah · 5 years

Text

Post Bar Mitzvah Part 14:

“TJ, you said we were going to the aquarium!”

“No, dude, I said the vape-orium!” TJ exclaims to Jonah, standing with him in front of the main counter at the same place, where he waits for his vape purchase to be completed.

“Here you go.” The male cashier hands it over in a white paper bag.

Jonah cringes.

“Sweet!” TJ smiles. “Let’s go.” He pulls Jonah out of there and onto the sidewalk out front.

“You think I’m just gonna stand there while I watch you smoke that thing?” Jonah frowns.

“I didn’t get it for me. I got it for you!” TJ takes it out and hands it over. “C’mon! Try it. It’s already charged, and the vapor is blueberry scented.”

“I think I’ll pass...” Jonah refuses, abruptly receiving a text on his phone from Cyrus in their group chat about how Marty just said ‘the funniest thing.’

“Gimme that thing.”

The moment Jonah inhales it, he coughs up all the vapor he just barely sucked in, cringing repeatedly as he continues to cough up a storm.

“You okay..?” TJ awkwardly pats his back.

“I’m fine.” Jonah quickly clears his throat.

“But it smells nice, right?” TJ asks, making Jonah punch his shoulder, which has them laugh amongst each other.

‘He’s funny, isn’t he?’ Buffy responds to Cyrus, followed by a bunch of heart emojis.

“Ugh.” Jonah rolls his eyes at the message.

“What, you like Buffy, now?” TJ asks.

“No.”

“Then why are getting annoyed at her compliment? She’s his literal girlfriend.”

“I know, it’s just, he’s not that great. That’s all.”

Marty chortles at Jonah’s claim. “Oh my God you’re so jealous of him.”

“I am not..!” Jonah’s face heats up.

“Yes you are!” TJ laughs. “Do you want Buffy to beat you?”

“She’s not going to, ‘cause she’s never going to know I said that.” Jonah says.

‘What’re u guys up to rn?’ Buffy texts the chat.

‘Cyrus and I are hanging, u want us to send u stuff?’ Marty asks her.

‘No, Gus is already on that. I’m so glad you guys are hanging out!!’

Jonah cringes and silences the chat.

“He thinks he’s so cool with his—running...” He cringes at his words.

“So Cyrus has a new friend. So what? Does that mean you were jealous of me when I hung out with him?” TJ wants to know.

“I dunno. When I picked up on it, maybe a little.” Jonah admits.

“Well don’t be. Besides, we would never leave you out anyway.”

“Thanks TJ.” Jonah truly appreciates.

“You’ll be fine. Before you know it, Cyrus is gonna be spending tons of time with us.”

When TJ said that, he apparently spoke too soon, because after the next morning, when Cyrus said he would hang out with him and Jonah, he ended up blowing them off an hour later because he was ‘hanging out again with Marty.’

“Alright.” Now TJ is starting to feel as equally left out. “Now it’s personal.” He looks to Jonah, standing across from him on the other side of his room.

“This sucks.” Jonah’s suffering from a serious case of monotone, as well as jealousy, dreadfully staring forward at the wall.

“No, it doesn’t. ‘Cause you know why? We don’t need him!” TJ claims. “We can have a good time on our own.”

“Yeah...” Maybe If Jonah agrees enough, he’ll start to believe it. “Yeah, we will.”

“Exactly!” TJ grins. “Now let’s go.”

“We’re not going to the vape-orium, dude.” Jonah says.

“Fine, then we’re not going to the aquarium either.” TJ responds.

“Fine! Then where are we gonna go.”

Fifteen minutes later, the two of silently sit on the swings behind their very middle school, swinging lightly and awkwardly looking around, leaving the middle swing empty, just in case Cyrus magically decides to show up

“It’s fine. This is fine.” TJ claims, not sounding very believable. “I don’t even care that Cyrus ditched us. It’s not like he was my first real friend or anything. What, me, no, I’m not bitter hahahahahaha.” He scowls forward, angrily kicking a portion of the wood chips below them.

“So you really felt one?” Jonah asks.

