#a change of pace from my regular art

[sharkylass]

ALRIGHT IN STARS AND TIME FANDOM, I'M BOUT TO HIT YOU WITH MY TAKE ON THE BELOVED SISTER!!

Those who don't want to get spoiled about little details about Bonnie's sister (or the game at all for that matter- There's spoilers for Act 3 and 4 in here so YOU'VE BEEN WARNED)

SAY HELLO TO PETRONILLE!! Or how I am going to call her, Nil. I've seen a few people do their take on her, and I wanted to join in!

@insertdisc5 I am sorry in advance if you have a vision for her, especially if it is WILDLY different to mine-

KEEP IN MIND, I AM GOING TO BE RANTING A LOT, IVE HAD THIS IN THE MAKING FOR A WHILE, THERE'S MORE ART, SO SKIP AHEAD IF YOU'D LIKE

First thing's first! I tried to figure out what she would look like in the original style. I didn't want to overly detail her with my normal style, and I wanted her to somewhat fit in with the rest. Bonnie was clearly the strongest inspiration , she has their eyes, the black hair, white thing around their head to bring attention to her face- That's also why she has lip piercings! To bring more attention to her face (and due to Bonnie's earring type, I assumed piercings can exist in the world)

Her ear has 3 earrings, that was not intentional, I just thought it was cool. I like to think they perceive those as "regular" earrings, and even if a person wears bonding earrings, they can also wear more normal earrings.

I just had the image of her not really having a short range weapon, so maybe it's time for someone with a semi-long range weapon to join the team! In my head Nil seemed to be the type to like getting dirty with her hands, so a rope seemed fitting somehow.

Also- She is paper type! I liked the idea of her looking like such a rock type, but being paper. I considered making her dual type, but since those are rare, I didn't want to get ahead of myself. Admittedly, that does make the party a little overloaded with paper types, so if she was to be in a game with balancing, I'd probably change her to rock or something. BUT AS A CHARACTER THING- she remains paper.

(EDIT: I was just reminded of the huge hammer she broke a wall with, so that is ABSOLUTELY a valid replacement weapon for her. If she was rock type that would be her weapon for sure. Altho it IS funny to imagine she broke the wall and swore off heavy weapons for life. I like to think thats what happened with my take on Nil)

Mechanically I think she wouldn't be too dissimular to Isabeau, but instead of boosting the party, she debuffs the enemy. Particularly slowing them down, and lowing defense. Alternatively, I can see her being a second healer of sorts, but while Mira is good at healing everyone, Nil is good at healing a single person and giving them a boost (just things she learned to take care of Bon). I do see her attack not being that high tho, probably lower then Mira.

ALRIGHT, TIME FOR MORE ART

Her dynamics with everyone:

Bonnie:

I like to think Bonnie got their spunky attitude from somewhere. So I like to think Nil is very playful with them, even if she is looking out for them. Bonnie clearly knows the difference between lighthearted serious, and SERIOUS serious. They also seem to revel in compliments, so I like to imagine they are used to receiving them from their sister!

Nil is the most serious around Bonnie tho. As their sole caretaker, she's trying her best to keep them out of trouble while teaching them and letting them grow at a normal pace.

However, when she's with the adults- I described it like- Around Bonnie she can be serious and a voice of reason. When she's with adults tho she herself becomes the Bonnie, so to speak. She's loud and a bit hot-headed.

Mirabelle:

I swear I saw Insertdisc mention that Mira and Nil would have a bit of a rivalry going on AND I'M SO HERE FOR IT-

The two of them are those siblings that fight constantly, but the moment someone else gives either of them shit, the other will go for the jugular. They mainly try to compete for Bon's affection and who's the better sister, and they get a bit... blindsighted. Nil usually doesn't go out of her way to spoil Bonnie I don't think, I think she tries to be reasonable with them where she can. However with Mira in the picture it becomes- a little hard... Nil doesn't like the thought that she's being replaced

However, if either of them needs it, the other will be there. Nil provides Mira with a strong shoulder to lean on, and Mira provides an emotional yet reasonable approach to the situation bothering Nil.

Odile:

I like to think at first Nil didn't really get along with Odile. Supposedly Nil has a bad relationship with her parents, so I imagine her seeing someone who's a parent aged adult who holds seemingly more authority- It would... Unnerve her for a little while.

Odile will probably give her something to do, and Nil would refuse, because who is Odile to be ordering her around?? You know. Like a child. But with time they get used to the dynamic, Nil grows to respect Odile at the very least, and Odile picks up on the fact Nil seems to respond positively to positive reinforcement from her.

Having someone close, to break that pre build idea in Nil's head with positivity, despite Odile being strict and struggling to show affection- It would do her a lot of good, and Nil will eventually thank her, and apologize for being so rough to her in the beginning.

Isabeau:

Isa and Nil are actually very similar- I did not mean for it, but I hope they don't end up being TOO similar.

They are both loud, love to laugh and take care of those they love. Even their hobbies are a bit more similar then everyone else. Nil likes gardening, and taking care of things, and Isa likes to create clothes. Both of them are in a way creating something. Nil making sure what she's taking care of grows to be big and strong, and Isa is more literal-

Where they differ is in smarts partly. Isa is clearly very book smart. I think Nil would turn to him if she had a general question about something (and later on Odile once she gets used to her). She completely encourages him to show more of what he knows.

They also differ in their buffness slightly. While Isa is still the beefiest on the team, he did it with the intention, he trained. Meanwhile I think Nil just likes the field work so she's constantly outside doing heavy dirty work.

I like to think that after being unfrozen, Nil's clothes were roughed up and she didn't really think to or have the time to fix it. So I imagine Isa saw the roughed up state of her pants and gloves, and made her some himself, Which she treasures but GOD she is not used to receiving anything from anyone, LET ALONE gifts.

They also similarly hide their insecurities under bavado. Isa hides his smarts to be liked, and Nil hides her fears so she can be brave. I'll go more into detail when I get to Nil's own section. (I SWEAR I didn't mean for Isa's section to be so long I PROMISE-)

Siffrin:

These two don't do a lot of talking I'd imagine. While Nil is used to being loud, I think she'd get used to the silence around Sif and simply enjoy the quiet.

A lot of the ideas I had with those two were very touch focused. I assume Nil struggles with touch because of potential childhood related traumas, and not being warned sends her into a fight or flight. While Sif is deeply unused to it but craves it.

I still imagine Nil isn't an inherently NOT touchy person- I mean. Bon's the touchiest little guy out there. So maybe she knows how to warn people of when she's about to touch them, AND she is more used to asking for hugs and affection. So after she learns that Sif struggles asking and being startled, she became the person that would encourage them and tell them how to do it. In every single drawing where they're touching just know that either she warned them or they asked for that touch.

Also Nil is a very grounding reminder for Sif that he's not in the loops anymore. So if they get a particular scare, like they were woken up wrong, they had a rough sleep, smelled a banana, remembered the king- anything involving going back- Nil serves as a reminder that they're here, with everyone, in the present. No going back. So that, combined with their touch therapy, it results in him being particularly physically clingy with her. She squeezes their hand ocassionally. It's a grounding reminder.

Nil is also UNBELIEVABLY THANKFUL for Sif, once she learns about how they lost their eye. The fact Sif went out of their way to protect HER little sibling- It means the world to her, and she wouldn't wish it on Sif one bit. She probably holds guilt that she couldn't take the hit for both of them, Bonnie is her responsibility! They probably end up having a conversation similar to Sif telling Mira "Do you think she was wrong? To save you?" She doesn't know about the end of act 3

AAAAAND NIL HERSELF!

A lot of this is already information I mentioned. Her being a paper type, her liking bugs, being traumatized, startled by touch- But I drew these beforehand, so!

I imagine Nil ran away young, cause Bonnie doesn't remember her running from their parents. What happened in there, I do not know and I don't think I'm capable of imagining. It might not even be as dramatic as I illustrated it. But either way, she grew up being the sole caretaker of Bonnie. I'm sure Vaugardians were kind and that they didn't have to struggle too hard for food or a place, or to get Bonnie into a school- But Nil still wanted to learn how to be self sufficient, how to provide in case something happens. It might be why they live in Bambouche honestly, Nil learned how to grow plants and being close to the sea is good for catching a lot of fish! ...It was also at the edge of Vaugarde. Probably the edges where the King's curse reached slower.

She likes getting her hands dirty and working outside, so I imagine she's a bit sunburnt! If only on her shoulders and cheeks.

Growing up alone, self sufficient- She probably had to grow a bit fast (even if she indulges in childish things with Bonbon). She quickly started repressing all fears, all questions of her decision to run away. I imagine she's actually insecure in her abilities, how Bon deserves more capable people in their life, how she doesn't really know anything and how she literally got frozen and Bonnie had to fend for themselves- After Bon comes back, she's so filled with admiration and adoration for her little sibling. They really went to the ends of the earth and saved the world. What a brave little sibling she has.

The new family kind of... Feels like a threat to her title as sister at the start. All 5 of them saved a country. The people Bonnie met are strong, knowledgeable, been all over the world- She's glad they protect Bonnie. She just wishes she had something to offer. It takes her a little while to realize they are also there for her too.

I was ranting to a friend, and I am pretty sure we know Nil would like to travel after everything. Being able to explore her more child like fantasies, with the safety blanket that is the family- It means a lot to her. She gets to truly indulge in living and letting loose and depending on people for the first time in her life.

Afterwards tho... I like to imagine she would settle down. It takes a while, but she likes having a place to call her own. And so we talked about how she would probably have a ranch of some sort. I like to imagine she'd love having horses. A way for her to remain free spirited, while taking care of creatures and having the security of a place to rest at the end of the day. And if she chooses, she can go wherever she wants with those bad boys!

My friend mentioned they might have goats or sheep or chicken, and I'm all aboard for that too. I'm not settled on the idea of a farm life for her, but I like it.

Also if I dare pull a Dreaming One for a second- Bonnie and Sif are like little siblings to her, Mira is like a twin (or relatively same aged), Isa is like an older brother, and Odile the everlasting grandma.

ALRIGHT THAT TOOK A WHILE-

Sorry, I started drawing her for fun and just started BRAINROTTING about her out of nowhere.

I still have little doodle ideas but this was already getting so lengthy so I am going to leave it here, and maybe return another day.

I just deeply wanted to establish Nil as her own character who can fit within the group's dynamic and belong in the family. While she very much IS Bonnie's sister and that's such a big part of her, I wanted to expand her a little further.

If you took the time to read, THANK YOU. I HOPE YOU LIKE HER, AND THAT YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL REST OF YOUR DAY

P.S. IF YOU DRAW OR WRITE WITH HER I BEG YOU TO TAG ME

#OH! AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! MAY IT TREAT YOU WELL #long post #isat #in stars and time #isat siffrin #isat bonnie #isat mirabelle #isat isabeau #isat odile #isat nille #in stars and time nille #isat spoilers #in stars and times spoilers

[theodorecanaryhood]

The Tattooist and the Artist: Death and Destruction

Part VII

The Joker escapes from Arkham and abducts reader. Red Hood becomes lethal again and vows to take him out.

Warnings: violence, swearing and sex

These moments with you were Jason’s best, he cherished everything. The feel of your skin, the sound of your voice and of course your scent.

Jason was deep inside you when he felt your hand reach for his, Jason’s slow and steady pace had you writhing underneath him. Your body was still for Jason alone, and it drove Jason mad.

‘Y/n’ Jason moaned in your ear, you sunk your teeth into Jason’s neck as he felt himself get close. Close to the end of the race as he filled you up.

His dick had been aching for a release and it was too irresistible not to explode while buried inside you.

Jason huffed out as he caught his breath, realising he had been selfish and not allowed you to come. Jason gave you a deep kiss as he slithered down and ducked his head under the covers.

‘Oh fuck’ you gasped as Jason took your hard length into his mouth, finishing you off while he smiled at the release of your pleasure.

Of course, it isn’t just sex that Jason treasures with you, it’s everything. But the fact that you never grow tired of Jason and never to hesitate to take his length, just makes Jason feel so special. Feel so good.

Jason was a happier man now ever since he got with you, especially since you said yes to marrying him. Even more so.

He sings in the shower, he whistles a lot of the time when he is working. His regulars always say they notice the change. Roy has said it too many times.

Jason is such a happier person now he has you, he has nothing to offer but his undying love for you.

Though, happy moments always get disrupted and Jason found himself watching the breaking news on the TV in the studio.

A breakout at Arkham Asylum has caused mass casualties and disruption among the citizens of Gotham. Jason always prayed hard in these moments, but he saw red when he found it was Joker that had escaped.

Jason saw police cars outside and near enough shit himself on the spot. Realising they were going at a speed he’d been away from for a while.

Jason was driving home when he got a phone call from Commissioner Gordon, not sure why he’d be getting a call he answered.

‘Hey Jim, what’s up?’ Jason asked, Jim’s voice was filled with concern as he began to break the news.

‘Hi Jason, I need to tell you something’ he began, Jason’s heart stopped beating as he found a safe place to pull over.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘There was a break in on Preston Avenue, an art gallery was raided and the owner, y/n y/l/n was taken. We’re trying to find him, but he had you as his emergency contact’ Jim informed as Jason’s heart never seemed to start again.

‘What?’ Jason whispered, tears in his eyes as he realised the break out at Arkham and your disappearance had to be connected.

Jason went to the BatCave and remained there until he found a lead, he had to find you. Even if it killed him in the process, Jason had to get you home safely.

‘Jason? I’m concerned about you, you need to take a break and eat something’ Bruce said softly, running Jason’s shoulder.

‘I have to find y/n Bruce, I won’t stop until he’s in my arms alive and well’ Jason replied sternly.

Bruce knew what Jason was going through, he’d done this every day for almost a year while Jason was under the grips of Joker. Bruce couldn’t argue, he’d done the same thing.

‘You need any help?’ Bruce asked only for Jason to slightly nod.

There was silence in the room as the two men hunted for a lead, hunting for you.

‘I love him so much, Dad’ Jason said, finally breaking as the tears came out.

