#I edited some details after the magma

[kamigui]

nobody

literally nobody

me: drawing animation on Magma

Killer! and Appleseed! belong to @itskorrychang

#welcome home #welcome home au #welcome home haunted house au #welcome home wally #wally darling #welcome home wally darling #wally darling au #wally au #drawing those on korry’s 9k magma #I edited some details after the magma #make it more smooth

[metroidprimepics]

Supper Metroid broth. (Actually, it’s Prime games, but...)

Thanks again to @ bearborg for various corrections and additions!

If you enjoy these posts, then you might enjoy this thread of what didn’t make it into the games.

I’m personally fond of this scrapped cutscene from Corruption, likely from the prologue sequence:

Sadly a lot of the links are broken or only half-working, including the video version of the above.

Prime

In Magma Pool in Chozo Ruins...

...there’s a fair bit of unnecessary detail underneath the opaque magma. Morph Ball for scale. Maybe the room was initially modeled empty, and then the lava was added later...?

Edit: The room was originally filled with water!

This actually tracks well with the water present in the adjacent Meditation Fountain and nearby Ruined Fountain. Either way, it does seem like it was switched to lava later in development, probably for gameplay reasons.

There are also non-interactable fish present in the water, labeled Chomper Fish. More on those later.

You don’t really need Thermal Visor on for most of the game, but I do recommend flicking it on every now and then, because it’s quite well-considered. For instance, the beetles hiding underground (this is from this halfpipe) show up as warm spots. (The icy beetles in Phendrana do not - I guess those ones are cold-blooded?)

In the room in the Phendrana lab where you encounter the first actual Metroid of the game, there are displays on the wall featuring diagrams of Hunter Metroids.

Specifically, it’s edited versions of the righthand piece of concept artwork. Cute foreshadowing, going with scans in the same lab which mention Hunter Metroids by name but don’t describe them.

In Chamber Access, which you pass through leaving after getting Gravity Suit, there’s a frozen pool in the floor, and...

Inside the pool are dead fish - the same model as the fish in the unused version of Magma Pool. It’s not like they’re invisible from above, but pretty hard to notice or appreciate.

Not something I found, but apparently there’s even one in the lab. Someone must have really liked this fish.

Echoes

Collapsed Tunnel in Temple Grounds.

The main tunnel is... collapsed... so you only ever go through the smaller tunnel to the side.

But the main tunnel is in fact fully modeled, since you can see it through the gaps in the rocks. It’s... there’s really nothing interesting in here, it’s just a tunnel...

I do have to wonder if at some point the blockage was going to be Power Bombable, so you could pass through easily in lategame. Power Bombing that corpse would probably bother people though...

Invisible detail inside Samus’ gun. Not invisible, just used in idle animations! Same goes for the equivalent in Prime 1. I don’t stand still very often, apparently.

Poke.

Corruption

I’ve taken this screenshot at native resolution, while standing on the ground. Can you spot what I’m about to talk about?

(For further effect, imagine the game is also being displayed through a component video cable, which is plugged into a CRT, which is several feet away from you.)

...

...

...If you guessed “those tiny light dots in the distance that look like dirt on the screen” ... you’re right! Computer, enhance.

That’s better. This is another one of Corruption’s fish “““birds”””, the Vaporwing. They’re basically unnoticeable when playing normally - it doesn’t help that they’re basically only found in this room, Arrival Station. I had read about them but had never been able to notice them when playing normally.

Vaporwings kind of look like Rinkas (the ring enemies in Tourian/CU chambers), but unused logbook data states they were designed as pets. I think they’re cute!

Some more fun Skytown tricks. This tram (to West Skytown) appears to extend far into the distance,

But it just extends really far out (stretching as well) and then the textures fade out to transparency. Looks great though!

Also all the pods in the distance are flat images.

There are a couple Reptilicus skeletons in the entranceway to Bryyo Ice, as well as in Bryyo Ice proper (in the appropriately named Imperial Crypt). They’re pretty detailed in a way that looks like the artist used an actual reference, likely some kind of dinosaur.

This prisoner has slightly more bones than the other one (or the dead emperors), so I’ll look at him.

Skull, replete with three eye sockets.

You know, because Reptilicus have three eyes. Something which I definitely noticed. The middle eyesocket is pretty small, so it might be a parietal eye? Unclear.

Otherwise resembles a relatively anthropomorphic dinosaur. (I’d love to be more specific, but like... I’m not qualified.) Those teeth would be great for catching things but too long and pointy for chewing. All chunks diet!

The whole “four arms” thing has somewhat more consideration put into it than you’d expect, with two sets of scapulas and a four-pronged collarbone. The lack of a sternum is consistent with dinosaur anatomy, as is the ribcage extending all the way down to the hipbones.

What I mistook for gonads last time was probably this bone, which can sort of... jut out in a way which looks funny. To mammals.

Detailed spinny plinth for the portal, because... because??? When would any normal person ever look at this. Why isn’t it just a flat texture. Give it up for whoever did this.

Two things about this screenshot:

1. While most enemies are represented by just a single orange dot in the radar in the upper left, Omega Ridley has a fully-animated Ridley-shaped array of dots. It really helps with figuring out what he’s doing during his flying phase.

2. There’s no lock on the doors in the Leviathan seeds. So if you could get up there... then you can just leave! Just walk out! If it sucks, hit da bricks!!!

Leaving and coming back seems to restore the boss’s health though.

This attack is just really silly-looking.

Hunters

I’ve somehow managed to bludgeon Desmume into sort of doing most of what I want, thanks to its layer-hiding features and this deeply crusty Lua script. (No insult to the author - I’m grateful for anything, really.) So, numerous issues aside, now I can get accurate fog, lighting, etc.

If you or anyone you know is versed in DS game hax, please get in touch, since I could use some help making Hunters display correctly in custom aspect ratios. 4:3 is usually fine though.

While obviously I’ve improved the resolution, Desmume also has the option to use “texture smoothing”, i.e. applying a filter to textures. The difference is more noticeable in textures that are up close, where you can really smell the pixels.

Smooth is possibly how the game was intended to look in 2004 (based on renders by the game’s environment artists), and it would match the other Prime games more. However it’s 2022 and I feel that the Quake 1 look is what’s won out aesthetically. It’s not a huge difference either way though.

There was a pretty decent 3rd person mode hack included with the cheat database I downloaded.

Full range of motion. The low-poly models in this game are really charming and surprisingly faithful to the series aesthetic. I’m really glad there weren’t any other DS line Metroid games that tried to do like, a weird chibi thing instead! 😂😂😂

...I’m reluctant to give too much kudos, though, since the lead character artist also made a version with... a very “breasty” breastplate.

Wow! I hate it!

THANKFULLY this model is not present in game data. These turnarounds (and a couple other renders) were uploaded to the artist’s now-defunct personal website.

In the regular first person mode Samus is just a gun, as usual.

A fun performance-saving trick: Hunters tries really hard to only render what the player can see, such as just the small sliver of the area you can see through doorways, openings, etc. (By no means a technique unique to this game.)

It does get weird when the camera is offset from the player though, which limits what I can do quite a bit.

On Alinos, there’s this extremely tempting “Hole”. It has a health restore in it! Surely nothing bad would happen if you went in it! (This is exactly how I approached it on first playthrough.)

The “Hole” contains a massive, labyrinthine pit of hot acid.

For scale, Samus. The hurt noise plays the entire time you navigate this room.

...I kinda just wanted to get a full view of it...

In another one of Hunters’ finer moments, you are forced to take a slow-moving platform across Arcterra’s long and winding Drip Moat, briefly turning the game into a very dull rail shooter.

However, after cheating my way out of the platform’s iron grip... yeah, the lip around the edge of the moat is totally standable.

The morph ball’s rolling animations don’t seem to work, but otherwise it's fine. So... that’s great.

Other M

For better or worse, it won’t happen again.

Mostly for technical reasons - apparently I’m not authorized to remove the HUD, even using Dolphin’s texture replacement features, so it’s not exactly fun as a photo simulator. (Having beaten it, I can say it’s not particularly fun as a regular video game either.)

Edit: It appears it is possible to remove the HUD via Dolphin’s graphics mod feature, proving once again that Dolphin is the most powerful emulator on earth. Still not happening again. Probably.

Anyway, since I never uploaded it -  here’s Samus encountering her real archnemesis, the gender binary.

#misc_

[mikaharuka]

☀️ (a comment that made your day?)

Heyo Alhaira!

There are four comments I wanted to shout out! The final comment is under the cut because it's long... but it's definitely the winner. Whew.

(@magma-saarebas19, @alpaca-clouds, @danceswithdarkspawn, @mrsmungus - I think y'all might be interested. It's a wild ride O.O)

Two simple and sweet ones (from Obsidian 10 and Midnight 14):

Your story is so good!!! This is literally my favorite twilight fanfiction ever!

I really like this fanfiction! I never thought I would like Mike as a character but here we go. Tbh I was looking for a little bit Carlisle action... but what I got was a whole new Twilight universe :)

One that made me think - this was left on Viridian 2 in mid-August last year, only 2 weeks after I started. It's stupidly obvious now... but I didn't know about my sensory style and this comment made it click:

Wow. I’m really in awe of your skills with scene setting and describing characters. You do it in such a way that provides a lot of lovely details but isn’t at all like your describing them consciously. It just reads really naturally while still painting a detailed picture in the readers mind.

-

And this last one... whew.

It completely freaked me out in the most flattering way possible!

...and yes, this one is on Azure. It's also the most recent chapter they've read. They haven't read Sapphire, Sangria, or Midnight yet!

So. This reader. This terrifyingly brilliant reader.

I'd call them a seer, but this goes way beyond that. Let me explain:

One - They had Mike pinned in a way no one else had. It's no big deal now, since everyone knows his color deal now... but this was written when Azure was the most recent chapter - back in September.

Back when even I didn't have his power completely nailed down yet. Before I went back to edit minor clues earlier on, about this power.

The part where both Beau *and* Mike come to school with dark bags under their eyes is quite damning. I have a strong hunch that Mike is hiding some pretty big shit from Beau. They both have a charm from Edward after all. Maybe Mike is starting to get some visions of his own? Or maybe he's had a Mandala of his own for as long as Beau, or just got one recently.

Two - They didn't just pin the future. Oh no. They also nailed my abandoned Apricity 1.0 as well! Beyond that, they even got me to reconsider using more of the original scene/intentions (still not sure how much, though)... and they have no idea about any of that:

I don't think Beau will doubt that they're vampires anymore after this dream, lol. The amount of time that Carlisle spent caressing his neck, biting his lips to the point that it breaks the skin, and finally biting into his neck to drink from him really made it clear. Carlisle was definitely showing off his possessive side with his pet names, but that last sentence was particularly chilling. "You're mine now, sweet boy," sounds like both a threat and a promise all wrapped in one. I shudder to think of what might happen if he saw someone was flirting with Beau. The other boy would be dead so fast...

I was so shocked that they nailed my original Apricity 1.0, that I actually clued them into it, in a deeper reply. I wrote this back to them - back when I was certain I wouldn't use the majority of it:

Oh yeah! I forgot to mention something earlier - bizarrely applicable to the point you made about what Carlisle might do IRL if someone tried something with Beau. So funny story - last year, when I was first writing out Cerise (the hospital chapter), I'd actually written an off-screen scene to get a feel for the characters and the actual in-chapter scenes. Mind you, that outtake and the first draft of Cerise are so far outdated now, that a good chunk of it doesn't connect to Cerise or Apricity of today... but traces of that scene still exist in both Cerise and Azure today. . In any case... in that super old Cerise outtake, after Carlisle grabs Edward and drags him out, they end up in that isolated hallway/room and Carlisle pretty much confronts Edward about... something (pretty obvious that something happened, even from today's Cerise). But within this very outdated draft, at some point, Edward starts egging Carlisle on about liking Beau, that first day at school, and Beau being his singer - just to get his straight-laced brother to react and well... Carlisle reacts... uhh... badly, to say the least. He ends up at Edward's throat on an instinct, but at some point he comes to and feels really terrible about it. Strangely enough, I was channeling a few pieces of that old outtake when I wrote Azure (and rewrote the today's Cerise from scratch)... so I'm actually kind of impressed that you somehow saw a piece of this old outdated reference I used for the dream sequence! . That being said, I'll leave it to you to decide just how outdated that outtake is relative to Cerise today. There are definitely a *lot* of major changes... but the outtake isn't totally irrelevant XD

And their cute reply to that:

Well, what are the odds of me asking what Carlisle would do in a specific situation, and that scene actually happened in an unpublished draft? Lol, that's amazing.

Three - You thought it ended there? Nope. It goes even further.

This person somehow nailed at the core of the mystic bond that those two share, as well as the elements of the dreamscape.

To be fair, they openly admitted that they read the chapter twice and noticed a ton of shit they didn't notice the first time around.

Also don't worry about spoilers. This is high-level enough that it won't give away stuff on its own... though Alhaira, I rambled about all of this in the DMs, so you should be able to see how close this person got.

The scariest part?

I think this person figured out my subconscious mind before I did:

The dream/vision was very interesting to read. Beau was able to recognize his surroundings, smell petrichor, remember to find his friends, etc. even in such a state. That he had so much control over his senses was surprising but seeing as this was more of a magical vision rather than a normal dream, it makes perfect sense. [...] The part where he felt a rush of power from the forest was intriguing. I know that he has more of the Current surrounding him than usual, but this is making me believe that maybe Beau can become a shifter or learn magic himself. [...] That Beau is enamored with him to the point that he'd let Carlisle do anything he wanted to him sounds extreme- so much so that I'm beginning to think that vampires have a lure or a siren's call or something else in your story. It's making me wonder if the actual Carlisle was present in this specific vision, and that's how Beau is being so affected by a supposed dream. [...] And boy, I'm excited to get some answers myself. The way the Mandala works is eating at me. I don't know if Beau is being affected so strongly from the Mandala because he isn't familiar with the current, he needs protection from the current, or if it's just the pull/lure of the vampire that he's connected to.

Well, I'll leave it at that for now... on its own, this isn't enough to spoil or anything, since they don't know the details for sure and are just theorizing. But this comment put a stupid amount of stuff into perspective, dragging so much stuff from my subconscious mind.

This was also the comment that made me revisit the whole thing with the Mahabhuta interlude, exploring the dreamscape and mystic stuff even further... even though this comment happened a whole three months before the vampire bingo card happened!

(I'll explain that in a post about the interlude soon, for Miranda's ask)

To say that I would pay money for their take on Midnight... wouldn't be a lie. I want to see what else they can drag from the depths of my subconscious. Heck, I'm like... 80% sure that if they read Midnight and soon, Prithvi, they'd be in striking distance of my exact plans!

Long story short... to say that this comment "made my day"... that'd be the biggest understatement of the month of last September!

#mizuka answers #my ask games #ask game #apricity plans #apricity outtakes #the abandoned apricity ver 1.0 #apricity #winter light headcanons #bellisle #carlisle x beau

[rosesupposesmanythings]

Each week is also associated with a skill, or skills, and gaining skill points will help you come elimination. Every skill has a week it counts in... will your existing skills help you early in the contest or after you leave... only chance decides.

Chance is going to decide a lot. Some challenges will benefit specific traits or skills, others run on chaos and the will of the universe. Life is cruel and random, so is this BC. Read more for detail!

<< Prev || Next>>

Each episode will run and be scored as follows

Day 1: Skill sprint - Everyone will be set to do the same skill building activity with autonomy on. Sprint ends when the last person autonomously stops building skill. 

Day 2: Saint/Sinner Challenge - Every contestant will compete in a challenge that will divide them into two teams: Saints who pass the test, Sinners who fail. Magma will then also complete the challenge. Whichever team she joins gets the reward of living with Magma in the mansion. The losing team will be sent to... alternate accomodation

Day 3: Free day - Winning team have a free day in the house with Magma available and autonomy on. Skill objects for that weeks scoring skills will be added to both loser rooms, and the mansion for any autonomous working. 

Day 4: Date challenge - All contestants will compete to win a date with Magma. Winners will attend a group date, with guaranteed interactions available for top performers and autonomy on for the rest. Losers stay home. 

Day 5: Last Chance Saloon - Contestants who missed the date get one hour per attendee in the last chance saloon with Magma, autonomy on, to see if they can make up for lost time. 

Day 5: Elimination Ceremony - Lowest scoring contestants will be sent home

Scoring will change minorly as the contest progresses but generally will be as follows Elim Challenge Ranking + Friendship Ranking + Romance Ranking + Scoring Skill Points + Sentiment Bonus (+/-1 per new sentiment) (edited)

I use ranking over score because that way there's a max 10 points differential vs 100s points if someone somehow maxes a bar quickly

First Elimination will be end of week 2 so we get the chance to get to know all the contestants properly

Who's ready!

#ts4 #sims 4 bachelorette #saints & sinners BC #Magma Scourge #long post

[savofid]

Been working on a fanfic for over a year now. Not actively the whole time, really more "a lot to start, big lull, back at it again at Krispy Kreme." Anyways, in all that time, I've rewritten the intro chapter some 4 or 5 times. Still needs to be edited but I'll do that after I at least finish the first real chapter.

But I've got these big, grand ideas for it, along with a spinoff in the concept phase: an alternate timeline. However, while planning this out, cause I wanna be able to write with functional plot points and not make it up as I go, I'm looking at the CYOA system I'm using and I'm just confused. Not by the system or anything regarding the rules, but by my reaction to certain things.

People that know me personally would not describe me as prudish. When given the proper audience and a fitting segue, I have plenty of stories about some fairly unorthodox things I've done with my exes and by myself. However, when it comes time to write a scene that even tries to express love, let alone sex, I never want to.

Most people would assume that means that I'm bad at it or something because who wants to do the things they're bad at? Fair point, but I'm quite capable of writing erotica. I can go into full detail about how you should structure your sentence and which words fit best for a certain mood or how to make a sentence feel sexy, how to influence the breathing of the reader themselves and get them into it, too. Believe me, I can do that. Plenty of experience with long distance relationships and gently building anticipation over days or weeks, and that was just the foreplay to the foreplay.