“What.” TJ looks at him.

“A spark. With Cyrus. When you guys were here together.” Jonah feels weird just saying it.

“Oh.” TJ scoffs. “Maybe for like, half a second, but sure.”

Jonah grins at his fabrication . “So like, what happened.”

“We were debating over who hard more issues,” TJ starts.

“Yeah, that sounds a lot like something you guys would do.”

They snicker.

“He didn’t want to swing high, so, I started pushing him.”

“Really.”

TJ scoffs at his obvious dissatisfaction. “Relax.” He gets off his swing. “It was literally only this,” he goes behind Jonah and starts pushing him head on.

“Ha!” Jonah laughs.

“See?” TJ asks. “You’re acting like I did this.” He takes him by the shoulders and brings him in front of him, leaning over and laughing into his ear before he can think of what to whisper.

“Owe.” Jonah smiles and shoved him off. “I can swing myself, by the way.” He starts to swing as high as he can go, TJ playfully jumping out in front of him and cackling along when he’s almost kicked to the ground.

“Oh!” Jonah laughs when he unexpectedly kicks him in the stomach. “Are you okay?!” He hastily slows down, getting off and stepping over to him.

“You did that on purpose, I bet.” TJ smiles, clutching his stomach for a few moments to ease the pain.

“No, I swear.” Jonah grins.

“Prove it!” TJ lightly shoves him. “I’m gonna kill you.” He jokes.

“Gonna have to catch me first.” Jonah takes off, laughing excessively as he’s chased by TJ multiple times around the swing set.

“Jonah!”

He laughs at TJ’s shriek, facing him directly and smirking proudly, before being pinned down to the ground and giggling right below his face.

When the laugher dies down, and the acknowledgement of what’s actually happening speeds right to the surface, things between them begin to feel...Almost, poetic.

They blame the playground.

Clearing his throat, TJ quickly stands up after letting go of him, trying to look anywhere but Jonah’s eyes after he stands up himself.

“Um.” He smiles. “You have, wood chips, in your hair.”

Jonah blushes madly, the both of them awkwardly giggling when TJ uses his finger to flick them out.

“Um...” Now that he’s looking into Jonah’s eyes it’s kind of hard to stop. “We should go somewhere else.”

“I totally agree. Yeah.”

They can’t get off that playground fast enough.

For Cyrus, hanging out with Marty in his room was going pretty well up until about fifteen minutes ago, which was when Marty and Buffy started video chatting, causing Marty to lose focus on Cyrus almost entirely.

TJ was right. Right now, is their long distance honeymoon phase.

“So how’s the new place.” Marty’s asking Buffy, sitting at his desk with her face on the screen of his phone as Cyrus awkwardly sits on his bed from across the room, eyes glued to the ceiling and his body angrily stiff.

“It’s good!” Buffy beams. “We really gotta start unpacking, but, I had to see your face.”

Cyrus rolls his eyes to the sound of their giggles.

“Um,” he’s surprised to get ahold of Marty’s attention. “I gotta go.” He gets off his bed. “Jonah and TJ, they, they need me somewhere.”

“Oh.” Both Marty and Buffy look his way. “Okay. See ya man.”

“Bye Cyrus. I miss you!” Buffy grins, Cyrus never feeling more guilty about his current envy. He can’t blame her for this. She’s young and love, and maybe, someday in the near future, he will be too.

“Bye...” His smile is just barely genuine.

Once he steps out of the room, he can hear Marty and Buffy pick right where they left off in their conversation, as if he was never even there at all.

Back at TJ’s, up in his room, he and Jonah are desperately trying to justify ‘what happened.’

“It was the playground. That place has some sort of love spell cast on it. I know it.” TJ boldly states.

“Yeah! I mean, that has to be why. I mean, first you and Cyrus and now you and—Me.” He quickly glances away.

“Yeah..! I mean, the last time we were all there together, Andi and Buffy were like, totally all over each other.” TJ exaggerates.

“Exactly..!” Jonah scratches the back of his sweaty neck. “There. It’s the playground. End of the story. I mean, you and me?” He snickers, bringing on their nervous laughter.