Bruce looked as Jason let his emotions fall from him, tears down his face. His body shaking as he looked at the screen.

Bruce pulled Jason in and held him tight, Jason rested his head on his father’s shoulder, soaking his shirt with his tears. Jason hadn’t cried like this before, it was a pain in his chest that he’d never thought he’d feel. A pain of heartbreak.

The two remained where they were for a while until Jason could stop to take a breath again, wiping his tears away. Bruce still had his arms around his son, not letting him go, as he had done so long before.

‘I’m going to kill the Joker, I am. He needs to die Bruce, please don’t get in my way’ Jason said as his face showed nothing but anger.

Bruce wanted to protest, but then he felt the same. Knowing the Joker had killed his son, Bruce wanted to kill him. But never did.

Red Hood was a menace tonight as he hunted through all the leads he had, the hideout he found Joker was hiding in.

Batman was close by to help take enemies down, but he wouldn’t intervene when the time came for Jason to kill the Joker. Batman wouldn’t lie when he said he doesn’t want Jason to go down that road, whether or not he changes his mind, Bruce will stand by his son.

The room you were in was dark, but there was some light sources scattered around, enough for you to see your surroundings. You knew it had to be a few days by now, as your stomach was hurting from the hunger. You were thirsty and just wanted to go to sleep.

‘Little precious, the big bad Batsy isn’t coming’ Joker laughed as he showed you his face.

You were trapped with your arms and legs bound, the other two hostages were in the room with you. You sat in between them.

Joker pulled the young woman’s hair, the young woman who was in the gallery with you at the time of the ambush. She whimpered a little as the Joker pulled out a taser.

‘Leave her alone’ you shouted, getting Jokers attention. He smiled menacingly at you, coming over.

Holding the taser to your crotch, you felt your heart racing as he neared you. The Joker remained smiling as he inched his hand, holding the taser, towards you.

There was a crash from outside the room and some gunfire, diverting Jokers attention elsewhere.

‘He’s here’ Joker laughed, you stared at the door waiting for it to open, only to feel a sharp pain in your stomach.

You blacked out as you realised it was a stab to your gut, and you were bleeding heavily, losing consciousness you went out easily.

‘Fuck you’ Red Hood screamed as he rushed to the three henchmen in the room.

Snapping one guys neck, severing the seconds jugular and throwing the third out of the window. Not caring who lived and who didn’t, Jason just wanted you.

‘One bad day!’ Joker laughed, recognising Jason straight away as the Robin he’d killed years before.

Red Hood reloaded his guns, Joker pulling out the famous crowbar. Triggering Jason’s memories of his death, he saw Red and Jason let the adrenaline lead.

It wasn’t long until Jason had the Joker on the floor after hitting him with a powerful punch, shooting him in the knee.

‘What now son? Batsy must be so proud’ Joker smiled.

Batman arrived just in time to witness as Jason pulled his gun up and shot Joker in the head. Red Hood stood for a couple of seconds as he watched Joker, dead on the floor.

‘Y/n?’ Red Hood let out a gut wrenching scream as he ran to you, unconscious.

Jason sat next to you the whole time you were in hospital, never letting go of your hand. Still not sure if Jason was even here, he just remained where he was.

You opened your eyes after a few hours of being here, confused yet also terrified that you were still where you were.

‘Baby’ Jason gasped as he saw you were awake, Jason’s face coming into your view.

You cried with relief as you saw him, Jason, and he saw you looking at him. The two of you smiling.

You reached your other hand up to place on Jason’s face, he held the hand with his other, kissing your palm. Jason felt his heart beating again for the first time.

There weren’t any words spoken, but Jason knew you were there. You knew he was and that was all that mattered in this moment.

An unspoken love toward each other as you had your sweet reunion.

#red hood #gotham #red hood fanfiction #red hood x reader #red hood x you #jason todd fanfiction #jason todd x reader #jason todd x y/n #jason todd x you #jason todd #jason todd x male reader #red hood x male reader

[ecoamerica]

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[percheduphere]

people saying, oh it wasn't intended from the beginning so it wasn't intentional thus has to stay fanfiction bug me. like, shows can develop organically based on chemistry. they can surprise you and take you in a direction that wasn't planned but now just works. like, fucking, chandler and monica wasn't planned from the beginning! but the actors had chemistry and the writers tried it out and it became iconic. you don't throw something away just because it surprised you instead of being pre-planned; you cultivate whatever gold you find!

With Hollywood entertainment in particular, I think there is a lot of ignorance regarding how the creative process, production process, post-production process, and business all work. It is readily apparent that in Hollywood, there are many hands in the kitchen when it comes to creating a movie, documentary, or show. The "Original Intent" argument is weakest when it comes to Hollywood art, and in fact fails to be a viable argument in multiple areas. I will discuss how the "Original Intent" argument fails in Hollywood in more depth under the read more, using what I know from having worked in the industry myself as a writer. And to be honest, the fact I have to pull my private professional history out online, just to prove I'm not being delulu when it comes to the importance of queer subtext in film, pisses me the fuck off.

To be clear, since this whole discourse mess on my Tumblr is likely the result of someone thinking I'm an anti-sylki: I AM NOT AN ANTI. I have an extensive analysis on Sylvie as an integral character to the Loki series, Sylki in canon, and her relationship with Mobius here.

I agree with you: a lot of amazing art deviates from the original intention, especially writing. If deviating from original intent in the writing process did not exist, we would not have DRAFT REVISIONS, we would not have IMPROV, we would not have EDITORS (whose entire job hinges on giving the writer not only grammar corrections, but feedback on how to IMPROVE character, plot, and pacing, which inherently means making changes from the original intent!). This is to say nothing of the thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands, of media scholars--with actual PhDs--who spend years of their lives performing meta-analysis to write academic papers on subject matters like this. Papers that become formal publications and contribute to how queer history is taught in universities! This is no different than academic scholars analyzing women and race representation and resistance in film. Why should analyzing queer representation and resistance in film be treated any less?

LET'S TALK ABOUT ORIGINAL CREATIVE INTENT VS POWER HIEARCHY & POLITICS IN HOLLYWOOD

For context with respect to this ask, a different Tumblr user critiqued against queer subtext in one of my posts using the "original intent" argument for the Loki series and Lokius specifically. By this logic, if original intent is always honored, then the original script for Loki's S2E5 (written by Eric Martin) would not have been NUKED by the executive powers that be at Marvel. [source] But no, the original intent was not honored, it was rejected. So how does one square the primacy of original intent with original intent being rejected by people who are not the artist but the people who manage Disney's finances?

In television, "Executive Producer" (i.e. Tom Hiddleston, Michael Waldron, Eric Martin, etc.) is a title that can be given to a writer or actor who has more creative say in the execution of a story than a regular staff writer or actor on crew. It also indicates that the writer or actor is in a much higher salary range compared to their professional peers. It does NOT mean the same thing as a CORPORATE "Producer" of Kevin Feige's level, who ultimately has the FINAL SAY on what does NOT end up on the cutting room floor. The corporate Producer must take into account the wishes of corporate's shareholders and board of directors, who are often multi-million if not multi-billion global investors who need the distribution of the product to succeed internationally in countries like China, which is very anti-LGBTQAI+. This is how a script like Eric Martin's S2E5 can be nuked and the writer can be contractually gagged from talking about its specific contents by Disney, lest they be SUED TO HELL for breaking their non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).

This doesn't even take into account politics.

In 2020, Ike Perlmutter, Chair of Marvel, "gave $575,000 to Trump For Victory, $35,500 to the Republican National Committee in April, $5600 for Texans For Ronny Jackson in February. 2019 saw him donate $248,000 to the Republican National Committee, $466,100 to Trump For Victory, $5,600 to Donald Trump For President." His wife, Laura, mirrored those donations. "In late 2016, he also gave $5,000,000 to the Great America PAC." [source] Ike was only recently laid off from his position in March 2023 [source]. Perlmutter was in a power-struggle at Marvel with Kevin Feige for years. Feige was promoted to Chief Creative Officer in 2019, which brought the power struggle to a head, ultimately contributing to Perlmutter's departure.

There is also Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, who was famously quoted during the Writers Guild of America strike for saying, “It’s very disturbing to me. We’ve talked about disruptive forces on this business and all the challenges we’re facing, the recovery from COVID which is ongoing, it’s not completely back. This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption”

This is the worst time in the world to negotiate to pay your writers, YOUR CREATIVE LABOR FORCE, who entertained millions of people while they were stuck in their homes for 2 years, fairly?

And these are just two men in executive power at Marvel and Disney. We're not even talking about all the other board members and shareholders. You think Tom Hiddleston, Michael Waldron, and Eric Martin have any real power compared to these guys? They do not. They are peons by comparison. And these artists (despite their "Executive Producer" title) are always at odds with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), who are ultimately not artists but FINANCIERS.

Here's another quote from a studio executive that occurred during the writer's strike:

"Receiving positive feedback from Wall Street since the WGA went on strike May 2, Warner Bros Discovery, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Paramount and others have become determined to “break the WGA,” as one studio exec blatantly put it.  

To do so, the studios and the AMPTP believe that by October most writers will be running out of money after five months on the picket lines and no work.

“The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” a studio executive told Deadline. Acknowledging the cold-as-ice approach, several other sources reiterated the statement. One insider called it “a cruel but necessary evil.”" [source 1] [source 2]

Fortunately, this negative press and the WGA members' solidarity led to the WGA getting everything they demanded. I still have friends in the industry, specifically in the WGA and MPEG. A lot of them were indeed starved out. My friend who's a film editor is still unemployed because pre-production has only recently started to ramp up again and her profession is all in post. She has to wait for production to catch-up and finish in order to get work.

If the AMPTP is willing to use clearly unethical tactics to underpay their writers and actors (don't forget the SAG-AFTRA strike that joined later), do we really think members of the AMPTP (the studio execs) are willing to honor artists' original intent if the original intent may be "offensive to some viewers" and therefore can potentially cut into their financial bottom line?

We're not naive. We know the answer to this.

OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH, KILLING EVE, AND GOOD OMENS

But what about OFMD, KE, and GO? These shows are on MAX, BBC, and Amazon Prime respectively. These corporations have a different branding image than Disney. Disney touts itself as "family friendly"; (read: on-screen LGBTQAI+ affection between two lead characters is "not family friendly"). MAX and BBC's branding type also affords them the luxury of creating content for niche audiences. Disney, on the other hand, makes additional revenue through using their plethora of licenses to make toys, additions to their theme parks, and other merch. If a parent is offended that a canonically queer character like Loki has romantic love not just for Sylvie but also for Mobius (a same-sex relationship), what are the odds of parents like them not buying Disney's merchandise? We can apply this same question to Star Wars, Pixar, and any of Disney-branded animation or live action movies. How deeply can audience offense potentially cut into Disney's bottom line? If there were no discrimination taking place, we would have LGBTQAI+ representation through a lead character in any one of their licenses already. We do not, and that is a huge red flag.

In addition, these entertainment corporations (who do not tout themselves as "family friendly") generate other sources of revenue elsewhere. Netflix generates international revenue through the production of international programming like "Squid Game" and other K-dramas such as "The Glory" or Mexican shows including, "The Surrogacy" and "Haunted: Latin America". MAX is struggling. They were bought out for that reason. With AppleTV and Hulu, their target audiences are more diverse, they offer a variety of media product, and their business strategy is ultimately different from Disney. All of this grants them more freedom in what kind of characters they choose to represent, including LGBTQAI+ characters.

Remember House and Wilson from House M.D.? That show was on FOX. We know the political alignment of FOX. Dean and Castiel from Supernatural? WB Television. Both shows came out before streaming became dominant, and thus, these shows had to cater to anyone who might happen to land on their channels. When the market demands that you cater to the widest possible audience in order to generate the largest revenue, the creatives are forced to create relatively conservative artistic product. Hence, creative censorship and our long history of queer subtext.

At Nickelodeon, the artists actually had the support of corporate to move forward with Korrasami because the final season Legend of Korra was only available online. It did not air on their channel. If that had not been the case, corporate would not have approved Korrasami. However, that approval was contingent upon the artists being subtle subtle about Korra and Asami's relationship. Even in this canon ship, the animators relied on subtext for queer romance.

Not helping Disney's case is the cancellation of "The Owl House". Why was "The Owl House" canceled? It didn't fit Disney's "brand". [source]

THE FAILURES OF THE "ORIGINAL INTENT" ARGUMENT IN HOLLYWOOD

The "Original Intent" argument fails when it comes to art in Hollywood because:

Original Intent can change, and often does change, during the creative process. This applies to all forms of art, not just Hollywood.

Multiple artists are involved in pre-production, production, and post-production. At any point in this 3-part process of filmmaking, original intent can be changed for a variety of reasons.

Studio Executives, Boards of Directors, and Corporate Shareholders have more power than the artists in Hollywood. If they think a product will not make money, they will order changes accordingly.

Disney specifically touts itself as "family friendly". Its lack of a lead character (in ANY of its live-action licenses) being in an openly queer relationship with someone who presents as the same sex, is the direct result of not wanting to lose conservative audiences.

Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) are common in Hollywood and prevent artists from providing specifics regarding original intent. This is done not only to safeguard corporate's intellectual property (IP), but to also safeguard their public relations image.

THE ORIGINAL INTENT ARGUMENT WEAPONIZED

The "original intent" mindset can be either very naive or very cynical, depending on the thinker's motives for choosing this belief. Naive, in that thinking creative purity actually exists (it does not) or that oppression does not still occur in Hollywood (it does). Cynical, in that either the thinker doesn't believe in artists intentionally finding ways around mass produced arts' media censorship, which has in turn created our rich history of queer subtext in film, OR the thinker wants the "original intent" argument to invalidate a change they do not like.

The last motive is the same strategy used by fans who reject Miles Morales as being a real Spider-Man. The same strategy fans use to deny that Shuri is indeed the new Black Panther. Both are tactics used to mask racism and sexism beneath the veneer of "creative purity". Fans who have internalized racism, sexism, or queer-phobia may also use this tactic at a subconscious level to protect themselves emotionally from disappointment. Finally, there are fans who use this argument to invalidate another ship, usually a queer ship that cannot be formally canonized because of corporate studio power.

