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#just because people played a certain way didn't mean the game was bad. there's always going to be boring players who play what's meta-
rattkachuk · 22 hours
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Hello! Hope you are having a good day.
So I have a question for you, just ignore when you don't feel like answering.
I came to Mattdrai via the enemies/rivals to lovers tag and then got sucked into hockey. I really like the fanon take on Leon, fav character, fanon Matthew was fine but way too woobified and infantilized in so many fics. So my surprise when I started to watch games, interviews etc. Public Matthew is so confident, so loving, awesome family to back him up, especially Brady, hot as hell, sexy way of playing hockey, amazing public persona. Loved and respected by his team, beyond hockey.
Then Leon. His only trait seems to be that he's pissy which I can appreciate but it seems that he's just a downright mean, arrogant guy with a superiority complex (see that interview when he puts Silovs down.) I don't find him stoic at all but he's just seems boring and bland and yeah, pissy. It doesn't seem like he has fun or likes his team a lot or is liked by them (Connor aside and his skills aside.) His friendship with Connor seems the only endearing or likeable thing. He even looks good in a bland way and his hockey is while it's so skillful it's not hot and also I wonder why his dirty plays aren't called out more often.
So what do I miss? Where does great fanon Leon come from? Why is he written mostly so superior to Matthew and where comes the "his team likes Leon so much but Matthew is an outcast in his own team come from?) It's so far from what I gather from old and new interviews or games and I have watched a lot, also German interviews. I really would like to like Leon, shipping them had been more fun when I didn't find his public self so jarring. What do I not see what everyone else seems to get?
Sorry for the long ask! Have a great day and thank you
first off thank you for such a thought out ask! i don't get to dive into things like this a lot outside of writing fic and it got my brain gears going.
to get right into the bulk of this ask: i get what you are saying about leon. that can be the way he comes off for sure, and look everything i'm gonna say? i'm talking out of my ass here. i don't claim to know anything about him as a person besides what's publicly presented, and i don't have much right to theorize about why he is the way that he is, but i'd be lying if i said i didn't think about it. how would i write rpf otherwise, right 💀
i think he cares a lot. and i think sometimes he gets so wrapped up in things, how things should be, how he should be performing, etc, and when it doesn't go a certain way he gets frustrated and snarky (eg, pissy comments and such). but i don't see that being bad necessarily, especially when it's seems to come from such a team oriented state of mind. which, i dont think he dislikes his team at all? i think if anything, he has a sort of blind faith in his team, and that's the only context i could see a 'superiority complex' making sense in. and yah maybe a little misplaced at times, but ultimately i think it comes from believing so fully in his team and not seeing that come to fruition. he really does not seem to care about his individual performance much at all, so how self obsessed can he be? when i think about leon i just see someone that is ultimately very passionate and committed to the game he plays. i'm also curious to know where you get the vibe that his team doesn't like him? simply because i never got that impression from any of the other oilers, they all seem like they're obsessed with him.
beyond hockey, i see a caring, sweet, kindhearted individual. anytime i see a picture or vid of him interacting with bowie, or even the things his girlfriend posts about him, the comments he leaves for people on ig, and yah of course in the way he talks/acts around connor, i see fragments of someone soooo different than the little two minute post game interviews (which, can we judge any hockey player on those? i think they all hate them dfkjgsd). it's not always something i actively go digging for or have examples of the top of my head, but i do see it, and it definitely goes into creating the version of leon that i have in my mind.
hey, and, he's a silly guy!!! please, i know the reputation is pissy and humourless, ESPECIALLY in fic, but that man is so funny. so many random offhanded comments that make me pause and then laugh. a different sense of humour but it's so there. i love the sandcastle vid from the asg last year and feel like it's a good example of that, all sunburnt and happy. also hey, big man in tune with his fear of the ocean? love that. that little vid of him dancing on the ice earlier this season, those halloween photos where he's dressed as a monkey, every time he talks to a kid. hell, seeing him in warmups and watching the way he takes time to interact fans?? loveee watching warmups but i'd never had a player actually acknowledge my existence before leon!
also i really enjoy his personality on the ice, i like the rat behaviour and the sassy comments that he makes to other players/refs, i like the bitch moves, and i like his hockey too. i think his game is dependable and like you said skillful, and while maybe not the most creative, the sureness and the technical aspect it is hot to me. so my thoughts on everything are probably skewed in that regard.
anyways this was just a whole lot of rambling about why i find him interesting, endearing even, but i understand the perception you have. i don't like some players that other people love, just cause i cant see what they see. and honestly that's sometimes just the way it is! if you don't like leon, maybe u just don't like him and thats fine.
disclaimer that i have only been on hockeyblr for a couple years, and really didn't spare many thoughts for leon til the beginning of the 22/23 season. truthfully i'm hardly the person to ask about leon imo, but of course i have thoughts anyways! if someone else with more knowledge reads my bit of rambling here, please feel free to chime in and add your voice to this!
and side note, ofc, i have to touch on this bc who would i be if i'm not one to talk about matthew; in the way of m.tkachuk, i think that in the early days of mattdrai it was maybe a fair take away during his time with the flames (minus the woobifying). even though he was loved so much here and had some fucking times, and i think the team was mostly good to him (player wise if not regarding management, that is), i see such a stark difference now that he's on the panthers. he seems much happier and more confident, and obviously he's clicking with the cats on another level, and i do see a shift in how he's been portrayed in fics since tbh.
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tinyspringtrap · 1 year
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man. having a game you used to really really love and be basically addicted to reach such a state where you look at it and just... don't want to play, because it isn't fun like it used to be
I've got probably more than 3k hours invested into overwatch... and I don't even want to look at it anymore because of how they destroyed it. it just isn't fun to play anymore. I miss overwatch.
#sassy says#i miss 6v6#i hate how people keep saying they're glad because its faster paced now like if you wanted a faster paced game...#you could have played any other number of shooters.#I LIKED it when matches were good and you could have intense team fights that lasted forever#it meant the teams were both playing well and it was so satisfying regardless of the outcome because god DAMN that was a good fight#now its just... either you roll the other team or you get rolled by them#theres hardly any good satisfying team fights anymore and i miss it man#'but but double shield'#there were other ways to address the small selection of players who decided it was meta and sucked double shield dick#make it one barrier per team. one main tank one off tank.#just because people played a certain way didn't mean the game was bad. there's always going to be boring players who play what's meta-#and more likely to give them an easy win. you cant solve that problem. theres no solving the mindset that causes people to do that shit.#other players shouldnt suffer just because some people decide to play an anti-fun easy win comp.#that mindset it still ruining the game in its own different way. its why you have pharmacy. its why you have pocketed sojourns.#there's always going to be people who want the easiest win possible with the most garbage and brainless gameplay.#you literally cannot do anything about that.#its going to happen.#but the players who enjoyed the game and played what they enjoyed instead of ~whats meta~ shouldnt have to suffer because of it#just take away the option for double shield and make it so double shield tanks is not an option#orisas rework could have been done in overwatch 1 and solved a lot of the problems by its lonesome#its like when mercy players would hide in a corner for team res#they shouldnt have punished all the players just because a few assholes decided to not participate in the game#make it so you cant get ult charge in spawn. make it a reportable offense if a mercy is hiding in a corner.#hell they even could have made it so that mercys ult charge started to drain if they weren't actively participating#that would have been preferable even if annoying#disable res in spawn. disable res within a small radius of spawn.#im ranting but man. im so tired of the characters getting reworked constantly#because they cant be assed to fix the actual problems or put in ways to discourage shitty gameplay#just change the character entirely! that'll fix it.
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I AM LIVING FOR YOUR SLASHER HEADCANONS, esp the last post!! but i have a question: what do you think michael would do if the next time he wants to fuck, they’re like “nope, don’t want to, you didn’t make me cum” and is generally just provoking him and saying shit like “i can just find someone that CAN satisfy me” and other dumb shit. would he not care?? get jealous? knife through the door?? so many possibilities
Thank you thank you!!! <3
𝒞𝒶𝓇𝑒𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒲𝒾𝓈𝒽 𝐹𝑜𝓇
Featuring: Michael Myers
Word Count: 2k
Warnings: oral sex, fingering, rough sex, overstimulation, general nsfw things, mdni, i got carried away, unedited because I didn't think i'd write this much
As for your question(s):
I think it definitely depends on how long you've known him. The only way he'd give a flying fuck about what you think is if he was down bad. Especially if we're talking about the OG Michael. RZ Michael is easier to convince to actually give a shit what you want in bed, but it's still not a priority for him. Still, there are certain personality traits you can exploit to get what you want. . .
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When you first brought up that you were unsatisfied in bed, it was a very soft comment after he was done and zipping his jumpsuit back up.
"I didn't even cum. . ." you mumbled, staring at your bare abdomen and leaking cunt. It was all him. You didn't even have the chance to pleasure yourself; it was too difficult with him constantly flipping you over and manhandling you. Your body was sore and bruised, but you laid there, discontent.
You moved your gaze to look at his masked face. Judging by the way he stopped his movements, he'd heard you. You bit your lip, turning your eyes away and down to your hands which fiddled with each other. You knew he didn't care, but it would be nice if he did.
"Just get out, okay?" you spoke, embarrassed and a little angry. "I'll just get myself off since you can't seem to do it."
Your tone had him walking around to the side of the bed, grabbing his discarded knife from the nightstand. You flinched, but didn't bother to run. If he wanted to kill you, he would have already.
Just as you figured, he turned back around, trudging out of your bedroom with the blade in his grip. You rolled your eyes. You were half tempted to call up and old friend of yours for a night, but realized that might end in bloodshed. Michael was much too possessive for that.
Suddenly, an idea crossed your mind. You knew Michael was selfish, but he also always had something to prove. He wanted to, no, needed to be the best at everything. Nobody could escape, outrun, or hide from him, and he knew that. So what if. . .
It was a few days later when he came back, heavy footsteps on your porch alerting you. Still, you pretended not to notice, phone up to your ear as you chatted. You were leaned against the kitchen counter, occasionally popping some popcorn into your mouth.
The door to your house creaked open before shutting again. You paid no mind.
"Go out? Ha," you spoke, fingers moving around a stray popcorn kernel absentmindedly. "If I want to get drunk, I'll do it in my own home, thank you very much."
At this point, he was looming in the kitchen doorway, but you didn't even bother with a glance.
"Oh, go out to meet someone, huh? Yeah, I guess that would be nice. . . I mean sure, there's a guy that stops by, but I'd be lying if I said I was satisfied." You leaned against your fridge, his massive form still lingering just a few feet away.
"It's just. . . other people I've been with have gotten me off four, five times a night, but this guy? Not once. Yeah. You heard me. Not once."
You made sure to emphasize that last phrase. You knew the dangerous game you were playing, but you didn't care. "Talk to him? Girl, I've tried. He's like a brick wall. Doesn't even say goodbye. As soon as he's done he's out the door. Rude? Tell me about it. Sure, I've had better, but he always keeps crawling back looking like a kicked puppy. I just kind of feel sorry for him."
You didn't have time to speak again before the phone was ripped from your grasp and tossed carelessly across the kitchen, plastic pieces shattering across the tile.
One hand wrapped around your throat while the other rested just beside your head, almost denting your poor fridge with the force. The choke was painful but not deadly, and you locked eyes with the culprit, staring intently.
He pulled you against him before slamming you back against the fridge, and you winced at the sudden force. "What's wrong with you?" you sputtered out, your hands trying to fight the grip on your throat.
He glanced at the destroyed phone, and you had to stifle a smirk from appearing on your lips.
With another slam, he finally released his hand from your neck, and you took in a few shaky breaths. Still, he loomed close enough to leave you pressed against him.
"You're angry," you spoke, rubbing the marks forming on your neck. "I assumed Michael Myers never got angry."
He looked to the shattered telephone again before looking back at you. He wanted an explanation.
"What do you want me to say? It's true. And I'm pissed about it. All you ever do is use me then leave. I haven't had a proper orgasm in weeks!" You pushed your hands against his chest angrily, but he didn't budge. "I know you're not a good man, but it still isn't fair. I can't even call anyone because you'll have a knife through their neck before they can get their pants off."
He let out a breath, both hands finding purchase on your hips. "Now's not the time," you huffed, moving to push his hands away. His grip tightened. You headbutted his chest, forehead resting against the rough material of his jumpsuit. How could he be raring to go at a time like this? "Unless you've got anything planned for me tonight, I'm not interested."
He didn't falter. You looked back up to try and read his face through his mask. It did not work. You could tell he was. . . different than usual, but he was probably still pissed off from your words over the phone.
His fingers nestled behind the waistband of your shorts, and in one fell swoop they dropped to the floor. You stayed silent. He never had the decency to take your clothes off. It was always ripped or sliced, and there was never any time taken. Hell, he'd never taken your shorts off without your underwear going with.
You stifled a laugh. Was he actually. . . trying?
He slid a knee between your thighs, pinning you. One hand explored your upper half, sliding under your shirt until he hit your bra. His other hand travelled downwards, slipping underneath your panties. You felt a rough digit slide against your clit and let out a sudden breath. Quickly, he backtracked, moving back up until he found that same spot.
You had to bite your lip to prevent a gasp from leaving it. You couldn't remember the last time you'd been stimulated there. It was suddenly all too-sensitive.
Two fingers caught the small nub, and you had to grip his shoulders to prevent yourself from falling. The digits toyed with it, squeezing and brushing like he was testing something. Your forehead pressed against his chest as heavy breaths left you.
One hand worked at massaging your chest, running a thumb against your nipple, while the other played with your clit harshly. You didn't expect him to be gentle in the slightest, but it still had you shimmying your hips in discomfort. It's not that you weren't aroused, and in fact, you were all too turned on. He'd never shown any interest in any part of you besides your cunt and mouth, and even then it was only to slide his dick into. This? This was all new. This feeling of rough hands overtaking your body, touching your skin, pleasuring you for the first time. . .