It's using third person limited as a perspective in those scenes that I don't like. Maybe it's the vulnerability that the characters are sharing with each other and using the moment to keep our eyes fixed behind theirs, knowing their thoughts and feelings, that makes it feel wrong in some way. To watch, to listen, to experience it through them feels like a betrayal of their trust, this rapport we've established with them as we've journeyed together since the beginning. Who are we to invade their most intimate of moments?

I know most people would likely say, "Savo, they're not real. It doesn't matter." They might not be real but I still care about em. I want to see them happy and healthy and where they needed to be, and I'm the author that can make that happen but they're working for it just as much as I'm working to get them there. Some moments write themselves, a natural conclusion built out of what's long been established, not some Superman power of the week, but writing a character that would both draw him in and keep ahold of him long enough to stick in his life is gonna be extremely difficult and hard to justify. I can "make" them do whatever, yeah, but that's not a good story. Why is she there? Why him? What drew you in to want to spend time with this guy? What motivation would one have that would make them want to actively spend time with a guy who can't do basic math, travels around with a bunch of strange animals, and openly admits that his goal in life is to "fight (God)." He's clearly deranged, likely on some intense drugs, and possibly homicidal. This is not a safe person and alarm bells should be sounding to get away.

Without context, sounds insane. It's a Waifu Catalog-ish SIOC CYOA jumpchain that starts in Pokemon with its second stop being in Star Trek. Both similarly utopian, but much different in size, scope, and intent. Also no Pokemon in Star Trek, so gonna be tough trying to explain away one, especially if it's actively on fire, made of magma, or a sentient pile of garbage or slime. He wants to have a fistfight with Arceus because he thinks that it was Him who interfered in his Isekai and sent him to the manga version of the universe instead of the game version, resulting in him almost getting mauled to death by a group of angry Rattata. He's sworn an oath of vengeance.

Anyways, moves on to some federation colony and starts learning some math and science because what would be basic education there is guaranteed beyond college level stuff in today's day and age. It's at the school that I want him to meet his first true friend of the journey, someone hell be in and out of a relationship with for a number of years to come, failing every time until they decide to just be friends, moving on with their lives, and time passes. There's a quiet in their conversations, the knowing that that might be failing, too. They've become different people than they were before, and worry sinks like a stone into their stomachs. In some instinctive urge to put your all in just before it looks like death, they crash together one more time and it works. They've both grown and matured and become the one that the other needed, which led that sputtering ember to finally ignite a roaring blaze within their hearts.

The scene I'm worried about writing isn't gonna even happen for the next few real life YEARS at this rate, somewhere around the midway point of Arc 10 or 11 with another 7 or 8 beyond that, so the ⅔rds mark in the story, which is where it happens best because it often leads into the story's climax. Two people fall in love, bad guy learns about it, innocent partner is now a hostage and hero but fight to save their love. Those sorts of tropes.

But, again, what draws her in? What motivates her? Why does she want to be his friend? Why does he want her as a friend? Does he want friends this time around? Does he even want to try again with another potential ex? What's the point? He'll be moving on in time, so why bother putting down any roots at all?

Then again, he did just spend a year wandering the first two regions and suffered some pretty rough injuries throughout. Probably wants to take it easy and that's always best with friends. I've made really close friends over less, like a girl who worked in my office and at my old desk from before my mental break. Came in for two days straight and she was just gone. No one asked about it. Third day, she was back for only a few hours and just spent that whole time crying. Last day of the work week and she's back and still just crying at her desk. After about an hour of it, I decided that I was done hearing her cry and was gonna drag her out of this slump if I had to. I miss you, Jess.

But, again, why is she drawn to him? What is her motivator, the very thing that drives her to try him of all people? Maybe she's smart and is tutoring him? Nah, that's tired. Big dumb jock is failing a class and he gets the average looking nerdy girl as a tutor, but he's actually got a sensitive side and she falls for him but the popular girls don't like it so they bully her by pretending to be friends with her just to learn her secrets and publicly embarrass her, but she's too worried that BDJ will see her differently now and he actually still cares. Very tired formula.

I think I've got it: it's initially for selfish reasons. Not only is she smart and a bit of a geek, but she's an astrobiologist. He has living, breathing Pokemon. Also, Star Trek is just set in the future, so it's possible that maybe some Pokemon cards or games survived, especially digital copies, and she just so happens to be a fan. Basically, she's a weeb and a dude just showed up one day with a group of very real Pokemon. Dude just walked out of a literal manga and into her life.

Cool. Thanks, void. You're a good listener.

[missgeniality]

A Work Of Art (m)

“In our life there is a single color, as on an artist’s palette, which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the color of love.” - Marc Chagall

➺ Banner: The lovely @dee-ehn 💕

➺ Pairing: Jimin x Female Reader

➺ Genre: PWP, Smut, Slightest Angst

➺ Rating: 18+

➺ Word Count: 7.3k

➺ Summary: You surprise Jimin with his Filter outfit; and then some.

➺ Warnings: tongues get tired in this fic, dom!jimin, we talk about spit, some biting, jimin loves praise, lingerie n stuff, nipple play, oral sex (m&f receiving), we talk more about spit, some bondage is involved, degrading names, blindfolds, spanking (maybe too much, don’t look @ me), light choking, light face-fucking, cum eating, we talk even more about spit, hickeys galore, some edging?, unprotected sex (don’t do it kids, not even for Jimin)

➺ Author’s Note: (repost bc tags, you know how it is) huge s/o to @ilikemesometaetaes for making time to beta read this monstrosity 💜 thank youuuu! Also thanks to @honeiibeehobi, @kithtaehyung for helping me with the many many details & @ppersonna​for hyping up this idea or else it would have never seen the light of day ;_; lol i will come back to edit this cuz this didnt let me focus on my paper due tonight so if you see a spelling mistake or tense error umm no you didnt 👀

do let me know your thoughts!! the smallest feedback goes a long way! 💛💛

This is the first part of my Dress Down series, find more at it’s masterlist!

Y/N: soooooo, I did a thing. JM: is the dishwasher flooding our kitchen again? Y/N: -_- i’ll give you two more guesses. JM: oh no. you picked up a dog from the street again.  Y/N: come onn!! JM: y/n, last time you picked one up, HE HAD AN OWNER Y/N: you’re down to your last try, or else i’m taking this off. JM: … JM: so its something you have on? 😏 Y/N: pic_210124.jpg JM: holy shit JM: wait wait fuck JM: keep the door unlocked.

“You like?”

The bob in his Adam’s apple wordlessly conveys the answer you’re looking for.

A crisp, white, button down shirt, tucked into black trousers, topped off with a panama hat that matches your top half is the view Jimin comes home to. Your dress pays homage to Jimin’s Filter outfit - actually, the exact one - the one that showcased his immaculate dance moves, the one that exposes his delicious collarbones, the one that brings the irresistible urge to bite your way up his neck - the one he eventually rids. 

If you had to pick a color, he is a flustered orange, bright and blushing, turned on by the indecent implication of your very decent outfit.

You’re on the counter, one leg crossed over the other, accentuating the swell of your ass. Landing on the pads of your feet, you take a few steps towards the man with the unhinged jaw.

“Babe.” a mellow croak - Jimin can’t get a whole sentence out without saliva pooling and obstructing his speech. “You, in my clothes… fuck.” 

Chuckling at his very obvious loss of words, you give him a twirl, allowing him to fully soak in your outfit.

“Was waiting for you.”

Three long strides and you were in his arms, a pair of lips desperate to invade your space and claim you. An Angel on your shoulder tells you to give in; after all, this is the end result - what you both want. 

However, the Devil on the other side, no no no. It wants you to make him suffer. To get revenge for all the times you were taken control of. It remembers all the days he turned you on with shoot photographs and all the nights he brought you to the brink only to stop you from tipping over with a cocky smirk and a cheeky wink. 

The Devil was created from the moments when you thought you would actually erupt, begging for release, only to be shoved aside with a single growl of ‘don’t you fucking dare.’ 

Your desire to please him effectively silenced the Devil and kept it at bay. But no more. All those times built up and gave your Devil the power to force its way against your will to restrain it, causing it to rise to the surface.

You will have the upper hand. 

So you push him away, keeping him at an arm’s length for your safety to have him on his toes. Forlorn eyes meet your steely ones, and you physically stop yourself from giving in to his puppy gaze - those eyes can turn icy and sultry when nailing you into the bed like his rent depended on it. 

“Sit there. I have a-” You turn to switch on some music, “-small present for you.”

“If the small present isn’t me folding you in half and fucking you till sunrise,” He sits with visible reluctance, irises slowly transforming into magma orbs, “I don’t want it.”

“Well, we’ll see… Depends on how you behave.”

On a normal day, this comment would have lit your ass on fire, pronto.

Today isn’t a normal day at all. 

You stride on, every noiseless step you take leaving a wreckage of nerves behind, ignoring the smoldering gaze he has locked on you- you are unsure whether he is deciding your punishment or simply admiring how his clothes fit on your body.

You stand on the side, drinking him in. 

From your viewpoint, this is ridiculous. Those cursed jeans, vacuumed onto his thighs, ensure your eyes don’t miss a single ridge. His legs are spread out, beckoning you to have a seat, and the Angel once again begs for some reprieve. He knows what he’s doing; knows you inside and out- knows you couldn’t miss a chance to ride him like this. The wicked smirk flashing back at you is confirmation. 

But you stymy that thought at its root. Walking behind, you wrap your arms around him to faintly buss his cheek. 

“Sooo I was watching Filter…” 

Jimin hums against your feeble touch. He wants more. The soft wind of your breath routing through his jeweled ear sends a wave of goosebumps down his spine. From behind, you run your hands over his sinewy biceps, taut in restraint - holding themselves back against the suffering you are putting him through. 

“You do know how fucking hot you looked, right?” You playfully let your tongue toy with the hanging ornament, the briefest of flicks causing Jimin’s shoulders to push back, trying to connect with your bosom.

With a crooked finger under his jaw, you bring him to meet your eyes- eyes that are adorned with layered shadows of deep maroons, a variety of colors blending into your skin tone, eyelashes piqued up and ready to reach the clouds.

“So pretty…” He whispers out as you place your hat on its rightful throne - Jimin’s head.

A lone digit traces the lines of art you etched for him, appreciating every single stroke you put in to make a memorable time. Warm merigold rays bloom in your chest in response to his gaze, with him looking at you like you invented the sky. Pupils are dilated, and the only reason you can see each other is because of the practically nonexistent distance between you.

His eyes pick up on your tapering resolve to keep him in line. A light quiver of need passing your lips as you hopelessly vie for dominance is what most likely gives you away. 

Grabbing you by the neck, he pulls you into a deep kiss, plunging his tongue into you with reckless abandon like he was a nomad all this while and your mouth has finally claimed him home. Your neck strains at the awkward angle and surely even his is hurting, but the pressure of his hand is unrelenting.

His tongue searches and searches, desperately looking for a part in you he has not yet explored. You’d think the years of togetherness would have diminished this fiery attraction but no, he comes onto you like he has a mission to prove - to validate his love for you, to plead you to be his. You would happily accept this shower of affection, returning it with due interest.

With great difficulty you part, a string of spit still connecting your lips because he has not let you move far enough. “Uh-uh. Be good.” You pout a little, breaking character.

“You’re here. In my clothes. A walking dream. How the fuck am I to be good?” He pulls you back in to continue what you cut short but you break the line of spit and his intention with a hand wedged between your faces. 

“I asked you a question, Mister.” Back on your cocky nature, you graze your lips against oh-so-lightly, barely giving him anything to feel, but the tingling on his skin shows he can feel it all.

The adoration moves into a competition, “You tell me, sweetness - how did I look?”

It’s always the praise. He loves it when you struggle to tell him his dick was crafted by the heavens when you’re choking on it, but he still makes you do it. You stutter and stumble your words when his lips smack against your cunt, devouvering and digging for the treasure of your cum, but he forces you to tell him. When you sit on his dick, your brain has no sense of diction or direction, only chasing the high at his mercy, but he makes you scream it out loud, letting everyone beyond the pearly gates know, between moans and wails, that only he can break you down this way. 

“This shirt, sweetie.” Your nose trails the path between his collar and the ends of his hair, basking in the sweet vanilla scent, “You’re all covered. Why, pray tell,” You dig your teeth into the point where his shoulder meets his neck, “does this sole patch of skin turn me on so bad?”

He sucks in an inhale through his clenched teeth, his stunning visage devoid of any virtue. His head is thrown back, hat toppling over in the movement and giving you a larger canvas to mark, an opportunity you happily grasp. The mellifluous tones he is producing is recorded in your mind for lonelier nights to come. 

“And the red suit? Fuck, your corseted waist?” At the corner of your eye you see his fingers clenching into a fist, your lush voice making it harder and harder for him to breathe. 

You slowly stride forward, painfully slow, letting him notice every single muscle of your body curving to his unspoken command, undoing one button at a time until your torso is revealed- and shows the true purpose of your scarlet eye makeup. 

A deep burgundy camisole, ribbed at the waist to accentuate the way your hips flow has Jimin salivating to no end. The strappy number, with carmine ribbons flowing into your yet to be removed bottom half- a deed Jimin intends on rectifying very, very soon- calls to him sinfully. The lingerie twists and ties in incomprehensible ways, but the amount of cleavage it gives you is ungodly. 

If they weren’t already, Jimin’s eyes are now wide open.

Time comes to a standstill as he checks out your whole figure, taking in every embroidered pattern on the lingerie and every embellishment on your breasts. Before, you were already a five-star meal, but now? An emperor’s feast. 

The little flower right on top of your nipple has Jimin’s attention. His thumb comes up to trace the bedecked rose, following the stitched line of stem that takes him to the peak, then drawing over petal by petal. Each time he reaches close to your hardened nub, he abstains from crossing over it, making your nipple hardens imperceptibly under the presentiment of any relief and the disappointment when nothing arrives. His other hand, sitting on your waist, coaxes you to straddle him while he plays gardner on your bust.

“Jimin…” Your nipple, finally finding solace under his thumb, is not faring too well under the attention. Your plan of teasing him is slipping through your fingers like sand.

“Tell me baby, what do you want?” His finger is now tracing the seams of your lingerie cups, admiring the way they frame your ample bosom. Things are progressing too slow for your liking, and you come clean with your ignoble intentions. 

“Please, I just want to suck you off.”

A wad of spit lands directly into your cleavage, followed by two thick fingers penetrating the lubed entrance. 

“Nope.” His fingers continue to shallowly fuck your cleavage. Neither of you are being touched in the erogenous zone, but why does it feel so good? Your valley is inundated with his dribble, coating your ensemble and shifting shades to a deep cerise. Every pump of his nimble fingers between your breasts is like a promise of what your pussy is going to go through. Will he fuck you hard and fast with your voice echoing across the room, making every neighbor privy of your sexual escapedes? Will he be slow and gentle, penetrate you with utmost care, soft gasps and whines only sounded to the two of you? You can never guess.

In the aphrodisiac moment, you forgot that you were supposed to take charge. 

“Please, please, please! I did so much,” You take the guilt route. If Jimin was anything, he was a just and fair man. “Can’t I get that much?”

Jimin’s gaze has not left your wet cleavage. A flit of his eye makes contact with yours and goes back to the fucking - that is enough language for you to understand his needs. You bend low, and spit out a fat glob onto your chest to add to the mess he has already made. The groan that leaves him is ungodly, and he licks the spit you unloaded onto yourself, spreading it all over your expensive wear. He slurps like you released sweetened water to a parched traveller, your bosom holding all the sweetness to itself.

Gathering your thoughts is more difficult than you could ever imagine. The cloth over your nipples is completely soaked, bitten into and sticking to your skin thanks to the vacuum Jimin pulled on them. Your back has had a workout, every vertebrae bent to its maximum possibility. Chiropractors are so last year, you just have your boyfriend ravish your breasts.

“Once I’m done, you can do whatever you want.”

All of your five brain cells had to be put in action to form that sentence. The moment the words left your lips, the pressure your breasts were on had been released, but you could still feel lips against you, stretching into a snarky smirk.

“Whatever?” His grip on your waist tightens, seating you more firmly onto his taut thighs. 

Whatever. That stupidly amazing word. 

“Saying ‘whatever’ always lands you in trouble. Have you forgotten?” His damp lips are tracing your collarbones, nibbles whenever he felt appropriate. How does he expect you to form a damned sentence like this, the Devil on your shoulder indignantly asks. The Angel on the other has gone back in time to fetch memories filed under the term ‘whatever’, strictly saved for your quality alone-time. 

The first time you told him to do ‘whatever he wants’ was fairly early into your relationship. Sex was as vanilla as the ice cream tastebud-less people liked, and none of you ever pushed it too far. A happy, drunken night with a loose-lipped confession from him. 

“God, the things I want to do to you…” he had muffled into your hair, maybe not even intended for your ears to pick up. 

A cheeky giggle had bubbled out of your tipsy self. “Like what, tie me up?”

If Jimin then were a color, he was a pantone pink. Blushed cheeks from the alcohol and the realization that you had caught him, airbrushed with a depth you weren’t able to put in place that early in the relationship. Wide-eyed horror was shown in its place, possibly exaggerated to add to the denial he had landed himself in. 

“No no, of course, I don’t mean it like that, what ar-”

“Why not?”

The animal that awoke after confirming with you fifteen times was a force to be reckoned with. Your bra had turned into rope, wrists bound behind as he roughly squished your helpless cheeks. 

“You will tell me when to stop, right?” His tongue peeked lightly, brushing your top lip, taking the perspiration away.

“Uhmf-yufh!” 

“God, you’re gonna regret this baby.” 

But it was exactly the opposite. You got the railing of a lifetime, heard the filthiest words that could leave the lips of such a courteous man - a side you had not expected at all. You couldn’t possibly recollect every single move he made, but what you can recollect with excruciating detail is every feeling you felt that night. It was filled with lust, with revelations of the new ways your body could bend, a night of puppetry where Jimin played you like the master your body craved. The following day was Jimin taking care of you, big puppy eyes wondering whether he took it too far. In his daze of letting go of control, he couldn’t take in your lidded stare, heaving with satisfaction - so you made sure he could witness them when he took you the next time that morning.