Regardless of the reasoning, using this argument is frequently insidious because it perpetuates straight white male dominance in media representation.

PERSONAL LIVED EXPERIENCE

I'm an old poc queer and have worked in Hollywood long enough to know that the writers' original vision rarely ever--IF EVER--pans out as originally intended. If you ever sit through a movie and wonder why the story feels so weird in certain parts, I can guarantee you that about 2/5ths of the time, a corporate producer stepped in and messed with the original story in post-production (usually in an poor, over-worked editor's dark editing bay) and ordered reshoots the director may not have agreed with.

I've also worked in the industry long enough to know that it is an absolutely toxic work environment in which women, people of color, and queer people still struggle to get a creative foothold anywhere. My first experience pitching a script to a prospective agent involved being asked to meet at a hotel for drinks. We didn't talk about my writing at all. What I thought would be a pitch meeting was actually the writer's version of the "Hollywood casting couch". Yes, I was propositioned. No, nothing happened to me. I walked out. This happened to me in June 2008. It was not my last experience. The "Me Too" movement that came years later in 2017 was in response to situations I have encountered like this.

Those of us who succeed are very rare, and 97% of the time, the executive staff is very, very white and male. There is absolutely oppression and exploitation of all sorts still happening in Hollywood. I fucking lived it and continue to have nightmares about it.

QUEER SUBTEXT STILL EXISTS

Thus, to deny queer subtext's validity as an art form and to only accept the words of those who are either in power or limited in what they can say because of those in power, undermines not only the artists' efforts to tell the story they want to tell but cannot tell explicitly, it also undermines queer joy and queer resistance in cinema. And yes, sometimes those artists are cis straight white male allies who want to tell these stories because they simply make sense for the characters. These people are the artists, not the financiers.

It's more mature to embrace, or at least leave alone, the loud joy others experience from shipping and performing meta-analysis instead of publicly pissing on them with the profoundly weak and ignorant argument of "original intent". Don't mess with me on this. The number of scripts I have worked on that completely warped from what I wanted, and then to have my writing credit removed or stolen, still makes me sick. Yes, I'm bitter, but I'm also glad I left.

#loki #mobius #lokius #loki season 2 #writing #art #asks #queer cinema #lgbt representation #lgbtqia representation #lgbtqai #lgbtqia #hollywood #politics #entertainment industry #art vs capitalism #capitalism #personal #wga #hollywood industry

[pluckyredhead]

so what did you not like about worlds finest teen titans? There were a lot of dropped plot threads and bits I expected Waid to develop more (Roy and Ollie conflict, Roy, Garth and Wally never resolved their sleepover argument, Karen's reaction at the con to nearly being unmasked, Wally's parents, ect) and also the queerbaiting with garth (and his eyes changing colour halfway through???) was annoying. I thought it was cute overall but maybe I'm not familiar enough with some of the characters?

I held on to this ask because I was going to reread the miniseries to answer you more accurately, and then I decided to not put myself through that, so...hopefully my memory is accurate lol.

(I should note before I get into it that none of my quibbles are with Emanuela Lupacchino's art. She's a treasure and we're thrilled that she's here.)

But yeah, you've put the nail on the head with a lot of it. It was just terribly paced, like Waid didn't know how many issues he had or something. Aside from all the dropped threads you mentioned, it felt like the main bad guys were...pretty much hastily introduced, or at least assembled, in #5? There didn't seem to be any kind of...well, point to this miniseries. There was no theme. There was nothing Waid was trying to say, as far as I could tell, except "Fuck Roy Harper." (Oh, we'll get to that.) It wasn't an origin story for the team. It wasn't about adolescence or coming of age or learning who you are, except maybe a little bit for Garth. It was just...there.

And I want to be clear here: Mark Waid is one of my favorite comic book writers of all time. When he hits, he hits. The regular World's Finest book and his Shazam are wonderful. I just think this wasn't the right match of writer/characters, because he didn't handle these very well. Taking them one by one:

Dick: DC is fully in their "Dick the unbearable Mary Sue" era and this book is no exception. If I never see another comic where a whole team of experienced superheroes with major league powers and training stands around like incompetent jackasses until a Bat comes along and tells them what to do, it'll be too soon. I'm here to read about an ensemble book where everyone is a three-dimensional character, not The World's Most Perfect Boy and his loser sidekicks. Not only is it unfair to everyone else in the cast, it's doing a disservice to Dick, who is a much more interesting character than this book (or Tom Taylor, ahem) gives him credit for.

(There's also something very weird and inconsistent Waid is doing across his books with Dick - WF, WFTT, and BvR - where sometimes he's throwing a tantrum because he doesn't get to be a circus star with everyone looking at him all the time, and sometimes he's screaming at Roy for filming them, and both feel utterly arbitrary to me as well as contradictory.)

Donna: Donna's characterization in this was just...bizarre. I was a little worried about how Waid would handle her, since he has a tendency to turn more quote unquote "wholesome" female characters into the Mom Friend (see: his Champions run, where he tries to get away with it by having Kamala announce that she's not going to be the Mom Friend because she's the only girl on the team...and then immediately becoming the Mom Friend), and Donna's already very much a Mom Friend, and I didn't know what Mom Friend Squared would look like. But instead he went for this...Manic Pixie Nightmare Girl approach? Where she's really into bungee jumping and monster trucks? I'm not offended by it, it's just so utterly random. This isn't who Donna is? It's never been who she is? Baffling.

I am offended (I mean, mildly, but still) by the fact that she and Garth are shoehorned together in this. He's the only boy on the team she's never been romantically linked to, even in dreams/hallucinations/whatever, so completing the set feels very much like Donna's only narrative worth is in being a love interest, which...gross.

Garth: Garth probably got the best treatment of the bunch, to be honest. He was in character as the shy little weirdo he was in the Silver Age and in pretty much every flashback we've ever seen. He's smart and perceptive and bad at saying what he wants and generous towards those who have hurt him, all of which is very Garth. I have no complaints about him except the weird queerbaiting, and I'm not blaming Waid for that because from what I understand, solicits are written by editorial working off of a pitch, potentially before the comic is even written, so who knows what happened there? It might have been a stupid joke that didn't land, it might have been a story that was pitched and then a higher up vetoed it, it might have been a story Waid was going to write and then changed his mind. I'm not going to say it's his fault when I have no idea if that's true. Otherwise, I think he handled Garth well.

Wally: Wally was another one where I was just like ??? the whole time. He didn't feel like Wally, he felt like Bart. But, like, fanon's innocent child version of Bart and not the actual canon character, who has a lot more backbone. Why is he hero worshipping Dick like that? Why is he so docile? What was up with that weird line where Dick's like "you're the youngest?" Yes, historically Dick had already dropped out of college while Wally was still in high school, but otherwise they've always been portrayed as the same age. And if it's a reference to debut year, Donna's the youngest. It's such a random throwaway line dumped in at the very end for...why? Confusing me personally?

The worst, though, was whatever the hell was going on with Wally's parents. Wally's parents are not an idyllic suburban couple! They are not the Kents! Rudy West is only not classified as a supervillain because he doesn't have a costume! Even if he hadn't tried to kill Mary, sold the Earth out to alien robots, faked his own death, or run a deadly labor camp for children at this point in the timeline, he definitely hit Wally and, uh, poisoned Wally's Little League coach. I don't think Mary is as bad as some of fandom does, but she's certainly a difficult person. Wally was desperately unhappy at home as a child, which is why he latched on so hard to Barry and Iris. And Waid knows this, because he wrote a lot of that canon. If it's a retcon, it's such a strange, pointless one that makes all of them a lot less interesting. Just baffling.

Karen: I think it was a very smart choice to add Karen to the founding roster and make the team slightly more gender-balanced and not all-white. It's kind of a wasted choice, though, when she's so aggressively sidelined. All she does in this book is hang around with Mal and the support staff. She isn't looped into any of the major emotional conflicts - Garth and Donna, Dick and Roy, Roy and Wally and Garth. She's not treated as a headliner in the same way the others are, and that really sucks.

Roy: Hoo boy.

When Waid was announced as the writer of Batman vs. Robin, I was worried, because I had a feeling he didn't like Damian. I couldn't put my finger on why, it was just a feeling I had. And boy howdy, was I proved right! Damian is treated like shit in that book.

I had the same feeling with this book and Roy, and...let's just say I'm two for two, okay?

Here's the thing. I'm okay with Roy being written as kind of shitty, especially during his period of his life. Teen Titans: Year One writes him as an utter fuckboy, and I love that comic. The Mal and Karen issue of The Other History of the DC Universe retells the Bronze Age Titans era from their perspective, and it pulls absolutely no punches regarding Roy being, well, kind of an asshole...and it's right to do so, because it's drawing very directly from those 1970s comics, and he was often awful in those.

But Waid writes him as a generic 80s movie villain. He's a human popped collar. He's a stereotype of a bully. My problem isn't that I need him to never do anything wrong, it's that nothing in this book is specific to Roy, his history, or his established personality.

For instance, all of his bragging about how much money he has? He comes off like a kid who was born into wealth and has never known anything else, but that isn't true. He was at best middle class before Ollie, probably more likely working class given the economic situation on most reservations - but there's no indication that he's responding specifically to that shift in circumstances. He's just, like, Draco Malfoy with arrows. Also, Dick has a nearly identical history but none of the same issues. He even says "Roy and I have the same background but he sucks." Why is one of them a perfect angel untouched by filthy lucre, and the other is Bradley Uppercrust III?

And then there's the subplot with Ollie neglecting Roy, which fizzled out to a real wet fart of a resolution. But honestly, at no point did I know where Waid was going with that, because...well, if you know Roy's history, you know Ollie neglecting him is what leads directly to Roy getting into drugs. And like...first of all, the timeline here is off, because historically Ollie didn't ditch Roy until after he lost his money, and he still has it here. (How interesting would it have been to have Roy pretending he was still rich in addition to pretending Ollie was around?) But also, this comic ends on an "and now everything is fine!" note, but it isn't! It really, really isn't. So Ollie showing up at the end and being like "I'm here for you, buddy" doesn't ring true, because he is demonstrably not in this very comic, and we also know he won't be in the future. And Roy getting what he wants doesn't feel like a satisfying resolution either because we don't actually get to see changed behavior from him, and again, we know this won't last. (Again, TT:YO handles this dynamic very well, where we see that Ollie is an affectionate but negligent guardian who Roy is learning some very bad habits from.)

And to top it off, constantly contrasting Terrible Roy to Virtuous Dick and simultaneously pretending that Ollie was at this point a responsible guardian has the (I hope unintentional) effect of implying that Roy will eventually become an addict because he's just a bad and weak person, instead of a struggling teen who needed support and didn't get it. I would have actually preferred a story that hinted at the beginning of Roy's addiction and how he hides it from the Titans, because we've never had that story told in comics, but I don't think Waid's the one to write it. Instead we get a conflict that's out of character for Roy, a resolution that doesn't feel at all earned, and the looming threat of Roy's immediate future which Waid refuses to address.

In conclusion, this book was a mess, and you should all read Teen Titans: Year One instead.

#meta #teen titans #dick grayson #robin #donna troy #wonder girl #garth #aqualad #wally west #kid flash #karen beecher #bumblebee #roy harper #speedy

[keykeep]

Kinktober Day 13: Picture Perfect- Dean Thomas

You awoke in the morning, your eyes adjusting to the early morning light streaming into the boy's Dormitory. As you took in the surroundings listening to the snoring of the Gryffindor boys including your boyfriend Dean Thomas asleep under you. You were a regular in the boy's dormitory after lights out, you would sneak into the boy's room for late-night activities before falling asleep with him and disappearing before any boys woke up.

You wandered around his dormitory taking the chance to look through his belongings when you stumbled upon a black old book. You knew this was his art book and that he had taken it everywhere.

Curiosity peaked as you lazily flicked through the book until you stumbled upon the latest artwork. It was a portrait of you naked on top of him mid-orgasm. Hands on your breasts, head tilting back.

You let out a gasp as hands snaked around your waist pulling you into his chest.

"What do you think?" Dean asked quietly before kissing your cheek. You blushed looking at the artwork, it was excellent, and there was no argument that he's talented. "Do I really look like that when I cum?"

"Yes, I should know, I love watching you unravel with pleasure knowing that I caused it," he said pulling you in for a passionate kiss. You wrapped your arms around his neck as you smirked at his cheeky face. "I don't think I look like that though," you said softly. "should we tape it? so we can watch it together"

You had to admit that the idea was turning you on. The thought of you two keeping a video and watching it would lead to round two with him. So you nodded biting your lip at him.

You noticed the boys starting to stir as you kissed Dean one last time as you said "what do you say to us catching up tonight?". "I can't wait," he said watching you sneak out to get ready for classes.

The day passed in a blur every hour was just a countdown of tonight's adventure. Before you knew it you were back inside Dean's room with an awake array of boys. You looked at him confused as he kissed you passionately.

"What is everyone still doing here?" you asked, "Well I promised Neville and Seamus my chocolate frog cards if they could help with filming. "I can't do it in front of an audience" you blushed. "Forget them and focus on me," he said kissing you deeper.

You nodded before turning to the blushing boys "if you say anything about this, I will hex you" they both nodded behind the camera as they pressed record.

He slid his hands into his pants gently stroking his erect penis. You copied his movements as your hand slid down your pants and into your wet folds. Both of you stared into the eyes of the other as you set the pace.

"God this feels so good" you moan as you watched his cock spring free from his pants as you watched his hand stroke from base to tip in long slow strokes. You bit your lip as you undressed from your waist down and sat on dean's bed with your legs spread giving him full access to the show as you continued rubbing your clit.

You watched him as he massaged his cock moving his hand slowly not wanting to ruin the video by finishing too early but as his eyes were transfixed on you watching the pleasure build as you thrust your fingers in and out of your cunt. Your hips wiggled as your finger reached deeper inside yourself.