You pushed your hips forwards, trying to gain friction. With any luck, you could actually get off tonight.
Suddenly, all hands were off of you and he stepped back, tilting his head.
You rushed to hold yourself up, knees wobbly. You shot daggers at him, eyes burning. He stopped. Why the fuck did he stop?
He stared at you, waiting for something. You crossed your arms over your chest, looking as put-together as you could with wetness creeping down your thighs and shorts discarded on the floor.
"I'm not apologizing, if that's what you want," you muttered. "Congratulations, you found the clit. Took you long enough. You'll have to work a little harder if you're looking to clear your name."
In a flash, he had you hauled over his shoulder, and you let out a gasp of surprise. You could only sigh as he took you to your destination.
You were dropped onto your bed, legs dangling off the front as he pushed you down into the mattress. You cocked a brow.
In an event you'd never thought would happen, he kneeled down in front of you, hands spreading your thighs apart. Was this a dream? You were in shock. There's no way he was going to. . .
You were pulled out of your thoughts when your panties were slid down your legs and tossed aside. It didn't take long before one hand was back between your legs, rubbing your clit as the other pressed against your stomach to keep you in place. You couldn't move your thighs which were locked apart, blocked by his shoulders.
You couldn't sit up with the way he had you pinned, and so stared at the ceiling, hands gripping the sheets.
A new sensation startled you, and you tried desperately to sit up enough to see, but it was no use.
It was his tongue, dragging up your folds until he reached your clit. He took the nub in his mouth, and you had to slap a hand over your mouth to prevent the noise that threatened to come out.
That old and familiar feeling built within you, like a spring coiling and coiling, ready to snap. Your mind went blank as a tension built within you. It was like everything but your cunt was numb. There, feeling was in overdrive. Every swipe of his tongue, every prod of his fingers inside of you, swiping forward to push against your favorite spot: it was too much.
You came with a breathless gasp, back arched as your hands dug into the sheets. Even without seeing, you knew your cunt was a mess. You could feel your cum seeping out. You could smell the scent of sex in the room. Your thighs shook, pussy clenching around nothing.
You expected him to pull back, but instead you felt his tongue licking at your cunt, swiping up any spill into his mouth. You let out a whine as he prodded inside, tongue lapping up your wetness.
Digits were back to circling your clit, and you moaned, still much too sensitive. Despite this, he had no intentions of stopping, instead switching out his fingers for his mouth as he thrust a finger inside of you. You had no time to process before another joined the first. Your head pressed desperately against your bedsheets.
"Slow down," you gasped, voice shaking. He didn't heed your words, and in fact, sped up the way his fingers pushed in and out of you. You whined. The tension was already back and ready to snap within you.
"Michael," you cried, eyes clenched shut. "Please!" You weren't sure what you were pleading for.
You came again, more violently than the last. Over and over your cunt pulsed, leaking your cum to pool at your enterance, only to be pushed back in with the shove of his fingers.
"Okay! Okay! You win!" you panted, wiping the sweat from your face.
When he still showed no signs of letting up, all you could do was let out a weak groan. You got what you desired, you supposed. But it seemed he found something he liked as well.
All this because you decided to talk a little shit about him. You didn't dare tell him there was nobody on the other line.
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jemmo · 4 months
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Making sense of love for love's sake: the game
Despite all the things i absolutely adore about how the plot unravels and expands in love by love's sake, upon first watch, there's some things i couldn't piece together, which @lurkingshan echoes in their post:
'The way the author was messing with Myungha and forcing cruel choices on him really does not track with a desire to help him find happiness.'
And to preface, this is not something i fully get yet either. I think i'll need a good month and a sizeable reading list of relevant resources to understand just what/who this author/sunbae is and what his role is and how he is associated with myungha. But as always with the best shows for meta (aka bad buddy), as a plot unfolds, you can always find a better understanding by looking backwards and re-contextualising what you've already seen. so i watched ep 1, specifically the scene between myungha and his sunbae at the bar. And i will talk about how everything said in this scene has a whole new meaning now we know the full story, but for now i wanna focus on that question that they keep coming back to; "Then... will you change it for him?".
When you watch the show for the first time, your brain follows the simplest, most obvious version of the story you're being told, one where myungha has been pulled into the world of his sunbae's novel that's being turned into a game and given the opportunity to fix the thing he didn't like about it; making yeowoon happy, and thus you just think the rules of the game are imposed by the author, and so when these cruel choices first come up, you see them as the difficult roadblocks that are nevertheless necessary to any kind of game, forcing the player to make an impossible choice so that the game can continue in a certain direction and its only after that you learn whether it was the right choice or not, or there is no right choice, it simply changes the game you are playing.
And when its revealed what this game actually is, at first i tried to interpret these cruel choices, namely the choice between yeonwoon and myungha's grandma, and at best i could come up with the concept of this being a choice between staying stuck to the past aka choosing his grandma, even though he knows that choice doesn't mean she's safe bc he knows the future where he loses here, its an inevitability, but thats the small happiness he knew before it was taken away and thus that happiness is known and safe, theres no risk, versus choosing to pursue a new happiness, a love of yeowoon and thus himself, which he doesn't know, he hasn't experienced yet, and could be risky. Its a happiness that isn't guaranteed like his grandma, but its a happiness that looks to the future and has hope in it that he can find a new happiness to pursue despite what has happened in his past.
And that fits nice, okayish. But then i watched ep 1 and heard that question "Then... will you change it for him?" And watching through the rest of the eps, we come back to this scene at the bar and each time we get a new run up to the author asking this question, either new dialogue is added or we hear a different piece of the conversation entirely. It starts at the beginning of ep 1 as:
"Because Cha Yeowoon is the only one who's miserable." "It can't be helped that some people's lives are like that" "The fact that some people are destined to live that kind of life is what's vile."
Then a bit later in ep 1 we go back and its expanded.
"It can't be helped that some people's lives are like that" "The fact that some people are destined to live that kind of life is what's vile." "Why? Do you think you'd write it differently?" "Yes, definately. Someone like Cha Yeowoon, or someone like me with an awful life, can also be happy."
And then all the way on in ep 6, we get this new dialogue.
"I don't like talking about destiny." "Why?" "Because it means everything is predestined." "Then do you not believe in fate?" "Fate and destiny are the same. My grandma likes to say that. She said life is like a written book, and how you'll live and die are written in it. (...)I don't like things like this. Even if fate is already destined, I think it can still be changed. Otherwise, there's no point in trying." "Really? Then Myungha..."
And while we don't hear the author ask the same question, I feel like him getting cut off like that insinuates that the conversation leads to that same ending point. All that is to say, every time we hear this question being asked, its like we learn more and more about what this whole thing is, what the game is, what myungha is saying he will do by agreeing to do what the author asks. And every time, we see myungha being more defiant against the idea of yeowoon being resigned to his miserable ending. He starts off thinking that kind of life is destined, and while it's miserable, its not something he can fight. Then he says he'd want to write the story differently, bc yeowoon, or even him, could be happy. He challenges the idea that yeowoon, and thus himself, is fated to be miserable, and opens up the possibility for happiness for them both, but doesn't yet have the means or resolve to do it, its like he knows its possible on a fundamental level, but doesn't see it as something he can actually achieve. But then we circle back to the idea of destiny and books, both of which came up in the previous quote, and seems incredibly pertinent seen as this whole thing is about a novel this author has written. Myungha talks about how he hates the idea that life is a book where everything written is predestined to happen, from the moment you live to the moment you die. He says "Even if fate is already destined, I think it can still be changed. Otherwise, there's no point in trying." That vile way of life he described before that he said was destined, he is now saying it can be changed, and that possibility is now something he's holding onto, its what he sees hope in so that he can keep trying, bc now he finally is trying, he has the resolve, he's trying to realise this thing, this impossibility of rewriting the life he thought was destined through the way he loves yeowoon.
And coming back to those cruel choices, given this fresh context, it made me think. bc this isn't actually a game that myungha has been put into where the rules are dictated by an author completely separate from him. He said himself, he'd rewrite it, he'd change things for yeowoon. And when you start to think of it less as him fighting against a rigid, removed system and more like him being a character in a story he is trying to rewrite himself, that has both the author and his own limitations, or just his own if you're in the school of thought that the author is some figment or part of myungha himself or his conciousness, then you can start to see where these cruel choices might come from. They could be myungha, the author making edits to this new story, imposing his own doubts and limitations on himself. When he says he has to pick between Yeowoon and his grandma, what if that's the new author myungha seeing this story unfold and thinking no this isn't right, he can't have it all, i'm not deserving of this much happiness.
And what makes me like this idea even more is that when we get that second choice between ending after 14 days or getting 100 days back at the cost of resetting Yeowoon's affection to 0, that whole conversation happens in what I think the bar actually is which is this frozen moment in time where myungha is in the water with this extension of a voice in his head that is talking through these things. That conversation in itself needs its own post, but when you look at it both as a decision to break up or not or a decision to hold onto life or not, you can see how the author is just this soundboard relaying the decisions myungha is going through in his head. The author's voice is his own, weighing up his decisions. And if he is the author here, it only reinforces that the person making the rules of this game is him. You can even extend it further to the idea of the debuffs, where he puts in place this thing that makes it so he causes harm to yeowoon when he's around, and its only by garnering affection that he can prevent it. He gives himself a reason from the get go to stay away from yeowoon and reason it as him doing it for yeowoon's safety, when in fact the only way to make yeowoon safe is to increase his affection, which he can only do by being near him. Its a system that at first gives myungha a reason to stay away aka not like himself, but ultimately says the only way you're going to make yeowoon like you, or the only way you can like yourself, is if you accept risk. And that in itself screams to me of a myungha writing in these game systems that are trying to encourage his own-self love while falling at the hurdle of his own lack of self-worth.
The idea is still messy in my head even for me, but i just really like the idea that myungha could be trying to fix this thing both as a character and game master, and that both these versions of him have these flaws that manifest in their different ways to cause the events we see. It kinda is the definition of being your own worst enemy, the idea that in order to work towards loving yourself, the biggest obstacle you have to encounter is yourself, bc we are the ones holding ourselves back, making all these rules that make it harder to like ourselves and pursue our own happiness. The voices in our head telling us that we aren't good enough and aren't deserving are our own, and while the things that happen to us can inform what they say, we're the one's reinforcing those words. And what this show teaches us is that, if we're the one holding that pen all along, we can choose to change what those words are. If we make the rules, you don't have to create a game with concrete ultimatums, you can create a game where rules don't control you. Instead, you make the decisions, and you can make the ones that make you happy.
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genericpuff · 4 months
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Why is the art so unappealing in lore Olympus now Persephone looks like a highlighter and maybe it’s just me but the proportions like the fingers in arms are soul over the place I don’t think they used to be this bad. Am I just looking at it with nostalgia or am I crazy ?
Honestly, nostalgia does play a huge part in it, even to this day there are times I look back on old S1 panels and go-
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Actually here's a great example that literally just happened yesterday in the ULO Discord that nearly had me on the floor LOL This is from Episode 70:
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Like I didn't even believe that that was real until I was told what episode it was from and I was just. Astounded and flabbergasted. The over-shading of the blanket that just makes it look like a really bad edit. Insane.
And yeah, there are a lot of old panels that hit different now that the rose-colored glasses have been removed, crushed, and thrown into the trash compactor.
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I think that's why it makes it all the more amusing when people come into my inbox and ask me "wait, why did you like LO to begin with?? It's always been ugly as shit, I think you're just romanticizing it" because like... there's something to be said about art and subjectivity, even if something is ugly to one person doesn't mean it isn't beautiful to someone else. It's why I try not to be too mean towards the fans of this comic for still enjoying it, because while I definitely have strong opinions about how "LO has gotten worse" and what kind of following Rachel has cultivated (cough cough), there are also just as equally valid arguments that LO has never begin good to begin with that I can't necessarily disagree with now that I'm looking back on it with a more critical eye.
That said, there's tons of media that I enjoy that is objectively awful. Like y'all, you don't need to take my opinions about a dumb pink x blue fantasy romance comic seriously, I like Starfox Adventures-
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Like yeah it's a badly made rushed piece of shit that was developed right on the ass end of Rare's glory days and was really an original IP (Dinosaur Planet) that got Frankenstein'd into a Starfox game so it could "sell better" for Nintendo, but I don't give a fuck, I love Starfox Adventures and some day I wanna be in the top 10 speedrunner leaderboards for it, which I know doesn't mean much because no one is speedrunning Starfox, but I do and no one can take that away from me dammit-
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Anyways. Lore Olympus has, in many regards, always had "bad art". But "bad art" can and should still be enjoyed by those who find joy in it.
And in LO's case, the world it existed in when it launched was a lot smaller than it is now - more specifically, the world of Webtoons. We can look back and see how 'bad' LO looks and reads now because there are genuinely way better comics surrounding it. It was unique and refreshing and experimental back then... now it's just "that stupid blue and pink comic for horny teenagers".
In most cases I would consider that "cringing in hindsight" feeling a good thing because normally it means something has grown and that it seeming "bad" in hindsight would mean that it's outgrown itself and moved onto bigger things. But LO has the more unique problem of "its current stuff is shit and it's making us want the old stuff more, even if the old stuff wasn't good either". In that regard, LO is closer to being like Harry Potter. Remember when The Cursed Child came out at the height of Rowling being exposed for being a TERF and even people who liked Harry Potter didn't like The Cursed Child because it was just objectively worse overall (with or without Rowling's bullshit attached)? It made a lot of people go back and re-read / rewatch Harry Potter with a more objective lens and go "wait a minute guys, I think we only adored these books so much because we were 12 when we read them". Often times it's the good memories we have surrounding certain things that make us have the opinion about them that we do.