The other time the wretched word was mentioned was during an argument. You’re not jealous of Jimin on stage - it’s his career and you were one of the girls offering one of their kidneys to be able to catch a glimpse of him. 

But your workspace? That’s where you draw the line. 

She was a random worker. Some third-floor low-lying soul. You were eighth-floor premium material (the floors didn’t decide shit, but no one can tell you what skyscraper semantics you can craft in your brain). A lifeless party that even Jimin’s colorful locks couldn’t color up. 

This random worker was very enamored by Jimin (as she should, the man is a whole nine-course meal). Supportive fans are not what get you jealous either. 

But the limit is when placed her scrawny fingers on Jimin’s hand, drawing the glass in his grip to her lips and took a sip from it. If her lashes were fanned they could blow a man away (which is probably more than what her puny mouth could possibly do). The fume exiting your ears could have been in bright red for all you care, because every office member had been rightfully annoyed. 

The whole car ride back was filled with your drunken blabbers about the different ways you could skin her. The actual victim beside you was not making a nearly big enough deal out of it, intending to let you get rid of your temper.

“She fucking knew!” Your normally clean disposition had taken its leave after the fuming temper took real estate in your brain, and you aimlessly threw your heel at some corner of the house - hungover self shall have to deal with this angry mess you’ve made. Wait, you’re an angry mess too.. “The gall she had, I should jus-”

You march towards the door, in hopes of what, you don’t know. But if you didn’t take action you’ll probably explode. Any action, just anything. You never find out though, because a strong arm slithered around your waist and halted your expedition. 

“Calm down, feisty. Where are you going now?” His soothing voice, punctuated with a mocking chuckle almost quelled the fire in you. Almost. 

But you’re not done being an idiot. 

“To go find her for you. You’d fuck the living daylights out of her, right?”

The loudest silence you have ever encountered. Jimin’s grip on your waist tightened to the point where it could have hurt. Like he was trying to push every iota of that thought out of your body. From behind, you can hear a deep breath dragging, and somewhere in your irate head you knew you had struck a nerve, a bad one. Jimin is forced to expel any anger bubbling in him, trying to use reason with an unreasonable recipient. 

“Princess, you don’t actually think I’d do that right?”

“I don’t know!” Your misplaced anger had reached the rooftops. Jimin had done nothing wrong here except try to calm an increasingly livid girlfriend. “Maybe you’d love that. Her itty-bitty waist, that whore’s outfit she had on. You call me a whore right? Maybe she’s more worthy of you!” 

“Y/N.”

The timbre of his voice had completely changed. The breathy, airy aura had completely departed from your name he had just called. The lack of nicknames raised some hair at the nape of your neck, but you’re a stubborn one. 

“Ugh, I don’t care.”

You tried to walk back to your room, head still reeling in a palace of inferno, burning everything that dares to intrude your path - but somehow, you had been pushed to a wall, and the eyes of the man you loved had turned feral. 

If Jimin was a color, he was green - igniting with fury, anger repressed in dark shadows that never made the light of the day until pushed - but you pushed all right. And now released from its shackles, it has surrounded you and slammed you against the wall - and you have nowhere to go. 

“You’re my whore. Is that a complaint from my stupid, stupid whore?”

The only joint you’re free to move is your neck, and your gratuitous self decided to rebel with whatever degree of freedom you have. Turning your face away to not meet his seething eyes, you continue your rebel-without-a-cause tantrum.

“Whatever.” you carped out.

Again, with that stupid word, you had signed your fate for the night. 

Usually, you can express your feelings. Be it pain or pleasure (sometimes the two packed in one), you could wail it out to the heavens and respite would follow. 

Usually, you can see the torments laid out on you. Jimin’s lithe body performing every obscene spell he invoked is a treat for your eyes. He treats your body like an artisan, using any medium to paint his art on you.

But that day, you were stripped of them both, and made to realize what a privilege they were.

Mouth stuffed with your bunched up panties, eyes blinded by his tie of the evening, you could only rely on the sensors on your skin to somehow predict what was going to be done to you. And you failed. Every single time. Every thwack fell on a new area. Every teasing touch tickled you at a new place. Nothing could begin to prepare you for his next move and you couldn’t keep up with his tameless pace.

He made you beg through the makeshift gag, beg to let you come, then beg to stop coming, beg for every orifice of yours to be filled by his seed and then beg to get cleaned by him. With the first rays of morning sunlight, language was an illusion, time was an out-of-reach concept, and all you knew was the worshipping of last night.

Whatever is a word. Whatever is mean. Whatever is filthy. Whatever is nailing you into the bed and rendering you immobile for the entire day. Whatever may just be a word to anyone, but to you it is what has you losing sense of reality, giving in to a phantasm of your wildest dreams. 

A wet tap on your cheek brings you back from you imagining the past - the fingers that were fucking your cleavage are squishing your cheeks, bringing your attention back from all your dirty memories to the present - to create another memory to add to your folder. 

If Jimin is a color, he is the darkest of all blacks. This is where everything pious comes to meet its sordid end. His sultry gaze is reading your eyes, searching for where you got lost, which shared memories of passed time made you melt into the puddle that you are right now. 

“I said, don’t you remember? ‘Whatever’?”

Let’s see. You don’t have work tomorrow. You don’t have any commitments. You don’t have to meet anyone. 

So there is no reason for you to be able to move. 

“Hmmmmn, I don’t seem to recall - you could remind me.”

Dark, dark chuckles from such a cherubic face. You flounder off his lap to shuck your (his) pants away, revealing the matching maroon garter belt set. The whole outfit is an ode to Jimin’s mid performance transformation, the one that made many people’s hearts skip a quick beat. His slim, cinched waist, the flared pants flowing down his frame were one for the books, and you’d like to think your rendition has its place too. 

Giving him a quick spin, you attempt to get down to business - but Jimin pulls you back on his lap. Without the pants, you can feel it - his hard, thick cock straining against the tough jean fabric and still making its presence known. 

“Tell me more, baby. What did you like?”

The man was a sucker for your praise. 

You were a sucker for the whole man. 

But the sucking will probably have to wait. 

“I loved your expressions. You’re so sexy on stage, fuck. Going around and giving bedroom eyes to the world.” 

His hand gripping you ass gives it a quick pinch, but voice just let out a lazy hum to get you to continue.

“The choreography,”, your whisper is strained, “you dance like you fuck baby. So sensual, so sexy.”

You lick a stripe up his neck, from his artistic collarbones to the back of his ear, the sensitive spot that makes him hiss is arousal. You stay there, wanting to whisper the next few lines. The world didn’t need to know your thirst for this. 

“You know my favorite part?” 

“Oh, tell me.” His voice is hitting lower and lower in pitch, much like it’s hitting you lower and lower in your body. 

You place the hand framing his face on his neck - the same one you want to cover in blooms of purple and red, lightly squeezing, letting him preen under the pressure. The tightness has Jimin’s head falling back on the headrest, and you can feel his pulse hastening to accommodate for the lacking oxygen in his stream. 

Letting go of his throat, and pleased to see the lightest indentation on his beautiful pale skin, you snake your hands downward. 

“Na, na, na,” Inching slowly towards your end goal, you whisper the tune into his ear, “na na na, na, na na”, covering every part with an indulgent languish, “pick your filter”.

Your hand finally reaches its destination - you grab his bulge and squeeze the hardness, making Jimin buck his hips against your palm. 

“Namaneul damabwa.”

It’s a low whisper from his lips, but even in the gravelly sound you can hear how melodious he is, how the song rolls off of his tongue and was made for his vocal color. The whisper is laced with lust, with want, with desire, all the feelings you portrayed for him in his performance.

That, and in life in general. 

You shuffle and sit to the side, simultaneously unbuttoning his jeans to get him some relief for the ache he had going on. Finally, you acquiesce and free his dick from its cages.

Every time you see him is a wonder to you. Hard, ridged, the right amount of veins to stimulate the walls of your cunt. Head leaking from the eons of teasing you’ve been doing, right from the text you sent to seconds ago. You bend down to clean him up, tasting the saltiness of his seed that has coated the head. Jimin’s lips are facing the brunt of your deeds - his teeth have found near permanent residence in its plushness, digging deep to keep from moaning too early, from giving you the pleasure. He is going to make you work. 

Well, you must get to work. 

Slowly, slowly, you dip your head in further, sucking lightly with each move, tongue tracing every vein on his dick. As you move your head back up, Jimin’s hand pushes into your back, making it arch further, and then you go down on his dick. His finger lightly follows the curve of your back, from your upper back all the way to the band of your lace panties. 

Hooking a finger underneath the lace fabric of your panty that had disappeared in between your mounds of flesh, he pulls at it - hard.  Your throat revolts against the intrusion as you gag, and the fabric presses into your clit. The concentrated abrasion turns into pleasure - he uses it to arch your back further, and bring your ass closer so that he can-

Smack! 

The spank sends you forward and you choke on his dick further, throat giving in to his hardness. 

“So good for me baby. Look at that ass.” He grabs one cheek, bubbled with the way your panties are now, squeezing and testing the firmness of your glutes. 

Your plans of torturing him are shot; the Devil on your shoulder is strangely mute. Awakening the brat, you slip a hand under and toy with his balls, pulling back to provide your throat some recess. Your saliva mixed with his precum is an gushing mess, glistening on his balls and now coating your palms as you play with light squeezes - the existing stiffness caused by your teasing arousal mixed with your playful fingers make Jimin buck into your mouth, releasing a delicious groan in the process.

A second spank is a warning, either you increase your pace or reap some serious consequences. You consider the consequences; they are very compelling. You could end with delicious marks of ownership from this delicious man. But he deserves the best suck of his life, and you’re going to do just that.

Hollowing your mouth, you go further down, till his head is poking an uninvaded point in your throat, and Jimin lets out a surprising note. A groan, no, a roar, but a tinge of whine mixed in it, like the pleasure is too much for him. 

You continue to swallow around, hand pumping the length you couldn’t take in, interlarded with swipes on his tight balls, leaving Jimin to be a heaving mess. Your ass is not faring better, bearing the brunt of his replies. You’re positive his fingerprints are imprinted on your asscheek, and one sit on his phone can unlock it. The line of your panties is drenched with your sopping wetness and lodged between the lips. 

“God, I’m so close baby, just a little more.” 

You would fervently nod in acceptance to whatever demand he places; in this position, he could ask you for the world and you would have it at his disposal. But what stops you are his ringed fingers lodged in your hair, pushing you in further, determined to spill deep in your throat, to the point where you don’t even have to swallow to get everything down. 

“Fuck, such a good girl for me.” Jimin appraises how deep he is going, how your throat is accommodating him and quivering around his length. Bunching your hair up into a makeshift ponytail, he stops them from obstructing his vision - the view of you struggling to take him in, toiling to keep the need to breathe at bay while you tend to his needs, worshipping his dick like its the last meal you’ll ever get - your desperate adulation takes him over the brink.

Jimin erupts into your mouth; an ungodly amount at that. It is the hardest he’s come in a while, and given your lifestyle, that’s saying something. Even a cum-hungry whore like you can’t possibly swallow that much in one go, and you are forced to let the globs dribble down his now-softening member. The two of you are heaving, catching a breath - completely different circumstances but the same result. 

The way you’re looking at him right now; his dick is already twitching to go for a second lap. Dilated pupils staring back, like you were at the receiving end of the orgasm - you are staring at him like he hung every star in the sky. Strings of cum are leaking out of the corners of your lips, ones he really wants to lap up with his tongue. Instead, you daintily dab it away - as innocent as pecking stray drops of ice cream off your mouth. 

You look at him with teasing eyes. “Want a taste baby?”

Running your tongue along the mess you (or he) made, you gather the remnant cum that didn’t go into you, and instead flooded his groin. Straddling back onto his lap, you go in for a kiss but stop halfway.

Jimin is looking, waiting with lust hungry eyes. Slightly pained by the pause, he whines. 

“What?”

“Open your mouth.”

From a height, you let his cum and your spit drop into his mouth, a groan of satisfaction emanating as Jimin’s tongue accepts it with great delight. He tastes his juices, they somehow feel sweeter coming from your mouth. He pushes the glob you dropped on his tongue against the roof of his mouth, letting every taste bud bathe in relish. When he’s sucked all flavor out of the globule he swallows it. On opening his eyes and landing back from heaven to earth, he sees you admiring his adam’s apple, the way it bobbed when he swallowed your offering. 

Jimin’s eyes trace your current state; you look beautiful. The strappy red lingerie wet from Jimin’s treatment perfectly showcases your peaked nipples, ready for another round of torture. His shirt, through all this has managed to stay hanging on your shoulders. The curves of your sinful waist accentuated by the ribbons of the wear, like roads down a windy path, every ribbon vanishing into their destination, between your curvaceous thighs. 

Slipping his fingers under the band, he decides he has not played with the lingerie enough, tugging it up once again - a sharp inhale and you’re moving along with it, upward to balance between the point of pain and pleasure. Jimin makes sure you don’t tip in favor of one. Grabbing you by the neck, Jimin harshly pulls you down into a deep kiss.

He’s done waiting, done watching you take the reins. His tongue tells you that you now can only react to his doings. Deepening the kiss, you let your mind walk places. Back to his performance, his stage presence, the aura he exudes when he is in his element. His sinful body melding to the flow of the beat, like the music was made to his movement - his piercing gaze that could leave an insentient camera with blushed cheeks - but a sharp bite pulls you right back to the present to remind you that this is also Jimin in his complete element. Pillowy lips, incandescent with every brush, sucked and nipped with fervor. But it still didn’t satisfy. It wasn’t nearly enough. Starved, you wanted to scream at every imperceptible air pocket between the two of you - as if you knew in your soul they were guilty of keeping you away. 

Jimin pulls away, and his words shut you down before the whine leaves you. 

“About that ‘whatever’…” his sinister eyes are a window to his brain churning something unimaginable to close the night - sinister in uppercase. Make it bold. Underline that shit. That’s him. 

In the bat of an eye, you are face down on the sofa - Jimin’s rock hard thighs are straddling you, making sure you can handle his weight. In all the coarseness, he takes care of the smallest of things. An untimely smile creeps up on your face at the thought, the tender show of affection amidst the rough push and pull affecting your immersion, but you can’t say you don’t like it.

Feeling a rough jerk on your shoulder, you try to look back, just in time to receive Jimin’s ravenous gaze; he looks at you like he will eat you alive, and by the end of the night you plan on having just that. Pulling back your now-unbuttoned shirt and bunching its ends, he anchors you to the position of his choice by tying your hands behind.

Smelling a line up your neck all the way up to your hair, he briefly pauses to ask “Okay?”

Your tiny nod is enough for Jimin to carry on with whatever godless plan he has chalked out for you. 

“I hope you had your fun. Because I’m not going easy on you.”

Light banter could cause no trouble. Atleast, not more than you already have. “When have you ever?”

Flashbacks of the blossoming days of your relationship flicker in Jimin’s mind, their fugacious presence a telling sign of how long it has been. Looking downward, he can only thank his alcohol-induced blabbering of that night as that is the reason he can enjoy the view he has right now. 

“Maybe I should take it easy?” His tongue flits across your neck, too soft for your liking, torturous like his liking.

His fingers are playing with the straps and your now exposed upper back. It’s always been a favorite place of his. The whole expanse looks resplendent when he is done tasting you. Maroon and purple florets on your beautiful, glowing skin. And then you purposely wear dresses to show it all off, to show who your heart belongs to. He loves that about you. 

You gyrate lightly, snapping him out of his daze, begging him to take you hard and fast. “Jimin, please.” a low drawl leaves you as you try to not slobber all over the cushion. 

Jimin shifts lower to straddle your thighs. Snaking his hand between your legs, he finds your clit and plays with it, every press releasing a different sound from different depths of your throat. A particularly low grunt appears when he slips two fingers into your channel with smooth ease, and pushes you up from the inside. 

“Ass up for me.”

His fingers stay lodged inside as you raise your hips to obey him, pulling you up further and further till he is satisfied with your position. God, your pussy looks wrecked. With every pump of his fingers you gush our more liquid, and Jimin gathers the escaping drops on this tongue. 

“So perfect for me, this hole.” You can feel the cold metal of his rings drawing circles inside you as he prepares you to take his cock. His tongue, drawing completely different characters is too slow for your liking - he seems to be more satisfied in drinking your cum dripping from his fingers instead of paying attention to your throbbing clit. Seconds go by, several hinting moans of dissatisfaction go by, but the Devil on your shoulder seems to have returned and is asking for more. A hip raise, that’s all. His tongue will be right where you want. 

What you got instead was a sharp bite on your already battered ass - Devil, hey, where did you go? “Behave.” He grunts against your pussy, and a fresh wave of arousal escapes you with a third finger making its way in. “Don’t like it? Too,” Smack! “Fucking.” Smack! “Bad.”

The last spank hit you hard, leaving your cunt soaked to the core. He is trying to get a rise out of you, and you are falling for it. Your smarting skin is at its breaking point, but let’s not pretend like you don’t want this either. 

“Baby please, I’m so close.” You’re close to tears with how long you’ve been this turned on. Maybe Jimin will have a change of heart seeing you like this.

“Don’t.”

Well maybe not.

He’s using your hole like playdough - for his fancy, with no end goal in sight. He doesn’t seem to want you to come anytime soon and it is bothering you to no end. The tightening coil in your belly is almost painful at this point - but he doesn’t seem to want to let up anytime soon. 

“You taste so sweet baby, almost don’t want to let you come, so you keep dripping like this.” 

His fingers curl into you to hit that spot, and God, you’re seeing stars right now. Curling up your fists into a ball and trying to keep the threatening tsunami at bay, you jerk into his mouth and continue to sway to the tune his fingers play inside you. If desperation had a poster girl, they could take your photo right now.

“If you let me come I -ohhh- I will- I will give you more.” Your words are broken, every push into your cunt halting your flow of speech. 

A split second later you are empty. He’s pulled away from you, and you think the finger-fucking torture you were going through was almost better than this. Your walls flutter in empty anguish. 