Dean knew his orgasm was coming faster than he expected. You groaned as your orgasm ran through your body turning it into a shaking mess. You removed your glistening fingers now coated with a white substance and popped them in his mouth. You felt him suck and lick the juices.

His hand pumped faster vigorously as cum shot out landing on his stomach. You bent down licking his tight abs from any mess that he made before wiping your mouth. "that was fun, but we should clean up while we are waiting for you to get hard again" you said giggling as you winked at your boyfriend.

After you showered and changed into a dress you walked into his dorm, to hear your boyfriend bragging to his Seamus and Neville about your healthy sex life. You laughed kissing him "you ready?" he asked, you silenced any words unspoken with a kiss which he voluntarily deepened as you tore each other's clothes off your bodies between hot kisses.

"Are they filming?" you asked quietly, Dean nodded as he fell onto his bed. You joined him straddling his hips feeling his hard cock between you. For the next few minutes as you kissed you ran your hands over his torso, as he ran his hands over your ass cupping it in his hands.

You wrapped your hand around his cock as you moved your hips to position it at your wet entrance. Inch by inch you lowered yourself as you felt yourself filling with his big cock. You moaned against his mouth as he moved his hands across her back as you rode him, driving him as deep as you could with every thrust.

Dean bowed his head until his hot breath was on your chest as his hands squeezed your breasts before putting one of your breasts in his mouth he licked, and caressed the breast and stiff nipple while massaging the other with his hand before switching to the other doing the same movements.

You tilted your head back in ecstasy as you moaned loudly, lips parted slightly and breath shallow, You looked into each other's eyes as your body quivered and your muscles tightened as you convulsed on his hard cock. Dean grunted driving himself deep into her quivering body as his own orgasm hit.

He clenched his teeth as he shot deep inside her. Almost reluctantly they slowed panting you sat aside from him both sweating and breathless and drained.

"Perfect" he breathed against your lips before colliding his with yours. As you came out of your little bubble you momentarily remembered there were two other guys in the room. Your head turned to Neville and Seamus with straining cocks and smiling faces. "Can we watch it now?" you said eagerly "while you two boys have cold showers?" Dean said. Seamus and Neville ran out of the room quickly leaving you alone.

" I forgot they were there" You confessed as Dean nodded "Me too," he said, "well let's watch you cum" he laughed kissing your cheek. "before the boys come back," you said.

Dean waved his wand turning your muggle video camera into a projector. The wall of the boy's dorm danced with footage of your make-out session, your eyes both mesmerised as you viewed you both naked and feeling each other up. "wow nice cock" you said kissing him as he grinned at the compliment.

The sex had started and as you watched it you admitted to Dean it was hot and that you wouldn't mind more videos together. You watched as your past self orgasmed watching the sticky white substance coat his cock making it easier for him to slide in and out of you.

"oh, I do look like that, that picture is so vivid in detail" you confessed as he laughed "I have picture-perfect memory," he said leaning to kiss you. Seamus and Neville joined by Ron and Harry in their quidditch gear entered the dormitory "not again" Neville yelled out covering their eyes. Dean looked at his friends and said "sorry no peaking this time" as he waved them away so you two could have a quick round 2.

#dean thomas #harry potter smut #hp smut #harry potter imagine #kinktober #kinktober22 #kinktober 2022 #harry potter series #neville longbottom #seamus finnigan #harry potter fanfiction #dean thomas imagine #Dean Thomas Smut

[bullet-prooflove]

What You Need: Bottles x Reader (NSFW)

Tagging: @darqchilddaydreamz @librarian1002 @prettyinpunk85 @thanossexual @proceduralpassion @crazy4chickennuggets @callsignartemis @kmc1989

It’s outside EZ’s bar that Bottles has you. There’s a secluded space around the back, shaded from the road and the patrons inside. The stars twinkle overhead and the music spills from the open windows. He pins you against the exterior wall, his face buried in the curve of your throat as his teeth graze that deviant little spot just underneath the hinge of your jaw.

You’ve been teasing him all night. The flutter of your dress as you drift past him, your hand brushing over his when you pass him a beer, the swell of your body against him when you squeeze past. You don’t usually bartend for EZ and Jo, but it’s a busy night and their regular has called in sick. You used to work as a mixologist back in college and he sees you still have it down to an art form.

The two of you have been seeing each for a few weeks, keeping it under the radar while some of the other charters are in town. There’s a couple of guys that like to make trouble for the prospects and he doesn’t want you to get caught up in that. One of them had made a grab for Nestor’s girl last week when she was passing through and it had resulted in her beating the shit out of him.

El Cuchillo, may be retired but she still commanded respect. He had seen Bishop give her the nod after the first punch had shattered Lobo’s nose. It didn’t need to get as bloody as it did, but Bishop had wanted to prove a point to their visitors. Bottles isn’t taking a chance with you.

“Is this what you need sweet girl?” His breath ghosts in your ear as he eases his fingers inside of you, crooking them just slightly. You’re tight, you hug his digits as he begins to move them in a slow, teasing tempo. The pitch of your breathing changes and he knows he’s hitting just the right spot. His thumb traces over your clit and your hips buck, taking him even deeper. “Or is it this?”

“Fuck.” You utter, your hands slipping underneath his kutte and tangling in the material of his plaid shirt, tugging him closer.

“I hear you.” He whispers against the corner of your mouth. “But not until we get home.”

He feels your expression change and he smiles because he kinda likes it when you’re a little bit bratty. His free hand comes up to clasp your cheek, his thumb trailing over the shape of your lips before he pushes it between them.

“So pretty when you pout.” He tells you as he presses down firmly on your clit.

You moan around his thumb as he picks up the pace, your skin flushing that pretty shade of pink he loves so much. He chases the symphony of your body, the way your muscles tense, the sounds you make. You come hard on his fingers, biting down on his thumb and it is the sexiest fucking thing he has ever seen.

“I can’t wait to get you back home.” He tells you as he pulls his thumb out of your mouth with a wet pop. “I’m going to ruin you all over again.”

Love Bottles? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

#bottles x you #bottles mayans #bottles mayans mc #bottles x reader #alex barone

[synnthamonsugar]

in the spirit of saturnalia: I ask for a coffee shop au fic with savathun

Can I get an art grant to develop this into a full series? Do you want ME to write/draw something outside my usual body of work? Inquire here!

A small crowd gathered near the rear of the cafe, chattering raucously around candlelit tables, framed by floodlights trained on the small stage at the back. Another open mic night at the Gaslight Cafe.

"Good turnout tonight," Lavinia Garcia Umr Tawil commented to the owner and senior barista, Savathûn. The middle-aged woman had long braids tied into a bun at the crown of her head, and a loud floral print shirt peeking from beneath a mint-green apron emblazoned with the logo of the shop. A stylized moth framed by an old-fashioned lantern.

"We'll see how long it lasts," she replied with a note of exasperated humor.

Lavinia tilted her head. Leaned across the coffee-bar so she didn't have to shout above the ambient noise. "Is the lineup that . . . bad?" 

"My nieces are the opening act," Savathûn commented, gesturing at the stage. Two identical women, perhaps a bit younger than Lavinia, dressed in what she could only describe as avant-garde victorian-goth-chic, long red gowns and pyramidal fascinators atop their heads, fiddled with an electric guitar and drum set respectively. The longer Lavinia looked, the more she could make out a familial resemblance to Savathûn, though there was something sharper in their features. 

Ada, in her role as M.C., took to the front of the stage. "Please give a warm welcome to our first performance, the Death Singers."

"Oh — that's, uh, promising? Your family has such accomplished musicians."

"They are talented girls but their style is —'' the first drumbeats started, shortly accompanied by a crunchy, guttural lick from the guitar, "—experimental." The lead leaned in close and belted out a shrieky vocal, loud enough to peak the mic. Both Savathûn and Lavinia reflexively flinched at the sound.  "Highly so."

The ensuing piece of music could be generously characterized as "harsh" and "atonal", less politely as "unlistenable" and "headache-inducing". Ir Halak and Ir Anûk traded off vocals throughout the set, and Lavinia found them perfectly matched not only in appearance but also intolerability. 

When they finally reached the end of their performance, a hesitant, obligatory round of applause fizzled from the crowd — excluding the next performer, who arose to his feet clapping and cheering. The girls waved and smiled at him as they gathered their gear and exited stage. 

The attrition rate among the audience was impressively low, but Lavinia wondered if Toland would change that. The pallid older man was a regular guest, spending hours sitting at different tables, sometimes tapping away at his typewriter but mostly getting into Diogenian debates with other customers. Savathûn permitted him to stay because his coffee habit provided her a reliable source of income. They often wondered what he actually did and could find no other explanation than this. Context clues pointed at a well-to-do wife who supported his unemployment, but not the Cafe. 

"Our next guest needs no introduction. Give it up for Toland, The Shattered, who will share a piece of his poetry—?" Ada enunciated the word as more as a question than statement, "— with us."

Lavinia was just glad he wasn't singing tonight. His timbre was almost as jarring as the twins'. 

"HUSH THE MOON. HUSH THE NIGHT. HUSH THE DARKNESS . . . HUSH, THE LIGHT . . ." If nothing else, she was impressed by the way he seemed to be able to speak in small-caps. He paced about the stage like a caged dog, delivering a performance that might've been pretentious if it wasn't utterly sincere. Some watched in transfixed or baffled silence, while others got up to refill their drinks at the bar. 

As more applause rippled through the crowd, and others gathered their things to leave, Ada approached the mic. "I didn't think anyone could find a rhyme for 'ouroboros', but you have a way with words. 

"Our next presenter is a sleight-of-hand magician—"

"That's 'illusionist', ma'am," the man waiting at stage-right drawled. He was decked out in a sequined suit of teal and green with a prominent snake motif, cowboy hat in hand.

" — Illusionist from the Tower Annex. Let's all welcome Eli—"

He shook his head.

"Wu Ming?"

"It's Germaine now. Legal reasons."

"Ah — well, let's all welcome Germaine, and his thrilling coin gambit—"

"Okay I'm out," Lavinia finally folded, gathering up her purse and books in one hand, and coffee in the other. "G'night Sav."

"Truly, you live up to your title," Savathûn replied, poking at her 'Lucky' nickname. "Goodnight Lavinia."

#destiny #savathun #lavinia #toland the shattered #ir anuk #ir halak #coffee shop au #synnth fic #saturnalia 2023

[radiokathryn-if]

What is an ideal date for the ROs? If that makes sense. Like, what would they want to do/where would they want to go on a date? Unless its spoilers of course, please ignore ☺

this one got a bit long!

In a change of pace I'm going to share Nate's ideal date from before the radio show blew up and the fame went to his head! Because it's surprisingly adorable──he'd take you music café hopping. You might have to drive a while in-between cafés but that'd just give you time to talk about the new music acts and artists you found. He'd insist on paying for you at at least one café and in my head it's either the first or last one. He'd drive you home, a list of MC─approved artists written in biro on his arm with a giddy smile and the promise of a mixtape in his lips. Where did it all go wrong?

Our classy girl Eva would love a museum date. It might seem a bit cliché but she really enjoys museums! She likes art exhibits the most but she wouldn't mind exploring a history museum just to see what there is. She's been to the Louvre in Paris before so if you were ever in France she'd take you there to see what was new. It's quiet and calming, your hands are entwined and she's excited to share her knowledge with you and learn something new herself. There's no pressure to come up with conversation or be somewhere else any time soon!

Mica is the most spontaneous out of all the ROs but I think something simple like making food from scratch together would be ideal for them. They've known you the longest so classic dates to do something like a restaurant or movie to do ice-breakers with isn't needed. Mica already made you go do the most random things like hiking or mini golf or indoor rock climbing or cheese tasting as a friend so to them it wouldn't feel all that different. Making something like a pizza from scratch together in your own kitchen where you can good off and have a flour fight and make a smiley face pattern out of toppings and just be together is something they really love the sound of.

I don't think it's much of a surprise that Detective Han's idea of a good date is something small like going to a trivia night at a bar. It's not as... intimate... as a classic sit-down-and-eat date and they get to use the trivia questions as a means to both start conversations and show off their intelligence! Please help them romance is hard. If by the end of the night their shoulders aren't tense anymore and you're both laughing at the ridiculous questions that prompt ridiculous answers then that's a good night for them!

José loves thrift shopping and antique hunting so going to do their favourite activity with their favourite person would be just swell! To make it more fun the two of you agree to buy something for the other to exchange at the end of the date──maybe you'd go to a café for lunch or a casual restaurant for dinner and you'd take the scenic walk back to their apartment block and they'd point out some patterns in the stars like they were constellations (but aren't because they don't know astronomy) and they'd leave you with a long kiss pressed to your cheek and a promise to do it again. The object you bought them finds a home pride of place on the desk in their studio.

This one might be a shock! You'd think that for an introvert like Ji Han a dance class date would be his worst nightmare but no, his idea of an ideal date would be to take you dancing! He wants to be able to hold you close whether is be sweet dance like a waltz or a more steamy dance like a tango or rumba. Though he'd prefer the more touchy dances... it's an excuse to touch you and tease you use it against you later when you're alone. If you enjoy it as much as he does then it might become a regular thing, every fortnight comes around and you're both anticipating it. Dancing is good for cardio... did you know? Menace.

Fauve wants to go to a karaoke bar. She's never been and has always wanted to experience it. It's a simple wish but it's just never come up as a possibility. She doesn't care if your voice is horrendous (she's not exactly gifted in the vocal department) because the whole point of karaoke, at least to her, is singing the songs in the most hilarious way possible. Make her laugh so hard she had to hold her tummy!! When you're finished and she invites you in to her flat and you're simply sitting with each other to cool down──she's got heart in her eyes when you don't ask anything else from her, just talking and sitting and laughing. She takes a picture from a polaroid and keeps it in her journal as a bookmark!

Jackson's ideal date is a spin on a classic──instead of seeing a film in a cinema he'd take you to a drive in theatre! You'd go in a closed-in car, not an open top, so you could talk during the film and not disturb the other people attending. I know not everyone likes talking during a film but Jackson loves discussing the film as it's happening, he wants to hear all your thoughts as they're happening. He might take you to see a film he's already seen just so he can focus on you more than the film!