“I know, right. That’s so stupid. I think we should kiss.” TJ blurts.

“What?!” Jonah wouldn’t be surprised if his whole body was a deep shade of red. “Are you crazy?!”

“Just to ease the tension! Like Sam and Freddie in iCarly.”

Jonah frowns. “I dunno, dude...” He can’t bring himself to process it.

“C’mon, I don’t even know if anyone’s gonna ever wanna kiss me at all, I’d at least like to have just one.” Now TJ’s desperate.

“You will have your first one. Just not me.” Sweating more than ever as he wrings together his fingers, Jonah repeatedly looks down to the floor and back at him.

The longer their excruciating pause goes on, the harder it is to act like TJ isn’t there.

“Alright, alright fine. Just...” He slowly steps closer to him, furrowing his brow and trying to look anywhere but his lips. “Fine. Just go for it.”

“Me?” TJ’s appalled.

“Yes, you! It was your idea!”

“Ugh.” TJ groans. “Fine.” He breathes onto his palm and gives it a quick sniff.

“You can’t smell your own breath, TJ, it’s not possible.” Jonah just needs this to be over.

“Quit it before I change my mind.” TJ threatens.

“Maybe you should change your mind..!” Jonah anxiously suggests.

“It’ll be over in like, two seconds. I won’t use my tongue. I promise.”

Cringing in agitation, Jonah steps closer, locking together their eyes until he looks down to his lips, then up to his nose. “Alright, uh...” Maybe if his heart beats any faster he’ll pass out and they won’t have to do this.

After a bit of contemplating, their noses finally touch, and once their lips are about to, TJ’s door flies open, causing them to break apart and silently get ahold of themselves as they see TJ’s Dad standing in the entryway.

“Yeah...” TJ can still feel his heart in his throat.

“Cyrus, a boy from your school, is here.”

Jonah looks to TJ in an instant. “Ummm...Where is Cyrus, if you don’t mind?” He asks TJ’s Dad.

“Outside.”

“Got it.” He looks back to TJ. “I was never here.”

“Wait, Jonah!”

Racing himself down the stairs, Jonah looks around in an utter haste, eyes landing on the back door, where he automatically runs over to and exits out of.

Turns out when TJ’s Dad said that Cyrus was outside, he meant the backyard.

“Cyrus...”

#andi mack #👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

9 notes · View notes

sesquipunzel · 5 years

Text

Act 2 (Backtrack through 251-264)

(I am better understanding the appeal of reading Homestuck liveblogs because now I really wanna go read how other people dealt with this lil reveal.)

So...one thing that didn't occur to me in my many previous Thoughts was that the Vagabond might not be here accidentally — I may have been unduly influenced by knowing them by the name "Wayward Vagabond." They might have been searching for the SBURB bunker precisely so they could interact with the kids/the past; they might even have arrived or been summoned here on this specific day so they can do so. Or they might be the Skaia-survivor I hypothesized, who was out of the bunker running errands, and we joined them as they were coming 'home'. Though the impression that the Vagabond was curious and wary and exploratory and Not At Home was pretty strong, so I dunno. (Also, I would think if they were in on the plot, they'd understand more about John/the game/the lingo.)

But the Vagabond DOES recognize that they can communicate with the boy on the screen, DOES know how to operate the console (simple as it appears to be), DOES know how to read and write and type (although not to turn off the Caps Lock). Which perhaps adds weight to the notion that they were alive/educated in the Before Times?

Also, this console is clearly designed to let someone communicate with those on screen — but Skaianet also clearly had the technology to allow even more extensive interaction, à la John's magic chest on the roof of his house. So why is the connection only via the command line, why not a full suite of SBURB-style fixit tools? It could be an inherent limitation related to: a) the time disjunct, if "years in the future" is true; or b) a place disjunct cos we have no idea where either John or the Vagabond are; or c) an internet disjunct cos we have no friggin clue how their computers are communicating with each other at all (especially since John's house shouldn't even have power). Obvi, the command-line could simply be the default function, and the console is capable of other things that we and the Vagabond don't know about yet, but we shall see.