“Better keep your promise then.” Finally, you hear Jimin shuffling behind, but your muscles feel too alive and too dead at the same time. At crossroads, you are unable to get yourself to move, to twist or turn and witness the glory of him, the scrunch of his features, the grit of his pronounced jaw, his lips heaving a sigh as he pushes his girthy self into your leaking hole. 

Jimin’s forehead is lined with sweat, jaws hurting from the tight clench he had trying to not nut into you too soon. Now they revolt in pain, ready to pass on their trouble to his dick and release into you the moment he fits himself in. But he held off; he had plans for you - long plans. 

As he slowly pulls himself out, you can’t help but mewl at the pleasure your walls are feeling, with every ridge of his cock pressing all the right spots inside you, the snug fit when he’s pulled out all the way only leaving the head inside you. Then, you can’t help but yell, expressing a mixture of anguish and pleasure when his hips snap to push into you in one swoop, hitting deep inside you. With your ass high up in the air, his balls smack your engorged bud, sending shockwaves throughout your body and clenching the hold you have on his dick.

“Fuck baby, you feel fucking tight. You’re so close?” Jimin’s voice is strained as well; the lack of mocking in his tone tells you he is close as well. 

“Ki-Kiss me, please.” The voice that leaves you is so foreign, so unknown. The fucked out woman speaking in your stance has no spatial or temporal comprehension. You don’t even realize how you are put on your back, now a lucky witness to Jimin’s nimble figure pushing back into you as he leaned over to slot his lips on yours. 

The kiss was explicit, it was rough, it would put to any kiss you’ve shared before to shame. Deep in throes of pleasure, his mouth is chasing yours. Your hands are still bound; a light fight against the restrain tells you you don’t have a chance. Instead, you suck his plush lip in, swiping your tongue across his cherry petals that are rushing with blood because of you. Dormant volcanoes across the world could erupt with the blaze of your merging lips, it is scorching hot. 

If Jimin is a color, he is a rich wine - deep and passionate. He puts his one hundred percent into whatever he does, be it skilled singing, adept dancing or simply fervent kissing. He gives it his all.

Jimin’s skillful hips move in every way he wishes - and your pussy is thankful for that. Rolling in deep, he tests the stretch of your walls, before pistoning into you with zeroed-in precision, sole focus to get you to come with him. The effort he was putting in could be seen in his abs - they have tightened with exertion, and with a light sheen on sweat, look absolutely delectable. 

Letting your hands roam, you bring Jimin’s face into your neck where you can hear every single breath, every hiss, every groan - that you could record and keep in your memory. With one hand tugging his tresses, and the other hand drawing paths on his back with your nails, you hear the sounds you want to. Jimin sharply bites your ear, and the shockwaves of pleasure send you tipping. 

There’s layers to the pleasure you are experiencing right now, your orgasm hitting you in ebbs and flows. Right when you think you can finally return back to ground, the high tide pulls you back into the water for another stream of pleasure. It feels like eternity when you finally hit the land, and even then the loose sand makes you falter, threatens to send you back into the ocean.

Jimin’s pace is faltering, and he spills soon after. Hot, heavy breaths tickle under your ear, as both of you feel the sheer intensity of the orgasm. Him on you, your hearts are aligned, and you can feel the beats fighting each other for dominance until they soften down. 

Ripples of energy flow out of the both of you, elevating the temperature around the two of you. If you didn’t have your eyes closed you’d say literal rolls of steam are emanating from the way you both are heaving. You slowly regain your senses, twitching hands trying to remember what it is that hands even do. 

A shiver runs through your spine when you hear a grunt so close to your ear, only to realize Jimin is in the same position as you are in. Even without looking, you can guess what his expression is. Void of any edge, the softness of his facial features must have made their return, with crinkled eyes and a light frown on his beautiful pouty lips, he probably looks like an innocent caricature of the man that stood behind you moments ago. Letting your palm rest on his head, you beckon him to get up.

If Jimin is a color, he is the pinkness best portrayed by his puffy cheeks at this moment. A childlike glow, a guileless visage. He looks at you with such adoration, like you are the only desire in his world, and everything else can be damned.

You don’t want to break this silence but you cheekily add, “You didn’t even get me naked. Like this a bit too much eh?”

Dark clouds mar the pink and turn it into a deep, sultry carmine - the shift in his color noticeably brings your temperature down by a few degrees.

“Cute. You think I’m done with you.”

He is the whole palette, and you can pick your filter.

Thank you for making it to the end! Let me know what you think! And you can find more of my writing at my masterlist here!

#bangtansorciere #bangtanhq #bangtancentralstation #ficswithluv #bangtaninn #bts smut #jimin smut #park jimin smut #bts fanfic #jimin fanfic #bangtanuniversity

[aonogifreactions]

Minecraft headcanons no one asked for

a/n: olcvfgmlkfm this hit me so randomly i dont even know. enjoy!! under the cut due to length!

★ Characters: Rin, Yukio, Mephisto, Amaimon.

★ Words: 1,6k.

Rin:

this sweetheart loves playing with you whenever you ask him to! it relaxes him a lot, plus just having fun with you is making him really happy.

he stays somewhere near you, ALWAYS. he’s way too embarrassed to admit he’s scared (same Rin, same), so whenever he yelps or jumps on his bed because he heard a zombie growl, you can laugh as much as you want, but don’t be surprised if he shoots a glare at you and pouts.

he’ll bring you whatever you want. wood? fine. iron? no problem, he’s already on his way to find a cave (even if he’s afraid of caves.. he’ll do it for you).

he’s not very good at building, so usually he leaves it to you, and it doesn’t really matter whether you live in a “house” made out of dirt or a full ass mansion; no matter what your building skills are, he’s gonna praise you anyway.

sucks at parkour. DON’T ask him to play a parkour map, he’s gonna whine and barely make one jump.

speaking about bad jumping, he’s really clumsy and somehow always ends up with the highest death streak. for example, he’s sprinting to kill a pig, but somehow doesn’t notice a fucking lava pool below him and jumps right into it. accidentally hits a zombie piglin (or pigman, depends on what version you play on) and he’s dead.

HOWEVER, he’s the guy who gets really lucky. do you remember/have a person/friend that always manages to get diamonds first? yep, it’s him. gets the best enchants. both on books and tools or armor. he also gets the ender dragon kill first too.

he won’t play without optifine and texture pack other than the default one. he hates it. his fave is faithful and if it doesn’t work, he’s constantly commenting on how the default one is hurting his eyes.

he will NOT survive listening to both disc “11″ and “13″ he hates it. don’t play it unless you want him to cry.

hasn’t played alpha nor beta versions, but he likes watching vids of it! he gets very nostalgic, which honestly bewilders him because he started playing way after beta. sometimes you can catch him listening to the old soundtrack all teared up, or falling asleep to it.

LOVES GREEN PARROTS. one of them is named after you.

MAY I INFORM YOU, HE DOES PLACE HIS BED TOGETHER WITH YOURS.

Yukio:

unlike rin, he’s always complaining about you asking him to play, but he’s obviously gonna do it (because he loves u,, even if he says he doesn’t). it also relaxes him, but mostly, he likes it because he’s able to get his mind off of “adult things” and finally get some rest.

wooo, he’s the brave one. he isn’t afraid of zombie gurgles or anything like that, so he’s always going to caves first (and gets lost because he’s literally going deeper and deeper FDMKFMV). however, there’s one thing that always startles him... cave sounds. he doesn’t scream, but if you’re near him, you can sometimes witness his character spinning or jerking his head in another direction because of it vcxkvnjhbv

don’t, i repeat, dON’T make fun of him afterward. he’s gonna go all the way back to you and kill you (and then go back mining.. like nothing happened).

the perfectionist. always mines all the resources he sees; during building something he also always makes sure everything’s proportional. gladly counts blocks for you, if your brain can’t work anymore.

now, building! not very skilled with building houses, but he likes building simple decorations, like fountains, gardens or farms. despite him always claiming it’s bad, his work always looks very detailed. not very good with ideas of those things at first, so mainly at the beginning he always finds some inspirations on the internet, but later gets the hang of it and builds his own ideas!

his favorite place to have a house in is somewhere near the ocean.

likes default textures. too used to have anything else.

doesn’t like listening to in-game music, unless it’s something from beta or alpha versions (like “Haggstorm” or “Wet Hands”). Usually listening to his own favorite songs on Spotify.

His favorite disc is “Far”. It used to be “Cat”, but due to him obtaining it like 3000 times he stopped liking it. nor hearing it anywhere near.

when he goes out to get resources and/or food, he comes back with full inventory and shulkers, just like a father that’s about to feed his kids. minimum 10 stacks of iron, coal blocks and food. the nearest 10k chunks of caves is already explored, so you better be ready for a long, lONG WALK to get something new.

he’s also fond of beta versions, but rarely plays them without you.

Mephisto:

this motherfucker wants to literally speedrun every fucking game. meanwhile you’re busy making a wooden pick, he’s out there typing “can’t wait to beat the dragon and get elytras~! ★”

remembers literally every recipe for all items and alchemy. personal minecraft wikipedia right there.

he MUST have a fucking mansion, otherwise, he isn’t playing. fortunately, he’s tried building before, so he’s perfectly capable of building one himself. it’s all made out of pink wool and concrete, along with white concrete accents here and there. 

adding to the previous one, he also has a great decorating sense. the rooms look very good, space is filled nicely and is both pretty and practical. the mansion itself looks very good on outside and inside.

of course, the main bedroom that’s designed especially for you two looks WAY TOO GOOD. I'm not even gonna start on him messing with plugins and making it even prettier.

his skin is a random, pink anime girl.

master with redstone. everything’s automated, there also might be hidden rooms with surprises. there’s a hidden shrine dedicated for you. he hasn’t told you about that though... >_>

even though he gets many useful things from the swamp biome, like lily pads or that cyan flowers, he hates this biome with a burning passion. if he sees it anywhere near his render distance he’s spasming and immediately voicing his annoyance. hates that specific, “dirty and unsightly” green water and grass color.

he doesn’t do much mining, but happily goes with you if you ask him to. even if he has no armor on, he never dies. NEVER. there might be 6 creepers but he somehow survives their explosion.

not scared at all. he knows this game like the back of his hand. he might, however, attempt to scare YOU instead. on purpose. or accidentally hit you so you fall from a large height and die. if you get upset at him afterward, he’s gonna give you even better stuff you’ve had before.

HE LOVES PLAYING ALPHA AND BETA. he started to play probably around very early alpha, so coming back to such simpler times is making him somewhat nostalgic (even if he denies it). on those versions, he builds things that used to be popular back in the day, like simple towers of cobblestone or houses inside mountains. it hits him hard when old soundtrack plays.

Amaimon:

he’s very, very confused. first off, he’s not used to the game at all, but then, he googles almost any recipe or asks you thousands of questions about how to make things. after some time, he finally figures out that there’s a book with recipes in game.

he might steal your items, but usually, he gives you back better items. for example, you notice your iron pickaxe is missing, but suddenly he sprints into the house and throws at you diamonds.

oh, he’s aware of the existence of chests, but for some reason, he likes throwing various items at you. he runs off afterward, leaving you with everything on the ground.

don’t introduce him to bedrock edition, he hates playing minecraft with a gamepad, and will smash it immediately. java edition is the only help for this man.

he’s also clumsy, like Rin. he manages to do that less than him somehow, but he tends to die pretty often anyway. his deaths are the stupidest, sometimes he doesn’t even bother explaining it. he literally can die with gravel suffocating him.

once he goes to the nether, he doesn’t wanna go back to the overworld. he says something along the lines of it being similar to gehenna or whatever, but. no matter what version it is - pre- or post- update 1.16, he likes it and that’s it.

his favorite biome in the overworld is jungle - mostly because of the lively color of grass, but also tall trees. he likes having there treehouses and always asks if you can build one (because he sucks at building. even worse than Rin >_>). his fave in the nether is blue forest or basalt biome - however, he becomes mad quickly on the second one due to frequent gaps filled with lava and magma cubes.

he likes normal slimes though. he even has a pet slime!! QwQ

he named his pet slime after Behemoth. keeps it safe in a glass cube and checks on it regularly. Behemoth doesn’t know about it doe.

he bullies every single villager that’s within his sight. burns their homes. the only thing that survives is the iron golem because he thinks it’s cool.

plays with the basic Steve skin. partially because he doesn’t know how to change it and that he isn’t determined enough to look for any.

forgets that crouching exist and falls off almost every cliff or anything that’s considered high.

#Ao no Exorcist #blue exorcist #rin okumura #Rin Okumura x reader #Yukio Okumura #yukio okumura x reader #mephisto pheles #amaimon #Headcanon #Pure

[pocket-void]

I WANNA HEAR MORE ABT THE WORLD BUILDING MOCK !!! :]

Hoooooo boy, well!! I’m always happy to oblige when it comes to stuff like that. ^\\\^

First thing’s first, this is a very loose concept I began making for fun because it’s an excuse to shove everything I find cool into a magic system and I’m building a world around that and whatever characters I can make up with this concept. (Hence the fighting game feel o///o)

Second, if you’re the reading type I’m actually in the middle of developing a document to help myself organize hahaha. >\\\< It might be a little confusing though, and I’m still working on it so it might be edited more in the future.

But the core of the system surrounds the idea that all magic can ultimately be broken down into 6 core elements. (Fire, water, air, water, dark, light; the basics and all that u///u) The fun part of it is that mixing and matching those elements creates different results for different people! The example I always use is that when combining earth and fire, some people create magma while other people create sand. The opposite applies too, in which different methods sometimes can yield similar results. Like water and air can make ice, but water plus water can also make ice, that kind of deal.

It gets a lil complicated after that and I’m still building on it. Like there’s different forms of casting/channeling magic, different magic items, specializations, etc to get to, but the base of the system doesn’t deviate from that “mix and match” kind of vibe. The average mage can use up to 3 elements comfortably, with one as their main and two others as support. I might go into it more another time when the details are relavent for other characters. ^\\\^

I absolutely LOVE loose systems that I can push to the limits with enough creativity, so I’m really rolling up my sleeves to make some unique abilities if I can. o///o It’s currently pretty all over the place idea wise, but that’s why I’m polishing it. ^\\\^✨💖 Plot wise I haven’t actually decided how it will go. Hell, I haven’t even got to the technology yet! I’ve got my work cut out for me there hahaha. >\\\<

#I just really really really like worldbuilding can you tell? o///o #it makes me excited to make stuff that’s like #cool and a little out of the box o///o #it’s still a little vague for now but I currently quite like this concept u///u #sash! #mock talks #ask #Kantibar Keep

[unmeiverse-nextadventures]

(kinda) New Kids

aka I was unable to control myself and these guys happened. I’m not adding them to my Self-Imposed Challenge but they may get some headshots, I mean Nakhil already has one with his stepbrothers and Audouin may be getting one soonerish. 

Just having this post so I can keep track since there’s like...a lot now. They’re more or less listed chronologically from slightly oldest addition (as in i thought of them almost immediately after typing up my challenge) to the most recent. Content in [ ] are specifically my meta thoughts.

EDIT 6/27/2021: Kiyo (formerly Seine)’s info here is now mostly outdated. Also belated but Gina’s info here is also outdated but hers wasnt really set in stone to begin with

Jason & Camille Pensée-Lino

Grant and Viola’s twins

Jason is the older twin, Camille is younger twin. Camille identifies as genderqueer

Kinda typical outgoing-reserved twin dynamic

[Had always been meaning to give Grant (and Viola) children since Siebold and Valerie have kids. Wanted all three of this trio to have kids that hang out and spend time together]

Both of them are more likely to be into artistic stuff, though they need more development in general.

Shank, Amber, and Umi Mizoguchi

Brawly and Roxanne’s children

Shank is the eldest son, his real name “Hagi” is in honor of Old Man Briney who passed away a year before he was born. Amber is their only daughter and her real name is “Kohaku” which is basically just ‘amber’ in Japanese. Umi is their youngest son and kinda happened on accident but they love him.

[Honestly all three of them just suddenly snuck up on me but I am committed, plus always need some more Hoenn kids]

Shank is into water sports but mainly surfing and sailing. Amber works for Devon Corp either during or after becoming the next Rock-type Gym Leader. Both of them probably have ties to the reformed Team Aqua and Team Magma, respectively. I still need to develop what the former villain teams are up to during fankid era

Umi is just baby but that can change if/when I decide to get more invested in this family

Daphné Carnet

Diantha’s adopted daughter

[I wanted a fankid to carry on the “Carnet” surname and didn’t feel like having Ilima and Mina’s kids change theirs and I had always been toying with giving Diantha a daughter]

She has a bit of a backstory already! A super tldr is she was a runaway from a bad household and had befriended Diantha a year or two before getting formally adopted by her. A bit like Emma’s background really.

Also is another reincarnation kid and there’s more relevant drama with the circumstances of her past life.

[The next four boys also have more detailed and unnecessarily drama-filled backstories]

Nakhil Ali-Campwright

Raihan’s son

[I just went wild one night and decided to throw some more drama at Raihan and also kinda wanted a younger sibling for Eric and George.]

He was the result of a one-night stand that Raihan didn’t know resulted in a baby until Nakhil’s mom was arrested and the young infant was found severely neglected. This all caused quite the scandal for Raihan.

[Also he kinda exists to have Milo and Raihan have something to bond over (aka raising a kid solo along w stress of a scandal) while unintentionally also feeding into Eric’s inferiority and guilt complex]

He does end up growing up in a loving family with his fathers and brothers! May need to develop him more but for now he’s fine as sweet baby

Seine Mandragora

Ryuki’s son

[Also another case of a kid that just snuck up on me. Though I can say it was most likely because I saw Ryuki’s actual eyes in the anime and thought it’d be a cute look on a kid of his]

He was the result of a fling/one-night stand sort of thing between Ryuki and a fan of his. Said fan was either engaged or married at the time. 

Seine ended up growing up not knowing he wasn’t his dad’s son until at some point in his teens he gets caught in an argument with his parents in which oops its revealed. While the argument and drama does get resolved somehow he still gets curious and decides to meet up with his bio dad, Ryuki.

The two end up bonding like how they do in those films where the main dude suddenly becomes a father/father-figure to a troubled kid, but Seine doesn’t stay with him. They do keep in touch though.