Spa night with ???! Please pamper them and let them pamper you! Servings of 'light' alcoholic drinks like champagne or something while you sit together and just talk about everything and nothing. They're a bit clingy, hands on your thighs when they sitting between your legs, your hands in their hair to massage their head. They take a turn to massage your shoulders, your faces might have guacamole on them but it's nice and relaxing.

#radio kathryn if #all ros #c: nate nicks #c: eva vidal #c: mica hollens #c: detective han #c: josé danger #c: ji han #c: fauve #c: jackson lewis #c: ???

[askagamedev]

War Stories: Endless Eight

Not all war stories are fun or amusing. This is a story about one of my forays into development hell. My employer assigned me to a small team that was building a new game out of an existing, though decommissioned, game base. The game had many constraints - minimal budget for new art assets and almost no tribal knowledge from the original team remained. Our essential marching orders were to build a new game out of old parts. The combination of constraints - small team, minimal budget, reusing an old game - essentially dictated some kind of system-based randomization-centric core gameplay in order to create enough content for players to feel they were obtaining sufficient value from the game. 

It’s important to note that I think our creative director was actually quite good at his job - he was very knowledgeable about the original game and thought about everything from a systemic perspective. His ideas and vision for the game were good - I could always understand where he was coming from, what his goals were, and how his new ideas were in service to those goals. Through his leadership, I could see the team carving out gameplay that worked within the heavy constraints while still following the lore of the franchise. If I had the opportunity to work with him again under different circumstances, I would consider it. Despite these strengths, however, the game we delivered ended up being a mess and team morale had fallen off a cliff by the end of the project and much of this was because of our creative director.

The biggest issue wasn’t the quality of the ideas that the creative director had, but the pace at which we were handed our assignments and the obsoleting of old work on a regular basis and we were only a few months away from launch. We lacked a strong producer to push back on our creative director so his ideas were pushed on the rest of the team unchallenged. This tanked morale - it was tremendously difficult for me to feel engaged with my work when I knew that most of the work I was doing would likely be thrown out by the next week because another new design directive would be assigned and a huge amount of existing work would need to be redone. It was fine at first - the ideas made sense and were good and our director’s reasoning was sound, so we did them. But as time rolled on, we became trapped in a vicious cycle - throw out the old stuff, build the new stuff, have our weekly design review meeting and repeat the process. It felt like we were trapped in a time loop, except our ship date kept getting closer. The game finally launched and we were still regularly rebuilding large parts of core gameplay as part of post-launch content updates. 

Normally, I’m fine with this kind of iteration early in the development process - it’s totally normal to try a lot of things with prototypes when you’re in preproduction. That’s what preproduction is for. The problem here wasn’t that we were iterating so much, the problem was that we were still iterating like it was preproduction after the game had already launched. The rapid changes meant that new bugs were constantly being introduced because our systems and content didn’t really last long enough for bugs to be identified and fixed before they were changed again. We were essentially rebuilding the core gameplay each week while trying to build new post-launch content updates and it took a clear toll on the player base. The team really needed stronger leadership to figure out (and stick to) a better solution than “let’s rebuild it again”.

The numbers continuing to worsen and the higher ups eventually decided to pull the plug. The team was disbanded and the game itself was quietly placed into maintenance mode. By the end, most of the dev team had disengaged and were doing only the bare minimum of what was asked of them. I was assigned to another project - this one with a producer who enforced a strong development schedule. After joining that team and seeing the familiar processes in place to make sure that things were done on time and at a reasonable quality level, the phrase running through my head was “It’s nice working with proper villains again.” 

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#war stories #game development #building a team #game production #Development Hell

[devil-on-acid]

The Heart of Eywa Chapter 1: First Connection

Genre: Thriller/Isekai/Fantasy/Sci-fi

No Pairings yet

Word count: 3396

Pilot

Sypnosis: a Regular teenager get transported to the world of her obsession in her dreams, but upon arriving there she never could have thought the possibility of it being real and not just in her head. She could never have anticipated what she would feel and discover. why was she here ?

A/n: here i am finally with the official chapter 1. Sorry that it took so long since i posted the pilot. I need to mention i am a fulltime art student so i’m usually busy or too exhausted. When i write i try to make each chapter as vivid as possible so i really have to take my time to use the right words and to decide the pace of the chapter. I really wanna post a high quality story. Once again English is not my first language so my vocabulary is still improving. Let me know you thoughts and any ideas in the comments. I would love to hear them (same goes for feedback) for now i hope you enjoy this first chapter. 😊

ps. if you wanna be tagged for upcoming chapters let me know in the comments ^^

(y/n) Pov

Previously

Meanwhile the girl was still drifting, unaware that she was being watched. Shock settling into her body as she was still accepting and processing what happend to her. All that matters now is staying alive long enough to find the only people she might know, the Omaticaya.

-

It took me only 10 min before i could hear the sounds better, the river water drifting down stone. I sped up my pace now. And soon i reached the river. The water was so clean i could see right through it to the bioluminescent water plants at the bottom. I hastly scooped up water to drink from, the thirst coming back to me now. putting some water on my face i feel a lot less faint but i was still getting tired. Shutting my eyes for a second to blink properly i look at my surroundings again. The small river has a stone wall where the water came from like a small waterfall. Insects are even louder in this area. Always hearing a nice buzzing of some sort of cricked, and occasionally birds. All around me the bioluminescence was bright. Lighting up the entire river area. I started to wonder towards everything. I mostly have questions that i don’t know who to ask. ‘’why am i here ?’’  

‘’how am i here ?’’

I didn’t know what to do or if i even have to do anything. The only chance of survival i have is finding a clan, but Omaticaya is the only clan where i know i might talk my way out of getting killed. Watching so many fantasy and action movies can teach you some skills in speaking differently then you do. I can only speak a few words na’vi and that wasn’t enough. Speaking English is the only option. Na’vi are extremely bright, they learn English faster then someone can teach them.  

It might be my only option to avoid getting killed by them. They are fiercely protective and loyal to eachother, they don’t trust easily. Especially after what the Sky People did to them and their world. Whether that is still in motion or already passed is another thing i wondered and remember it for the next time i might figure it out.

I decided i am too tired to move right now. But i can’t stay here for too long. ‘’i guess i can just take a little nap right ?’’ i thought to myself. A little away from the water in the shadow of some plants i lay down on the soft moss and close my eyes. Focusing on the sounds around me. I was laying comfortably on the ground on my back. Like the feeling of coming home and dropping into your bed after a long day of work. The backache from stress lessening and disappearing every minute. My thoughts are blank, which surprised me. Most people would be having racing thoughts. Especially about home, in my situation in particular. Do my parents know i’m gone ? or has nothing changed while i’m here ? is there still a possibility this is all a deep comatose sleep ?. I do have these thoughts, but they don’t bother me. It feels like time has stopped moving both here and back home.

After what felt like an hour or longer of laying there, unable to fully fall asleep i decide to move forward. Looking around me to make sure i’m in the clear i slowly let myself sit upright. I feel dizzy. In a way it feels like i’m under the influence of something. Standing up i almost have to sit back down but keep myself grounded looking for anything to hold onto. Getting lightheaded while standing up is not going to help me right now. Walking along following the river i the area cleared a bit with less plants to avoid. The soft moss underground all i felt that ripples with light every step i made. The noises in my ears started to become stronger. it felt like i could hear the noises like ripples in my body, as if music was in the back of my head. I can hear people talking in an undetectable language, children laughing, people singing. it was keeping me on edge. But also grounded to the earth.  

After only minutes of walking i felt hopeless already. I was so dizzy my head started to spin, looking at my feet and the ground and taking a deep breath i hope for the spinning to fade away. after looking at the ground for a minute i looked back up and almost stepped back. Right in front of my face was an atokirina. It’s light movements like a small jellyfish or a dandelion seed in the wind. A faint light comes from it as it moves over my shoulder and gets close to my hair. Mesmerished i keep my eyes on it. it didn’t move from my shoulder. Looking up into the sky i was hyptonized by what i saw. Hundreds of atokirina are floating down from the top of the forest . atokirina are signs for the na’vi. A pure spirit to give them a message or quide their path.

I was paralyzed in my movement, i didn’t dare take another step. Reaching out the atokirina softly floated down to cover my hands and arms. More of them placing themselves on my chest and my head, softly tickling my skin. I look behind me to the other sprites floating behind me. They connected to my shoulder and my back mimicking a cape in the motion of a wave. The sounds i hear become stronger and stronger. the voices overwhelm my senses. The sounds of nature mixing and harmonizing with them. My sight was starting to become blurry. I try to blink to focus but it didn’t help, it only made it worse. My mind keeps spinning and spinning. I can’t stand without having to balance my weight. i feel so tired i stopped fighting and let it overwhelm me. In less then a second i can feel my eyes roll back into my head and falling back to the ground. But before i feel the impact everything goes black.

Third POV

This could mean only one thing, a sky demon invading into their land. No matter how outnumbered the demon was it was still a cause of concern in the mind of the na’vi hunter. As quiet as he could go he ran to his ikran in a hurry, making Tsaheylu and flying back to the village. He knew where the sky demon was headed and he wasn’t far from the village, if he was fast enough he could warn the other warriors and the Olo'eyktan about this and they would be back before she drifted to far from this part of the forest.

The Hunter was able to reach the village in a mere 10 minutes of flying. Landing his Ikran upon the branches of a tree, many more trees around it connected by long green vines serving as a pathway between the tents and little homes build around him. As he got off his ikran he could hear the gentle singing of people and drums playing music a little down below, where many of the omaticaya where eating communally around a big bonfire. Climbing down from the tree to one of the lower and larger tents he looks for his fellow hunters and the Olo'eyktan. People greet him and he greets them back without betraying the the urge and panic he feels. As he approached the leader he crouches down next to him greeting him formally.

“oel ngati kameie Jake Sully. I need a word with the Olo'eyktan, it’s urgent.’’

Jakes eyes widened in alarm for a split second before composing his face. It wasn’t often one of the hunters or clan people had an emergency or something urgent to tell him. After spending years with his people as their clan leader he learned about their behaviour and was better able to read their emotions and was able to make opinions about the situations going on around them. The look on the hunters face gives jake a sense of worry. Which didn’t happen often.

the na’vi was feeling a mixture of shock, fear and anger under the surface of a calm face. But Jake could see right through him, he knew better. His body language was stiff and panicked. Jake conteplated what had the hunter in such a state and he needed to know more immidiatly. Jake stood up passing one look to his mate who sat a little further away with the tsahik.

‘’come with me’’  he said as he walked a little further tot he side of the large tent so they could speak in whispers.

‘’speak calmly, what is wrong ? the look on your face troubles me’’

‘’while out hunting i saw something that shouldn’t be possible. I saw a dreamwalker, a sky demon’’

Jake was immidiatly alarmed. the skypeople are back ? since when. How can this have happend without his knowledge.

‘’a dreamwalker ?, are you sure about this. Did you recognise the avatar ? are you sure it wasn’t one of the scientists ?’’

‘’she’s not familair to us, we don’t have any children avatars from the humans.’’

‘’She ?, it was a girl ?’’

‘’yes Olo'eyktan, a young girl, a mere child.’’

Jake was confused by all means the scientists have no one except for Spider when it came to children, and no other than Norm and a few others had their own avatar. But they are all adults. Unless the RDA succeeded in making a young/child avatar.

A different scenario : this is a young girl from another tribe who is completely lost. But that would be an unlikely thing. He also trusted in the hunters and the other Na’vi. They can immidiatly tell who is and who is and who isn’t a sky person, even if you took the physical aspect of the avatar away. The 5 winger and eyebrows, they can always tell. It was something Jake as a former avatar wasn’t able to sense.

Then  there was the worts scenario : The skypeople have returned to Pandora, How is the question. If any spaceship comes in Pandora’s orbit they would’ve seen it sooner, they would’ve seen a new star in the night.

‘’Have you told this to anyone else ?’’ Jake asked.

‘’No, Sir’’

Gather a group of hunters, bring them together at the totem. Do so quickly and calmly. I don’t anyone question what is happening.

With that he sent the hunter on his way to gather the others. Meanwhile he walked back to his mate who was currently giving out food to their children and feeding their 2 year old baby. As he came closer his children as wel as his mate looked at him expectantly, turning towards him or looking up at him. As Jake stood before them he crouched down to properly speak to her and silently observe then infant she cradles in her arms.

‘’Ma Jake ?’’ is all Neytiri needed to ask. She knew the look on her mates/husbands face, she could tell he was holding back from telling her something. The worry and confusion starting to become visible on her face.

‘’Ma Jake, what is happening ?’’

‘’Me and a group of hunters are gonna gather at the Totem, i need you there.’’

‘’is there something wrong dad ?’’ his 13 year old Daughter asks. Kiri was looking at her father with wide curious looking eyes. Usually he would expect this question from Lo’ak, but this time it came from Kiri.

‘’No there is nothing wrong babygirl, can you and Neteyam take care of your siblings and go to Grandmother. Me and your mother have something to discuss.

Rectuantly the children all gathered and stood up, taking their food with them to finish with the tsahik. Lo’ak turned before walking with them conteplating to ask his father questions, but the look Jake gave him told him no in an instant. This was absolutely no good time. So he stays quiet and goes with his siblings, Neytiri still holding small Tuk stands straight and determinded, Like a proud mother ready to protect as she looks back at him.

‘’twawne, what is happening ?’’

Jake looks back to her trying to calm his expression for what he was about to tell her.

‘’they, the hunters, saw a dreamwalker, not one of our own.’’

Neytiri looks at Jake with shock written on her face. From all the things she was expecting him to tell this was not one of them. But her shock from this knowledgequickly turned into frustration and anger.

‘’what are they ? is it the skypeople ? are they back ?’’   ‘’they never should have dared to return’’

Before she could say more Jake cuts her of without angering her more.