Of course, LO is definitely not as politically weaponized as Harry Potter is, so that's where that comparison ends. But my point is that LO is definitely in a situation where it's been riding off the same privileges it had back in 2018 - having an 'experimental' art style while also utilizing tropes and characters that were VERY popular at the time (remember that 2017-18 was when Tumblr was at its height of H x P "Hades was a chill accountant guy who wore socks and sandals and didn't cheat on his wife like Zeus did" fantasizing) - and thinks that those same tricks and tropes will still work today.
Because of this, the art in LO really, really hasn't aged well, even the stuff that we look back on fondly. But I think it's the panels that we specifically think of when remembering "old LO" - the ones that stuck in our memories the most - that are the ones that make us miss or just not care about the panels that don't look good (the panels that make people question why we ever liked it to begin with).
We liked it because of how it made us feel to look at panels like these-
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Those genuinely wonderful panels that we think back on the most don't exist separately from the bad panels, they exist in spite of them. Even if we can look back on panels like these and pick out problems in the lineart or the proportions or the color travelling outside of the lines, that can't and shouldn't change how those panels made us feel at some point or another. And that's why when people ask me "why were you even into LO in the first place" I don't have any one answer, because I can't fully explain how something made me feel to justify why it's good to someone who can see from the outside - without rose-colored glasses - that it evidently isn't. It's very much a "you had to be there" type of thing.
Unfortunately, nowadays even the 'best' LO panels in S3 still don't come close to what the S1 panels accomplished - because for many of us, the rose-colored glasses are gone, we can't appreciate the good among the bad because we know now how bad it truly is and so the good just feels like wasted attempts at trying to recreate something it can no longer be. It "came back wrong" so to speak.
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LO came back just regular. But our journey to resurrecting it changed us to such a degree that even its closest intimacies are now foreign to us. Sorry dude.
This is still probably one of my favorite panels out of the entirety of S3 for being as close to "old LO" as I've seen since S2, and even it feels like a mistake, an accident, how could a panel like this exist in S3 when so much of it is a dumpster fire? It's like a flower growing in the ruins of an apocalyptic wasteland.
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But wasn't that always the case? Isn't that 'always' what LO has been, since the very beginning? A poorly cobbled together mess of writing and panels that, every now and then, manages to leave an impression that makes you feel something? Did we ever truly know LO? Or have we just been relying entirely on an idea of it that we've built up in our heads that when it does do exactly what it's evidently always done (even if not made apparent until looking back on it in hindsight) we think it "came back wrong"?
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151 notes · View notes
nothomegal · 5 months
Text
“The little owl family” (Part 6)
(RZ!Michael Myers x GNReader)
Summary: your and your little sister’s life had an 180° turn when your parents got into a severe car crash, dying on the spot. You, being already past 18 had to figure out how to keep things afloat and give yourself, specially your sister, a good future. And you did! It was hard but you did it and became the absolute hero in the little girl’s eyes. People would often involuntary smile at the dynamic of your two, so wholesome and supportive, the perfect family bond.Bond that a certain Boogeyman noticed as well…
Warnings: a very light reference to suicidal thoughts at the beginning.
Word Count: 4k
Additional info: Gender Neutral reader. (S/N) = sister’s name.
(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5)
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It's been a day or two after that late meeting between (S/N) and Michael. And... Things went oddly well from then! The little girl became more relaxed in his presence, and would often send him small waves when (Y/N) wasn't looking, and Michael would often answer with the same little wave. It became a little secret game of theirs, it was simple yet fun. The numerous close calls of getting caught or suspected by the older sibling would always awake the childish mischief inside of the man, the possibility to fool around a bit made him feel oddly comfortable and at ease, like momentarily experiencing the childhood he never had.
He also noticed that (Y/N) themselves began to act more on ease around him. There weren't as many death glares sent at his direction, mostly just some cassual glances as if to check what he's up to or where he is. He won't lie, he kinda missed the attention he used to recieve, but this calmer and passive (Y/N) wasn't too bad neither, it kinda made him feel more normal and welcomed actually.
But soon he began to notice that maybe this sudden passivity didn't start out of nowhere, and the reason would be uncovered pretty soon...
. . .
A light groan escaped through (Y/N)'s lips as they make their way towards the kitchen after putting their little sister to sleep. While walking, they've been holding their bandaged hand close to their chest, an instinctive attempt to soothe the throbbing pain that only increased over the days. They're pretty sure their awful sleeping also played a huge part of why the pain is so unbearable. The countless nights they've spent guarding the door of (S/N)'s room and staying on high alert durning most of the day over the past week really drained them, both phisically and mentally. Leaving just enough energy to breathe and maintain a positive actitude around their sister.
They let a sight of relief once they stopped in front of a counter that had all the medicines in. The older sibling reaches for the container of painkillers only for it to be suddenly snatched away right under their nose.
Already knowing who did that, they slowly turn towards the responsible of it, tiredly glaring at that stupid emotionless masked face they hated with burning passion.
The two of them remained still, observing each other in silence. Michael didn't even tilt his head, meaning that he wasn't wondering or asking, no... He wanted to know what they're doing and he wanted to know it now.
—"...What?"— you eventually blurt out.
No answer or movement.
—"I'm not going to kill myself, I just need some medicine because my wrist hurts..."— you elaborate tiredly. —"Can you give in back, please?"—
Still nothing.
The container was actually at a reachable distance. If (Y/N) really wanted they could probably snatch it back. But of course they're not stupid to attempt that, Michael is a very deceiving specimen and things are never as simple as they look when it comes to him and his shenanigans, (Y/N) learned that the hard way.
—"Look. I'm. In. Pain. I need this because I no longer can handle it. Please, give me back the container."—
Nothing.
They grit their teeth out of anger and frustration. Is this bastard mocking them now? Silently enjoying their suffering? Or he's genuinely oblivious of their clearly not okay state?
—"You did this to me, remember?"— you snap as you lift your bandaged hand to show it. —"You broke my wrist, it's been hurting for days and right now it's freaking unbearable. So please, just give me the painki-"—
Their heart nearly stopped when their injured wrist was suddenly grabbed by the masked man. All (Y/N) could do now is stay frozen and helplessly stare at the black eye sockets of the rubber mask, which were staring right back at their shocked expression. They didn't even notice their hands became shaky, anxiety slowly flooding their mind as they suddenly remember who is the man in front of them.
Michael Myers, the man who escaped Smith's Grove by killing with his bare hands anyone who stayed on his way, the man who scarred his own little sister for life by kidnapping her and killing everyone dear to her just because, the man that somehow escaped death and kept his reign of terror for an entire year without anyone being able to do anything... This man, this monster did horrible things, things that he can do to them whever he wants, and he may do it right now as punishment for their boldness and lack of self preservation.
(Y/N) doesn't even know what face they're making, their emotions are too unstable. The stress, frustration and exhaustion are way too much to handle right now. They can't even use the energy to mantain a stone face, not when they're trying to keep themselves from breaking down on the floor and scream out of the frustration.
They just want it to stop. They want him to go away and leave them and their sister alone. They want to stop feeling worry every second of their existence, to stop these anxiety spikes whenever the blade of his knife runs through their body as he teases them, to stop feeling fear whenever his dark gaze moves away from them and is casted on their little sister, to stop feeling guilt that creeps through them whenever they see sadness appear on the little girl's face when she catches them being upset, they wish they could make her smile again, please, make her real smile return...
They... They just want to stop feeling in danger... Feeling hopeless... Feeling like they failed...
Please...
Please... Make it all stop.
Whatever look they had, it was enough to make Michael suddenly let go of their arm. However, instead of walking away or stand still, he steps forward and closer to them, body langage unreadable as always.
(Y/N) doesn't move, they don't even look at him at this point. They simply let their arms fall limply on their sides and lower their gaze, not even noticing the hot tears sliding down their face.
They're so tired, they're done.
Their breath hitched when their body made contact with Michael's larger and warmer one, following comes the sensation of something equally solid and warm wrapping around their form in a firm grip.
The embrace was tight, maybe even tighter that the one from the night he broke in. It was hard to breathe, though (Y/N) is unsure if it's due Michael's strength or their own choked sobs they could no longer hold back. This gesture, though simple, broke them completely...
The more they quietly cried, the tighter the embrace got, as if the man was really trying to force them to spit all the angst out, and maybe he was. It's no secret that Michael has no knowlege about comfort, it's something he lacked most of his life after all. But now, right after seeing their gaze change, everything inside of him is yelling to grab (Y/N) and never let go. Their gaze... Oh, he knows that look.
That look on their eyes... It wasn't fear, it wasn't anger, it wasn't even hate. It was something dull, dull and lifeless, almost pleading for him to...
He presses his masked face against them. The only thought of having their blood on him makes him feel weird. Seeing (Y/N), who's usually composed, strong willed and straight up wild when it comes to the safety of their sister, so weak and broken in his arms, made the man feel very odd, a nasty and unpleasant type of odd.
—"...You."—
They grumble through gritted teeth as they press their forhead against his shoulder, as if really trying to hide their face.
—"I hate you..."—
He can feel (Y/N)'s fist collide with his back. Though the impact wasn't weak at all, it wasn't enough to make Michael let go, all the opposite, he only brought them closer.
—"I hate you."—
They repeat a bit lounder, tone cold yet broken.
—"Why do you still tormenting me? Why?... Why don't you just... J-Just..."—
Their voice breaks at the end of the sentence and is replaced by more cries. The punches soon ceased too, their hand slowly sliding off Michael's back. Soon their sobs began to quiet down and turn into ragged uneven breaths. They are mad, at themselves, at this man, at the world, at fucking everything!... But what pisses them off the most is that this bastard, the main responsible of their mysery, the devil everyone knows for the atrocities he commited, he's... He's somehow comforting them... Genuinely comforting them...
—"Why are you doing this?..."—
Silence.
—"Why are you making it look like you care?..."—
Because he does.
—"Why?... Why?"—
They kept repeating the same question over and over despite knowing that they will never get an answer. And to be fair, even if Michael could answer, he wouldn't. He doesn't know himself what he's doing or where this attachment came from or leads to, all he knows is that he desires to have (Y/N) close, hold into them like a predator into it's pray and never ever let go. But even with this unholy obsession, he can't deny the strange sense of comfort and completion (Y/N) brings him just by being around. Ever since (S/N) questioned him about his intentions and the strange attachment with the older sibling, he couldn't unsee or deny the way they make him feel. And even when they say they hate him, glare at him, try to hurt him... Even after all these unwelcoming actions, he just can't stop himself from wanting them around, from wanting them...
The two remain like this for a long time, even after (Y/N) stopped talking and crying they didn't move.
(Y/N) was a mess, both emotionally and mentally, yet they couldn't deny the fact of feeling a tiny bit better after letting it all out. Michael's grip on them remained tight, strong like steel, impossible to escape. It was like a cage... But a very needed cage.
No matter how much they try to deny it, deep down (Y/N) knows that they needed this, they needed someone to hold them tight as they spit all their concerns, pain and frustrations out. But that means nothing, that doesn't change the way they view Michael. Though his gesture is laudable, how do they know it's genuine? How do they know he's not taking advantage of them? Could this be his attempt to deceive them? Make them emotionaly dependent? And for what?... For what?!
What does he want from them for fuck's sake?!
They take one last deep breath, shuting down the swarm of thoughts and questions and finally calming down enough to speak properly.
—"Alright... I'm better, a bit better."—
But Michael made no movements, his grip remained strong.
They sigh again, a bit more annoyed.
—"Michael, really. I'm okay now. I-"—
They tried to lift their hands up to push themselves away, but a sudden yelp came out when they moved their injured wrist too harshly, making them recoil and Michael to finally let go.
—"Okay-... I'm not okay."— you grumble as you hold your bandaged wrist closely, trying to soothe the throbing pain.
When the ache somehow stabilized and (Y/N) looked up at Michael again, they were surprised to see him holding their car keys right in front of their face. They stare at the item a bit dumbfounded, questioning where the hell he wants them to go, until it eventually clicks.
They know what he wants them to do, and this is a golden oportunity to recieve propper help to their injury. But the anxiety and guilt of leaving their little sister alone, again, at night and with this man, is already eating them alive.
A couple of seconds of inactivity pass, and though (Y/N) was taking quite some time to decide, Michael remained stoic as a statue, patiently waiting for them to decide.
—"I..."— you sigh again, but with more determination. —"Nevermind. You're right, I need to go."—
They dry off the remaining tears on their face with a single rough wipe with their forearm. They have to quit crying, they embarassed themselves enough by having a meltdown in front of this bastart, which apparently was so bad and pity that he had to comfort them. Beside, they must stay strong, not just for their own sake but also for (S/N).
They reach for the key, but don't take it right away.
—"The terms are the same i suppose. I stay quiet about you and you don't disturb my sister, yes?"—
There is no movements from the man. Despite not seeing his eyes, (Y/N) had a gut feeling that he understood and accepted the deal. They mutter a quiet 'okay' before eventually taking the keys, without any issue suprisingly. Once all was settled, the older sibling steps aside but doesn't go towards the front door right away, instead they walk towards the stairs.
—"I'll make a quick check on (S/N) before I go, okay?"— you quickly explain before going up, not bothering to see if he did anything in response or not.
Suprisingly, Michael doesn't follow them, not this time. He remained at the bottom with his head turned towards the staircase.
To some the attention and worry (Y/N) shows for their little sister may seem overwhelming, but for Michael it is something to admire. They always place the little one in front of their own needs and safety, always checking on her and making sure she's safe and happy. Even after he came into their life, he saw the ammount of effort (Y/N) had always put into mantaining (S/N) away from him, to keep her hopes strong and always mantain that happy smile despite knowing it will dissappear as soon as he comes near...