[He doesn’t have much role beyond this little side-story and possibly encountering Astra, Hoshi, and Vivi during their Island Challenge. Possibly also ends up accompanying Chase during one of his travels in another region. Also definitely has strong affinity for Dragon-types so could do something there.]

Momo Ryouji

Lance’s much younger half-brother

[Really a result of me wanting to create a Lance kid but having trouble with the fact I don’t ship him with anyone and just didn’t feel like going the other routes I did with some other characters for this]

The result of an affair Lance’s late father had with a much younger woman, though the rest of the clan find out only after Momo’s mother dies as well. Lance’s mother knew beforehand, having met her while visiting her late husband’s grave. As much as she wanted to raise the boy herself she was also too old already. The other clan members wanted to get rid of him but Lance steps in to be his guardian.

[While a lot of him is still pretty vague and undecided I’m committed to him existing. Very tempted to have him be a sort of mish mash of Red, Green, Gold, and Silver’s traits, given that Lance also had experience being a mentor/father/older brother figure to those four. Plus like Hoenn I need more kids for Kanto and Johto] 

Audouin Dulcis

Dulse and Calem’s son

[This ship has always been at the back of my mind because of how events go down in my au wherein they do get to meet and interact while in Alola. Read here for me rambling a bit about them. Anyway talking with @pokemon-legends-and-legacies and @pkmnomegaverse finally made me crack and give them a kid]

Fully taking advantage of the “bizarre alien biology/reproduction” trope for this. Specifically the current scenario is Calem just kisses Dulse’s hand and that is enough to acquire a copy of his DNA.

Dulse ends up having Audouin by himself, but single parenthood is the norm in their homeworld anyway and he’s already had experience raising Zossie (more as a younger sister but still) so he doesn’t really see it necessary to try and reconnect with Calem to tell him about their son.

Audouin takes heavily after Dulse in appearance and personality, albeit more expressive.

[Currently still going through the possible routes aka does Calem meet him or not and all the possible interactions with Calem’s other children, but so far the route appealing to me is where they end up meeting and Audouin and the Narcillard kids get along, in contrast to their not-Calem dads who can’t stand each other lmao. In any case, Dulse still mostly remains a single father but Audouin would drag them to Calem’s world spend time with his half siblings and other parent at least every four years after the initial meeting.] 

undercut is the one kid in fankid limbo

Gina (short for Aubergina)

Korrina’s daughter

Mostly Im thinking I need more Aura capable kids and a Korrina kid would be cute, plus the top candidate for her dad atm is Wally but since I have him as Hoenn Champ if he was her dad he’d be a disappeared dad who didn’t even know he was a dad

Kinda really want to go the single mom route for Korrina

I honestly don’t have much reason to be attached or invested in her at all yet, maybe if a good dynamic with some of the other kids comes up or I make a better drama backstory that I would like, idk

#long post #fankid musings #log #unmv jason #unmv camille #unmv shank #unmv amber #unmv umi #unmv daphne #unmv nakhil #unmv kiyo #unmv momo #unmv audouin

[virtual-lara]

GameSpot UK Interview with Adrian Smith - Tomb Raider 3

Interview appeared on Gamespot UK website, dated to 30th October 1998

In an exclusive interview, Tomb Raider III developer Core Design's operations director, Adrian Smith, reveals Tomb Raider III's secrets…

GameSpot UK:

Tomb Raider III is divided into five mini-adventures. Does each one have a different plot and if so, are these linked by an overall story?

Adrian Smith:

I guess you could call them mini-adventures: Lara's looking for four artefacts this time so each location is almost a separate adventure. She starts off in India. She believes she's looking for a single artefact but at the end of this location she discovers that there are another three to find. So after India she can go to the South Pacific, London or Nevada in any order, before playing the final location: Antarctica. The locations are linked by a story that is brought to its conclusion in Antarctica.

GameSpot UK:

What's the plot this time?

Adrian Smith:

I can't say too much, but the four artefacts that Lara is searching for were originally discovered lying round a large meteorite that crashed to earth millions of years ago. The collision separated this point of impact from the mainland, creating a volcanic island towards the north of Antarctica. When the meteorite impacted, the area became impregnated with foreign matter ­ this matter had powerful properties and slowly released a kind of radiation that accelerated growth and evolution in both creatures and plants... but not without side effects. As Antarctica iced over, the basin of the island remained an oasis of life.

The first peoples to discover the island were Polynesians, and when one tribe discovered the abundance of life there, they decided to stay. Deep within the dormant volcano, they found the core of the meteorite ­ magically suspended it seemed, above the rock. (The material was in fact magnetic and was being repelled by the magma below.) The settlers built an altar round the meteorite and used four smaller pieces of the meteorite to create a device to trap and save the precious radiation.

Years later, as explorers were charting Antarctica, they discovered the remains of the island. Fresh animal tracks in the snow, led them to the crumbling remains of the settlement. When the explorers reached the altar, they looted the four artefacts, and as they left, one of the men was attacked and killed by a mutant beast. The others fled in terror. Only one survived to record the story...

Back in the present day, a scientific research company hits sculpted rock as it blows a wall of ice in the Antarctic and discovers an unknown material and the body of the savaged explorer. On the explorer's tombstone are the details of the boat on which he sailed. Using this information, the research company sets about searching for the artefacts.

Lara, meanwhile, is in India searching for one of these artefacts herself, unaware of its true history. And so the adventure begins.

GameSpot UK:

What are the locations like? We've seen the London screens. Is running round the capital as challenging as raiding a tomb?

Adrian Smith:

The locations are quite diverse. London features a night-time rooftop level ­ from there Lara drops into some of the buildings, including an eerie waxworks museum and the Natural History Museum. Eventually she finds her way to St Paul's, and from there into the sewers (for which Lara has an underwater propulsion unit, à la James Bond), deserted tube stations and Masonic halls. The level of detail in Tomb Raider III enables us to create really atmospheric locations.

Other locations include: Nevada (Area 51 and the desert), The South Pacific (very lush, featuring a coastal level, island in terior and a white water level!), India (jungle locations and temples), and Antarctica (where all is not as it seems!).

GameSpot UK:

What sort of enemies will Lara face this time?

Adrian Smith:

Well, they'll all have a far higher level of AI than previously encountered since we have 'Dr Tom', the AI specialist working with us on Tomb Raider III. Nearly all the enemies are new and include snakes, hyenas, monkeys, dragons, huskies, whales, piranhas and jellyfish, plus a whole lot more.

Lara will be able to avoid some of her human enemies by ducking and crawling to avoid their line of sight, but once they see her, they'll raise the alarm and the chase will really be on. Some of the animal enemies may run away from Lara when initially approached, but if she follows them, she may be led to danger. Many of the enemies will also work in groups to cut Lara off, so she'll have to work out ways to distract them in order to proceed. And watch out for the monkeys ­ they love to run away with Lara's precious medipacks!

GameSpot UK:

Lara's an athletic lass. Does she have any new moves this time round?

Adrian Smith:

The main new moves include the duck, crawl, monkey swing and dash. Since Lara is now able to crawl in narrow spaces and tunnels, the exploration element of the game has really been opened up. The duck allows Lara to quickly avoid gunfire ­ she can also shoot while in the duck position so combat now becomes more strategic. The hand-over-hand monkey swing can be used to traverse areas that Lara is unable to cross on foot, and the dash allows Lara to sprint to safety when she needs to make a swift escape. Lara can also add a dive to her new dash move. This is particularly useful for time-based traps where she'll have to dash and dive through closing doors.

GameSpot UK:

Fashion fans want to know what Lara is wearing this season? Is brown still the new black?

Adrian Smith:

Since Lara is so practical, she needs suitable outfits for each location. These include white and grey camouflage trousers and jacket for the Antarctic, a black cat-suit for London, combat trousers for Nevada and a crop top for the hot South Pacific locations.

GameSpot UK:

What about those lovely boy toys ­ vehicles and guns?

Adrian Smith:

Lara does indeed have some new vehicles to help her get around. A couple of the levels will rely solely on the use of vehicles to complete them successfully: Lara will be white-water rafting in a kayak and speeding down mines in a rail cart. Other vehicles include a James Bond-style underwater propulsion unit and a quad bike... but I don't want to give any more than that away right now!

As for the weapons, some of Lara's new items include an automatic rifle, rocket launcher and desert eagle guns.

GameSpot UK:

Are there any changes to the combat? Does Lara have to aim now or does she auto-aim as before?

Adrian Smith:

It's basically the same system, but a couple of the weapons will require Lara to aim herself.

GameSpot UK:

What improvements have been made to the game engine and graphics on Tomb Raider III?

Adrian Smith:

Firstly there's a new structure for the order of gameplay: Tomb Raider III contains five separate locations which link together, but after completing the first location the following three can be played in any order, before the final location closes the game. Whereas Tomb Raider I and II contained 15 levels, Tomb Raider III contains 20, making it a considerably larger game. The levels themselves are far less linear than before and the player will have a choice of at least two routes to complete each one. The routes will vary in difficulty: taking the harder route will reward the player with more pick-ups, whereas the easier routes will be quicker and less complicated. To add further variety to the gameplay, the save-game system offers an easy and a hard option.

The easy option allows the player to save the game anywhere, as in Tomb Raider II. The harder option will use the save-game crystals that featured in Tomb Raider I, but this time Lara can either use the save-game crystals immediately, or store them in her inventory for use later on.

Tomb Raider III's level editing system has undergone an extensive redesign: our programmers use the level editor tool to create the rooms that, when linked together, make up each level. Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider II used a grid system to create the levels ­ this meant that the level architecture that Lara was able to interact with consisted of a series of blocks of different heights and dimensions. Tomb Raider III's system now incorporates triangles. This means that we can now achieve greater detail such as very realistic organic surfaces, and smoother shore-lines.

We're also able to create more complex architectural structures such as domes, arches and vaulted ceilings.

Tomb Raider III's game engine offers more speed than the first two games, and handles a greater amount of detail. The water in the third game is now transparent, reflective and rippling. When Lara swims or wades through the water, she'll leave a wake behind her. If she fires a weapon into the water, you'll see a new underwater explosion effect. Also, if she's standing in the water and firing a weapon, you'll see the empty shells actually drop into the water and sink to the bottom.

Other effects include semi-transparencies such as mist, smoke and shafts of light. And weather effects such as snow, wind and rain are now included ­ all of which give the game a deeper atmosphere and added realism.

We also have more realistic flames and explosions. When Lara fires a weapon, you'll even see smoke from the barrel of her gun. Lara now leaves footprints and you'll also hear sound effects as she runs across different surfaces.

Sadly, page four (of four) is no longer available.

All rights belong to GameSpot and/or their affiliated companies. I only intend to introduce people to old articles and preserve them before they are lost.

#Tomb Raider 3 #TR3 Interviews #All Interviews #VL Posts

[kimabutch]

JLCR: instrumental track edition

Just hit another milestone on the JLCR playlist (1250 songs!) so I’m doing another mini-playlist, this time focussing on instrumental songs for locations and specific scenes. 

I’ve organized the playlist by campaign and then by order within the campaign. Because Critical Role gives us stunning scenes every single episode, I’ve only been able to include a fraction of my favourites, usually chosen because I had a specific song in mind. I’ve also quoted parts of Matt’s descriptions, so that this is also an ode to his beautiful narration.

This playlist has got a little bit of everything: folk/trad, lo-fi beats, post-rock, soundtrack, and classical. I hope you enjoy!

Campaign 1

Whitestone, Briarwood Arc

The Night King, Ramin Djawadi (from Game of Thrones, Season 8)

“As you get close enough to start scanning over details, you can see that a lot of the buildings appear to be closed or empty. There are people working in the fields. As you make your way to the centre of the town, there is a town square. There is a tree there, a very large, old tree that is twisted, with all these various gnarled branches that reach out. You recall Desmond mentioning something called the Sun Tree that is the centrepiece of this area. And you get a view enough of the tree to see that there are eight humanoid bodies of varying ages swinging from it.” (e28)

Bolts of lightning are coming down from the storm in the distance, too, as the thunderstorm itself is reaching more of a fervoured pace, the rain itself getting harder and harder on you guys. So, with that, you can see, looking over your shoulder on the other side of this wall another bit of skeletal horde is starting to come down one of the nearby intersections. (e32)

Okay, okay, I know this is a little too on-point: this song was literally written about fighting an undead army in and around a castle. But when I listen to this song and close my eyes, I can imagine a dozen scenes from the Briarwood arc, played out perfectly in my head. And Ramin Djawadi is just a fantastic composer.

The Flute Duels in The Diamond Nest

The Ballroom Set, Jean-Michel Veillon

“So you pull out your flute and other gnomish girl with her flute as well gives you a look, and you guys start weaving together this flute duel, almost like Flight of the Bumblebees but two conflicting sides. As you guys begin to build this perpetual symphony of — it’s almost jazz flute almost in this improvisational feel to it. The drums build, you can see Dr. Dranzel is tapping his foot to it and he gets this really fast fiddle sound out of a classic violin, the whole room begins to gather around and cheer. [...] 

Eyes locked, tapping your feet heavily against the actual wood to the table. The rhythmic pounding of your feet and the drums — because the entire room is now also slamming their tables in with it as the music builds and builds until eventually you both take one deep breath and go for that same sustained note a second time. She’s challenging you at the game she lost last time, and the two of you both swell into this cacophonous spray of music that hits this one final note.” (e37)

As a flute player of 14+ years with a strong interest in traditional music, I can fairly confidently say that a flute duel would be unlikely to end on a very long note, because flutes sound like shit when you start to lose air, which is usually after only a few seconds — flutes are the least air-efficient of all wind instruments, unless you can circular breathe, in which case it’s a moot point. 

That being said, I love this scene, and I’ve chosen a song by one of my favourite trad flutists for it, Jean-Michel Veillon. He’s a master of Breton and Irish flute, both of which contain improvisational elements that you can hear in this mind-numbingly fast piece. While it has none of Dr Dranzel’s fiddle in it, there’s only one flute, and it doesn’t end on a particularly long note, it’s definitely a crowd-pleaser that would both provide a distraction for a stealthing party and challenge a long-lost daughter to keep up. 

Pyrah, Destroyed

Study for Player Piano (II), Ólafur Arnalds

“Your vision crests the mountain and steps into the valley of broken, blackened shale to the ever-burning forest. As you come upon it, you recall where the Fire Ashari village was and where you were greeted before and given your trials. Where there is now nothing but sundered, broken wood, tents, destroyed bodies burned and charred and curled up in horrible ever-gasping pain. 

The forest itself is flattened from the inside out, like a blast from the centre of it just exploded outward, the trees all bent and snapped at the base, and in the centre, where there once was that small pool of molten lava that you created the portal through and stepped into the elemental plane, there is a large, ominous, flickering gash between the planes that is roughly 30 to 40 feet in width and height that is pulsing as fire and magma pours out of it. You can see wandering imps and elementals and various entities slowly peeking out and escaping and wandering throughout the mountain tops. From what you can see, there are no signs of any survivors.” (e40)

The entire Chroma Conclave attack is emotionally harrowing but Matt’s description of (and Marisha’s reaction to) Pyrah’s destruction just kills me. This piece gives off such a horrified, mournful mood to it, and the glittering piano throughout makes me think of falling ashes. 

Glintshore Island

Hydrological Story, Kishi Bashi (from the Fourth Phase)

“As you begin to grow closer to the island, you see, as it begins to come more into form, there is a singular mountain peak that’s shifted mostly to the western side. It’s not a super peak. It’s a gradual point. You can see a little bit of a brush-like detail of the jungle that you had heard mentioned before. He begins to bring you up towards the southern shore of the island. At this point of perspective, the sunlight that’s hitting the island is causing a glittery shift of thousands of points of light across the beach shoreline, deep into where the blackened jungle tree line is. It’s beautiful. It’s a very strange and awe-inspiring sight, to be such a small little forgotten part of the land and to look so pretty from this distance.

The closer you get, the beauty begins to fade as you see the black beaches. You can see the landscape is barren and broken, aside from the ashen grey and black jungle plants and trees that have been left there, dead, for an extended period of time. The mountain itself, the rock itself going from black to a ruddy red and brown colour. The sands themselves and the glass surface across the eastern shore that tends to reach out, almost like a mouth of a creature, is rough and varied in topography” (e67).

Glintshore has fascinated me from the moment I heard its description — what a setting for one of the most intense fights of all of campaign 1, and the arguable emotional climax of Percy’s character arc. I think this piece perfectly captures a sense of beauty, strangeness, menace, and anticipation. 

The Birth Heart

Aspen Trees, Danny Norbury

“As you enter the Birth Heart, it’s an archway of branches and trees that knit into each other and wrap around as you step in. You can see what looks like a heavy cluster of forest is really just an outside row of trees that are all intertwined. The inside is open with the occasional stalk of tree that blossoms up into the higher portion. [...] 

This is the centre of the Birth Heart. And within there are a number of lanterns that are hung from the branches all throughout that all have their own yellowish fairy glow within each point. They’re all through the inside at different levels. It’s just hundreds and hundreds of these yellow glowing lights that are hooked up into the boughs ahead. There are a number of people walking off the path, just through the soft mulch wood and dying pine soft floor of the canopy, all wearing similar robes of greens and yellows, golds and whites” (e84).

The description of the Birth Heart is among my favourites in all of Critical Role; if I had to live anywhere in Exandria, it would for sure be the Birth Heart (despite Ashley’s misgivings about what Senokir’s wife’s ashes might be doing to the place...) This song, for me, evokes the feeling of being surrounded by nature and totally at peace. 

Ioun’s Test

Harbinger, Mike Oldfield

“Clutching the Ioun stone, as you sing this song, the stone glows ever so faintly in your hand and you glance up and you can see about ten of the various spectral librarians that are wandering have stopped and they’re all looking at you. Seemingly temporarily distracted or entranced by the song. [...] As you continue to sing, with each beat, each name that’s mentioned that deals with the Calamity and the Chained Oblivion, you watch as their pace seems to quicken a bit, and then as the singing slows they begin to slow down again. [...] 