‘’We don’t know who they are or how they came here. Appareantly they are alone, but we don’t know if more are out there. A hunting party and me will go out to track her, they we’re spotted not far from here’’

Neytiri looks Jake in thee yes with determination, her voice not wavering or stuttering for even a second.

‘’I am coming with, i need to see this demon for myself’’

‘’Neytiri, this could be a trap, we don’t kniow how many there are or what they have, we need to be carefull about this’’

Neytiri didn’t back down ‘’i am coming, you can’t convince me otherwise. We’ll track the demonand stop them from coming here. Especially this close tot he village.’’

Jake recuantly agrees, Neytiri is a fierce warrior. Nothing will stand in her way or hold her back. She can handle herself.

‘’okay, but i have to tell the people over at the lab and warn them, or at least Norm and Max.’’

‘’you want to involve the humans again ? they’ll only be in our way.’’

‘’no they won’t, i make sure of that. They can help us. We just need to warn them for any possible outcome. I’m gonna as kif they might have a theory or have picked something up at the lab. See if they may have a clue on how they’ve gotten here.’’

With that Jake hoped Neytiri would agree with his choices, her and Jake never always saw eye to eye with some things involving leading the tribe. But whatever happens they still trusted eachother. Mo’at still being the Tsahik often agreed with Jake.

‘’i’ll inform the Tsahik, Go and prepare. I want this over with quickly’’

with that she walked away towards the Tsahiks tent to drop of Tuktirey for bed and inform het mother of the situation. Hoping everone who will come with the hunters remains uninjured.’’

Jake went tot he Totem to inform the warriors/hunters of the planand prepare. This needed to be done carefully and silently. They’ll track down and observe the dreamwalkerand see if she has any contact with anyone outside the forest. Adrenaline shot trough his body prepared for anything that could happen.

-----

‘’Norm, Norm do you read me ?’’

The radio comes to life with it’s spheric static noises. A few seconds went by before the radio picked up a reply.

‘’Jake, i’m here i read you. Is everything alright ? you hardly ever use the radio, what’s going on?’’

Norm, i need you and maybe max or someone else to check anything you can off the satelites still working. See if something came into Pandora’s orbit. Or try to see if you pick up any signals unfamilair to us. Anything like a habsite or a ship.’’

‘’Whoah, whoah, slow down. You want us to look for any unusual activity ? what for. Did you find something?’’

‘’Or someone’’ Said Jake. The radio went silent for a second, the words he said came out quick and without thinking.

On the other end of the radio Norm sat in the lab at the remains of Hells gate. He was still awake in his human form to look at samples he picked up earlier in the day. Now listening to what Jake called him for. It wasn’t unusual to hear the radio every once in a while come to life. Wheter it be random static noises or Jake calling in to check up on everyone if he was too busy to stop by. And he usually was. What was unusual is for hi mto call upon them this late at night.

‘’wait Jake i couldn’t hear you, can you repeat that.”

‘’i said…..i said we didn’t find something we found someone. we found a dreamwalker, potentionally.’’

‘’wait, there is a avatar out there, are you sure?’’

‘’well i wasn’t the one that found it, or sa wit. One of the hunters did.’’

Jake had to start thinking of a plan, what if there really was an avatar walking in the forest right now. What do they do ? kill them on site?. There should be another way, he still needed answers. And now whether he had to or not the scientists would be involved.

Norm was silently having a whirlwind of thoughts running trough his brain.

‘’Norm you still with me’’ Jake asked

‘’sorry, yes i hear you, i was…thinking for a second’’

‘’Norm. Can you only inform max and whoever needs to know about this. I don’t wanna cause unnecessary panic if it is a false alarm. A hunting part is going to follow this ‘someone’ they found, i’m going with them. But i need a favor’’

‘’thats the first time you ever asked for a favor, but yeah how can i help?’’ Norm questioned, he had a theary what Jake was up to but he would let him do the talking for now. Still too preocupied with his thoughts to start arguing with someone’’

‘’if there is an dreamwalker alone, i need to get them to Hells gate. We can keep them there, we can’t let them know where the village is’’

‘’then why do you want them here ? they’ll know where we are, what the thinking ?’’ Norm said as he contignues

‘’I don’t think the’ll be much better of here’’

‘’no they are. We need to keep them isolated to confuse them, not knowing where they are is the best option to pin them down.’’ Jake trows back

‘’Well, you’ll need to get them to a holding cell further inside the buildings we don’t use. But how do you even wanna get them here.’’

‘’the hard way i figured’’

‘’Jake, don’t do something unnecessarily stupid’’

‘’Can’t promise anything at this point’’

‘’Okay i’ll inform Max and the others’’

‘’Thank you Norm’’

Jake then ended the radio call. He needed to get the other hunters ready to depart. They couldn’t wait another second.

-

i can’t see, i can’t hear. All i see is blackness. No colors or images and no dreams. The lack of sound was giving a tingling sensation in my head. Occasionally i could hear a peep on one side of my head and it fades few seconds after. I don’t know where i am, or what is going on.

I turn and turn in the hopes of seeing anythng in the distance but the blackness was messing with my sense of direction. A cold wind comes from behind me and my first instinct is to wrap my arms around me and sit down, curling myself up shielding my body from the cold. turning to look where the wind came from it starts to get warmer. when i face behind me a bright light blinds me from under me. glowing gold and orange like the sun and warming my body. As i try to open my eyes my sight is still completely blinded. It felt like i couldn’t choose between waking up or staying asleep.

I can faintly start to feel the sensations of my body again. A pressure or support under my knees and spine, my head falls back too tired to support my neck. As i faintly hear some voices around me all the sounds completely stop again giving back the tingling sensation in my head. And the loop starts all over again. Trying to see, hear and feel.

-

Tag list: @cleverzonkwombatsludge  @lovelyygirl8  @ambria  @lainekyuu  @meobvii

#avatar #avatar fanfiction #avatar (2009) #avatar (2022) #avatar james cameron #avatar the way of water #avatar twow #avatar x y/n #avatar x reader #atwow x reader #atwow #jake sully #neytiri #tuktuk #kiri #lo'ak #neteyam #na'vi x reader #na'vi #omaticaya clan #sully family #impulsive writing

[storyofmychoices]

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

[Bryce Lahela x Olivia Hadley Masterlist]

Pairing: Bryce Lahela x Olivia Hadley (F!OC) Book: Open Heart Word Count: ~950 Rating/Warning: General; all the pure fluff with these two

Synopsis: Bryce has a special surprise for Olivia to celebrate her birthday (March 9).

This precious birthday art is by the amazing and talented ArtbyAinna!

Colorful decorations hung on the walls of the pediatric lounge. A large Happy Birthday sign covered the window. Multicolored balloons bobbed around the room, bright and cheerful cards dangling from the ends of their long, shiny gold ribbon. The room hummed with hushed excitement as little faces hid behind whatever they could find to be out of sight of the doorway. 

"I'll be right back!" 

🎈 💝 🎈💝 🎈💝 🎈

Bryce wrapped his arms around Olivia as he found her filling out charts at the nurses' station. "Got a minute?"

She shook her head lightly. "Really? Right now?"

"I'll make it quick!" He whispered into her ear, his breath tickling her sensitive skin. He pressed his lips to her neck, leaving a lingering kiss.

She shivered beneath his touch, her head clouding, thoughts of the file in front of her fading. Her face flushed, matching her copper hair. "Okay."

He grabbed her hand, pulling her forward before she could change her mind.

"Bryce," she giggled in reply as he practically dragged them at a sprint pace. "What's gotten into you?"

"You said quick." He shrugged with a wink in her direction, pressing onward.

Olivia's focus shifted back behind her as they passed by the supply closet they were familiar with (for reasons) without ever slowing. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see." His words dripped with mystery, his smile covering his entire place. 

They turned the corner heading to the end of the pediatric floor that overlooked the front of the hospital. 

"Bryce will you tell me what's going on," she demanded as he guided her forward. 

"Here we are!" Bryce made a quick turn into the pediatric wing's lounge.

Her confusion faded to wonder. "What is all this?" She marveled, her bright eyes glistening, her hand still in Bryce's as he turned back toward her.

A loud chorus of "Surprise" and "Happy Birthday" sang around her cutting off Bryce's reply as children with smiling faces popped out and others rushed into the room.

Olivia didn't know where to turn first. The once quiet scene quickly erupted into pleas for her to read the cards, each child hoping theirs would be the first. They ushered her forward, leaving Bryce to watch as the children doted over her, helping her to the couch and placing a paper crown on her head. Hugs and laughter filled the space as Olivia's heart swelled with adoration and appreciation from all the special attention. 

As the wave of children began to thin, a soft tug pulled at the end of her sleeve. Olivia looked down, finding one of her young patients, curling her finger back toward herself, requesting Olivia to move closer. 

"Happy Birthday," she cheered, throwing her arms around Olivia's neck. 

"Thank you, Maddy." She hugged the girl back.

"Can I tell you a secret," she whispered.

"Of course, you can." Olivia turned her head to the side.

Maddy whispered in her ear, "I think Dr. Bryce like likes you. Not regular like, but the really like likes!"

"You think so?" She feigned shock.

Maddy nodded fervently. "He's looking at you right now!"

Olivia glanced up, trying to temper her growing smile as she met Bryce's warm, adoring gaze. 

"Don't look!" Maddy quickly warned, throwing her little hands in front of Olivia's face. "But did you see his smile?"

"I did!"

"He smiled A LOT when he was telling us about the party. He helped us with our cards, too." 

Olivia couldn't help but steal another glance at Bryce, who was helping a little boy with his juice box. 

"Dr. Olivia?" 

"Yes, Maddy?"

"Do you like like Dr. Bryce back?" Her green eyes shimmered with promise. 

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"Yes! I'm real good at secrets. I never told anyone that my daddy took me for ice cream before dinner, twice! So, I'm a good secret keeper."

Olivia chuckled at the girl's innocence; she leaned closer. "I do like like Dr. Bryce."

"Eeee!" The little girl bounced up and down in place effortlessly as if propelled by an invisible trampoline. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!" 

"Shh," Olivia attempted (and failed) to quiet her. "It's our secret, remember!"

"Oh yeah! Well, do you think you and Dr. Bryce will hold hands now? That's what people who like like each other do!" She nodded in agreement with her own words, her feet still bouncing as she danced in place. "Do you think—"

"Why don't we let Dr. Olivia get back to her party?" Maddy's mom swooped in to save Olivia from any more questions from her inquisitive daughter. "Sorry!"

"She's sweet. You know I love our Maddy girl!"

"Bye," Maddy waved before pointing to Bryce. "Go now!"

Olivia giggled, making her way to Bryce.

"What was that about?" His brow rose in question.

"A certain curious little girl seems to think that you might—" Olivia tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and batted her lashes shyly. "Well, she thought you might like like me and that maybe if you did, we should hold hands. What do you think about that?"

He laced his hand with hers, his thumb brushing over her knuckles in reply. 

"So it's true?" She challenged with wide eyes, nudging him playfully with her shoulder.

"It is. I do like like you, Dr. Olivia."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Maddy bouncing again and tugging on her mom's arm while pointing at the two of them. Olivia smiled, brushing a kiss on Bryce's cheek. "I like like you, too, Dr. Bryce." 

A mix of cheers and ooo's surrounded them. Some patients covered their eyes and pulled their faces.

"Thank you for everything."

Prompts: @choicesmonthlychallenge: love confession

A/N: Today is Olivia's birthday so I wanted to write something special for her. I hope you enjoy this silly little story with my two favorite rays of sunshine. I know it's not perfectly polished but if I wanted to post on her birthday, I needed to finish up, so here we are.

Thank you for the support and for making it this far. I am truly grateful to each and every one of you. Thank you for supporting my sunshine OTP.

#bryce lahela #bryce lahela x mc #bryce lahela x oc #bryce oph #open heart #open heart 2 #playchoices #choices #choices game #olivia hadley #bryce x olivia #brylivia #somc #lovealexhunt #open heart 3 #oph bryce #fan fiction #fan art #open heart fan art #my commission #brylivia commission #march2023 #fanfiction

[phyriaxi]

Another ask separate from my rq, are there any artists or other influences that have inspired your art that you'd like to share?

ohh boy, this is definitely a question I can ramble about (apologies in advance for the long text!!)

Short Answer (a list of lasting artistic influences):

Movies/animanga: How to Train Your Dragon, Avatar (not ATLA, sorry) , Evangelion, Pinch Point (by VLANCAT), Land of the Lustrous, Tower of God, CSM, Tokyo Ghoul, 86 EIGHTY-SIX

Games: Arknights, Cytus II (rip art team..), Honkai Impact 3rd, Destiny 2

artists/illustrators/animators: Shilin, Ishida Sui, yasutatsu, WOOMA, par0llel, suzumesakiii, Dino_illus, liduke, ligton1225, Curie Lu, 96yottea, many many others... I could write nearly every Arknights illustrator as well and still not be satisfied ..

Music: classical music, Ado, KIVA, Eve (the MVs..!), i think i need to stop listing things now because it'll never end

Long Answer (rambling):

when it comes to art, i am definitely inspired by other visual artists, but i am also very inspired by the world around me as well as creators of other types of media. i'm extremely lucky to have grown up in a lively, diverse city with a wonderfully creative family, so the art and music of my family and environment plays a large part in my artistic preferences!! Something I have really wanted to integrate more deeply into my art is the contrast between new and old, grungy and refined... it reflects a lot of the conflicts that make up what I consider to be "me." Also, I just really like the vibe of chaotic industrial zones and rusty metal combined with a shining city in the distance, lol.

Regarding particularly influential media: pretty much anyone who's taken a glance at my blog will know immediately that Arknights is one of my biggest influences. it's basically all i draw nowadays... whenever I'm not thinking about Responsibilities and Adult Life i'm usually thinking about either Arknights or Ado (<3).

before Arknights, I spent a long time drawing fanart and fan-characters inspired by How to Train Your Dragon. Both the visual and musical aspects of that series still have a very dear place in my heart, even if I don't engage much with the community anymore. I actually only really started drawing not-dragons about 3 or 4 years ago at this point. Something I have been thinking about a lot recently is how I can go back to drawing more creatures alongside my humanoid subjects, since it's not something I've done very much recently.