Because the arrival of the "BOY" Voice coincided with the division of the Kernelsprite and creation of the the Harmesperm, I made an assumption that the Voice was the Sperm's voice (and I imagine I ain't the first). I do speculate that the coinciding wasn't completely coincidental, though.

The first image the Vagabond sees is just after John took the bite of the apple and got his house ozzed to wherever he is now. So I wonder if that's where this mysterious connection between their computers starts — maybe the Vagabond couldn't have watched any of the pre-Meteor stuff in John's house, or interacted with him before then?

As to HOW the connection started, or whether the ability for them to interact has anything to do with the KERNEL or the SPRITE? On that I have no guesses yet.

One curious thing is why the Vagabond's commands are reaching John as a "voice in his head." John is reporting this to Rose as new and troubling, so he didn't experience the previous reader commands in the same way, even if his "free will" occasionally argued with those commands. I've been told Hussie doesn't use dialogue in his comics, that all information is conveyed through Pesterlogs, command lines, narration, etc. So why did he choose to have the Vagabond's words manifest differently than the other reader commands, and differently from any other form of communication we’ve seen? I think the most important part is probably John saying “i feel compelled to do these weird things i don't really want to do,” that commands coming from that particular console/place are ones he can’t disobey?

If those commands had been communicated in a different way (like appearing on John’s devices) it wouldn’t have allowed for confusing the Vagabond's Voice with the SPRITE's, I suppose, and would invite more questioning from John as to who was 'on the other end' of the computer, but still interesting distinctions.

So — going to re-read from that first "BOY" on page 251, and capture any deeper/revised thoughts along the way.

Firstly, "the two halves go their separate ways, leaving behind the SPRITE portion" — I see that I misread that the KERNEL was the dual clown-silhouette things and the SPRITE was the mandala-thing left hovering in midair. But I see now the KERNEL was the circular "container" for the clown, i.e, the portion that existed before it was prototyped, and the SPRITE was the now-spermy clown-bit left after the seed-potential-power parts split off to go fulfill whatever that potential is. (dum dum DOOM!)

On to the weird interactions within the Flash…

Calling John "BOY" reinforced the impression that the Voice didn't know who he was, or much of anything else yet, which made sense if it was a newborn SPRITE. But now it means the Vagabond also doesn't know who John is — just a boy on a screen. So why are they so imperious in the way they talk to John, so sure that John needs to listen and obey? (How much does Vagga know about why this boy is on this screen at this moment? What do they know about what happened before, or what could/should happen next, for Earth's survivors? And are they friendly or foely to our heroes? Or to Skaianet?)

And who exactly is talking back (in the Green Boxes in the Flash version, or in plain text between black+orange Command Boxes in the non-Flash), calling the Voice a "nincompoop" and "sophomoric?" It seems to be our narrator, the one who used second person to start the story with "Your name is JOHN. As was previously mentioned it is your BIRTHDAY", addressing the character of John for the most part, but also the reader/player in some ways. But to have that narrative voice talking directly to another character is quite strange. (Although much of the response to the rest of the Voice's "EXAMINE"-type commands is back to our familiar narration style.)

"TIER PROTO TYPE THE SPRITE, OR THE THING YOU SAID. DO IT." Again, Vagga seems pretty sure about this being important to do, when they don’t even know the right words to describe it, or know that John can't do it himself.

Weird inconsistencies like not having enough Earth-context to call it a "towel", but enough to call it a "small Persian rug"? Familiar with "sewing machine" and how big it should be, but not with "totem lathe."

It's not the SPRITE that loathes clowns and harlequins, but the Vagabond.

(Housetrapped is still funny.)

"On the other hand, you would probably benefit from [NANNA's] elderly wisdom now…"

“UGH, NO.”

“So coy. So mysterious."

Twas an odd enough interchange when poking around the Flash the first time, thinking it was the SPRITE talking. But is there an implication here that Vagga knows (and dislikes) NANNA somehow, or the idea of John talking to her?

"A YOUNG STUPID BOY." On what grounds is Vagga judging John stupid?

