#it's a recurring thing with every little game he introduces

[sprucewoodmpreg]

im not even grianpilled but i have to admit i fuck w his thang of making games with rules that are clearly Meant To Be Broken in pursuit of narrative. or content. life series where the most interesting story beats tend to come from players being hyperaware of the rules + how they try to bend them. and now this permit stuff where the previously (mostly) straightforward shopping district has turned into Ok How Can We Cheat The System

#it's like. uninteresting systems given interest through rules that are supposed to be questioned or broken #it's a recurring thing with every little game he introduces #though i supposed this could be said for like. most games n rulesets. the rules create tension Which Is The Point #but with how often grian is the instigator of this shit. and considering the whole Youtuber/Content thing. it's a bit funny

[the-phantom-author]

Hasan Piker | Stream Appearance headcanons

I'm in so much pain rn it's not even funny, imma take some pain killer and sleep. Reblogs always welcomed. Request are open!

Partner streams with Hasan are very chaotic in general. However nothing would truely match the partner reveal twitch stream I imagine the stream would have “Secret special guest” or something in the title. I would start out as a normal stream, personal life, politics, and so on until it's about 2-3pm. The entire time He’d be staying that there is someone coming later, and they need to be on their best behavior . When talking about his personal life at the start of the stream he’d mention that his partner is staying over and swiftly moving on, not an uncommon thing for him to do, so nothing was really thought of.

When you show up, he introduces you by saying “Chat, introducing to you, for the first time on any platform, my partner.” Queue chat losing their collective mind, and starting to ask any and all questions they can think of. He’s incredibly watchful of chat during this time, and instantly banning anyone who sends a chat saying or implying something rude about you. This is also followed by the obligatory Joe Rogan video that he makes girls watch when they first appear on stream.

After the reveal stream I can imagine you becoming a recurring person, mostly tiny cameos. Like, every so often your hand will pop into frame to hand him something, water or food. It always causes him to stop what he’s in the middle of doing at that moment and thank you, he could be knee deep in a 10 minute stun lock and just have to hand him a water bottle and he’ll come to a full stop until you leave the room at which point he’ll pick his little rant back up.

I can also see stream bits that include you. Painting streams (more on that later), movie reviews, true crime, and other react andy things are not uncommon things for you to be on stream for. For example he would let you just rant about any movie you’ve watched, recently or not, for like thirty minutes. Like, yes girl, explain Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue to chat, they’ll love it.

Or he’ll get you to watch older reality TV shows, and videos that pertain to your interest. You know these J-Aubery mini-docs that he’ll watch, he’ll also get you to watch them. Anytime something comes up that you don’t understand, he’ll make sure to pause it so he can explain it to you until you do. If you are watching something and he doesn’t get it but you do, he does expect you to explain it. Sometimes he’ll have you explain things to him on stream just because he likes to show off how smart you are to chat.

Sometimes when you go to give Kaya some pats, you hover in the background. Mainly when you're interested in what he is watching/doing or when you’re trying to figure out just what he’s going off about, I can only imagine how confusing it must be to walk into the middle of him being stunlocked by some chatter.

He will absolutely make fun of how short you are, no matter your actual height, because man is built like a brick house and everyone is smaller than him.

I almost forgot about IRL streams. Please find a way to go on any and all IRL streams with him. Especially if it’s some kind of shopping stream. Take every chance you can to fix his fashion sense, it’ll never take but you should still try.

He’d also take you to Shitcamp and the Streamer Awards. I know they are not his live streams but he likes you being there. You’re not really a contestant or anything, but you take part in certain games and activities. Chat loves seeing you in the background, not really participating but still being iconic.

#hasanabi x reader #hasan x reader #hasanabi #hasan piker x reader #hasan piker #hasan

[mountingpulisic]

DECODE

a/n : i just want to thank that anon that gave me feedback on my writings, it was greatly appreciated and i hope this makes up for all the cliff hangers :). the song is decode by sabrina carpenter

you're good at the falling, not the staying there

you're good at the giving too much then getting scared

you're good at impersonating someone who cares

and you had me for a minute there

mason’s behavior perplexed you nonetheless. one minute, he made you feel as if he was ready for a relationship. inviting you to his games, gifting you his famous number nineteen jersey to wear and introducing you to his teammates on the pitch. 

the other fifty nine minutes, he ignored your existence and acted as if you weren’t there. after it happened a second time, you confided in your friend about it. expressing your frustrations about how hot and cold the footballer was towards you, giving you mixed signals constantly but expecting for you to drop whatever you were doing at the dime of a hat when he finally called after being awal for weeks. you felt foolish that you would fall for it time and time again. 