Gradually I began to find more friends in the art community, and I think I'm very influenced by those people as well! It isn't a competition, of course, but being around people who are also pushing to improve is a big motivator when I am feeling low on passion. "I want to stand together with them at the top of world one day", is how I often feel. I really want to work on a collaborative project with other artists someday as well. Trying to build my skill is partially because I want to better express my ideas, but also because I want to inspire and be inspired by other creators. :D I think my art has been evolving at a pretty good pace recently because of these motivators.. the friends and regulars (including you, burstfoot!!) that visit my blog regularly here really motivate me too!!

and lastly, I'm at a point in my life where I feel that if I can't get this art thing off the ground, I will probably have to give up on pursuing it properly soon... so it's partially desperation that is inspiring me to change and try new ways of expression as well :,]

[ thank you for the ask!! ]

#asks #not art #text #by the way #not directly relevant but there are about 15 requests in my inbox #feeling extremely motivated but also it might just take me a while to get to yours!! thank you for sending them !!

[lurkingteapot]

bad buddy fandom getting-to-know-you meme!

tagged by @mahuhumaling and @galauvant, meme created by @fiercynn

note: i consider "fanworks" to pretty much everything people create related to a fandom, including but not limited to meta/analysis/discussion, gifs, fanvids/edits/fancams, filk, fanart, fanfic, fan food, fan crafts, etc. please include this note with the meme unless you have a different definition!

name and whatever you want to share about yourself I'm tpt! 30s, queer, brainweird, language nerd, been reading BL and slash and other queer lit since before the turn of the millennium and probably (hopefully) never gonna stop.

when did you watch bad buddy/join the fandom? I watched the first episode the day after it aired. Went in knowing nothing about it except the English title, which I thought was thoroughly unappealing, and the promo image. Came out of ep 1 convinced Paa was the only person with any sense on the entire show, but sufficiently intrigued (ointment sharing! Line ID shenanigans!) to keep watching. So I watched as it aired from ep 2, and when the bus stop scene rolled around, I blocked the airing time slot out in my calendar so I could watch live (which didn't work out for ALL eps, but … close enough). I did find a regular group to squee with after ep 5, but didn't really interact with fandom beyond that little bit of squeeing with friends and looking at fan art until after ep 9, I think. This was the first Thai BL show I watched week to week, and that also made it special to me.

favorite ship(s) Pat/Pran.

favorite character(s) Used to be Pran no contest, but Pat worked his way into my heart in the later episodes. couldn't choose now. they're all favourites.

favorite episode(s) I really love episodes 3-5 and 10/11. but honestly I love the show as a whole, and the episodes in the context they exist in. Except for the gun subplot.

favorite scene(s)  the opening sequence of ep 2! also episode 3 bus stop scene (and Pat's way of accomodating Pran in it), ep 4 sleepover scene, ep 5 Pat's realisation/the fight, ep 6 gate convo scene, ep 8 fight/apology scene, ep 9 hand-holding scene, ep 10 Our Song teaser scene and confrontation scenes, ep 11 affirmation/we got to go back scene and wishful thinking sequence, ep 12 bar scene.

one thing you would change about the show if you could I'd adjust the pacing of ep 12 so the fake-out is a smaller part of the whole thing proportionally.

what are your some of your favorite fanworks made by other people? It's really hard to pick. I love SO MANY. Even just the authors whose fic I list here have written more than one of my faves each. but let's see:

fic (missing scene): keeps me warm by unsungyellowraincoat (@isaksbestpillow). direct ep 8 aftermath exploration that made me ache.

fic (canon divergence): fight or flight (worth the wait) by jabber_moose (@galauvant). Ep 2 canon divergence wherein Pran is discovered under Pat's bed.

fic (AU): Pinocchio by aworkingprinter (@miscellar). In which Pran has an obvious, unsuppressable tell when he lies.

fan animation: international love song by @architectxengineer

fan art: this pic by @ thatgothsamurai was one of the first things I saw in this fandom in the way of art and it's stuck with me

(if you create fanworks) what are your favorite fanworks that you’ve made?

fic: the only truth that sticks (<5k, G) is my take on Pran's mother's backstory, told as vignettes from her school years. There's a lot I'd do differently if I wrote it now – not give her a nickname, for one – but it's nevertheless my baby; when I started it, I hadn't finished and posted any fic in over 20 years.

I had a collection of random language- and storytelling related observations about the show on twitter that I should probably copy over somewhere else at some point for preservation purposes.

there's an epic canon divergence that lives only in my friend's and my DMs and a back-up doc that I'm starting to think will never take full shape, but I love it anyway. There's also an escalating intimacy thing set vaguely pre-canon plus ep 7 to time skip that I've not added to in a year and probably won't finish, either, but again: love what I've got there.

a song that makes you think of bbs (the ones in the show don’t count lol) If it's a bittersweet love song I'm PatPraning it. But specifically: Tilly Birds' เพื่อนเล่น ไม่เล่นเพื่อน (Just Being Friendly) and pretty much the entire tracklist from the ON Thailand fanmeet, especially แดงกับเขียว (Red and Green) by TaitosmitH, แน่ใจไหม (Are You Sure) by Nont Tanont, อย่าใกล้กันเลย (We shouldn't be close) in Aof Pongsak's version, and ดวงเดือน (Moon) by Joey Phuwasit.

idk anything else you want us to know? I love this show. I love the hopeful ending. I love all the recurring characters (yes, that includes Wai and the parents), with all their flaws. I love how gently P'Aof tells this story – the way he approaches entrenched BL clichés, picks them up, examines them, and puts them back down: does it have to go this way? not for us, not for this story, let's look at how else this could go. He said he wanted to make a typical, an ordinary BL, and he did, and he didn't.

I love that I met so many nice people through our mutual love of this show. I love that we're still on the rooftop nearly two years later.

I love that there's so many sides of this fandom – analytical, transformative, curative, and everything in between.

I have completely lost track of who has and hasn't done this yet, but IF you see this and think, hey, this seems fun! and decide to do it, please tag?

#bad buddy fandom meme #meme #get to know meme #my nonsense #bad buddy series

[intothemysticfic]

E.O.L: First Time Meeting (NCT 127)

Taeil: You inhale deeply, taking in the scent of coffee; it’s the only nice thing about working in a coffee shop. Well, that and how your boss lets you practice your latte art when it’s slow. And the handsome guy that comes in at least twice a week is pretty good too. There are a few nice things about working in a coffee shop. Though your latte art always worsens when the regular walks through the door. It’s hard to focus. He speaks to you, and you spill steamed milk on your hand.

“Are you alright,” he asks. You nod excessively out of embarrassment, realizing that you look like a bobblehead, making you feel hot all over. “That’s good. My name’s Taeil, by the way.”

You smile, happy to finally have a name for the handsome customer. “Would it be weird if I gave you my number?”

You have to bite your lip to keep the happy squeal of excitement inside. “Yes! I mean, no!” You have to force yourself to take a deep breath. “Yes, I’d like your number. It’s not weird at all,” you say, hoping your previous word vomit hasn’t made Taeil change his mind.

Johnny: “Oh geez,” is all you can get out when the ice causes your feet to slide from under you. There’s a startled laugh behind you at your slow-motion slide to the ground. “Sorry, let me help you.”

You take the hand offered to you quickly, wanting to get off the cold ground as soon as possible. But you’re falling again; this time, it has little to do with the ice and more with the tall stranger trying to help. People shouldn’t be allowed to be that attractive.

“Excuse me?”

You’d be worried you’d offended your savior, but the handsome stranger is smiling gleefully. “Just, um, yeah. You’re nice and like nice looking,” then, cringing at yourself, you add, “I’m sorry.”

The guy just laughs. “Don’t be. It’s cute,” he adds confidently, “You’re cute.” 

Taeyong: “That’s Ottis. He loves to cuddle.” The man startles a little, having been entranced by the orange tabby. “Would you like to hold him?” You offer, eager to find Ottis a home.

“Oh, I don’t know - I can’t really have a cat.”

“Oh,” that’s disappointing, “Well, you could still pet him.”

The man smiles. It’s such a beautiful sight. “I’d like that.”

You open Ottis’s cage with a smile, gathering the cat into your arms. The bundle of fur goes quickly snuggling close.

“He’s a little heavy,” you warn as you pass him off. The man takes the weight easily, the tabby instantly nuzzling close.

“He really is lovable, isn’t he?” There’s something about the beautiful stranger holding your favorite cat that is swoon-worthy. It’s no less swoon-worthy when the man comes back again and again. Each time you get another nugget of information. The man’s name is Taeyong. He travels too much for a cat. He likes going to art galleries. There’s a new one around the corner - would you like to go?

Yuta: “Come on, Don’t walk away.” You grit your teeth; every part of you tense as the man follows you. You want to turn around and curse him, but you’re terrified that it will only make it worse. Instead, you pick up your pace, hoping to get to the store on the corner before the man gets more aggressive. At least there, they’ll be a witness to the harassment.

“Hey, I’m talking to you.” The man tries to grab your arm, but you dodge him just in time, slipping from his grip.

“Fuck off,” you spit, sprinting toward the shop now. In your haste, you knock into the person leaving the store as the man following you hisses.

“Stupid bitch.” Reaching for you again. He doesn’t touch you this time because the man you’d bumped into has a grip on the assailant’s wrist. “Don’t touch her.”

The man following you grumbles but backs down at the stern look on the other man’s face. You both wait until the asshole retreats so far that he’s out of sight.

“Thank you.” You’re surprised by how your voice shakes.

“Let me buy you some water.” You want to argue, but the door to the store is already closing. You lean against the building, willing your heart to stop beating so fast. The stranger returns, offering a bottle of water, and you take it gratefully.

Doyoung: You tsk when a box tumbles from the stack in your arms. “You should be more careful. Maybe carry fewer boxes.” Someone warns while picking up the dropped prop.

“But then I’d have to make twice as many trips,” you counter lightly. “Just put it on top, please.”

Instead, more boxes are removed from your arms. “You’re creating a hazard,” the man states, “I’ll carry some.”

You only laugh, finally getting a good look at the guy with half the boxes gone. You’re mildly surprised to find the artist, Doyoung, that is involved in the photoshoot today. “Well,” you shrug, “If you don’t mind.”

You lead the way to the area you’re currently staging. “Thank you,” you offer before he heads off toward the make-up station.

Later, when you’re up on a ladder stretching out to hang lights, someone comes up to hold the ladder. You glance down to find judgmental eyes trained on you. You laugh, asking, “Am I creating a hazard again?”

“You could fall.” And maybe that’s not judgment but concern.

Once the lights are hung, and you’re on solid ground, you turn toward him. “You’re awfully cute when you’re worried.” His mouth pops open, and you grin, pleased to find that he wears surprise just as well.  

Jaehyun: The dog’s leash is loose in your hand as you type in your door’s passcode. Your good girl sits obediently at your feet. Until she isn’t, the leash rips from your slack grip too quickly for you to stop it. You don’t have to guess where she’s off to, but you still yell after her, trying to bring her to heel.

Across the street, your neighbor has just opened his door to leave. You will never understand your dog’s obsession with running into your neighbor’s house. The embarrassment is compounded by the fact that your neighbor was apparently sculpted by the gods. You have half the mind to just enter your apartment and abandon your dog to her new obsession.

You can hear your neighbor laughing behind you, and well, at least he always takes your dog’s antics with good humor. Mustering up your courage, you turn to face the glorious man that is Jaehyun and hopefully retrieve the traitor that is your dog. 

Jungwoo: “Is it too late for me to change my mind?” Your friend laughs across from you while you wait for her boyfriend and the mystery guy they’ve decided to set you up with.

“Honestly, I don’t think I’m cut out for dating,” you ramble, trying to convince her that you still have time to run. “This will be a disaster, just like the last guy.”

She reaches across the table to still your jittery hands. “Jungwoo is nothing like that asshole. You’ll see, he’s a really great guy.” You sigh, sinking into your seat.

“Besides,” she continues,” do you really think I would set you up with someone awful.”

You say nothing because you know she wouldn’t. She’s got great taste in men, unlike yourself. Her boyfriend is proof of that. “Here they come!” You turn to see, curiosity getting the best of you. And oh, oh,  running is certainly out of the question.

Mark: Maybe the pity party wasn’t such a good idea, you admit to yourself as you struggle to keep your footing. Someone is steadying you with a hand on your shoulder. You curse yourself for putting yourself in such a vulnerable position - there’s no way you could defend yourself in the state that you’re in.

You try to focus on the words the man is saying, but it’s hard. You register him chuckling, and you pout childishly. He mumbles softly, “Cute.”

It makes you glare. Cute is the reason for pity parties because your ex hadn’t liked cute; he’d wanted sexy.

“Let me call you a cab.”

You whine because you don’t have the money for a cab, and you’re pretty sure you left your card at the bar.

“That’s okay,” he says. You shrug, watching cars drive by. His hand is a steadying force on your arm, keeping you from swaying. He keeps talking beside you, his name is Mark, but the words are hard to follow. Sometimes you try to keep a conversation going anyway. If nothing else, he seems amused by your effort. Soon he is helping you into a cab, placing his hand on the edge of the car, so you don’t bump your head. 

Haechan: The beer you are drinking is bitter in your mouth, but you don’t mind because the table is surrounded by people, some you know personally, some that are friends of friends. There is abundant laughter, funny stories to be exchanged, and just an all-around good time to be had - it’s hard to be anything except joyous. Your eyes keep catching on the dude across from you who is all smiles and quick wit. He’s a friend of a friend that you’ve met maybe once before, but you find yourself drawn to him. He calls you out for staring, and you scoff, asking why you would be looking at him. It leads to a long night of teasing and banter.

#nct 127 #nct fanfic #nct series #nct scenarios #nct reactions

[thewildestofeyes]

So Deviant Art deleted my most popular tickle story. Becuase of that, and I want to be able to easily share it with others, I've decided to post it here.