Regarding the clowns in dad's study, the Voice says "IT HAS A KNIFE. BE ALARMED BY THIS." and "I SEE TREACHERY IN HIS EYES." — rather paranoid, aren't they? Worrisome in a newborn SPRITE, leaning towards interpreting it as inherently suspicious and violent, if not evil. Not really surprising, though, in a post-apocalyptic/post-traumatic wanderer (although it certainly doesn't rule out violent or evil).

Back to the main stream of the story, at 256: “NOW JOHN. RESPOND TO YOUR FRIEND UNIT.” Again, Vagga knows the word ‘friend', but not how to use it in a sentence. (is it because they've never had a friend?? are they a poor lonely, suspicious, violent cinnamon roll…???)

My curiosity about the Voice knowing the contents of the Pesterlog remain — is Vagga actually reading Homestuck, as it were, viewing John's screen/Pesterlog "over his shoulder" the same way we are? Or does the Skaia-built interface allow for more ‘camera angles’ than we have, or other direct access to the content this screen is meant (but by whom?) to show?

The narration on 257 that says "Oh well, you're the boss." has so many implications, doesn't it? But still notes that the commands are "awkwardly worded."

The Vagabond doesn't understand the difference between what John can do and what Rose can do.

(I just caught up to the fact that when John was fucking around with the Alchemiter, he could only create Perfectly Generic Objects because the dowel he had was Perfectly un-Lathed, with no distinguishing data points. You know how it is, it was all so new and confusing then… cause yeah, I'm WAY less confused now, right?)

But they get a platform built, and again the Narrator and the Voice tussle over commanding John and considering his feelings — the Narrator now seems protective of John, rather than objective. (That is, it has generally seemed objective before now, except in matters of taste and humor.)

The double "==>==>" commands that the Narrator was getting salty about make a lot more sense, imagining the Vagabond flailing at their keyboard.

John sensibly wants to go back inside, away from the aching and windy void, but Vagga says, "NO DON'T DO THAT. HOP OFF THIS LEDGE ON TO THAT CAR." This is the first time they've really suggested an action they came up with themselves, rather than responding to John mentioning prototyping, or encouraging him to follow Rose's instructions. (I'm not counting all the EXAMINE THIS and DESTROY THAT that helped us explore the Flash-House — those were still essentially passive responses to John's environment.) So I’m thinking that the mail in the car is really important in some way (I mean, I didn’t think it had been placed there as a time-wasting whim — it was the only real plot point of John’s excursion outside the house), which probably means the SBURB host software John can presumably use to rescue others the way Rose-as-host rescued him. (GG’s green gift might be important too but harder to guess how.) But that brings us back to the question of how the Vagabond knows about the software and its significance if they don’t seem to understand the game itself, or even how they know the software’s location in the car.

"==>==>==>==>==>" — and I thought two was impatient!

[hee, the Vagabond's keyboard does have the CAPS LOCK key lit!]

Right-Eo… long post, but more because I had a lot more musings to capture than because there was significant re-interpretation to do over whose Voice it was. Still worth the trip in my book. My blog, I mean.

The Kernelsprite has only actually attempted to communicate twice, right? Once with strange square textury symbols, and then after Harmequin-typing, with assorted Mardi-Grahdy fleurs-de-lis? (Floor Da Lease? Flurry d'Elise? Lorida Fleas? Flour Day Lilies? Stopping now.)

Gonna bet someone in HS fandom tried some pre-empty-ve code-breaking on the comparison between the two, but Ima keep on keepin on, trust that we'll discover what the Sprite is tryin' to say sooner or later in the story.)

Left-Eo then, backtrack completed and Yawnward Ho!

#homestuck liveblog #sesquipunzel reads homestuck #hs act 2 #homestuck #hs week 004

2 notes · View notes

chromemuffin · 6 years

Photo

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

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

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

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

Chapter 0: Cause

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You are a surprisingly funny man, Ye Xiu.

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

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

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

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

lol and he just outs himself right on the spot.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 4: Green Forest’s Sleeping Moon

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

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

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

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

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

haha these drawings have so much life in them

Including these.