(Y/N) is a good sibling, a very good and caring sibling. Is that how Judith could've been with him if given a chance? Would she ever made the same effort to treat him the way (Y/N) treats their little one? Would he be able to be as good to Angel? Was it too much to ask for her to remember him, to know who he is, to know her big brother was back home and be together as family ones again? Was it really so much to ask?...
"I wanna help you..."
"...But I don't know how..."
"...I wanna help you... But I don't know how..."
"...I wanna help you, but I don't..."
"YOU MOTHER FUCKER!"
Something inside of his chest squeezed uncomfortably, painfuly almost. He still remember these words and the way 'boo' screamed at him and the hate in her voice. It hurts, it hurts so much every time he remembers... He doesn't like the pain, it upsets him. Just why couldn't she recognize him?... What should he have done for that night to turn out different?...
The sound of footsteps softly going down the stair broke his train of thoughts.
—"Good news, (S/N) is still asleep. Doubt she will wake up until sunrise but I wouldn't go upstairs anyways, that girl sure wakes up from the randomest noises."— you comment quite casually.
However, they suddenly stop in their tracks when they reached the bottom and noticed that Michael wasn't following them with his gaze. A tiny detail that threw them off quite a lot.
—"...Are you alright?"—
The question made the tall man pause and realize that his hands were tightly clutched into fists. He slowly relaxes them, though an unpleasant aftertaste in his mouth and the general tension in his body remained.
Despite not having a clear answer, (Y/N) gives him a somehow knowledgeable look.
—"Remembered something bad?"—
He stays unresponsive for a moment, until he moves his head, giving a slow and barely noticible nod.
(Y/N) of course got a tag surprised, since it's the very first time Michael actually does something to answer them instead of staring blankly and let them figure out the message on their own. They don't focus on the sudden gesture though, instead they let out a small hum as they nod as well.
—"It happens... I too remember things I don't want to, a pretty nasty feeling gotta say."—
No answer.
(Y/N) seemed like they wanted to say more things, they decided against it and instead resumed their walk towards the front door. They stop to put some shoes and jacket, not minding too much the fact of them wearing pijamas. But before exiting, they look back at Michael's tall figure staring at them from the darkness, his pale masked face being the only visible feature.
—"I'll do my best to return before dawn, but no promisses."—
No reaction from the man, as expected.
They turn around and open the front door and pause again.
—"...Thank you, Michael."—
And after these words, they finaly step outside and softly close the door.
The masked man only tilted his head at this last sentence. Though these were three very simple words, he couldn't ignore how they affected him.
And the tension and ache from his memories were now completely gone, as if these bad feelings never came in the first place...
. . .
After a long wait and a ton of scolding from the doctors for neglecting their sleep and health, (Y/N) was finally driving back home. Luckly their wrist is healing fine, the sourse of the pain were the bad placement of the bandages and the overuse of their injured hand. Though they don't remember all the details, it seems like they'll be okay.
It was already dawn and the sun was slowly raising. However, they weren't too concerned, it was still early and there is no way (S/N) is awake, that girl sure enjoys lazy mornings after all.
And even after arriving home everything seemed in order, no weird vibes coming out the building and no funny feelings in their gut.
But the second they enter and close the front door...
—"(Y/N)!"—
A happy joyful voice exclaimed their name before something small launched at them into a hug with enough force to knock out some oxygen out of them. Nevertheless, the older sibling miraculously manages to mantain the footing and catch the little girl in a hug.
—"(S/N)?! How long you've been awake?!"— you ask in surprise and concern.
—"Oh... Uh..."— she thinks while poking her cheek with her finger. —"I think the little arrow on the clock was pointing at the number 5."— she innocently replies.
—"You've been awake since 5 of the morning?!"—you almost exclaim as you kneel down and take her hands. —"Are you okay? Were you scared? Did you know I was at the hospital? Did Michael do anything to you?"—
As an answer to their waterfall of question, the little girl childishly giggles.
—"It was all okay! But... I did get a tiny bit scared when I woke up and you weren't in the house, I though my nightmate of you dissappearing became true!... But then I saw Michael, and he explained that you went to see a doctor!"—
—"Michael... Explained?"— you arch your brow.
As soon as that question left their mouth, the tall man appeared at the entrance of the living room with a small toy ambulance in his hand.
—"Oh..."— you blink as you stare at the small item. —"I... I guess that makes sense how he did it."— you momentarily relax, but suddenly tense up again as you redirect your gaze to your sister. —"But seriously are you okay? Were you out your room this whole time?"—
The little girl shrinks in her place a bit flustered and embarrassed.
—"Well... I know you said last time not to exit my room when I had to stay with Michael, I swear I tried to follow your request! But..."— she bites her lip as she shrinks more. —"Please don't be mad, but I was just too scared to stay up there. You never left at night before! And... And when mom and dad left it was night too and-... And-..."— she starts hiccuping a bit by the end.
The little girl is interrupted when her sibling suddenly hugs her, holding her in a tight, secure and loving embrace.
—"Oh songbird, no... I'm so sorry if I came harsh on you, there is no way I can be mad at you for feeling scared for me."— you say as you place your head over hers. —"The first time I left, I was scared too... I was scared that when I come back you wouldn't be here..."—
A small gasp escaped the little girl and she quickly leans back to face her sibling.
—"You have nightmares of me disappearing too?!"— she asks quite surprised.
—"Yeah, I do."— you reply softly. —"Ever since I managed to convince the old ugly people to let me keep you, I sometimes have nightmares where they take you away."—
(S/N) frowns a bit, her childish mind not expecting that her usually super brave and calm sibling had such fears and concerns.
—"So please, don't feel bad, okay? Let's just be happy and celebrate that I made it home safely and you didn't disappear, yes?"—
—"Yeah... Yeah you're right!"— she exclaims, her happy-go-lucky tone returning. —"And Michael actually wasn't that bad! Though I wasn't in my room we still did our own things! Like, I presented him my toy dinosaurs while he stayed in thaaaaat corner over there and listened."—
—"Uh-huh..."— you mutter quietly as you glance at the tall man, who only tilted his head.
Man, if what the little girl is saying is true, then (Y/N) definetely owes Myers a medal for handling their sister's speech. Don't get them wrong, they love (S/N) to death and absolutely adore when she shares her interests and stories she invented about her toys or for their 'owl siblings' series! But sometimes she may get a bit too engaged with it.
Wait... Could that mean that Michael is being genuine with-.
—"And so... (Y/N)."—
(S/N) voice calling them snapped the older sibling back to reality.
—"About the 'celebrate' thingy..."— she says, suddenly shy.
—"You want me to make a cake, aren't you?"— you throw her an unimpressed look.
—"Yes!"— she giggles as she plays with her fingers. —"The cherry one, pretty please?"—
(Y/N) only rolls their eyes with a smile as they stand up and start taking off their jacket and shoes.
—"I guess I could make us a cake, remember the ingredients we need?"—
The little girl practically ignites in joy.
—"Yes! Yes I remember! Let me see if we have the all!"— she hurriedly says the last part before running into the kitchen.
The older sibling only chuckled as they finish undressing. They start going towards the kitchen but stopped right at the entrance, eyes already placed on the tall man.
—"Have you ever tried a cherry chip cake?"— you suddenly ask after a short pause.
The man slowly tilts his head to the other side.
—"I'll take it as a no. I'll make enough for you to have some too."— you pause. —"Don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean I trust you or enjoy having you around, but... I definetely owe it to you, for keeping an eye on (S/N) and such, and... And for what you did tonight."— you throw him a tiny smile before walking into the kitchen.
Michael didn't follow, not yet. His mind kept repeating that last image of (Y/N) over and over, from their suprisingly calm voice to the soft look in their eyes. But what would make his breath shake was the smile. It wasn't fake, it wasn't nervous, it wasn't out of politeness... It was a genuine, small yet sencere, dedicated to him and him only smile.
He lowers his gaze and places his hand on his chest, gripping the fabric of his coverals tightly.
It's hard to describe what exactly this set of emotions is, it all feels new. All he knows is that he suddenly feels warmth, a very soft and pleasant type of warmth...
It feels very familiar... Yet so distant and forgoten... As if he haven't experience these emotions for a long, long time...
...
...Happy.
He feels happy.
149 notes · View notes
theholypeanut · 30 days
Text
HIORI YO X GRUMPY AND SUNSHINE
Peanut's Wheel of Fortune Event
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Plot: Hiori, The Ice Prince, and you, the school Sunshine: you couldn't be more different - and yet, it works, your friendship. Or should we call it what it is: two dum dums in love.
CW: 2k words, Hiori tsundereeee (fight me), clueless!reader not getting any signs,two idiots in love, friends to lovers, stupid x even more stupid, teasing, flirting, reader loves gacha, fluff, gn!reader, Hiori has game at the end, pulling uno reverse on reader
Event Masterlist
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On the first day of high school, you sat next to Hiori. When you saw him for the first time, your immediate thought was how extremely gorgeous his face was: he looked like a precious porcelain doll. He was so beautiful, that, to be honest, for the first month you wondered if he was just a tomboy who refused to wear a girl's uniform. He never talked to anyone, just sat on his Nintendo Switch or looked through the window his headphones on. You barely exchanged a word during the first semester.
But after a certain incident just before the summer holidays, your approach changed. It was a hot day, you could almost feel your uniform melting into your skin, and you just wanted to die. You already had a reputation at school for being the "sunshine" of the class, always cheerful and loud, cracking jokes and sometimes talking back to the teacher in a way that made the whole class burst out laughing. Even though you sat next to Hiori most of the time, he was probably the person you talked to the least - not by choice, he just seemed to ignore you on purpose. At first the girls in the class tried to get close to him, obviously smitten by his beautiful face and promising football career, but when he barely noticed them and rudely ignored their attempts, they let it go and it fuelled his reputation as the „Ice Prince”. But you didn't mind. To be fair, apart from being a quiet person, Hiori was never really mean to anyone. He was not a bad person. You chose not to bother him, not to push him out of his comfort zone, and he ignored you. 
But this time, as you lay down on your desk during your break, as you always do, you couldn't help but take a long look at your classmate. He was playing a game on a console, with headphones on. His eyelashes were ridiculously long, and his features were so delicate that he looked like a flower, like a...
"You're not very subtle, are you?" You heard his voice as you noticed Hiori taking off his headphones. He looked at you with a visible frown. You made eye contact, feeling like a summer heat was already scrambling your brain, getting rid of any possible embarrassment. „Have anyone told you you look like a periwinkle?” He blinked. „Like… what?”
„A flower. You look like this pretty blue flowers you can sometimes see in botanical gardens.”
He sat there, stunned, his expression hard to read. Without an answer from him, still with your face on the desk, you didn't look away. 
„Honestly I didn’t know people as pretty as you are even real” you said without thinking, seeing that his face getting visibly red. He looked away, which made your heart beat a little faster. Was he...?
"Did the sun fry your brain?" He mumbled, trying his best to stay out of your sight. But you knew what you saw. Hiori Yo, an Ice Prince, was blushing. And that was the moment, you made an unconscious decision, to start actively bother him for the rest of your high school career: if it meant seeing that expression again.
And that was also a beginning of a beautiful friendship. 
In your second year of high school, you ended up in the same class again, seemingly thrown together by fate. Everyone at school speculated that you two had been dating for months, The Sunshine and The Ice Prince: isn’t it the cutest combination? Hiori never bothered to explain that you were not dating, and at best you were "very close friends". This was because of two things: firstly, you were his close friend, but every now and then he doubted that he was yours. You were always so bright and smiling, so nice to everyone, with so many friends wherever you went. Sometimes he wondered if something happened to you, or if you were in trouble, would he be the first person you'd call? He wanted that to be the case, but he couldn't be sure, which made him... jealous. And that was the second reason: Hiori Yo, the Ice Prince, would never, ever admit that he never denied having a relationship with you, because he simply wished it to be true. Was he stupid? Naive? Maybe. But to be honest with himself, he couldn't imagine not falling in love with you. 
What was even more annoying, though, was that you couldn't have been more dense. Hiori was never the type to show his affection in a straightforward way, but he had his moments: he helped you when you were struggling with heavy things, he helped you with quests in a game (you started to get into it just to have more topics to talk about), he bought wired headphones just so he could listen to music with you: nothing. You just smile and comment on what a softie he is, which makes him blush, and you can't take a damn hint. You were hopeless. Sometimes he felt you liked him back, just by the teasing words you said or the casual touch of his hair (the day you tucked his hair behind his ear without warning is still fresh in his mind and makes his heart skip a beat before he falls asleep). The worst part was when he was embarrassed, all Hiori could come up with was some mean or sarcastic comment. But you read so many romance mangas, how could you not understand that? The day Hiori saw a random guy from the basketball team confessing to you was the day he decided he had to do something. You politely rejected that clown, but that didn't let the blue-haired prince relax for long. The idea of confessing scared him, but the thought of you seeing someone else made his heart sink. However, he knew far more about you than any other boy ever could: and he planned to use that to his advantage. If he was too embarrassed to confess, perhaps he could charm you into falling for him and confessing first? The plan wasn't that simple, but it was worth a try.
When you got back to class, having answered all the embarrassing questions about your confession, you sat next to Hiori with a sigh of relief. On days like that, you were grateful for how cold Hiori was. He wouldn't even look at you, let alone ask for all the details about the poor basketball boy. But to your surprise, in the middle of the lesson, you felt a small piece of paper slip close to your hand.  "Are you free after school today?" It was written in familiar handwriting. You smiled.  "I'm always available for you" you drew a tiny heart at the end. Since last year, of course, you enjoyed teasing Hiori with flirtatious lines whenever you got the chance. At this point you couldn't even stop yourself if you tried, it was like breathing.  "There's a new gacha machine in the arcade. Want to go?" He wrote back, not even blushing at your message. A bit disappointing, but Hiori rarely invited you first, if you ever hung out it was at your initiative, so you were still excited. Not to mention that you really enjoyed gachas. "It's a date" you wrote back without thinking any further.  You couldn’t hide your excitement for the rest of the day.