The Lee Wash

There sits a car wash located off the highway. To many it appears a regular establishment. Built long ago, providing any car a service to  remove that which stains it. On its roof sits a large sign with 3 foot tall blue letters simply reading "Car Wash" placed next to a couple with large and happy smiles on their faces. Their eyes seemingly watch you as you approach. You look at them and their unblinking eyes, and feel a brief sense of trepidation. They know why you are here. And they are excited. Maybe you should turn around, you think to yourself under the sightless gaze of the couple. No.. no time for doubt now. You've come this far already.

Walking inside you are greeted by the same man whose visage covers part of the sign outside. He sits at a desk in the back corner of the room. Dressed in a polo and khaki pants, he greets you with an unnaturally large smile shared with his plastered persona. "Welcome to our car wash!" He speaks in a friendly tone. "How can we help you today? We specialize in all kinds of car cleaning methods and are happy to serve you. Our washes last forever!" His eyes stare into your own, and you swear he has yet to blink.

"I.." you take a moment to avert your gaze from the man. "I'm here for one of your... special services." Looking up you see that the man's face has not changed."Oh? What service are you interested in then? We have interior options, cleaning and painting, deep polishing..."

"The lee treatment.." You interrupt the man midsentence, and you swear that for but a moment his grin becomes even larger. In a much more toned down voice the man turns to you and speaks "oh. Well in that case, right this way." He walks to a door on the other side of the room, opens it up, and gestures for you to walk inside.

Going through the door you find yourself in a long hallway. The man doesn't say a word, walking with a brisk pace down the hall. This hallway gives you a moment to think. What are you even doing here? Was this really worth it? What happens if this is just a hoax? Before you have a chance to get lost in your own thoughts, the man stops at a door. He opens it for you and once again stares into you. "Just go right through here and speak to my wife. Tell her what you told me, and she will take care of everything. We hope you enjoy your service today".

The door closes behind you ask you walk in. You are surprised to see a similiar looking room to the one you were in before, with the only difference being the woman sitting at the corner desk. Her smile and piercing gaze matches her husbands, and her voice has the same friendly tone as she addresses you. "Why hello there! How may I help you today?"

"I... I want the lee treatement" you say in an apprehensive tone. You're starting to get rather worred about this situation. Something feels wrong, and you're almost about to turn back before you hear the woman's voice. "Wonderful to hear! You certainly won't be disappointed. We pride ourselves on providing the best services possible. Afterall, our washes last forever!" Her voice changes slightly, less energetic and more calming. "Now, how are you feeling? Are you ready to begin?"

As soon as these words reach your ears, your brain calms down. Something in her voice replaces all the fear and concern you were just struggling with not but seconds ago. You begin to feel safe here, ready for the exact services that you came here for in the first place. This woman knows what she is doing. It is a business after all.

After taking a deep breath you look at the woman, her gaze seemingly never leaving your own. You nod your head and give a grin of your own. "Ready!" The woman laughs, it's a beautiful sound. "Lovely, follow me then!" She takes your hand and leads you out into the hallway and into a room across the hall.

The room is narrow, and dimly lit. The only thing within your vision is a single trolley with a large metallic pole standing in its center and a block infront of the pole. The woman walks to one of the nearby walls, and you hear her voice "You will be getting the full treatment. This includes rinsing, deep cleaning, polishing and painting! Sound good?" You nod, "yeah" you mumble, lost in your own thoughts about just how good this sounded. You have no idea what these words mean, but your imagination runs wild with the possibilities.

You hear the woman laugh and suddenly snap back to reality. When you come to you see her standing infront of you holding some rope. "Now, in order for you to begin, you'll need to take off all those clothes and stand on that block." You follow her orders to a tee, immediately stripping down and standing infront of the pole. The trolley wiggles slightly as you step on it, but not enough for you to lose your balance. You hear the woman's voice behind you. "Now lean back onto the pole and lift your hands into the air." You once again follow her instruction. The pole is cold against your bare back, but you don't let that sway you. Suddenly you feel rope wrap around your wrists, tightly holding you against the bar. You feel the block under your feet get kicked away, leaving you dangling slighly in the air. The woman's hands grab your ankles, quickly tying your feet around the bar. Wiggling reveals that you are snugly secured to the bar, and chances to escape are minimal.

The woman's voice rings out from behind you. "Now, keep your arms and feet inside the vehicle at all times.." she chuckled at this. "Don't worry about breaking the rope, it's quite sturdy. Simply relax and enjoy the ride."

With this, the trolley suddenly begins to move at a brisk speed, catching you off guard with just how quickly you are speeding down the hallway. The hall infront of you is dimly lit, with lights on the floor illuminating your path. Two minutes pass, your anticipation increases with each second. Suddenly the trolley slows down, and you can see the faint outline of an metal bar arching over the track. As you cross through this entrance, you feel a misty liquid spray all over you. This must be the rinse you think to yourself, and to your surprise, it feels quite nice, almost reminding you of a warm shower.

After the 30 seconds of spray, your body is sufficiently moist. You quickly begin to notice however, an unexpected tingling sensation upon your skin. Soon, the trolly speeds up, and you are surprised to find that the feeling of the air against your skin causes you to giggle. Your skin has become far more sensitive than you're used to. You immediately begin to worry about what was in that liquid, but as soon as the worry enters your mind, so to does the woman's voice "relax.... enjoy the ride". You hear her giggle, and like that, your mind rids itself of panic, and excitement for the rest of the experience settles in. You let your self loose and giggle loudly as the wind lightly tickles your now highly sensitive flesh.

About 30 seconds pass, made longer given your added sensitivity. The trolley arrives to what you assume to be the second station, which you recall as "deep cleaning". Your movement stops as from the corners of your eye you notice movement in the dim light. Out from the shadows appear 8 different metalic hands, each gripping a different sized scrubbing brush. You feel your addreneline begin to rise as the hands approach you. 4 on each side, the brushes become recognizable as they enter the light; a mix between thick hairbrushes, and electric toothbrushes. You have but a second to brace yourself for the assault before the brushes begin their purpose.

In a moment your mind goes from clear to manic.  Two of the electric toothbrushes whirl to life and take refuge deep into your underarms, slowly spiraling around your pits before moving to your neck, chest and ribs. Two brushes begin scrubbing side to side around your mid region, cycling back and forth between your sides, tummy, hips and butt. The four other brushes attack your feet, with the hairbrushes deeply scrubbing your soles as the toothbrushes ensure your toes are given proper attention. On a normal day, such a brutal tickling would be enough to drive you into a laughing fit, but this was no ordinary day, and thanks to the rinsing you had gone though, your hightened sensitivity multiplies these sensations by tenfold. The bristles and vibrations against your skin are maddening, with the only reprieve being the occasional sensations of pleasure while the toothbrushes near your chest focus on your sensitive nipples. This of course does not save you from the onslaught everywhere else on your body, and while the occasional moan does let itself loose, your laughter quickly becomes a constant for as long as the hands work their tasks.

After 15 minutes, the brushes stop and the hands return to their original positions. Your laughter slows as you take in deep breaths of air. Your body is sore from laughing, and while still tingly, is much more sore than it has ever been. Your skin feels raw due to the ferocity of each brush. Your nipples are hard, and your mind is close to mush. The only coherent thought that comes to mind is how much more am I to endure?  Not two seconds after this thought, the trolley begins once again.

You quickly stop at a stage similiar to the rinsing station. Another liquid sprays out towards you, and suddenly the pain causing your body to scream out dulls and quietly subdues. Additionally, you notice the minty smell of whatever liquid this is, and as you breathe in the odor, your mind suddenly refreshes. In a moment, you go from worrying about surviving to looking forward to the next phase of your ... purchase? You realize you hadn't yet paid for this experience, but you suppose you will just pay at the end. As you consider this, you notice  the trolley moving ahead to what you can only guess to be the polishing station.

Even in dim light, the polishing station is not difficult to identify; a long makeshift hallway of large spinners covered top to bottom with feathers varying in size and softness. You stare with a look of shock, horror and anticipation as the trolley emotionlessly continues to move you forwards towards what you can only assume to be your tickly demise. The whirl of the rollers becomes louder with each second, you fathom you don't have but 5 seconds left as you instictively struggle against your restraints. 4... 3... 2...1

Your laughter once again fills the hallway as your begin to drown in this manmade ocean of feathers. You feel them against every inch of your body, spinning with absolutely no remorse for the sensations they are putting you through. You'll admit that feathers were often hit or miss with you in the past, but something about this situation breaks you to your very core. It could be your hypersensitive skin, or it could be just the variety of feathers teasing every speck of skin you have at varying rates of speed depending on the roller. Regardless of the reason, polishing breaks you, even more so than the deep cleaning. While your laughter had previously been interrupted with moans, here they are only replaced with screams as the feathers dance around your body, teasing your flesh with their sheer numbers.

You are unsure just how many pairs of rollers you go through. You try to count at the start, but you lose count after 6 as your mind crumbles away. Each roller has a different speed and feather cluster pattern, ensuring that no place is tickled the same way for very long and preventing any chance of desensitivity. You laugh and scream and occasionally gasp for air as you get lost in the ocean of feathers you find yourself in, the sensation bringing you to madness.

After what feels like an eternity, you feel the air once more as the trolley moves you out of the last pair of rollers. Your lungs scream for air as you repeatedly stammer between your gasps "no more... please no more... i can't...." But once again you hear the woman's voice in your head. Don't worry sweetie. You're almost done! The worst is over. Just a quick paint job and you're ready! Without the brain power to wven question what you'll be ready for, you just focus on getting as much air back as possible, not noticing the next stop on the track. You don't even see the arms move towards you with paint brushes in their metal claws. You do feel the bristles against your skin as they begin to paint all over you.

Paint brushes of all shapes and sizes swarm over you. Due to your physical and mental state, only silent laughter leaves your lips as you begin to be painted in different shades of purples, blues and greens across your entire body. Small brushes work on your toes, navel, face and armpits, while larger brushes focus on everywhere else. It doesn't last very long at all, but given your current condition, it doesn't take very much to overload your already broken mentality.

The brushes retreat as the trolley moves once again. You notice a light at the end of the hallway. The end..you think to yourself. I'm done. You close your eyes, excitedly feeling the light shine on your face as the outdoor air cools your skin. Wait... outside air? Your eyes shoot open, and dread fills your heart. You are outside of what looks like a car retail store, but there are no cars here. There are only people, both male and female, tied to similar trolleys and painted in a variety of colors. Walking around and observing these captives are other humanoids, each wearing the same abnormal grin as the man and the woman who you spoke to before. You feel the trolley move you next to a young woman, probably in her late 20's to early 30's. She looks at you with a sad and knowing glance before giggling as a grinning woman gently tickles her ribs before doing the same to you, shaking her head, and moving on to on a young man in his mid 20's. The man laughs, and the creature takes his trolley, and rolls him inside a large building labeled "Leigh and Lea's Lee Dealership" with the same faces from the car wash plastered to the front.  You hear his laughter all the way to the building.

You realize now why you never had to pay for your experience. Your payment is not money. Your payment is your freedom. As you look around at all the others tied in this lot, you know what is coming for all of you. You think about the young man. He asked for the same experience you did. Everyone here had... Unfortunately, this experience doesn't end.

This lee wash lasts forever.

#tickle story #tickle tease #you tickled #my story

[splashink-games]

A Note On... Ann Ultra and the Cyber Neko+ Statues

ANNO: Mutationem is an action platformer by ThinkingStars! Explore a cyberpunk world while fighting the baddies in your way!

This game was a much-needed change from the games I've been recently playing (which were a bunch of management and strategy games). I needed a little action in my life, so to say.

I played the demo of this game way back when, during a Steam Next Fest. And I don't often play demos, but if I remember correctly, a friend had recommended it to me. It was immediately interesting with the style the dev team was going for—half side-scrolling, half 3D exploration.

The art is actually one of the best points of the game because of its unique 2D-3D thing. The cyberpunk world is really cool, especially with the bright lights in the city areas contrasting the derelict combat areas. The character design is awesome. Main/Named characters feel unique and recognizable. Plus all the shiny specials effects!

And everywhere feels rather "lived in", in that nowhere in the game does it feel they added a space without worldbuilding. It shows through the art as well as the documents and posters spread across the maps.

Speaking of documents, the narrative for this game is fairly straightforward. Very mcguffin-chasing, though it allows us to meet a variety of characters before delving into the hidden plotline that we get glimpses of throughout the game. Solid pacing and storytelling!

I also really like the supporting cast. Well, Ayane. Her banter and relationship with Ann very much fills the void in between main story points. It also helps that I found her love for her best friend (that goes as far as calling Ann, "darling") endearing.

Mechanics-wise, I really liked the upgrade systems in this game. The traditional "get skill points when defeating enemies to unlock stuff in your skill tree" is something I missed for a while. It also didn't give me enough to unlock the entire tree, which is surprising, but doesn't hurt the gameplay in any way.

I will say that the melee weapons are a bit unbalanced. Once you get the dual swords (fast weapon with a little less damage), the regular sword is pretty useless (it's slower, with middling damage) because it doesn't have enough upside. And then the two-handed sword is always good/useful because of its armour-breaking.

The ranged weapon, on the other hand, felt very extra because of the melee-focused, low item-usage way I played. Ended up with over 70 magazines of ammo for the small gun despite using it more often than the others. Plus, you don't unlock the last ranged weapon until way near the end. Ultimately, I probably would've had an easier time if I'd used them instead of hitting and running with melee.

Also super surprised that they added input combos for certain abilities in the game. Like left, left, X performed a lunging attack. Didn't expect it, but glad to have some variation in combat that would otherwise end up being button mashing (not that I dislike that sometimes).

Platforming in this game is smooth and you get new movement abilities at a good pace. There's no need to backtrack in this game, which is nice.

ANNO: Mutationem is an awesome platformer that combines 3D exploration with sidescrolling combat!

As always,

Enjoy gaming!

#ink reviews #game review #video games #gaming #a note on... #ANNO: Mutationem #there was a funny bug I encountered while 100%-ing the game where one of the Cyber Nekos respawned #and I had to scour every location again to find which one spawned