They continue to push at a brisk pace and you watch as other of the spectral librarians begin to gather into this group and is now a cluster of about 25 of them that are snaking around these bookcases and traveling at a pretty fair pace. Which once was walking pace, and then went to a jogging pace, they’re now darting through. And they’re leading you quickly away from the centre of the library where everyone else seems to be clustered. So the two of you are following and swooshing behind them, you’re going over and around bookcases. Some of the bookcases you see have giant holes in the centre and you can dart through and dive past. The speed is increasing to the point where the wind is starting to kick up in your hair and you’re amazed at the speed of these librarians and the fact that they’re being driven by your very song, and also the fact that you have no idea how far away the rest of your friends are in this library, and this library seems to just go on and on and on” (e105).

The imagery of Scanlan conducting the spectres with Mythcarver and his singing, desperately holding onto Vex as she maneuvers her way perfectly through eternal bookshelves — it’s just too much. I love it. This song feels celestial and ethereal, appropriate to Ioun’s realm, but conveys the excitement, urgency, and movement of the scene — with a large orchestral sound that surrounds you.

Whitestone’s Epilogue

Coronation March, Edward Elgar (performed by George Hurst & the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra)

Cassandra, as a note by the way. She’s had a few pretty difficult brushes with death and the experiences definitely left a mark on her. Within the year following the battle with Vecna, she begins to remind you of yourself at a very dark time. Recognizing that, you come to her and help pull her from a dangerous edge of lashing out at the place she’s worked so hard to build. You help her realize that this guilt she’s been holding as being a tool of manipulation, the times that she has been is not her fault, and used against the ones she loves. In that determination to no longer be a tool for others to use, she asks Vex to teach her and train her. To not just be the lady beacon of Whitestone, but also join in as one of its protectors” (e115).

This is among my favourite pieces of classical music ever. The opening theme — melancholic but stately — reminds me particularly of Cassandra. No matter how much time passes, the halls of Whitestone will always bring some memories of the years she was a captive in her own home. However, there is something of hope in it, too, and the transition into a major theme reminds me in particular of Vex and Percy’s devotion to their city, and of the healing that Cassandra and Percy might find together. Also big fancy balls. 

Campaign 2

The Evening Nip

Passage, linanthem 

“Eventually, you hear some voices and some laughter, and a clink of glasses. As you curve down, the light gets brighter from around the corner, until suddenly you look into a stone-set subterranean tavern. From floor to ceiling, it’s about 20 feet tall. You can see there are two balconies that overlook it from the left side, and one that’s barely visible around the corner, as the room opens up to the right of you.” (e13)

You can see in the far back right corner of the chamber there is a long, dark mahogany well-carved table. [...] Sitting feet crossed up on the table in a nice, long deep-blue coat, leather-gloved hands, light teal skin, jet-black hair that’s long, just past the shoulders, a widow’s peak in the centre, a bit of a dark goatee, male figure standing there, hands entwined and crossed, looking at you from across the way with a curious grin” (e14).

Shouldn’t the Evening Nip be playing medieval tavern music? Probably, but I think sleazy, jazzy beats fit the Gentleman perfectly. You can almost hear his skin dripping.

The Underground Laboratory

I Don’t Think About You Anymore But, I Don’t Think About You Anyless, Hungry Ghosts

“Each couple of splashing sounds that hit as the oars hit the water and the occasional crack of the water against the brook or a rock in the centre, you being to maneuver your way through this dark tunnel with just the low light that you’ve been applying. It gets colder and colder the further down the tunnel you go and while it is moist, you begin to see your breath just in general this low in the ground. [...]

The torchlight extends into the chamber, and you can see a little more now. The two side chambers are almost pill-shaped. They’re rounded at each side, and they’re enclosed, but open into the center chamber. At each of these rounded edges, as you step inside and glance to the right and left, you can see cage-like contraptions: iron domes that are very tight-knit, dark iron rusted metal. They’re on the edges of each side. You see load-bearing pillars in the center of the chamber to the right and left, and cold braziers behind those against the walls: little domed pieces of stone that once contained flame for light. Across the way you can see two tables with chairs, a bookcase” (e15).

This is the song that’s running through my head anytime the Mighty Nein are going to a remotely spooky place. And can’t you imagine some drips and metal bar squeaks superimposed over this track to make it the perfect spooky-underground-lab track?

The Blooming Grove 

Owl Song, Cosmo Sheldrake

“There is something unnatural, or at least magical, that maintains this little pocket of untouched paradise. There you can see small pools, bits of bog where the soft green and browns of compost fall into green, thick, algae-covered bits of water. You can see dozens and dozens of stone tablets, about a foot to two feet high, with bits of script across them, too far to see, that have partially fallen or leaning. [...] 

As the light passes between the small breaks in the tree canopies, the green comes to light with colour, numerous types of colour. A rainbow of flowers, of pigments you’ve never really seen before, begin to emerge as the light hits it. Nearly every inch of these gravesites contain a smattering scatter of rainbow colors across petal and stame.” (e28).

I have so much love in my heart for the Blooming Grove, and Caduceus’s introduction — it’s my favourite example of the trope that @night-filled-mountain so beautifully described once: "The tension breaks and everyone is so incredibly tender.” Their arrival, through thorns, to a paradise and a new ally, gave me a feeling of peace and relief that I’ve rarely felt in fiction. I think this song just really gets to the heart of the Blooming Grove: peaceful, though strange, and surrounded by mysterious circumstances.

The beaches of Nicodranus

another perspective, Idealism

“Looking past the afternoon sun at this vantage point especially, you can see it dancing across the distant horizon shore like hundreds of little glistening flecks of glass. The shore’s sound itself is very soothing as you approach and pull up your pants and take off your boots to begin to step into the soft sand. [...] 

As you guys gather your things, dusk has set in, and now the sky shifts from light blue to a deep blue and purple on the eastern side as the oranges, reds, yellows, and pinks begin to overtake the western side of the skyline” (e33).

“As you gather in the mid-afternoon here in Nicodranas, you walk your way towards the ocean side of the port, finding the lengths of the city that lead to the familiar beaches where you once had yourself a stroll, a soak and a battle with a crab. [...] Beautiful open sky. The warm sun hitting you up through your clothes. You can see now Yeza and Luke, both, marvelling at the sight before Luke just goes running off into the water” (e71).

Every time the Mighty Nein come to Nicodranas, I know we’re in for a treat with Matt’s descriptions. Their beach day marked a peaceful moment before the pirate arc, while their return before this current arc allowed them to breathe after Yasha... leaving, and for Nott to have some much-needed beach conversations. This peaceful lo-fi track evokes that same sense of calm and nostalgia that I get from those episodes, and in particular makes me think of, perhaps, a quiet moment between Nott and Yeza, watching a Nicodranas sunset. 

Darktow

Under Ceilidh Pressure, Coìg

“This island, unlike the jungle islands that you’ve come across and a vast majority of the Swavain Islands here off the Menagerie Coast, is mostly rock and cliff. In fact, from what you can see, most of this island from this perspective is jagged cliff face and probably a few hundred feet up is where the island’s even surface even begins. At the base around this cliff face you can see a scattered web of a shipyard, just tangled docks that maneuver around containing dozens and dozens of ships. Across that you see numerous torches that mark various intersections where they all meet, and built into the base of this cliff face, you see a number of buildings and windows, all slowly being lit as the night grows darker and darker. This mass of natural-looking, hive-like pirate city there stands before you. Welcome to Darktow” (e41).

You guys walk out into the cold night air. The heavy mist has fallen across Darktow and you can barely see beyond the outskirts of the city where the ocean begins. You can still hear the waters coming in against the rocks on the outside of the island, but you cannot actually see where the water connects. Beyond that, you can see the outline of the ship masts that are set at the end of the shipyard that are vanishing into the mist that surround you” (e42).

Wow, Darktow sure was cool — wouldn’t it have been nice if they’d stayed there for more than 24 hours? Either way, though, this Cape Breton folk band’s song gives me strong pirate-town-at-night vibes, and the part where it picks up in the middle reminds me especially of their chaotic heist on the boat.

Felderwin

Elégie in C Minor, Gabriel Fauré (performed by Jacqueline du Pré)

“As you come upon the outside of Felderwin, which is built not too far from the Eistus River, you can already see there are a number of buildings burned and blackened on the opposite end of the fields. The fields are on the northern side of the city. On the southeastern side, there's a section of the town that appears to have burned or burnt down to varying degrees” (e48). 

“You make your way past the outskirts and you can see the river itself cruising right along. It would be a beautiful landscape if there wasn't this intensity of emotion and the distant haze of long-greyed smoke that still hangs over the vicinity of the partially burned farmlands. Nevertheless, Nott leads you over towards one of the shaded banks under a few trees and you come to a stop” (e49).

An elegy seemed like a good choice for Nott’s return to Felderwin, both for her mourning her (presumed dead) husband and for her recounting the details of her death. The happy, nostalgic middle theme makes me think of Nott’s happier memories in Felderwin, and in particular her description of coming to the river with Yeza. And Jacqueline du Pre’s gorgeous, evocative cello playing makes my heart hurt. 

Rosohna

La Cathédrale engloutie, Claude Debussy (performed by Martin Jones)

“As he turns, you can now see before you, throughout the vicinity, this beautiful courtyard of subtle grey and green bushes and trees. You see that you're on a hill. The centre of the city seems to be on some sort of hilltop and looking down, you can see the perimeter wall, made of a dull grey with a purplish-tint type stone and across the crest of it, you see these green lanterns that alight with this soft, green glow. 

Beyond that, beyond the barricades, your vision stretches out to see the entirety, it seems, of Rosohna, this incredible, vast metropolis, alit with thousands of the same little, green lantern glows. You see stone and metal and dark clay making up all the structures in various sizes and shapes, some of which have been repurposed ruins of old that have been built upon and refurbished, some of which, at least closer to the centre, appear to be extensions of an elvish, domicile design that is familiar yet unfamiliar, in some ways slender and jagged, but beautiful and sleek. Then, beyond that, you can see extending wards of the city that tend to be a little more patchwork and scattered. You can see distant bonfires that are lit in some of the streets, giving distinct orange glows that break up the rest of the green, sparkling lights that make up the entirety of your vision. It's beautiful.” (e57)

Matt’s description of Rosohna took my breath away: such a monumental city in a place that the characters had been told was barely “civilized.” This piano prelude captures, for me, the idea of walking up that hill and gradually, this enormous, dark, glittering, beautiful city sprawling before you. Musically, this song is built in parts on unusual scales, so that it gives me the sense of “familiar yet unfamiliar.”

And that’s a wrap! Thanks so much for reading and listening!

#critical role #cr music #my stuff #I have been working on this for way too long

[hopoo]

Devblog #12 – Somewhere, Over the Double Fucking Rainbow

Hello there! This is Chris, hijacking the RoR2 devblog to share a few notes on music.

Tl;dr:

Yes, I am writing the music for RoR2

No, there won’t be a Coalescence 2

Chanson à nouveau..

The day I would start composing for RoR2 was a day I looked forward to with equal amounts of excitement and fear. The score to the original RoR is one I hold very dearly. It is music I loved writing, created during a very special time of my life, infused by each and every musical influence of my childhood and adulthood. It’s a perfect capture of me at that particular space and time. It also happens to be my most successful soundtrack to date, primarily because it’s part of a great game that people love to play, but also—if people’s feedback is to be believed—because it’s not too bad in its own right.

Now I find myself exploring the musical world or RoR once again and I can assure you it’s an awe-inspiring place! It’s also immense, savage and untrodden... You can witness this for yourself in the wonderful images posted on this blog and all over the internet, but let me tell you, it’s one thing looking at it and a whole different thing experiencing it first-hand.

The move to 3D was a bold one and I’m its biggest supporter. Honestly, even if it didn’t offer this amazing opportunity to expand the game’s universe into this whole new level of detail and immersion, I would still embrace it only because it gives me the perfect excuse—the obligation, even—to avoid repeating myself. The thing I feared most starting this project was writing the same music all over again. Not because I don’t like the existing music (I love it) but because the existing music already… exists. What would be the point of Coalescence 2 (some people have actually asked for it)? If anyone wants to listen to Coalescence it’s right there for the listening. The RoR OST is a product of very specific, irreplicable circumstances. Even if I wanted to write sequels to these tracks, I couldn’t. They would be mere parodies.

So, I’m writing new music for a new game. Hopefully it will be better music for a better game, but I’m going to be satisfied if turns out being good music for a good game. I know many of you will not be happy reading this but I ask you to be open minded and trust me. If you liked the music for the first game chances are, you’ll like this one too. It’s the same person doing the writing (and performing, and producing, and mixing, and mastering) after all. It will be different, but it won’t be that different.

Paying my Dews

Let’s make sure we avoid any misunderstanding here: I don’t take the RoR musical legacy lightly. Rest assured that many things will carry over, not least of which the RoR motif. The usual odd meter and various polyrhythms will be featured prominently too. There’s drumming, lots of drumming, way too much drumming…. Several cameos of familiar instruments and even entire sections that will sound very reminiscent to old players. And then, there’s the unsung (pun intended) hero: form. Even though you can’t literally hear it you can certainly feel it. Form is the glue holding the music together. Just like with the first game, I’m working my ass off to fit these new tracks into meticulously woven forms.

As such, all the above elements that are part and parcel to the RoR sound will not be let behind. As previously mentioned, this is terra incognita we’re heading into and only a fool would go into the unknown without a flashlight. I plan to use the original music to illuminate all the new one hidden in the darkness beyond.

Forecast

It’s still too early to tell what the new soundtrack will actually sound like. I guess it will sound more like the original RoR than anything else—a definition as intentionally vague as can be. A word I liked using to describe the first soundtrack was “monolithic”. I feel the RoR2 OST will be even more so. To use a classical music analogy, if RoR1 was a suite, RoR2 will be more like a symphony. Don’t worry though, I’m still delivering discreet pieces of music that you will be able to tell apart (and prefer over others). Let’s just say I’ve set up my sessions like communication vessels of sorts.

For the time being, you can sample some new music in the game’s teaser and this SoundCloud playlist (which I plan to sparsely update). There’s a lot of material already written but most of it is still being forged into shape. There are also new things we’re testing to make the in-game music more dynamic and meaningful to the player, which have directly impacted my workflow. For the moment, all I can say I’m working on it steadily but slowly—slower than usual (sorry, Duncan & Paul!). As I said, while I’m very excited I’m also quite fearful. There’s plenty of pressure to satisfy the many fans of the music from the original game (thank you all so much, btw!!!) and even more self-imposed pressure to write music that I feel proud of and enjoy listening to for years to come. You see, I’m trying to uncover music I’ve not written before and I need to make sure my excavation brings to surface more than just petrified feces…

FAQ

When? When the great Magma Worm in the sky deems us worthy.

Where? All over the place, starting with Bandcamp.

Vinyl? Probably. Hopefully in a nice boxset with an RoR1 re-print.

Engineer Edition 2? Yes, but no sheet music this time around. Too many arpeggiators and modular patches for it to make any sense.

DEADBOLT 2? I sure damn hope so!

“It Can’t Rain All the Time”

That will be all for now! If you made it this far, thank you for reading and see you next time! If you want to keep the conversation going you can find me in the social media outlets below, where I will post the occasional RoR2 update, answer all your questions and share pictures of my cats:

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram |YouTube |SoundCloud

Take care, Chris

#riskofrain #gaming #gamedev #devblog #indie

[opalgelance]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT BATTLE OF HEART AND MIND WAS A LITERAL MIND FUCK

- WHITE DECOLORING GEMS

- THE DIAMOND FAMILY WAS REALLY FUCKED UP

- WHITE FUCKING BROKE STEVEN AND PINK LOST HER FUCKING MIND

- ROSE CAN NEVER COME BACK

- EVERY CRYSTAL GEM HAS A NEW OUTFIT I HAVE NO FAVORITE BECAUSE I LOVED THEM ALL

- EVERY CG + STEVEN FUSION WAS STUFFED IN HERE AS WELL AS MY TIED FOR FAVORITE WITH OPAL FUSION, OBSIDIAN

- FUCKING LAVA FUSION I LOVE HER SO MUCH THE CRACKS IN HER HAIR AND HER MAGMA SPIT THAT BECAME A FUCKING SWORD KILLED ME

- RAINBOW FEELS VERY FAMILIAR WHO VOICES THEM???

- SUNSHINE IS LEGIT A LOVE YOURSELF COMMERCIAL FROM THE 90S IN A CORPOREAL FORM

- FUCKING PINK STEVEN STILL SCARES THE EVER LOVING SHIT OUT OF ME HOLY FUCK

- WHITE HAS A WHOLE CHARACTER ARC IN 5 MINUTES

- SO DO BLUE AND YELLOW

- JASPER NEVER FUCKING TALKS BUT

- WE SEE A WHOLE FUCK TON OF GEM DESIGNS INCLUDING JASPER, BIGGS, CENTIPEEDLE, THE BEETLES, THE PUFFERFISH, AND A LOT MORE

- IM STILL NOT OVER THE PINK STEVEN THING IT WILL LEGITAMaTELY HAUNT ME FOREVER

- EDIT: I forgot to add how mindblowing the animation is in the Pink Steven scene?!?! I was just so stunned by the scene itself that I didn’t mention that the lines are SO clean and crisp, and the animation literally looks 3D, and that seems to be because the legendary James Baxter did it, and from what I saw from his work on the Adventure Time episode, he’s an absolute master in the art of animation, and I feel like I’ve been blessed seeing that animation with my own damn eyes

Ok, now that I’ve calmed down a bit, I have to say it felt really REALLY rushed but I still enjoyed it a lot! I do have a few gripes with it though:

- I wish we could have seen Sunstone, Rainbow 2.0, and Obsidian before this, or at the very least seen Sun and Rainbow before, with Obsidian being this big stressful event because as we’ve seen 4+ Gem fusions like Alexandrite can be very hard to keep stable, and they had one chance to fuse and keep it together

- Steven said one sentence to Pink Pearl, and White didn’t recognize CG Pearl, which is really weird. Pink didn’t even react to Steven, or realize that he had Pink’s Gem. We don’t learn what happened to Pink Pearl either. Steven seems to already have connected that White’s Pearl was once Pink’s, and when talking to White, it seems like he is understanding what his Pink dreams really meant, which is weird bc it seemed like he didn’t understand that they were memories before.