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

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

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

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

Chapter 5: You reap what you sow

Finally, a chapter title I’m familiar with!

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

I like ‘Just a Passerby’.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The umbrella is also really cool of course.

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

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

onward →

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

17 notes · View notes

kenpaisworkshop · 7 years

Text

Cyber-Sin: “Ruins”

Subject: @sinquest AU “Cyber-Sin”

Characters: Cyber!Ken’pai, Cyber!Armonia ( @tehcomicsans ), Cyber!Warlock ( @tomis-jb )

He was already in. It was almost too easy.

The monitor dimly lit his messy apartment, digitally-created shadows flickering on the far wall behind his chair. The rain had let up for a moment, but its moisture caused a thin mist over the streets below, illuminated by disparate sources of neon.

Ken'pai tilted his head at an angle from side-to-side, cracking his neck before rolling his shoulders as he settled in to his work. His Spex blinked in the upper-right corner of his vision, as he pressed a small button set into the black plate prosthetic over the top of his skull. A small microphone an speaker icon appeared.

“Did you get it?” A female voice rang in his ears.

“Yeah,” Ken answered, “looks like your source was right, ARM. I barely had to do anything to get past security. They really don’t have their shit together, huh?”

“Well, they’re a smaller company, but I’ve been hearing they’re planning something huge.”

A few holographic windows appeared, shedding a gentle cyan light on the lizard-man’s scales. “Well…sure, but what exactly could a wastewater treatment company like BIOSERV have up their sleeve? I thought their focus was on decontamination of pollutants.”

“That’s what we have to find out, Gray. I wouldn’t call for your help if I wasn’t concerned. Besides, BIOSERV handles at least 80% of the sewage treatment for the city, which means…”

“…That it could affect the water supply? I mean…it’s a stretch but I guess I understand. I’ll check it out and keep you posted.”

“Got it. Keep the channel open okay?”

“Got it ARM.”

A male voice called over the comm. “Hey Gray! If you get any trouble, abort immediately and we’ll try for a closer, more on-site connection, alright?��

“Hey Warlock. Yeah, I’ll be careful, but it really doesn’t seem like there’s too much security to worry about. Hell, if it’s this easy I’d say we don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Yeah, you’ll figure it out, just keep in touch. Talk it out if you want input.”

“Gotcha.”

Clawed fingers clacked against the keyboard as several windows popped up at once, showing several different PC setups around the BIOSERV offices. A smaller holographic window popped up in the corner, showing Ken’s system specs, including power usage, temperature, CPU and RAM usage, bandwidth allotment, and process numbers. He moved the window over to the lower left of the main screen and pressed the panel that said “diagnostic scan,” the same button slowly filling up with a percentage displayed below it.

[8% – SECURE]

He finally managed to find his way into the higher-up’s computer systems, opening up messages immediately and scanning the pinned messages for anything of note.

“…Nothing really going on,” he said aloud.

Many of them were more personal. Emails from loved ones asking when they’d be home for dinner, school referrals for their children, and the like. He decided against his better judgement to check the other, less-important messages just in case. This was perhaps the most boring part of the job, just reading the minutia of day-to-day office interactions of people he would most likely never, ever meet.

[19% – SECURE]

“Found one that might be interesting. Let’s see…”

He dragged the scroll bar to the center of the message to get a clear view.

[26% – SECURE]

“'Client has requested to postpone deployment of NEWAgent,’ that’s N, E,W, Agent, all one word. ‘Client wishes to have enough time to prepare machinery for upgrades that would be compatible with NEWAgent, as they have been met with setbacks.'”

“Okay,” ARM pondered, “I’m going to run a search for NEWAgent and BIOSERV, see what I can come up with…huh. That’s interesting.”

“What?”

“BIOSERV is working with Nanodyne on something. It was a small blurb in the news.”

“Nanodyne…where Magus works?” Tomis queried.

“Yeah. They wouldn’t be…using nanotech in the drinking water, would they?”