When you came out of the school gate, you looked at your friend. 
"It's something new that you don't have football training today" he just looked away when he heard your words.  "Practice was cancelled" he mumbled in a tone that clearly showed the conversation was over. You walked in silence for a longer second before he started: "So... the basketball guy, huh?" He changed the subject, which only made you sigh. 
"Please, don't even start. I'm not even sure what that guy's name is. I don't think we've spoken more than once. It's embarrassing."
Hiori looked at you carefully. 
"Yes, but have you ever thought that maybe that's enough?"
You looked at him in surprise.
"Enough for what?" You raised your eyebrow.
"To fall in love with you" he said without looking away. No matter how you looked at it, Hiori was a different person today. Saying something like that in such a serious tone and not looking away in embarrassment did not seem like him. He never really wanted to talk about romance or love. Just games and football. He left you speechless until you saw the entrance to the familiar arcade. 
It was surprisingly crowded for a Tuesday evening, and at certain points you had to squeeze in between sweaty boys of all ages. You felt someone grab your hand. Before you could scream 'pervert', you realised it was only the blue-haired boy. 
"Don't get lost" he said in a neutral tone and pulled you out of the crowd. The gacha area was still mostly occupied, but the target audience had changed drastically: now you were surrounded by teenage girls. Hiori pointed to one of the machines further back. As you followed in that direction, you gasped in surprise. 
"No way!" You said as you approached the machine. It was one of your favourite series of all time, one of those niche things that were not popular enough to deserve a proper merch. Still holding your hand, Hiori, finally a little embarrassed, handed you a coin. For a second, you seriously considered that maybe you had forgotten your own birthday, because everything felt too perfect. 
"Are you going to get one too?" You asked, spinning the wheel to get your beloved little trinket. 
"What?" He asked, distracted. 
"We should get matching ones" you said with a smile, taking the ball out. „I’ve always wanted to have matching keychains”
He smiled softly and took another coin out of his pocket. "You better not cry later that mine's cuter" he teased. 
It felt so wholesome and cosy, just perfect. The bickering, the teasing, the little gestures he made to you always made you feel warm inside. And here you are, laughing and comparing the keychains you got, so close you could smell the detergent on his uniform. You were much more aware of his presence because you couldn't help but feel shy, Hiori still holding your hand all the time. You tried to remember the last time you did it, but your mind just went blank: it was the first time you had held hands since you became friends. And even more surprisingly, on his own initiative. But you couldn't complain. Considering his constant training, you expected his hands to be more calloused, but they were soft and large, and you just realised that you really wished this moment wouldn't end. „Do you want to get out of here?” His voice brought you back down to earth. You raised an eyebrow.
"Where do you want to go?" You asked, moving towards the exit. To your surprise, he grinned. 
"Where would you like to go? It's your date as much as mine" he said calmly.  "Good question, would you like to get something to eat? There's this…" you stopped, processing his words. You turned to face him, only to notice that he was looking away awkwardly. "You…" you started, not knowing where to go with the sentence. You felt your face grow hot.
"If you don't want this to be a date, maybe you should let go of my hand, you know" he said, still avoiding your eyes. You two must look so ridiculous: two people, holding hands, avoiding each other's eyes, all blushing. After you didn't answer, the blue-haired boy started to gently pull his hand away from yours, which only made you grip it tighter. 
"Stop it" you said, unable to control how red your face was. You cleared your throat. "Let's get some ramen, shall we?" 
Hiori finally looked at you, with the softest eyes. Too bad you were still too embarrassed to look back and notice. 
"Sounds perfect to me."
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elysianeclipxe · 1 year
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make the moment last | enhypen niki
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warnings: one scene of second hand embarrassment, niki being whipped for reader
genre/au: so much fluff, a smidge of f2l,
word count: 1.3k
summary: every time the moment comes it always gets interrupted by something like a phone call, but not this time, this time niki's not letting that moment go to waste
sidenote: this was requested by anon, so everyone say thank you anon. i kinda fell in love with writing this, it just felt so fluffy. alsooo, just sayingg, love the layout and aesthetic of this fic, super proud hehe.
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Niki doesn’t know if cupid was with him or not. Why? Well, you agreeing to go on a cruise with him was the first good sign that everything was going according to the plan. You, however, constantly escaping his MANY attempts to kiss you is somehow incredible and also the series of bad signs that go against his plan. It wasn’t like you didn’t reciprocate his feelings, but after all those attempts.. well, it’s kind of hard to distinguish if you really do like him the way he likes you. 
At this point he was starting to lose hope on if you both would ever have that kiss between you two. Well, it wasn’t as if he wouldn’t have any other chance to kiss you. It was just that he spent so much time trying to research what the perfect romantic moment would be for you both and plus you’ve been talking about wanting to go on a cruise so it was great timing. No wonder why he tried so hard with it, saving money for the trip just for that ideal moment. Wanting you to just associate every cruise in the future with the first cruise you had with him, the very place where you both had that kiss. IS IT SO BAD FOR HIM TO WANT THAT?
You know what? Maybe cupid was with him. Maybe he was the problem. I mean, there were so many moments that were perfect to initiate the kiss but it always just ended because of something. Be it your phone ringing, things getting awkward, or him getting too nervous and just backing away or bringing up another topic. Niki shuts his eyes in embarrassment as he remembers his last attempt at the moment.
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Niki and you sat on his bed and burst out in laughter after stealing three platters worth of cupcakes that were meant for other people on the cruise. You both catch your breath and you take a bite out of the cupcake, happy with the current feeling blooming in your chest. “You have frosting over here,” he told you as he pointed at a certain point on his face. Your hands tried to wipe that area on your face but you kept on missing, so the only thing he thought to do was wipe it for you. His thumb lightly grazed over the corner of your lip and there it was. The perfect moment. But what did he do? Blabber and ask if you wanted to play some animal crossing on the switch. Right after you left the room to sleep he yelled in frustration, “Ughh, I have got no game! Y/N’S NOT GONNA WANNA KISS ME AT THIS POINT! WANNA PLAY ON THE SWITCH?! SERIOUSLY? IDIOT!”
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The male shakes his head, deeply wishing to erase that memory of his. That very very very stupid memory. He pushes himself off his bed, grabs his jacket, and opens his door. Maybe some fresh air on the balcony lounge could do him some good, cause he knew well that if he stayed in his room for another minute he would go nuts. Thinking about the previous attempt was bad enough, let’s not push it.
He walks over to the doors that lead to the balcony and pushes it open. And there you stand in all your glory. Moonlight shining against your skin as you look at the endless body of water. You turn your head and widen your eyes at the surprise of seeing him. “Niki… Hi. I- uhhh, didn’t think you’d still be awake. Do you want me to leave?”
“NO!" He quickly replies, shaking his head at your words. Why on earth would he want you to leave? I mean yeah, he didn't expect to see you but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to see you. Stay calm, it's just y/n. "I mean uh no, that’s fine… Sooo, what brings you here?”
“I couldn’t sleep. My mind is pretty.." you glance over at him and immediately divert your eyes back to the sky when you meet his eyes. He looks nice, really nice. "..occupied at the moment. Thought some fresh air would help me out. You?”
Yeah right 'occupied'. Occupied with thoughts of him. How am I supposed to clear my head now that he's here?? 
“Same, not the sleeping part though. I just kinda need to destress a little. Still, I'm glad to see you here, makes this a lot less lonely.” He smiles at you, taking the spot beside you. Wow, he really is pretty. His smile seems even brighter today.
You can feel the heat in your cheeks spread at his words. Was he always this smooth? You clear your throat and look away. This was bad for your heart. “Ehmm, uh can you believe this is our last night on the cruise? It was a really memorable experience, even more so since I was with you."
"I… I enjoyed it as well, being with you. Kind of don't want it to end.." You lean your head onto his shoulder and grin as you feel him freeze up at the sudden action.
"I don't either… Niki? I’m really glad you brought me here. I've always wanted to go on a cruise, so, thank you."
"No problem. Anything for you, seriously." You tilt your head to look at him and find him already looking at you, taking in just how beautiful you look. This is it, this is the perfect moment. Niki can feel it. He leans in slowly and the distance between you two shortens until-
BRINGGGG
The both of you stiffen up at the sound and he can feel you lean back. You take your phone out and sigh in frustration. Stupid phone call. "I am so sorry, but I have to take this.
'No, don't leave! Stop her, Niki!' He can hear his subconscious yelling at him. Ughh, FUCK PERFECT MOMENTS! If he learned anything from the cruise was that perfect moments were overrated. If he wanted to kiss you, then now is the time. "No, not this time."
He grabs your wrist and pulls you back to him. He raises his hand to cradle your face and leans forward till he feels his lips against yours. There it was, the cue of the butterflies fluttering in his stomach. You wrap your arms around his neck and deepen the kiss, grinning against his lips. Niki feels the both of you melt into each other's touch. He hums against your lips in pure content before pulling away. That was better than anything he could imagine, before he knew it he already broke out into a smile at the sight of you.
He takes your hand into his and bites his lip a little, fiddling with your fingers out of nervousness; takes a deep breath before blurting it all out. "I like you, y/n. I really like you, and you have no idea how much I wanted to kiss you. I have been waiting to do that since the moment I realised that I liked you." He shuts his eyes and waits for you to reply. Ahhhh, he can feel the awkwardness start to settle in.
He's so cute with his eyes shut tight. Did he really think that you were gonna reject him? As if. "I like you too, Niki. So much so that my heart cannot handle how cute you are being right now." He lets out a sigh of relief before showing you his brightest smile.
You quickly pull him into another kiss and feel his arms wrap around your waist. So what if the perfect moment had some ups and downs. That's what made it special to you both. It may not have been a perfect scene, but it sure felt perfect. You break the kiss suddenly and ask, "is that what you were trying to do yesterday in the room–"
"Shhhh, we don't need to talk about that anymore." He hurriedly shushes you and pulls you back in for another kiss. You both laugh against each other's lips and feel your chests filled with love and ease. This was it, this was the moment, the moment that Niki tried so hard for. And it couldn't be any more perfect in his eyes.
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I loved this request so much, anon!! I hope you all enjoyed reading. Comments, likes, and reblogs are appreciated ^^
© elysianeclipxe. all rights reserved. do not copy, repost, translate, or modify my content onto other platforms.
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flymmsy · 2 months
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do you think that gort used to like karlach at some point? or was he just always faking it to get what he wants? curious about your interpretation of their relationship
I actually wrote about that here! (TLDR: He very much admired her, but Gortash has a fucked up way of showing admiration.)
Karlach and Gortash’s relationship is fascinating. I feel strongly that it was platonic, with perhaps some wiggle room on Karlach's part only because she is really quick to say "it wasn't like that." But I do think that Karlach became one of only a handful of people that Gortash (thought he) cared about.
Gortash on a very base level would never put his security into the hands of someone he didn't trust. A lot of people really wonder "Why Karlach?" - and that's a great question to ask, what is this ~19 y/o (roughly) going to do for you? But it is because it is a bizarre pick that we should look deeper - on the one hand, she's young and impressionable and he can mold her - thats an obvious motivator. But on the other, I strongly believe Gortash saw himself in young Karlach. I also love Karlach and don't want to diminish anything that Gortash did to her, but I am a little skeptical of her "I didn't recognize evil when I saw it" line. I think that's not entirely true - I do think Karlach knew more about what he was (not a Banite, but an Arms Dealer), but she was young enough that she didn't quite understand the true ramifications of that. I think she knew her boss was bad, but didn't think too deeply into just how bad he was and the consequences of his actions. Plus, he gave her financial security she literally never had. As a person who grew up in poverty, yea I'd be willing to overlook a certain degree of shit too for that security.
[And to those who might be unhappy with that take - you're not giving Karlach enough credit. Someone who did bad things/was around bad people and ended up developing into an insanely incredible person in spite of it (and in opposition to it) is a testament to her character AND way more impressive than someone who was just blind and ignorant. She's so much more than that.]
Even more interesting is how genuinely happy Gortash is to see Karlach if you play her origin. It only comes out in this very quick origin-specific interaction - but he actually laughs and sounds different than the entire rest of the game.
"By the Black Hand, I'd recognize that voice anywhere."
Now, I'm insane and overanalyze voice actor's performances all the time, but his voice is immediately rougher and his cadence is different before it shifts back into the regular Gortash voice immediately in the next sentence - "Karlach - it's been an eternity" - as if he's caught himself slipping into something he shouldn't have. Will the real Enver Gortash please stand up?
I've also written about how I think Gortash is genuinely surprised that Karlach is angry with him/blames him for the Hells. It reveals so much about how he's so delusional about his own trauma.
So - in short - I feel that Gortash would say Karlach was one of the closest people to him ever and fully mean it. It's just that she happened to be close to someone who was a terrible, terrible person.
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thydungeongal · 2 months
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apologies if this has been asked already, but I'm curious as to why you enjoy monsterhearts so much? you recommend it because the mechanics support narrative arc, due to the way the skins are narratively connected to a certain high school clique. but I found that to be the most frustrating part of the game, honestly.
I was constantly hitting my head against the narrative and my character because it felt like there was only one way to really play a skin and their arc. one of my favorite things to do in ttrpgs is to Subvert classes and tropes, but in monsterhearts your relationship to your class (and the mechanics that go with it) feel either static or inevitable. The Queen is always the Queen Bee, which I guess makes sense, but it simply feels boring.
your monsterheart post was in response to why everyone likes d&d warlock, and op said its because warlock's mechanics are strictly tied to its narrative, but i disagree: I think a lot of people, me included, like warlock because of the Choices and freedoms that come with the class. you didn't Have to play a warlock with a direct, antagonistic, and codependent conflict with their patron. because the game does not have any specific mechanics for patrons, you can kind of do whatever with them.