- I felt like with the exception of the Pink Steven scene, the Diamond fight at the very beginning and the confrontation between all 4 Diamonds, it didn’t really feel like the characters were reacting as much as they should have? Like, it takes a second for Pearl to figure out that she and Steven fused, and her reaction is kind of cut off, but Garnet doesn’t really react to fusing with Steven? I also feel like Obsidian should have been a bigger deal to everyone, but it felt like Garnet was like “ok, lets form obsidian then” like they’ve done it a thousand times?? Yeah, they’ve fused with Rose before, but Steven? And Alexandrite has always been a big deal, since she’s so unstable, while on multiple occasions in season 1 the Gems were pretty clear that fusion was for emergencies only. Obsidian is literally a White Diamond only level emergency, but while it was a big deal for the audience, the CGs (including Connie, Bismuth, Lapis, and Peridot)  weren’t as shocked by this as I would have thought? Peridot says “they’re huge!” or smth like that, but not much else. For me it was really frustrating when Blue and Yellow, and ESPECIALLY Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl, were drained of their color, it felt like it SHOULD have been a Keeping It Together level of horror, but it wasn’t on the characters’ faces, which was disappointing. It took me out of the action on my first viewing because it looked like the CGs weren’t that bothered by it. WHITE IS LITERALLY MIND CONTROLLING THE DIAMONDS AND YOUR FAMILY STEVEN WHAT THE FUCK I have to say that the Pink Steven scene was legitimately disturbing, and I applaud the storyboarders for that, I just wish it could’ve continued throughout all of the horrifying scenes.

- Steven didn’t tell anyone about his Gem being ripped out, possibly because there wasn’t any time left in the episode, and that was really weird to me. Like, you got HALF OF YOUR SOUL RIPPED OUT STEVEN. Like, White and Connie HAD to have said something, right? Was it just not shown?

- That brings me to how ridiculously rushed the ending was, because here’s what happens in the last 5 or so minutes (seriously, I’m looking at the time the ending starts)

      - Steven gets home while Sadie’s having a concert on the beach

     - WITH THE FUCKING DIAMONDS

    - Lars also gets home with the Off Colors

    - Sadie and Lars say hi for an awkward amount of screentime

    - THE DIAMONDS HEAL THE CORRUPTED GEMS INCLUDING JASPER, CENTIPEEDLE AND A LOT OF THE GEMS WE’VE SEEN OVER THE SERIES AND THERES NO DIALOGUE BC STEVEN IS SINGING A SONG OVER THIS WHOLE PART

     - The Diamonds leave, seriously, after less than a minute of screentime on Earth

    - The CGs are on the beach, with NO recently cured corrupted Gems to be seen, and it’s kind of like the theme song, with Greg grilling hot dogs, and the CGs sit on the beach with Steven (just Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl now) and Steven sings a song. The End.

It just felt really rushed? So were the Diamonds’ “redemptions”, but this was insane. Every plot line in the whole series is supposed to be solved in 5 minutes? I mean, there’s a lot left unanswered, but it felt like they were trying to tie everything up with a nice bow, and it was rushed. Also, you know how everyone said that the Gem designs at the ball were lazy and that we only saw a few new Gem types because the crew didn’t have time to design new Gems? (I personally really liked the cog Gems bc I love gear designs but I know a lot of people didn’t like them and that’s valid) BULLSHIT LOOK AT ALL OF THE UNCORRUPTED GEM DESIGNS THEY LOOK AWESOME. But why could they not have done that before? They designed at least 10 new Gems for a minute or two long scene. Yeah, they were based on the already done corrupted Gem designs, but that’s fine! We could have easily seen Ocean and Biggs Jaspers at the ball, or even at the Zoo, in a flashback (like We’re Only Falling Apart, the war scene in Single Pale Rose, Your Mother and Mine), the ending of Legs From Here to Homeworld, but we didn’t, and I can’t understand why. Now it’s strange that we didn’t see any uncorrupted counterparts on Homeworld. What, is every single corrupted Gem part of a super rare Gem type? Yes, we’ve SEEN Jaspers before, and we HEARD about Nephrites, but even at the start of this episode we had some cool silhouettes of Gems, just like in The Answer, and they were never fleshed out into actual Gems. It’s just kind of strange that they had all of these templates but never used them. Plenty of fans have used the silhouettes and corrupted Gem designs to make Gemsonas, but the crew couldn’t? Just paste the color palette of Biggs or Ocean onto a Jasper base and you’re good! That’s essentially what happened this episode but I STILL LOVE THEM SO MUCH I will protect Ocean, the Beetle, the Centipeedles and the waterbear Gem with my life, BUT they could have appeared MUCH sooner as background Homeworld Gems

- EDIT: Since I’m always criticizing the animation and character models, I feel like I have to note how impressed I am with a majority of the animation in this episode. I felt like during the Blue vs. Yellow scene in particular though, Yellow’s expressions felt... odd. LET ME EXPLAIN FIRST PLEASE. See, for me, while I don’t like exaggerated facial expressions most of the time, I can get past them as long as it’s for comedy relief or to express raw emotion. The problem for me was that Yellow’s expressions were drawn as if she was supposed to be in a comedic scene instead of a heartwrenching, emotional outbreak uncharacteristic of Yellow, where you are supposed to feel with her, to feel her pain. But for me, it felt like she was pulling faces like she was trying to make a crying baby laugh, and I felt like Patti Lupone’s expressive, heart-wrenching voice acting didn’t match up with what I was seeing on the screen. 

  - As I said above, James Baxter’s Pink Steven animation slayed me, I’m still dying haaa

   - OBSIDIAN WAS THE BOMB/COM THO her hair is so amazingly detailed, it had to be hard to animate that.

  - Most of the lines were crisp. One of my main criticisms is how starting in season 3, while the animation and art quality went down, both were hindered further by the blurry lines, which I KNOW is because they resized the art. When I’m resizing an arm, or the head when it’s out of proportion, the resized lines become blurry whether you’re shrinking or expanding a section of a piece. But in this episode the lines were pretty crisp for probably 80% percent of the episode? And I’m counting all 44 minutes, and considering how bad it usually is, I’m very pleased.

tl;dr I LOVE THESE EPISODES TO HOMEWORLD AND BACK but there are a few issues I just can’t see past and some of these issues just threw me out of a great episode to ask myself why??? But also I’ve rekindled my love for Steven Universe and FOR ONCE I can see past some of the bad character models and animation because this episode was just so good!!! 

#battle of heart and mind #steven universe spoilers #su critical #not all of it but some of it #I’m so nervous to post SU critical but I have a bunch of positives too so please don’t kill me with fire??

[mamaluigi2018-commsopen]

Mama Luigi’s Top 10 Favorite Games of All Time.

Hey, everyone! Mama Luigi here. Just wanted to create this list to show appreciation to the games that have given me the most joys in my life and so you can all have an idea what kind of games I love. I will be going into small detail on each game, give a description on why I love these games. and also add my favorite track from each game. Alright. Let’s begin!

10. Mega Man 10 (heh....funny)

This was the most recent Mega Man game we got until Mega Man 11 arrived. This was released in 2010 for the PS3, Xbox 360, and WiiWare, and now available in Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. The story is that a virus called “Roboenza” has appeared and have caused robots to go out of control. It’s up to Mega Man and for the first time joining his side, Proto Man, to stop the menace and uncover the cause of the virus. Many would think that at the 10th game, the gameplay of Mega Man would get stale. Not so! The platforming is still tight and a fair challenge, the robot masters are some of my personal favorites of the series with Blade Man, Nitro Man, Strike Man, and my baby boi Sheep Man. The music is fantastic with tracks such as Stage Select, Solar Man stage, and Wily Stage 1. The weapons may not have been as useful as Mega Man 9, but the good ones are really good like Blade Man weapon and Nitro Man weapon. Plus the added DLC with playable Bass and 3 stages based on the Mega Man Game Boy games are a great bonus!

Favorite Track: Nitro Man

9. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Released in 1997 for the Playstation and rereleased on the PSN store and PSP as part of the Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles. After the disappearance of Richter Belmont, Alucard is tasked with invading his father’s palace and put an end to his reign of terror. Symphany of the Night broke the mold of  the Castlevania traditional platform gameplay with a non-linear explorative action adventure similar to the Metroid series, which coined the term Metroidvania. Later games would adopt the Symphony of the Night gameplay such as Aria of Sorrow and Order of Ecclesia. What I love about this game is just the amount of free roam the game allows for you to do and what kind of items you can find. If you are having trouble with a part of the game, there is a variety of solutions such as a certain spell or a certain weapon combinations that can help you out. The graphics are a clean, smooth sprite style and the music is some fantastic CD quality music. The love I have for this game makes me even more excited for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night to come out in 2019.

Favorite Track: Dracula’s Castle

8. Kirby: Planet Robobot

Released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2016. Planet Popstar has been converted in a mechanized world due to President Haltmann and his goons. Able to snatch one of the bots, Kirby embarks on a robotic adventure to free his planet from the machine menace. I love Kirby. I love Robots. Put them together and you get a absolute fantastic adventure with great Copy Abilities old such as Sword, Fire, and Hammer, as well as new such as Doctor, Poison, and ESP. The levels are well design to emphasized the robot theme and the soundtrack was given a more techno feel. The best parts are definitely the Robobot segments! It can not only smash enemies along the way, buy also copy it’s own set of abilites!

Favorite Track: Super Nova (vs. Star Dream Soul OS) or “P.R.O.G.R.A.M”

7. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2014, Smash 3DS was a companion game for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Nintendo’s greatest are pitted against each other in battle to see who will come out in top. Due to not owning a Wii U, I was a bit skeptic about getting the 3DS version, thinking it was only a dumb down version. I can now say it was not the case! Smash 3DS is just about as a real Smash game as the Wii U version. Having a cast of 65 characters, there a character for almost anyone. The addition of Omega Stages allowed for any stage to be play for competitive match. The choice between For Glory and For Fun was a fantastic idea that allowed any kind of player to have fun. Smash Run was a fun game mode to run in a maze collecting power ups to face your opponents. The music was god like with themes coming from a variety of games and remixes included. So many hours playing with my friends, I know I will always cherish this game and am looking forward to Smash Ultimate this December. BTW, my mains are Pikachu, Luigi, and Lucina.

Favorite Track: Tie between “Gerudo Valley (Legend of Zelda)” or “Main Theme”

6. Shovel Knight

Released in 2014 for the PC and Wii U, with later releases on 3DS, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, PS Vita, and Nintendo Switch. Shovel Knight stars our titular character on quest to stop the evil Enchantress and her Order of No Quarter with his trusty shovel. Steel thy Shovel! Shovel Knight is an indie created by Yacht Club as their first game, and man do they give it their all! Shovel Knight is styled after the NES days not only in art style and music, but in difficulty as well. With exciting stages with their own gimmicks and precise platforming, Shovel Knight is definitely for those who want to relive the NES days. The music is amazing, the characters have so much personality, and the 3 DLC are basically full games put in. Plauge of Shadows is a fun mode with combining different potions. Spector of Torment is my favorite mode with wall climbing, slicing enemies, and Scythe Skating (yes I said Scythe Skating). King of Cards is not out yet, but is showing promise to be just as fun as the 3 other campaigns.

Favorite Track: La Danse Macabre (Spector Knight Stage)

5. Sonic Colors

Released in 2010 for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles “Tails” Prower must stop Dr. Eggman from capturing planets for his Interstellar Amusement Park and free the captive Wisps. Sonic Colors takes the game play the day time levels from Sonic Unleashed and puts him in a high speed adventure with amazing level designs such as Tropical Resort and Starlight Carnival. The Wisp power up allow Sonic to absorb the Wisp and take a variety of forms such as the Cyan Laser or Yellow Drill. What I really enjoy is how the White Wisp the only thing that gave you the Boost so you had to plan out when is the best place to use it. The best feeling I get from this game is sense of speed I get.

Favorite Track: Planet Wisp Act 1

4. Hyrule Warriors: Definite Edition

Released in 2014 for the Wii U, released for 3DS in 2015, and finally for the Nintendo Switch. The Dark Sorceress Cia has called the greatest villains from across the Zelda timelines. Now Zelda, Link, the White Sorceress Lana, Self-Proclaimed Hero Linkle( and best girl), plus heroes from the entire series must stop her and save Hyrule. An absolute fantastic hack n slash adventure where you get use your favorite Zelda Characters and just wreck everything in your path. With a fantastic soundtrack of original tracks and remixes of past Zelda themes. An expansive Adventure Map where you can collect heart pieces and unlock new weapons, collecting material to expand your characters strength. You can spend so many hours on this game and just have a good time.

Favorite Track: Linkle’s Theme

3. Metroid Fusion

Released in 2002 for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. After an expedition to SR-388, Samus is infected with X-Parasite. After being given a vaccine containing Metroid DNA, Samus is tasked with investigating the BSL Station. This game. This god damn game was my first horror game. It terrified my 8 year old self. The tense atmosphere, the feeling of isolation, the horrible monstrosities all being after you was made perfectly. And we can not forget about the the nightmare fuel that is the SA-X. That thing was horrifying! The gameplay is fantastic with just shooting down monster after monster and fighting to survive.

Favorite Track: Vs. Nightmare

2. Super Mario World

Released in 1991 as a launch title for the SNES. Mario travels to Dinosaur Land to save Peach(again) from Bowser(again). Super Mario World was my first console game and I share many fond memories of it. The graphics are great with a nice color palette, the levels are fun and varied in design, the Super Cape is an amazing power up, allowing you to skip levels with the right timing. It also introduces one of our favorite dinosaurs, Yoshi. The music is catchy and is remixed into almost every track in the game. This game is truly a masterpiece.

Favorite Track: Staff Roll

1. Pokemon Emerald.

Released in 2005 for the Game Boy Advance, Pokemon Emerald is the 3rd game in the Gen 3 Pokemon games, following Ruby and Sapphire. As moving to the Hoenn Region, a young trainer travels defeating gym leaders, catching Pokemon and stopping the villainous Team Magma and Team Aqua. This is it. This is without a doubt my favorite game of all time. My very first game I ever bought with my own money. Many hours put in to catching all the Pokemon, training and raising different teams, competing in the Battle Frontier. Team Magma and Team Aqua were the first villains to actually feel like a threat, the Hoenn region is an amazing land scape with well known areas such as Mt. Chimney, Meteor Falls, and Sootopolis CIty. The Pokemon designs were made more excotic looking and the music is simple sublime with the use of trumpets. I love this game and I will continue to love and play for all of eternity.

Favorite Track: “Littleroot Town” “Route 120″ and “Ending Credits”

So what did you all think? Do you share any of my opinions on these games? What are some of your favorite games of all time? I would love to know! Have a great day to you all and this is Mama Luigi signing out!

#mama luigi talks #pokemon emerald #super mario world #metroid fusion #hyrule warriors #sonic colors #shovel knight #super smash bros #kirby planet robobot #castlevania symphony of the night #mega man 10 #games #video game

[barmcakemag]

Halifax Festival of Words talk

This is the talk I gave at the Halifax Festival of Words. It took place in the front room of the Grayston Unity bar (pictured below) last month, just before publication of Barmcake 9. Some of the posters from the talk are also pictured below. Thanks to the festival and bar for having me.

I love this front room.

It sort of reminds me of being a kid, at my grandparents, on Boxing Day.

Some of the family used to get up and do a turn ­– a song, a sketch, a tune.

Among the aunties and uncles was my Great Aunty Mary, who was great in all respects. She was very funny, wrote poetry  –  and was the spitting image of Hylda Baker, (poster below), who I’ll be coming to later.

 I didn’t have an uncle like Lou Reed ­– fortunately.

That would have made Christmas a bit tense.

‘Uncle Lou, you’ve spilt heroin on your roast potatoes again.’

Anyway, I’ll be coming on to the Velvet Underground later as well.

So, I’m Dave Griffiths and I make Barmcake.

The magazine started in April 2014 and the new edition – issue 9 – is out next week.

There are usually two editions a year. I only brought one out last year because I was busy with my other work – I’m a freelance writer, editor, proofreader and journalism tutor.

Barmcake is available free in about 45 venues in West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Sheffield, and North Derbyshire. You can also obtain copies by post, if you send a donation.

I write all – or all but one or two – of the articles in each edition. I also design the magazine, edit it, find the advertising, sort the fundraising, promote it, and deliver it.

This afternoon I’m going to be telling you why I make a print magazine in the digital age.

And why I make this particular magazine, which I believe is different from anything else out there.

(I know it’s definitely the only one that offers northern entertainment for the middle-aged.)

I’ll also tell you how I make an issue from scratch.

There are high points about ­making Barmcake – interviewing people like John Cooper Clarke, Viv Albertine, and Ken Dodd.

But there are perils about making a magazine on your own – for example when my computer packed in a week or so before deadline for issue 8 and I had redo the pages from scratch

I’ll also tell you about the money side of things.

I’m happy to take any questions at the end. Although don’t ask me anything about maths. The square of the hypotenuse is worth two in the bush, or whatever.

I’ve been a journalist since 1989.

I’ve worked for all the ridiculously-named weekly newspapers – the Congleton Chronicle, the Biddulph Chronicle, the Ormskirk Advertiser, the Wigan Observer.

I’ve never been a Woodward and Bernstein-type journalist. I used to love doing  golden wedding anniversary interviews – finding out about people’s lives. (The secret for most couples is: ‘Never go to bed on an argument’).

I moved to London in the mid-90s and became a sub-editor. Then I came back up north to Leeds to work for PA New Media’s Ananova website as a sub and writer. It was a really exciting time to be part of a new national media organisation.

At that point the digital world seem to offer limitless possibilities – a chance to hear fresh voices and cover things that didn’t get much attention on a national platform

But as it went on – on Ananova and elsewhere – the choice of topics became narrower and the coverage shallower.

It felt like a missed opportunity and after a few years, I left to become a sub on the Manchester Evening News print edition.