Ken shrugged, although neither of them could see it. “Well, they might use it to clean the water? Maybe they’re just using it because they found a way to make it work better than their normal biological agents?”

“Maybe, but…what about that NEWAgent and the 'client’s’ machinery? The need for compatibility would imply that there’s nanotech involved, since they’d have to match OS systems,” ARM reminded.

“Hmm…lemme root around a bit more.”

[35% – SECURE]

He dug deeper into the office system’s root files, pulling up a few diagnostics that he couldn’t exactly make sense of, but he guessed were for wastewater filtration and treatment, since they had obvious tells of water input and output vectors.

“Wait…Gray,” ARM said.

“Yeah?”

“BIOSERV…is primarily a wastewater treatment facility, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Wastewater treatment isn’t usually for drinking water and sewage, although they do a bit of that. A different company, contracted by the city handles the most of the sewage. Wastewater treatment is for water that wouldn’t be for drinking, like…irrigation, or…”

Ken tilted his head. “…or industrial use. The machines and their need for compatibility…”

“This is just a theory, but…what if they were about to put something in the water that would…not be compatible?”

“Then the factory would cease to function while the two different OS’s battle it out. It’d be a mess, probably take weeks, if not months to rectify. And even then…”

His eyes flashed open in realization.

“ARM…this is industrial sabotage!”

Something blinked. Ken didn’t notice.

[34% – SECURE]

“Gray, if you can, try to find out who that client is. Sabotage on this scale wouldn’t just take a company down, it could very well offset the economy if it’s serious enough. We need to know who stands to gain from this.”

“Got it.”

He closed a few of the extra windows hovering around the screen. They took a second to close down, but finally did. But he noticed.

“…ARM. I think I should pull out…but I’m gonna look a bit more.”

“You’re sure?”

“…Just a hunch.”

He ran a cross-search of the word “client” in the system’s messaging protocols, also pulling up phone records and voicemail transcriptions. His system began to lurch a little from the strain.

[34% – SECURE]

He blinked. He noticed something odd in how long it was taking to open each individual file. Each was just a few milliseconds longer than the last, but for someone like Ken, it was an eternity.

Something was wrong.

“ARM. I’m getting out now. I think I’ve been zapped.”

“What?! How?!”

“I dunno, but…”

He pressed his process kill-switch, ending each and every window all at once. He glanced down at the lower-left window that showed his diagnostic scan.

[34% – SECURE]

It was frozen.

No…something was changing. The power output was rising beyond his system’s usual usage, far beyond anything that should be possible. The CPU temperature was beginning to climb.

“ARM! Disconnect from my system right now!”

“I already did. Gray! What’s going on?!”

“Kill the comm chatter! I’ve been–”

“Gray!” Tomis shouted, “Gray! Stay there! I’m on my way!”

“Warlock! Kill your comm! If you don’t, you mi–”

Static hissed in his ear as he pulled the Spex off his face, forcing them to disconnect. He frantically dug into his computer’s root, before noticing a small icon that had been created on his desktop.

A text file.

The filename was “NAUGHTY NAUGHTY”.

Somebody was definitely in here. He opened the text file. There was only one sentence.

“Got you in 30 seconds.”

Even a basic hacker knew what that meant. A trace program was underway, and once it was completed, SecuWatch would be battering down his apartment door.

Ken began a head count of the seconds as he took action. His CPU’s temperature climbed into the triple digits, as the power supply in his computer began to crackle and whine. Ken had no other choice but to grab the large plugs in the wall. Once he did, a massive spark of electricity arced between him and the computer itself.

He howled in pain as he kept pulling, despite being electrocuted. The implant in his right arm was dampening the intensity of the shock, but it still ran down his leg to ground itself into the floor. Finally digging deep, he managed to unplug his system completely, the shock finally subsiding as he collapsed on the ground.

Electricity cracked and popped in a loud, violent flash before everything fell dark and silent. The surge had managed to knock out the power for his entire apartment, only illuminated by the neon signs outside. A small, flickering light from his computer’s hardware told him that his opponent had won, and the damage had already been dealt, as the sound of flames crackled and smoke began to waft out.