I always think that limits will make someone think more creatively in those bounds, and I was hoping monsterheart would have that sort of creative energy, but when I was playing it, I felt like I was wrangling the rules and my own moveset at every turn.
am i simply not viewing the game in the right way? is it just not for me? am i not being creative enough? I'm trying to get over the mindset that rules are the enemy, but idk. i just haven't been able to really get into smaller ttrpgs except like, troika! (which i do love a lot tbh), and i want to know what I'm missing. sorry for the long, rambling question
It might simply not be for you. For me the fact that the skins each represent a clear narrative trope within high school drama that has ways that the rules encourage them to act in (those ways being Bad because the point of the game is to produce explosive melodrama) is a net positive, because the character skins are not just "classes" but also archetypes. And while within a single skin the narrative arc of the character can feel like it's prewritten it never exists in isolation: there are always the other PCs, the rest of the school, and the town the characters live in, as well as whatever Threat threatens the town this time. All of those, in combination, are what makes the arc and what makes the narrative truly emergent. Monsterhearts really shines as a game where the PCs are at each other's throats and working at cross purposes, and because of that the best experience comes from approaching it via simply producing the most fun melodrama while trying to fuck with the other characters.
Also I do think there's something to be said for the freedom afforded by the Warlock in D&D in having the license to consider the character's relationship to their patron, but I also see that there being very little meat to the relationship with the patron, mechanically, means that there is also very little narrative weight attached to it. Because narratives in RPGs emerges from mechanics. The Warlock is a great example of a class that has well-established ties to the fiction of the world and that suggests drama, but still leaves all of that up to the group. Or, as @rathayibacter said in the replies to that post:
the thing that kills me is that, rules as written, your warlock patron doesnt actually matter. dnd gives zero tools to the players or gms for how to get a warlock's patron involved in the game outside a few vague suggestions. it's the best the game's got to offer, and its still 95% people bringing their own soup to the restaurant that only sells stale crackers.
Anyway, D&D also has strong character archetypes for the point of the game it's mechanically most opinionated about: combat. While people do complain about Rogues doing nothing but sneak attack all day, that's literally what the fiction sets them up to do, and a Rogue that sneak attacks all day in D&D is doing God's own work. So too with the Mortal who ends up in the middle of a romantic triangle/square/pentacle in Monsterhearts thus making the situation more fucked up, because that drama is what the mechanics of Monsterhearts are concerned with.
But yeah tastes on this do vary and some people are okay with background stuff being just suggestions, but I personally like it when it is actually in harmony with and supported by the mechanics, because that makes the fiction tangibly real in the game. But idk
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WIBTA if I confronted my boyfriend about not feeling praised enough? Over dumb D&D shit?
Background - I (20s F) live with my boyfriend (30s M) and things are usually great. He's always been supportive, emotionally intelligent and caring and we've had no major problems. We met via D&D several years ago so it's pretty important to both of us, and I'm a DM. Before we met, he was involved in a years-long campaign with some friends and is generally more experienced in D&D than me (I've been DMing around 5 years, he's probably closer to 10).
The current campaign that I'm running is something I'm really proud of. It's a mid-length campaign and I made the story myself (I typically plan mine to be 6-8ish months to avoid things fizzling out) and I've tried really hard to step up my writing and story planning for this one.
I've put in a LOT of extra time and effort and have been holding myself to a much higher standard than I usually do. As a DM I get self-conscious over how much time people are spending with me each week, and I want to make sure it's REALLY worthwhile. And because my boyfriend is more experienced in D&D than me, I've been looking to him for feedback and/or praise, as it would mean a lot to me coming from him.
And I've been getting close to nothing. At the end of each session he immediately falls asleep and doesn't talk about it at all. It makes me feel like I'm keeping him up/boring him. So I started asking him things like "hey what did you think about how I handled X" and he'll give a brief response like "yeah it was great" without explaining anything.
He didn't even give much thought into the character he's playing either - for his old campaign he created a HUGE story for his character, background, goals, etc. I know for a fact he's an incredible creative writer and could have come up with something wonderful for this. But he didn't put down anything other than basic character sheet stuff. When I asked him about it, he says he only goes deep into character when it's "long campaigns like my old one" and "too bad a long campaign like that will never happen again. That's D&D at it's best but now we're all adults, and we're too busy to ever do that, half my friends have kids, it'll never happen again and it's so sad" etc etc.
It made me feel like shit - like anything I try to do is a waste of time and pointless compared to this legendary "old campaign". Like it's barely worth staying awake for, like it's some kind of chore he has to sit through every week just because I'm his girlfriend and he's just humoring me.
The other players have been EXTREMELY enthusiastic and supportive - they send me art they make based on the campaign after every session and have contacted me privately to compliment me on certain aspects of the campaign. I want to make it clear that this is NOT something I EXPECT, but moreso I just really really love and appreciate that they do this for me, especially while my boyfriend is kind of leaving a void where I'd want this kind of praise.
Full transparency, one of my worst fears is forcing people to play along with something that I am passionate about, but bores them to tears. I never want to make a big deal over something that means a lot to ME but doesn't mean that much to someone else. So maybe I should just let this go because, at the end of the day, it's just a game? And taking it so seriously makes me an asshole and I should touch grass? I feel like potentially starting a fight over stupid nerd stuff would be pointless on my end. But at the same time, the more we play the more I feel deflated and I really hate feeling that way. I'm not sure what to do tbh.
What are these acronyms?
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ladymarycrawley · 10 months
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The blondie I'm in love with - Mason Mount
Request: Mason has a fake girlfriend but with a happy ending please (requested by @masterclassbaby sorry baby, I kept you waiting so long for this 🙈 hope you like it!)
Warning: one of my worst pieces to date I think but after months of lacking any motivation to write about Mason I got struck but this idea all of a sudden last night so
Tag list: @masonxomount @prideofpd @masterclassbaby @chelsealover @johnstonesfc
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Summer’s hot and sunny weather it’s like the secret ingredient for good things to happen, such as good holidays in beautiful places. Better if shared with people we love and have fun with. That was the case for you and Mason who got the chance to spend some time together with some of your mutual friends, spending days at the beach and nights out, staying up late.
Another thing that usually happens in summer, football related, is the transfer window where players say goodbye to the teams they've played in until that moment and let some new teams welcome them for their new adventure. Mason made no exception as he was among those players too. 
The season that just ended wasn’t the best of his career for sure and he needed that month away from football to clear his mind as well as relax. 
“Well now everyone will make up some weird theories about your new hair colour and that'll be so much fun" 
Clearing his mind meant also doing some crazy things such as dying his hair platinum blonde (something that was quite en vogue among those football players…what’s the fascination behind it?). Most people, the ones who liked drama more than anything else, were certain there was some deep meaning behind those style changes.
"You'll be the one to blame"
"Me?? What does it have to do with me?"
"Cause it's always some girl's fault"
You rolled your eyes, making him giggle.
"As if"
"We could turn the whole situation at our advantage and make it fun"
"What do you mean? You're scaring me, Mount"
“Well, we could pretend you’re my girlfriend and you’re the one girl to blame”
You served him a kind of puzzled look, not seeing the whole point of the thing.
“And so? What’s the sense of it all?”
 “Just to give them something to talk about, you know the transfer window is here and I’ve had enough of random people assuming things about myself and my future as a player so we’ll give them a distraction”
"I'm not sure I want to be their distraction…"
After a one of a kind, rather weird courting you gave in and accepted to be his fake girlfriend: behind the cameras and the paps' flashes you kept on behaving normally, as if nothing happened, as if you were still a couple of good friends and nothing more.
One of the reasons why you didn't want this thing to happen was because you knew, like it or not, something deep down your soul would have changed the way you perceived him and, consequently, the trajectory of your friendship. You always had a soft spot for him, not only because he was one your best friends but because something stronger was burning inside of you.
When his best mates would nudge him to tell him someone was watching or it was time for him to start his little act of the boyfriend in love your heart started racing: the way he would move closer to sneak his arm around your waist and graze the pad of his thumb against your hip bone, matched with the tender touch of his lips lingering against your jaw made you feel kind of dizzy. What if you were falling in love with one of your closest friends, for real, not just to play some senseless game?
"We would really make a cute couple" He whispered in your ear, giggling.
You giggled back, annoyed by how this thing was a bit too funny to him. 
"We should break up at some point, you know that?"
"Who said that?" He kissed the sensitive skin behind your ear, causing goosebumps all over your arms.
"God Mase, I hate you sometimes" 
The smirk on your face as he was holding you tight to him made you a very bad liar, there’s no other place you would have rather be in.
Those days were soon turning into a slow agony: Mason would swim close to you and give you underwater hugs, napping with you on the same bed, placing his hands on your hips in the club at night so your bodies would sway together to the rhythm of the loud music. You were doing all the things a couple would do but you weren’t a couple.
This dynamic cooled down when it was time for him to get back in business as things at Cobham weren’t going particularly well but you were sure he’d have sorted it out as he was Chelsea through and through. But you were wrong.
He avoided talking about what direction his football career would have taken even with you, who used to be the one he would tell everything, even the smallest things.
When the day prior to his official announcement he sat on your bed in your London house to tell you he accepted the bid Manchester United made for him so he would have moved up north rather soon you felt as if the whole world was falling upon your shoulders and Mason was your whole world.
"Wh - what? You're not a Chelsea player anymore?"
The sadness filling his eyes was heartbreaking to say the least, he was gutted to leave his heart's club, most of all because he was kind obliged to do so if he wanted to go on playing, which was the thing that mattered the most to him.
Mason nodded as his chocolate pupils followed your body falling to the ground, on your knees.
"Hey, are you -" He asked, getting up in a rush to take you.
"Don't touch me"
He gave you a puzzled look and you soon provided him with an explanation. 
"You knew it, you knew you'd have left Chelsea and London from the beginning. That's why you dyed your hair this awful blonde that makes you look like a fuckboy. I hate you. You just used me for fun and you knew it from the beginning!" You cried out, trying to fight back the tears.
“You agreed when I told you about the fake relationship”
“Yes but you did it only because you already knew you would have left Chelsea and you used me as a shield against the fucking press!”
“I - didn’t know anything about United, we were in talks but it wasn’t official at all!”
“Fuck off Mason” You muttered, lowering your eyes as if you were looking for something on the carpet your tired body was abandoned on. Mason didn’t dare to look at you either, keeping his gaze down too.
"I dyed my hair simply because I liked it, because I had a shitty season felt the need to change something…I like you too"
"You what?" Your eyes now had to stop looking for something that didn’t exist on the floor and start to look at the handsome boy before you who just happened to say something quite powerful.
"Y/N I wanted to have some fun, yes, but I also liked you for quite a while and I didn't know how to tell you not to ruin our friendship." He kept on explaining with the softest voice.
“Oh so you now think you can get away with it by saying some sweet words??” Yes, those sweet words surely had an effect on you and denying it was the biggest lie ever.
“Come to Manchester with me”
That invite left you in a shocked state as it was the last thing you were expecting: why should he ask you to follow him away from London? You were good friends but that’s not the kind of question usually asked to someone who’s only a friend.
“Did you hear what I said?? I don’t even know if I want to be your friend anymore. You just used me and now you’re asking me to leave my city, my everyday life to follow you?”
“Yes, because I love you”
The three words. Mason just said those three words to you. 
“You’ve always been there for me when I needed it, you always keep up with my shit, including faking a love relationship, but now I feel like I’m ready to have a real one. I wanna get home from training and see you there, dozing off on the sofa and kiss your forehead or taking you out to dinner at some fancy place”
Mason was there, looking as the most fragile creature you’ve ever seen, opening his heart to you with no fear, he was being the Mason you fell in love with, little by little, over the years.
Warm tears, joyful ones this time, started rolling down your cheeks as you threw your arms around his neck, causing him to fall flat on the mattress.
“I hate you, blondie”
“You love this blondie, you’re such a bad liar” You got lost in each other’s eyes that were shining with a different light, a warmer one.
“This could be the moment where I confess I’ve always been secretly in love with you but I won’t” You whispered shyly, making him smile.
He smirked and caressed your lower back in a circular motion.
“You hid it quite well actually” You both giggled before he pressed his lips against yours in a real kiss, one of those sloppy but heartfelt kisses that took you to another dimension, a dreamy and ideal one.
The moment you were living was just too intense to think about anything else and soon you found yourself straddling him, not even realising the speed at which your clothes fell on the floor, too busy making love to him for the first time.
That bed felt like the best place on earth, the one where all your dreams and hopes became true, the one where you were safe from every danger the outside world might be holding against you.
“This is not just a summer thing, right?”
“This will be a thing for many summers to come”
Mase’s arms were now your home, the shelter you would have run to in case of extreme glee or of unbearable pain, it was the place to be.
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photogirl894 · 21 days
Text
I know I've shared before a bit of what The Bad Batch has meant to me, but I just feel that I have so much more I want to say. Though, in all honesty, I don't think I'll ever be able to put into words exactly how much it means to me, but I'll certainly endeavor to do my best 😊
Having grown up with Clone Wars and just being a lifelong Star Wars fan in general, I was excited when the Bad Batch show was announced. Another Star Wars animated show?? Hell yeah!! I was so down for it. I remember going to my parents place to watch it with my family and my friends...and I fell in love SO fast! I remember thinking the Bad Batch were cool in their CW season 7 arc, but that was about it. Something about them in "Aftermath" changed my view of them and having Omega show up, too, made it even better. Then episode 2 came out later that week and I knew I was hooked right as the episode ended.