That disillusionment with the digital world fed into the creation of Barmcake. I even stopped doing my own blog, which is a sort of forerunner of the magazine.

I feel websites lack the personal touch of magazines and newspapers. Each edition of Barmcake is yours to hold, to savour, to read how you want. It’s not borrowed on a screen in a clutter of links and dowdy, keyword-heavy headlines.

Print is more personal.

I was reminded of that a few years ago when I was flicking through a paper, turned the page and there was a two-page picture spread of the inside of a doll’s house – with fantastic detail of each room

Now, if that had been a website link – say ‘See the amazing doll’s house, click here’ – I probably wouldn’t have looked at it.

But the photo, text and design on the printed edition stopped me in my tracks.

And it was me who chose to stop and look at it, not a website trying to guide me

Of course, I can’t do Barmcake without digital media.

I can get instant access to performers and venues via their websites and email addresses.

And Twitter is a great promotional tool.

Even the front page of each Barmcake is partially designed that way so it looks good on Twitter.

Crucially, it’s how you use all that information available on the internet.

And I think many websites, magazines and newspapers aren’t making the most of it. They are picking from the same narrow pool of stories.

Meanwhile arts coverage in regional newspapers – with a few notable exceptions – is not as good as it used to be.

Some newspaper bosses are so pleased they can offer the same size newspapers as 10 years ago with half the staff, they forget about the quality of the editorial content.

When I look at some of the free lifestyle magazines in shops and pubs, the editorial content seems to be a shoddy afterthought.

And some website and magazine interviews are written by people who don’t appear to know anything about their interviewees, beyond what the PR company has told them

So that’s another reason why I started Barmcake – I want the articles to be the top priority.

I don’t stint on research ­and writing and rewriting.

For a two-page article in issue 8, for example, I read four books and endlessly wrote and rewrote the article.

They were four books about The Fall so it wasn’t the worst thing ever.

Hashtag firstworldindieproblems

Pete Wylie was another reason I started Barmcake.

I read he was crowdfunding to make a new LP which to me was huge news.

But I couldn’t find much about it in magazines, newspapers and websites.

Now I’ve got Northern entertainment for the middle-aged in my strapline.

But I hate some middle-aged people’s attitudes to new bands, the sort of people who say: ‘Well, of course,  they sound a bit like the Velvet Underground but they are not as good as them – and I speak as someone who has a 23-minute out-take of John Cale whittling a spoon.’

But having said that, there are artistes aged 40 and upwards  – like Pete Wylie  – whose work is either being ignored or under-appreciated, while some fairly dull, conservative, twentysomething bands are lauded to the hilt, merely because of their age.

I also felt audiences aged 40 and over were being ignored by many websites and magazines – the sort of people, for example, who might live in West Yorkshire but travel to gigs or comedy shows in Sheffield and Manchester (hence my circulation area).

People who like a nice real ale pub, a good book and trips to theatres and galleries.

Those were the subjects I wanted to write about.

Plus I wanted to provide a decent listings service.

I used to love looking at City Life and Time Out and picking out gigs I wanted to see.

Can you do that on the internet? Not really, unless you want to wade through lists of venues or dates of gigs.

Barmcake is also a reaction against magazine shops like Magma and websites like Stack and Magculture.

They only consider design-led, rather than text-led, magazines (spoof trendy mag, above).

Their view, unfortunately, seems to dominate the indie-mag culture.

The Magma magazines are beautiful, for sure, but slightly formulaic – lots of photos, lots of white space.

Some of the articles can be slightly sterile and desperately in need of an edit.

I was brought up on 80s NME and Sounds with writers like Steven ‘Seething’ Wells and his  hectic, hectoring, hilarious prose, which is completely at odds with something you’d read in, say, Monocle.

Word magazine and Forty-20, a rugby league magazine, are other influences as they put – or did put in the case of Word – witty text first, before the design.

So a year before I left the MEN, I was thinking about going freelance and starting a magazine.

I went on a Guardian course about how to make one.

I wanted to know if I could make a magazine on my laptop and how much it would cost.

But the course wasn’t particularly helpful about either the basics of making a magazine or the money side of it.

And I realised I had a lot to learn when I went to a printer in Manchester after I went freelance.

I wanted someone to guide me about the basics of the printing process.

At the MEN, you simply had to press a button to send it to the printers. The page sizes, colours, etc were all set up for you.

So I came bounding into the shop, all enthusiastic, to be met by this spectacularly miserable bloke.

I said: ‘I’m going to make my own magazine and I was just wondering what I need to do.’

He said: ‘How many pages?’

‘Er..I don’t know, about 35.’

Shakes head: ‘You can’t have that number. What type of paper do you want?’

‘Er…I don’t know, just standard magazine paper.’

‘What sort of paper do you want for the front?’

‘Er…I don’t know.’

‘Do you want colour or black or white?

‘A mix of colour and black and white.’

‘Which pages are colour?’

‘I don’t know yet.’

I left the shop with my tail between my legs; my hopes not exactly crushed but dented.

Fortunately, I discovered the Footprint Workers Co-operative in Leeds who were very helpful and answered all my daft questions with patience.

I can definitely recommend them if you are starting your own magazine or fanzine.

So I had an idea of what I was going to cover (music, comedy, pubs, theatre, books. film, art).

I had an idea of how I was going to write it (make the writing as good as it can be, keep the articles short)

I wanted to target an over 40s audience living in and around Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester, (although I don’t mind who reads it -– I’m not going to tell a youth with a fashionable beard to ‘put the Barmcake down sunshine’)

I wanted to keep the design simple and retro (the headlines are meant to look like 70s sitcom credits).

And I wanted to make it as cheaply as possible – so I would do all or most of the writing, as I couldn’t pay anyone else, and I would deliver it.

I found a free design program (called Scribus) and I only use publicity photos or photos that I take myself.

I don’t charge for Barmcake because I want to get the magazines in the sorts of pubs, cafes and independent shops where people like to read books, newspapers and magazines.

In these sorts of places, most of the other magazines and newspapers are free.

Keeping it free also means less hassle for the owners of the pubs and cafes – no separate pots of money to keep etc.

I wanted a funny northern word for the title and Barmcake fits the bill.

There’s also the ‘You starting a print magazine in the internet age? You Barmcake!’

‘Northern entertainment for the middle-aged’ gives some idea of what the magazine’s about, but it is not entirely serious.

I don’t want to go down the professional northerner route:

(Hovis voice):‘Eeeeeeeh, we’re all right friendly in t’ north.

‘London? They never speak to anyone.’

I’m always up for challenging northernness, because let’s face it – some of the world’s most miserable people are in Yorkshire!

I also didn’t want to get stuck in a straight, white, indie, male, middle-aged rut where The Smiths, The Fall or Half Man Half Biscuit can never be criticised.

And where it would  be blasphemous to suggest that Temptation by Heaven 17 is better than Temptation by New Order.

Barmcake is A5 because I wanted something that people can fit in their pocket or bag when they are out and about and it only costs a first class stamp to post a copy.

Apart from postage, my other costs are printing and petrol.

So I need to find about £850 for each issue.

Initially I used some of my voluntary redundancy money from the MEN and money from my other work to pay for the magazine.

I started seeking advertising from issue 2 onwards.

My advertising revenue has gone up from £60 in issue 2 to £630 in issue 8.

It will be more than that in the new edition.

I feel that if you give people something to read, then they don’t just flick through the magazine and so they are more likely to see the adverts.

I am pleased that plan appears to be paying off.

But, it’s tricky balancing the amount of time you spend on editorial and advertising.

On some issues, I’ve left the advertising a little too late because I wanted to get the editorial right.

But, if I spend too much time on the advertising, I may get more ads in the short term, but I won’t keep the advertisers in the long term as the quality of the magazine will drop.

I set up a Paypal account for donations, which you can access via my website, and that brings in between £150 and £200 per issue, so I was more or less able to cover my costs for the first time for issue 8.

I also sent some copies to Australia for the first last time.

However I’d like to bring in more money through donations.

So I’ll go through how the magazine has developed over the years.

Here are some bits from Issue 1 (above).

That issue had interviews with Cud, the Wedding Present, the director of a Frank Sidebottom doc, and the Revolutions Brewing Company owners, among others.

Features included Maxine Peake, a pub crawl on the Tour de France Yorkshire route, and Alan Bennett.

I did ask for interviews with Maxine and Alan.

With Alan, Faber and Faber gave a curious response – not no, but: (Alan Bennett voice): ‘Mr Bennett is aware of your interest.’

(I like to think everyone at Faber speaks with an Alan Bennett accent).

I was hoping perhaps that they were giving him potential material for his diary.

That would be the dream for me: (Alan Bennett voice): ‘I used to be contacted by the Guardian, but now it’s only bread-related magazines.’

In general I find about 75% of people I contact agree to interviews.

I was excited to get the first issue out.

There were 1,000 copies for that, it’s been 1,500 copies from issue 2 onwards

There was a good response to Barmcake 1 – the title, strapline and the front cover probably made the biggest impact.

But in hindsight I felt the interviews were too short and there were too many, fairly ordinary, one-page previews.

I addressed those issues for Barmcake 2 by making most of the interviews two or three pages long and sticking about 6-7 previews on two pages at the back – and that’s been the format ever since.

So issue 2 (above) had interviews with Viv Albertine, Pete Wylie, Age of Chance, Steve Huison, among others.

My friend Richard wrote about why Otley is better than Prague for beer.

He has also done Bluetones and Skids interviews in other issues.

My friend Roshi has written about David Bowie and Count Arthur Strong.

And Prue, my wife, has interviewed Bryony Lavery and done a piece on the theatre company she co-founded – Root and Branch Productions (more northern entertainment for the middle-aged).

I’ve only used one feature from a writer I didn’t know as I want to be in a position to pay people for their work.

 Viv Albertine was one of my most important interviews I’ve done for Barmcake.

It’s one of the most popular pieces with readers and it encouraged other artistes to get in touch.

I thought her book was one of the best memoirs/autobiographies I’d read, yet many of the reviews concentrated on the Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious anecdotes and didn’t focus enough on her fascinating life.

She answered my questions within a day (some people take nearly 2 months) and I was really chuffed she’d taken the trouble to give such interesting answers.

For example I asked her: Was punk the only time she’d come across so many strong and interesting characters?

She said: “God no.  Those people weren’t that strong and interesting.  Vivienne Westwood was.  

“We were all very flawed.  But at least we didn’t hide our flaws, we flaunted them.  

“I would say it was the only time in my life when you were allowed to be yourself, not smiling and saying thank you all the time.  

“Not greasing the wheels and aspiring and careerist.”

 The Ken Dodd interview, from issue 5, in 2016 was also a highlight.

Here’s an extract:

He was fizzing with jokes and anecdotes.

When I mentioned I was from Huddersfield, he immediately recited a limerick about the town involving udders.

He told me an interviewer once asked if Dodd was his real name and he told him it was an anagram.

While I took that in, he’s onto the next joke.

I was also fascinated with how works an audience.

He said: “You play an audience like a musician plays his instrument.

“You know where the hotspots are, you know where you’ve got to work hard on them when they’re a bit stubborn, you know where to flirt with them, where to encourage them, and where to take it easy.

“You put little ad libs in, little asides, go faster, slower, louder, quieter, take it easy.”

 So it was great to interview Ken and it was great to interview John Cooper Clarke for the same issue.

The interview was difficult to set up but turned out well.

I was meant to be interviewing him at a gig in Buxton but my car broke down and I couldn’t get to the gig in time on the train.

The angle I went on was his accent – whether it was the most important thing about his work and whether living in Essex for 25 odd years had affected it.

Here’s an extract:

“Accent? I don’t think it’s at all important. It��s what the work contains.

“I don’t think the accent’s got anything to do with it.

“I think vocal quality might have something to do with it, as in musicality.

“Listening to my old stuff it sounds like I’ve got a problem with my adenoids, and it can’t be that because I had my adenoids removed when I was about eight-years-old.

“To be honest, I think my voice is better than it’s ever been.

“But that’s not because of the accent, it’s because of the sonorous baritone quality.”

And of course, I can’t think of anyone else who says ‘sonorous baritone quality’ quite like John Cooper Clarke – stretching the vowels and punctuating the words so they got a real rhythm., He makes run-of the mill words sound magnificent.

Issue 3, (above), had interviews with, among others, John Shuttleworth, John Bramwell, O’Hooley and Tidow, the organiser of the Glossop Record Club, and Professor Paul Salveson, who talked about railways and northern regionalism.

The latter is an example how I’ve occasionally moved away from my core subjects as I think it would interest readers.

In issue 7 I interviewed the marvellous Beers Manchester blogger who wrote about dealing with grief after his son died.

And in issue 8 I talked to Rosie Wilby who has written a really interesting book about monogamy.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed about Barmcake is finding out about wonderful artistes I didn’t know much about, like O’Hooley and Tidow, and looking into topics I’ve not really thought about much, such as non-monogamous relationships – and record clubs.

Glossop Record Club was the first of the groups or people I featured from Twitter.

I noticed the people who started following me were doing some interesting and unusual stuff.

In other issues I’ve done features on 8bitnorthxstitch, (pictured below) who makes fabulous cross-stitch creations of bands such as The Fall and TV shows such as Coronation Street

There’s Beer Mat Movies, who writes film reviews on beer mats

And Jennifer Reid, or as she calls herself, the pre-eminent broadside balladress of the Manchester region.

 In Issue 4, I decided to make a few tweaks to the structure with a picture-led centrespread and a bigger listings section.

I don’t want the magazine to date so my listings look up to four months ahead.

The listings are usually the first and last thing I do in the magazine.

I look at every gig venue, theatre, and gallery website in my circulation area, looking for potential star interviews, cover stars and centrespreads.

I listen to bands I’ve not heard of before who are playing at these venues.

Artistes are also contacting me now and I use three or four stories an issue from them

Once I get two or three big interviews, the rest of the magazine falls into place.

I feel it’s a bit like organising a festival – you need headliners plus strong supporting acts.

And once I get the headliners, I start looking for advertisers.

I have a mix of regular and new advertisers.

I then ask all my stockists, I ask local brewers and some businesses who follow me on Twitter.  

Most of my interviews are by email, the rest are phone interviews although I did one face-to-face chat with Martin Parr.

There is always a mad panic at the end of each issue , either because of a missing interview or ad, but all you can do is politely grovel with people to please, please, please in send the material.

As it’s just me making the magazine, there are no back-up features, no IT team to deal with technical problems, such as converting pdfs to jpgs.

Fortunately I’ve always managed to fill an issue in the end.

Once I’ve written and rewritten my pieces, I go back and check everything – the original source material, fact checks, spell checks.

The issue is then proofread by Prue and then by one of our friends.

I don’t want a daft literal or incorrect name to undermine the magazine, especially as Barmcake takes about two months to do, on and off, between my other work.

My printer then gives me a final proof before it goes to press and I get it back within a week.

The new Barmcake is due out midweek next week.

I like to do a big reveal on the day of publication but I can tell you it is the biggest Barmcake ever, with 9 exclusive interviews, more than any before, and 5 features – including Hylda Baker.

It takes me four  days to deliver the copies.

I cover an area bordered by Wigan, Ilkley and Sheffield.

The list of venues is on the website, although it will change slightly over the next few days. Venues ask to be stockists and readers also recommend places.

I keep about 300 copies back for people who want a copy in the post, and for friends and media people.

Then I do a Twitter promo campaign for about 2-3 weeks.

I only put one article per issue online and I only do that months after the issue comes out.

In February, I start on a new issue.

It will be the fifth anniversary issue and a chance to take stock.

Ideally I’d like to be making more money for it, getting regular sponsorship from a suitable partner, and in the long term looking to pay others to write.

But anyway, that’s the story of Barmcake.

I hope you have enjoyed it

#magazines journalism

[wigmund]

From Earth Science Picture of the Day; June 28, 2018:

Texas Hill Country’s Enchanted Rock Photographer and Summary Author: Patti Weeks

Enchanted Rock is the second largest pink granite monadnock in the United States. Designated in 1936 as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark and in 2014 as an International Dark Sky Park, Enchanted Rock State Natural Area occupies a remote section of the Hill Country in central Texas, along with a scattering of cattle ranches, 500 plant species and abundant wildlife

This igneous rock mass, or pluton, located in the Llano Uplift, was pushed up into the overlying sedimentary Cretaceous Edwards limestone from a large magma pool, which was estimated to be 7 mi (11 km) below the surface one billion years ago.

The Enchanted Rock dome is the visible part of a huge batholith, called the Town Mountain Granite. At an elevation of 1,825 ft (556 m) above sea level, the dome rises 425 ft (130 m) above the base elevation. It covers 640 acres (259 hectares), but it's just a small part of the 62 sq mi (161 sq km) underground batholith. Enchanted Rock is an exfoliation dome, with sheets of rock peeling off like layers of an onion. After the overlying sedimentary rock was eroded away, the load on the dome decreased, allowing it to expand and then break into smaller sections and begin sliding down the dome’s sloped sides.

The 15 tiny dots in the top photo are visitors who are hiking the Summit Trail to the top of the dome. The hikers will see the fragile vernal pools, ecologically threatened depressions of flora and fauna, which include rock quillwort and tiny fairy shrimp. Some onion peels and tumbled boulders are visible in the top photo. The photo below shows lower-lying hoodoos that have been eroded through differential weathering of the exposed layers of rocks that have slid or tumbled down the dome. Photos taken May 9, 2018.

Photo Details: Top - SONY DSC-HX400V camera; 1/800 sec. exposure; ƒ/3.5 aperture; ISO 80; Focal Length: 11.86 mm focal length; 4.3-215mm ƒ/2.8-6.3. Insert - same except: 1/500 sec. exposure; Aperture: ƒ/5 aperture; 53.33 mm focal length.

Enchanted Rock, Texas Coordinates: 30.5066, -98.8189

Related Links

Exfoliation of Half Dome

Liberty Bell Mountain, Washington

Explore Enchanted Rock

Student Links

Igneous rock identification

Earth Observatory

Deep in the Heart of Texas

#earth observatory #nature #landscape #geology #monadnock #pluton #hoodoo #Enchanted Rock #Enchanted Rock State Natural Area #Texas