He crawled over to the kitchen and grabbed the fire extinguisher, crawling back toward his system and spraying the powdery substance all over, knowing just how much more damage he was doing to his system.

He was essentially committing digital suicide.

When it was all said and done, he angrily threw the extinguisher as hard as he could, hearing it bounce off of the kitchen counter and clamoring to the floor.

And then…he just sat there.

He didn’t know just how much time had passed. He sat in the gloom of his powerless apartment for what felt like days, even though it had more than likely been about an hour. Everything he’d worked so hard for was gone. His system was a wreck. His mind filled with hatred and a terrible desire to end BIOSERV with a terrible passion.

A buzzing sound flared up for a moment, telling Ken that his apartment’s power had been restored. Whatever happened must’ve been enough to blow out the transformer. Funny, he thought, I thought I got into this to help people, and here I managed to blow out the power for the whole building. Maybe even the block. What’s the point?

He didn’t even bother to turn the lights back on. He just sat there, facing the window and looking at the streets below. Everybody down there had a purpose. Everybody was a cog in some great machine, and he thought that by defying that, he’d had a higher function in the world.

And now here he was, alone in the dark.

Some purpose.

His Spex, now laying on the floor, blinked open, the cyan lenses becoming the only remaining light in his apartment. It was a text message from Tomis.

“Knock Knock.”

Ken snapped the Spex back onto the bridge of his nose, still not moving from his position. He sent the cursor to his apartment security controls and unlocked the door.

“It’s open!” he called.

A human stepped into the apartment. He had short, dark hair that swept off to one side, accompanied by a thin mustache. His attire was pretty standard, Black slacks and shoes, a dark shirt underneath a rather form-fitting leather jacket.

He saw the lizard-man seated on the floor and clicked the apartment lights on, then took stock of the damage.

“Oh…Ken…”

Tomis walked over to the computer station and picked up some of the powder, rubbing it between his fingers and identifying it immediately. The fire extinguisher laying on the kitchen floor only served to solidify what he already knew.

“…What happened?”

Ken growled. “I was fucking careless is what happened! Of course the security was too fucking lax, it was a goddamn trap! They knew that somebody would be investigating this, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say one of Mona’s sources set us up.”

“Alright, alright, calm down, Scales,” Tomis comforted, placing a hand on Ken’s shoulder before sitting down next to him. “We’re gonna figure out who did this, and we’re going to make them pay.”

“Yeah we fucking are. We’re going to make them fucking suffer for this.”

Tomis had never seen Ken so riled up before. “Hold on, okay, first off, you’ve gotta relax. You’re not going to accomplish anything if you run off half-cocked. We have to be careful and thorough. We can hit these guys, but we have to know what we’re up against. The more we know, the harder we can hit 'em.”

“…you’re right,” Ken sighed.

“Now c'mon. We can pick up the pieces later, let’s get something to eat, take your mind off things for a bit.”

“I…”

“…My treat?”

Ken'pai huffed. “I’m…not hungry.”

“Ken, if you don’t come with me, right now, I’ll choke you out and carry you.”

The lizard-man knew that the human was more than capable enough of following through on that threat. He gave a nod. “Alright, just…”

“Just what?”

“I just…want to sit here…for a moment.”

“Okay.”

Tomis shifted into a more comfortable seating position, wrapping his arm around Ken'pai’s back. The reptile leaned his head over, resting it on the human’s shoulder.

“It’s bullshit,” Ken said.

“Yeah. Total bullshit,” Tomis agreed, squeezing a bit tighter as the two sat in the ruins of Ken’s life.

youtube

Author’s note: I had this story in my head for a month, but when @tomis-jb had his computer problems, I thought it was a bit too…coincidental and shelved the idea for later.

#Short Form #Series #CyberSin #Sinquest #Cyberpunk #Cyber!Ken'pai #Cyber!Tomis #Cyber!Armonia #re-upload #building to something #Got a third one in the works #starting to reorganize my work #starting small #going to try to do a little each day #and keep to a theme probably #queued post #My Work #Writing

8 notes · View notes