I had no idea just how much this show would consume my life 😅
I hadn't been so obsessed with a fandom since The Hobbit movies. That fandom was what introduced me to writing fanfiction and to Tumblr. Then Bad Batch was what made me go back to Tumblr and to fanfiction, as well. It made me start writing for the world of Star Wars, a world I didn't think I would ever be able to write for. I came back to Tumblr after a few years cuz once I found myself going so crazy for this show, I knew Tumblr was the right place to find other people just as crazy about it, just like I'd been able to do for the Hobbit.
And boy, was I right!!
I have found almost more people who loved Bad Batch as much as me than I did in my Hobbit days. Every single person I've talked to and interacted with have impacted my life in so many ways. I even had the special privilege of meeting a couple people in person, as well, which were wonderful experiences! I've spent many hours on discord calls either just one on one with certain people or in severs with big groups of people, playing games, chatting and just having a grand time. I've made some of the greatest friends I've ever had here and it's all thanks to the Bad Batch! I would name each person here, but I don't want to accidentally leave anyone out because there are just so many I'd want to mention, but you all know who you are! 💜💜 I mean it when I say I love all of you, every person I've ever interacted with! You all are truly amazing and I seriously hope I'll get to meet more of you in person in the future 💜
Being back on Tumblr also came with its fair share of drama over the past couple years, but if anything, all that made me stronger, more resilient and it also showed me who my true friends are. I'm grateful for those who stood beside me in those times.
Many of you have been there for me through other hard times in my life, when I had awful drama at work or financial troubles or just bad days in general. A lot of you let me vent so many times and offered me kindness, help and advice, which have meant the world to me. Some of you have even supported mine and my friends' Twitch and YouTube channels and have watched our Star Wars D&D streams or our charity streams, which also means so much to me and I can't thank those of you have supported us enough!
I've learned a lot from the Bad Batch over the years, as well.
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Hunter taught me to never give up on your family and to fight for what you think is right.
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Crosshair taught me to stick to your beliefs and that it's always possible to change.
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Echo taught me to always be loyal to your friends and that you can grow beyond your trauma.
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Tech taught me to always be who you are, no matter what everyone thinks, and to treasure your knowledge of things.
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Wrecker taught me that it's okay to still have a playful side and to never be afraid of sharing what you love with people.
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Omega taught me that compassion is not a weakness, but a strength and you're never too small or too young to make a difference.
So much of my life has changed in just 3 years because of this group of ragtag Clones and their exciting adventures in a galaxy far, far away. Even now, I don't think I've said everything I want to say...but I know I've said just enough.
Now, the show is coming to an end...and I'm feeling the same sadness I did when I knew the last Hobbit movie was coming out. Because that means the thing that has given me something to look forward to for so long is ending. I've become so emotionally invested in these characters and stories and I feel like I'm saying goodbye to loved ones. I legit don't know what I'm gonna do for a while.
One thing I do know I AM gonna do is I'm not going anywhere in the fandom. Space Mama will be around for a long time to come 😊💜 I've got fics to write and friendships to maintain!
All that's left to say is thank you. Thank you to every single person who have come into my life and will continue to be a part of it. Thank you to Dave Filoni (who I know, at least, started the show and brought the Bad Batch into Clone Wars) Jennifer Corbett, Brad Rau, the Kiner's, Joel Aron and, of course, Michelle Ang and Dee Bradley Baker for bringing this fantastic show to life.
In the words of Hunter: "Change takes getting used to. You'll see. Just give it time." Words we're all going to have to live by.
But also, in his words: "If this is where you want to be, then this is where you'll stay."
This is where I want to be...and this is where I'll stay 💜💜
May the Force be with us all...always 💜
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fun-k-board · 9 days
Note
AAAA YOUR REQUESTS ARE OPEN!!!! :3333 could I maybe request CG Storm and CG Rogue? Maybe them and a little reader who’s a bit on the fussy/ tantrum-y side?
Thank you!!!!! ^^ (u probably know who this is but I’m too scared to come off anon 😭)
X-MEN '97 - Little reader who's fussy and tends to have tantrums
SFW INTERACTION ONLY!! AGE REGRESSION IS NOT A KINK!!
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Note(s): HEHHE I KNOW!! It's alright tbh I'm terrified of coming off anon too (⁠´⁠-⁠﹏⁠-⁠`⁠;⁠)
Powered through writing this because you're cool as hell and I like you! 💪 I don't and didn't really have the most idk 'attentive' family, so I'm not the best judge on how to take care of kids or people in a kids mindset, I may be a little bad at writing for caregivers and age regression in general because of this.
ANNA MARIE DARKHÖLME / ROGUE
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'Hey, hey now sugah, let's calm down, you don't want to go in time out and I don't want to send ya. Explain to me why you don't like the food, I'm perfectly alright gettin' you somethin' different, there ain't no need to get upset.'
Anna can sometimes tell when you're about to have a tantrum or become more fussy than usual, even if you tend to take a while to throw a full fit, she'll watch you carefully and try to prevent one from fully forming. Gently kissing you on the forehead and brushing back your hair, asking what's wrong with a worried look on her face.
The moment you start yelling, kicking, or even crying, maybe after ignoring her question, she finds it hard not to just fold and give you what you want, after all, you're just so cute. However, her sense of responsibility and care for you overwhelms her need to coddle you.
Anna will say your name firmly, getting you to pay attention to her, and only her. She'll get a tissue for you and wipe your tears away, and ask firmly what you're sad or angry about and if you could possibly explain it to her.
If you can't verbally, for whatever reason, she'll give you the opportunity to write it on paper or she'll play a guessing game with you, the guessing game is only for when you're extremely upset and need cheering up though.
If you explain, in whatever format you need to, that you're upset because of an issue that's causing you distress, maybe food triggered sensory issues, someone was mean to you, etc, then she'll let you off the hook because you clearly didn't mean to cause any harm and you were just acting out.
Rogue will give you a bit of a talking to, telling you that crying and throwing things makes it difficult to help, but that's about it. Given it's not your fault she isn't actually too mad, she just wants you to understand that she won't know how to help if you're kicking and screaming.
If, however, your outburst was because of a silly reason, say you don't like the colour crayons and you throw them at her, she won't be as quick to accept it and move on.
She's still very sympathetic and won't ever raise her voice at you, even when you've done something especially terrible for no apparent reason.
Anna is very lenient and her 'punishments' usually just include a minute or so sitting in the corner, maybe withholding drawing from you for the day, but she always makes sure to explain in detail why you're being punished and it's usually only a last resort.
Rogue is very sweet even when she's being stern, her eyes can't help but go soft and her tone slips from that firm scolding one she uses when you're being bad, to a sweet almost coo-like baby voice.
Afterwards she comforts you like there's no tomorrow, telling you that she didn't want to hurt your feelings by taking away something or sending you to the corner, but you just need to learn some manners and how to handle yourself.
If you're fussy in terms of only liking clothes of a certain colour, food cut or made in a certain way, or things being done in a particular order, she absolutely doesn't mind doing these things for you! When it comes to cooking Rogue tends to ask for Gambit's help, she's not the worst cook in the world, but she can't do it like Remy can.
When it comes to removing parts of food, maybe you like to remove the crusts of bread and have them separate or not at all, she'll happily cut them off for you and maybe even eat the crusts while talking to you.
Sometimes she matches clothes with you! After all, 'If you like these clothes, they must be the best ones they got!' She says with a grin.
ORORO MUNROE / STORM
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'My child, it's important to remember your manners when speaking to those around you. I am not angry, but you must tell me what is wrong if I am to correct my mistake or you are able to grow.'
The moment she notices you starting to throw a tantrum, which is fairly fast even if your signs are just a deep frown, asking you if everythings alright and most of the time avoiding any tantrums before they begin.
However, sometimes you refuse to tell her what's wrong, perhaps you go straight to throwing toys or food, pouting, yelling, in replying she will simply hold a gentle hand on your shoulder and kindly repeat her question on what the matter is. Her tone is gentle and her face is one of genuine concern.
Like Rogue, if you're in distress because of something that's not your fault, or maybe you're just overwhelmed, she will never hold it against you at all. If you're comfortable with it and it's something you need to calm down, Storm will pick you up and give you a tight hug, if not, she's alright with just holding a hand on your shoulder, or even removing her hand and only speaking to you.
Ororo will get on one knee, bending down to speak to you in a hushed whisper, she'll tell you that it's all okay, that she'll help you and make it better, give you different food, turn off the lights, whatever you need, she can give it to you.
However, if you're just being fussy to perhaps get a reaction out of her, she'll raise her brow in an almost amused action, as if she finds your attempts to be aggravating as cute as a cat nibbling on its owner's hand. If you're throwing a fit just to throw one, she will definitely tell you sternly that you cannot do such things, at least not in her care.
I don't think that Storm is the type to use the corner or naughty step as a punishment, after all, she has her own fear of tight, dark places, you may fear loneliness, or abandonment, she does not wish her own troubles onto a mind like yours.
Instead, she talks to you, more importantly, she'll help you figure out what you did wrong, how to improve next time, and reflect on her own actions to see if the trouble was caused by a mistake on her part. It won't be an in depth conversation, she tends to use stuffed animals as an aid to show you an outsiders perspective.
If you're struggling with saying your words out loud, never fear, she has tons of paper and crayons, or pencils, pen, markers, etc if that's what you prefer, just for you! She keeps them in her room for whenever you regress and want to keep near her when doing so.
Ororo will advise you to draw your feelings, maybe even write a letter if that's more what you're comfortable with. She doesn't mind bad spelling or handwriting, she's quite good at deciphering even the most atrociously unintelligible handwriting.
At most, and only if you've been really bad, she'll lead you to your room, or hers, just to make sure you don't get embarrassed and act out further. Storm will tell you what you did wrong as firmly as she can so that you'll understand. It's only a light scolding though, she never ever raises her voice when you're around unless you need or want her to.
If she ever does raise her voice and it startles or frightens you, she will apologise, regardless of if you've done something wrong or not. It's never her intention to harm you, you've entrusted her to care for you and she will do anything in her power to achieve that goal.
If your fussiness is about certain clothes, textures, toys, etc, she absolutely doesn't mind exclusively getting you certain clothes or toys, and she won't be angry at all if you throw a tantrum over texture or taste, because she's fully aware it can be distressing to have an unfavourable texture of clothing of food.
Ororo will always ask questions about something before she gets it for you, after a while she knows pretty much all of your likes and dislikes.
She's a great cook and can switch the taste or texture in something with just a flick of her wrist, something she doesn't mind doing, especially if the food she's already making is something that causes a lot of stress.
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kitsunefox1108 · 2 years
Text
Decided to write a headcanon about yandere Sonic, Shadow and Silver realizing that they are characters in a game that Y/N likes to play and that they sympathize with her.
Warnings: Obsession, manipulation, possessiveness, jealousy, unhealthy behavior
____________________________
Sonic
(The events of the game are about the times unleashed)
The hedgehog, well revered that he is in the game, seems to be a little sad, because this means that his world is quite ... Small and not found the same as outside the monitor of the person who plays this game. However, he was always interested in those people who played his game with him, and went to his storyline. He was imbued with a certain trust in them, each time hoping that each player would go through the game to the end.
And you weren't exceptional.
However, the attachment to you turned out to be much greater. Of all the others, you were the most interesting to him. He leaves your tactics in battles, surrounded by surrounding worlds ..
And when you played for him as a werehog, he was more than satisfied.
Each time he became attached to you stronger and stronger.
That often, when you were about to turn off the game, the speedy hedgehog crumbled.
He didn't want you to lose, even if only temporarily.
He considered emptiness without you.
He couldn't tell you that he knows what's going on and knows who you are and why you're doing it.
Until he heard one thing from you..
- "Eh, Sonic, I really like you. Too bad you're not real.."
And the hedgehog mentally swept somewhere into the abyss.
Unhealthy behavior has become stronger....
He won't let you play other characters.
Only he. Only he deserves your attention.
If you love him, you won't mind, right? He loves you the same way, and is ready to all the inhabitants that he has to show his love and belonging to you.
You are special to him and always will be.
And every time you try to turn off the game...
She doesn't turn off. Sonic doesn't allow it. The maximum that is obtained is to minimize the game window.
Thanks to this, Sonic can watch you calmly do other things if you are distracted from the game.
He has unstoppable surveillance. But you won't notice it. For you, it's just the pleasure of waiting when there's actually a lot more to it...
Shadow
(We take events from his own game)
That in the normal state, that there are similarities in the yandere. So this phenomenon, strange in its purpose, is not a very important matter, unless you are very observant.
He did not know that apart from his strange past, there is the fact that everything that happens to him is within the framework of the game that people play.
And when he found out the truth, it... It turned out to be a very difficult moment.
However, he became more interested, and he decided to find out who is behind the monitor, and who is playing the game, playing for Shadow.
And he saw you.
He discovered disdain, distrust, but over time discovered you better, it disappeared.
He... Loved you.
Occasionally, he takes it that way.
We all understand perfectly well that this is unhealthy love and obsession.
It does not allow you to hide the game.
He watches you the best he can.
Watching you sleep.
And often during such a passage, he does not think about the enemy, but about you.
During the boss, he mentally praises you for successfully passing all the tests.
He never discovered anything like this after Mary's death.
And feeling something similar with you..he's not going to let you go.
And when he realizes that the game is already coming to an end, very soon he will know that you like him as a character ..
He stated that he is not just a character, a living person inside the game who is ready to interact with you.
He won't let you go. And do not let go of the opportunity to declare yourself in a perfect computer way.
You didn't expect. Shadow turns his head in your direction and looks straight at you.
- I know you're a player. I know you. And I have something to say to you.
Silver
(2006 game)
Silver is naive, and this is obvious.
But still, the fact that he is within the framework of the game and that somewhere under the monitor, because of the objects, there is a person who plays this game, his brain cannot digest such information.
He quickly tries to connect with the player.
And he sees you.
This is love at first sight?
Silver you are an incredibly beautiful and classy person.
He loves the time spent with you..
He likes the way you use his telekinetic powers. If it's hard for you to pass the level, he tries to use abilities imperceptibly for himself, helping and simplifying the level.
But he hates when it's time to quit the game. When you're doing other things and everything.
He is obsessed with all your attention. And easily jealous if you play for other characters.
He wants to be your boyfriend.
And when he finds out that you love him. He decides.... Carefully show himself. That he can interact with you.
Now that you know about it, you interact with it more and more. This is also encouraged by his manipulations. He sometimes just makes you spend time with him.
And he gets jealous very easily...
Now that you both can interact, don't think your life will be like sugar...
Silver is sweet, naive, and kind, but his unhealthy behavior can get in the way. However, as with the rest of the yandere...
And Silver never allows you to turn off the game, watching everything you do on the console / computer.
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morimonchi · 4 months
Text
I made a list of all Real and AI characters in Duel Links so far! (with some of my own theories too)
So, one day I decided to take the time to investigate/study the lore of Duel Links because the voices in my head won’t shut up, is not an easy task since not many people archived that much info of the events and lore of this game until recent years. So, with the help of talking with some people online, the insane and cool people of Tumblr obsessed with this game and its lore as much as I am, and me playing the game myself and seeing the event and making my own theories, I ended up with this list! Warning: is a very long wall of text.
(shoutout to @cyberdragoninfinity and @fortuneangel on Tumblr, they are very cool and obsessed with the Duel Links lore which is based and their posts helped me out a lot, I even copy-pasted from some of  Cyberdragoninfinity’s lore posts and Fortuneangel's own list because turns out they made a list of this stuff too, very good for me it made my job easier, although it would've been cool to find out about that earlier and not after I finished my initial list that took like 2-3 days to make lol)
Ever since the game first came out, the clues where always there that the Legendary Duelists and NPC duelists were all AI made by Seto "mentally unstable" Kaiba, which is kinda fucked up to begin with.
However, they are pretty bland and boring AI, since Kaiba probably only had second hand knowledge of some of the Duelist or he meet them but doesn't know them on a deeper level to make a good copy of them (heck some of them he didn't even meet at all). It’s all stuff Kaiba either heard about secondhand, or was physically present for to see in some way. He made the best approximation he could, on his own, but they’re just that: approximations.
however, starting from a certain event, things got weird: The Yami Bakura Event.
Easy best example is the first ever event character, Yami Bakura. A fascinating character in Duel Links lore, simply because he's the first Self Aware AI! So now, all character after the Yami Bakura Event aren't basic AI copies like the ones before, but instead AI SOUL copies (that's how I call them at least, but I'll be saying AI copies here for easier understanding/reading).
Meaning that they are copies made by the Kaiba's soul printer machine (insert crazy explanation of what the heck that is supposed to be) that uses the memories of the people connected to Duel Links in order create the DL world and the new AI copies in it.
suddenly characters felt way more alive and "real", even evolving pass their latest character developments from the manga/anime somehow? (and yes, the DM world is based heavily on the mangaverse! but somehow the characters have memories from the anime events).
However, not all characters moving forward are AI copies, some are the actual Real-Life characters, so I will only talk about the Real Life and AI characters that are self-aware to some degree, and some AI that I think might be unaware-
If I don't mention a character is because they’re probably 100% AI copy with zero awareness of what's going on in this Cosmic Horror Trading Card Mobile Game.
DM WORLD
All other DM characters before Yami Bakura are normal old AI copies, they were made by Kaiba himself so that's why they kinda bad, specially Yami Yugi being the first one to be made, making it the blandest AI of all and not like the real Yami Yugi at all.
So, starting from the original anomaly we have:
-Yami Bakura: the first self-aware character AI copy, 100% fully aware of it and even comments on it.
-Yami Marik: AI copy, iirc I think he’s fully aware of it too? He’s just here to have a good (violent) time.  (EDIT: Fortuneangel on Tumblr was informed he’s fully aware of it, so yea, he’s an AI 100% self-aware).
-Pegasus: AI copy of mangaverse!Pegasus specifically; not only is he fully aware of that, he’s also aware of the multiverse inhabiting DL AND the fact that he’s dead! Fun!!!
-Ishizu: she’s a weird case I just got reminded by the fact that she like. can tell something is Amiss and wonders why she’s still wearing the necklace. So, she’s like an AI clone of post Battle City Ishizu being kind of forced to play out the role of mid-canon BC Ishizu, and she’s not fully aware of the details. ok cool Kaiba!!!!!
Now funny thing with Pegasus, when the Thousand Illusion structured deck was released, you can actually go check it and the text in front of it says:
"I'd like you to meet my key monster! Thousand-Eyes Restrict!"
so yea for this one Structured deck I think Pegasus pretty much told Kaiba "stfu this are MY monsters and I WILL present them!" which is very cool and epic and go Pegasus slay.
DSOD WORLD
Now here is where we have the man himself, not the DM one, but the DSOD one:
-DSOD, Seto "In need of goddamn therapy" Kaiba: who is 100% the real Seto Kaiba, playtesting and all that stuff. He's here doing crazy people stuff and playing God. I’m pretty sure DM Kaiba was only an avatar unlike this one, who is the real deal.
-DSOD, Mokuma: is also real and helping his brother with his ego projects and digital world domination or whatever the heck Duel Links is supposed to be.
-DSOD, Yugi Muto: is probably the only real Yugi Muto in the game, and is very sad when he duels AI Yami Yugi and I want to hug my boy Yugi pls.
Ok then, unlike the clear as day old and new AI copies of DM world, I'm pretty sure all the members of the DSOD world are the real-life characters themselves who actually got into Duel Links somehow (this is based on Joey's unlock event and the dialogue where he says that some KaibaCorp employee put a VR device on his head, I wonder if that happened to everyone else in DSOD World?).
Well, everyone except maybe that ugly humpty dumpty looking ahh dude, Scud is probably AI. Reason being he freaking died in the movie and we never see him come back, so I just assume he stayed dead and this is some AI error or smth, the game does say something about an error in the system when you get the Scud unlock available.
GX WORLD
Ok so, at first, I didn't think any of the GX would be the real versions other than Jaden/Yubel, but after some research I found info that makes it seem likely that Dr. Crowler of all people might be at least 1 of the real ones, this is because in his event he says something along the lines of “…Unbelievable! There are so many Duel Academy students here! WHEN THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO BE IN CLASS! If they stop showing up to my class, Duel Academy will cut my salary...”.
There’s also another dialogue with Jaden where Dr. Crowler says he’s on vacation so, we can be sure that AT LEAST Dr. Crowler is a real person, and that he got into Duel Links on his own.
And again, I found this info of Dr. Crowler and I’m like “ok so is just this two people, Jaden/Yubel and Dr. Crowler, cool” but then I found new info and…
THE CHAZZ
Yeah, Manjoume Thunder of all people is ALSO probably the real deal, the one and only, The Chazz himself. And that is only because of the “friends” he brings with him, Ojamas Yellow, Green, and Black wouldn’t be there if Manjoume was an AI, and even if they were they wouldn’t Leak Yubel's Event like Yellow did. I didn’t know this info before so thanks @ask-maxie-boy on Tumblr, owner of the one and only @incorrectduellinksquotes.
Then the list we have is:
-Professor Crowler: the one and only character I can say for sure is (maybe) real, like 90% probability of being real. If not, then I was lied to, backstabbed and quite possibly, bamboozled.
-The Chazz: another one with hard evidence to be the real thing, proving his humanity thanks to Ojama Yellow. truly only the best for The Chazz.
-Jaden/Yubel: is probably real? like at least he's aware of the AI copies and stuff, he knows about AND can see the other 2 Jadens and the one Yubel in the game, it should be clear as day for him.
-Supreme King Jaden, Yubel and Satorius: These are AI copies for sure but I don't know if they are aware of it.
-Jim Cook: He’s suspicious of Duel Links during his Character Unlock Event iirc, not sure if he's the real one or an AI.
And everyone else in GX is a mystery! I can’t say for sure if they are AI or not and don’t have enough clues to make a strong argument for neither of the two options.
5D'S WORLD
-Team 5D’s: WELL OK I WOULDA SAID THEYRE AI BEFORE BUT THIS LAST CHARACTER EVENT (Z-one) MAY BE IMPLYING THEY (yusei, jack, crow, akiza, and the twins) ARE ALL THE REAL DEAL SO.  THAT’S AN INTERESTING TWIST IF SO!!! (Fortuneangel on Tumblr said calmly). Yeah, I agree with this information.
-Bruno/Antinomy: 10000000% AI copy, is actually fully aware he’s just some code on a hard drive and has commented on it!
Not sure if he knows he's dead but knowing Bruno, he probably knows that.
-Kiryu: OK, hear me out, this one? I'm not really sure if he's real to be honest, BUT, during Z-one's event he had such a cool interaction with Z-one that I think he's a "post-canon" version of Kiryu????
which is very freaking cool and not something that I could say is AI. But again, is my personal theory that this Kiryu is THE real Kiryu, however, I could be wrong.
-Paradox: aware of his own dead, Pegasus dead, the Illiaster's deaths, the multiverse and that he is probably an AI copy (thanks for that Pegasus, very cool).
-Z-one: Aware of being dead and all that, not sure if he knows he's an AI? probably knows, if anything Bruno might've told him
-Aporia: indeed, all Illiaster are self-aware of being dead, yippieeee!!!
-Primo: AI copy 100% for sure like no doubt and probably unaware of it, a sad creature (also, during Z-one's event, he had a realistic depiction of a panic attack).
For the rest of the 5D's cast, I have no idea but I think they are AI? say some of them like the Dark Signers are definitely AI, no doubt, but I’m not sure about the others.
But then we have someone like Tetsu Trudge… Who I have no fucking idea what's the deal with him. Is he a copy of first season Trudge, the one with no character development? or is he the real one? He can’t be the real one, he’s a mean dude again! I really have no idea about him and it annoys me. I’m going to say he’s AI.
ZEXAL WORLD
Ok so, I have no idea what's going on with Zexal, I think almost everyone is AI? but like, I'm not sure? You see, events in GX and 5Ds are just repetitions of sorts, and everyone seems aware of it and having Deja Vus, that’s why I believe that al least some people in GX and 5D’s are real. On the other hand, we have Zexal which is also repeating itself, but no one is going "Hey didn't this happen already?", which is very odd and makes me believe they are all AI in there, and both Arc-V and Vrains are continuations of the original stories.
 however, we do have one group of people in Zexal that might be relevant:
-The Arclight Family (III, IV and V): probably the only real persons in Zexal, or at least, the only ones we know might/could be real.
during III's event, III decides to study duel links and find out what it is, why events are happening again, what the heck is a KaibaCorp, etc.
also has the theory that Duel Links is a Chronomaly of some kind, because you know, is III of course it's a Chronomaly he thinks about, but he’s theory has some merit I’ll give him that.
Now V... I forgot V's event, sorry, but he's aware too.
IV on the other hand, is also aware, but not because he figured it out or something, III pretty much just told him lol. Doesn't seem to care too much he's just vibing in DL. Of course, he's helping his brother when needed, but he seems chill about it.
ARC-V WORLD
I have no idea who is real or not. We know the events in Arc-V World are a continuation of the end of the anime, so that’s at least a good sign but…
Declan and Shay, Yuya, Sora the bracelet girls, all seem to be aware that something isn’t right here, but to say they are fully aware of what's going on I can't say. So even with the self-awareness, they are most likely AI, all of them.
They at least know the whole "Memories brings people" and are investigating what's going on with that which is cool.
I can say Yuto is most likely AI, same goes for Yugo and Serena. But they don't seem aware of it and think they separated from Yuya/Yuzu somehow instead.
The only one I trust might be able to figure something is Reiji, because is Akaba fucking Reiji.
VRAINS WORLD
FINALLY, A WORLD WERE NOBODY IS AN AI COPY (I mean, there's Ai, who is obviously and AI but like, you get what I mean lol)
So yeah, Vrains World is pretty much just a sequel to the anime so everyone here is not only the real ones, but also the only characters that are aware that the other worlds exist (aside from like, Yugi, Jaden and Yusei because you know, Paradox’s Event and Bonds Beyond Time, but they only know each other’s worlds/eras so they don’t really count).
 This is because in the Ghost Gal event they reach the limits of Duel Links and get to see the other Worlds (DM, GX, 5D’s, Zexal, Arc-V and even Sevens!)
So yea the VRAINS cast in DL effectively becoming horror movie protagonists wasn't on my bingo board but I'm totally in for this.
All of this happening in a free trading card mobile game… thanks Konami you epic.
SEVENS WORLD
Yeah no, they’re all AI SOUL copies let's be real here, maybe Yuga in a future event will do the classic Yuga thing and be like "Oh, I already knew we are AI and that this world is a fake recreation of ours, is the first thing I checked when I got here" or something. And I have hopes in Nail to be cool and epic and figure out the situation but for now the Sevens group knows nothing (except maybe Yuga, because is Yuga).
Now that’s all the characters we have available for now, once we get some new events and relevant information and lore, I will update this list to see if we can add someone else new or an older character that we didn’t know was aware this whole time! This was a fun thing to write, I hope I managed to explain it all correctly and that is easy to understand, if anyone has some information that they would like to share feel free to ask! Again, I want to say thank you to @Cyberdragoninfinity and @Fortuneangel from Tumblr for being so cool and having so much info on Duel Links lore available and for sharing with everyone, now I’ll see you all next time Konami decides to hit us with a sledgehammer of info out of nowhere in a Tag Duel Tournament or something, byeeeeeee!!!
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