but now I wonder why

I let your confusion keep me up at night

i'm so tired

re-read every single undertone and I

another sleepless night was upon you as you tossed and turned in your bed. mason had rung you before you laid your head down, saying he missed hearing your voice and to give him a callback when you received the voicemail. any other time, this usually had you going weak in the knees but not tonight. you started to fluster on why he was constantly toying with your heart, you were so tired of this recurring cycle.  

overanalyzed it, front, back, and beside it

where else can we go?

there's nothing left here to decode

done lookin' for signs in the gaps and the silence

it's just getting old

there's nothing left here to decode

Mm-mm-mm

“ i don’t see why you just don’t block him, y/n. mason is obviously showing you all the signs that he genuinely doesn’t care about you. stop trying to decode every little thing he does and ditch the lad.” y/bf/n ranted angrily on the phone, tired of you always ringing her to bitch about mason’s odd behavior. you knew she had a fair point; however, you couldn’t simply just brush off the chelsea player. having mistakenly fallen for the charming brunette despite his odd behavior.

“ you know what they say, the best way to get over somebody is to get under somebody.”

there's a weight off my shoulders now that I don't chase you

being myself, did that emasculate you?

learning from you that I can walk away, too

and you had me for a minute, too

y/bf/n had invited you out with some of her co-workers to indulge in the london nightlife, at first you didn’t want to go. work was keeping you exhausted, your brother was crashing on your couch and don’t even get you started on the million unread messages from mason. In a strange way you felt at peace not overanalyzing his behavior, or trying to diagnose what mood he was in when he had sent you a rather short text. feeling as if a weight had been lifted of your shoulder for finally realizing that mason was only playing games with your heart, you had agreed to y/bf/n invitation to join.

and that’s how you found yourself face to face with the one person you were successfully avoiding.

mason

“why are you avoiding me, love?” he asked.

he had successfully cornered you when you excused yourself from your group of friends to use the restroom. trapping you in the stall, not caring how it looked to bystanders. aroused by the sudden close proximity of your bodies, you gently pushed him back to create a distance.  

“I asked you a question, y/n.” 

“I’m not avoiding you mason, i’m just no longer chasing you. you had me going mad when one second you were telling me about how you’d talk to your mum about me, then the next i see you out on social media with another’s girl tongue down your throat.” you felt yourself getting teary eyed as you finally expressed your emotions out loud to him. 

mason surveyed your expression, trying to pick up on any sign that you were just pulling his leg, that you actually weren’t being serious.

“love, i didn-” 

“no, i'm going to stop you right there. you don’t owe me any type of explanation because you and i,” gesturing between the small gap you created between the two of you “we aren’t together, and i finally have come to the conclusion you are not in the position to be a boyfriend right now. so i’m doing us both a favor by walking away.” 

with that you pushed past him out of the stall, leaving mason there flabbergasted at your actions.

mason knew dragging you along was wrong, but he was only doing it because he was scared. scared of trusting his heart, falling headfirst into love but fearing that no one would be there to catch him. he knew deep down you were nothing like that, when he first met you, you’d actually haven't even given him the time of day. Too busy worrying if your to-go order was going to be ready in time because you didn’t want to be late to your lecture. 

mason was the one doing the chasing then, following you out of the cafe and begging for your number. you had given it to him after he followed alongside you towards your university, talking your ear off and listing multiple reasons why exactly you should give him your number. irritated, you finally folded, writing it down on a piece of paper and shoving it into his chest.

mason had called the number on the paper as soon as you started to walk off, causing you to laugh loudly from his actions of making sure it wasn’t a fake. 

now he had demolished what you two were slowly building up, and he couldn’t help but to kick himself and feel emasculated. 

There's nothing left here to decode

Mm-mm-mm

There's nothing left here to decode

Mm-mm-mm 

maneuvering your way through the crowded club, you wanted nothing more than to go home and wallow in self-pity. mason consuming your thoughts as you pushed past the sweaty club goers, a few more steps and you would’ve successfully made it out of the club if someone didn’t grab your wrist and jerk you back. 

turning around ready to bite the head off of the person who had the nerve to forcefully grab you, you fell silent when you noticed it was mason. 

“Im scared, y/n.” mason confessed loudly to you, dropping your wrist and moving closer to you so you could hear him properly. “ i’m scared that after i let you into my world, you are going to regret giving the stupid footballer a chance. that you’ll end up hating me for being away so much, that you’ll hate me for all the online hate you are bound to get, i don’t want you to hate me.” 

In your mind you sarcastically repiled, too late for that, but chose to keep silent when you noticed the few tears that had made an appearance in the brunette’s eyes. 

“ i know you properly already do hate me but please give me another chance to prove to you that you could be happy, that you could be happy with me.” the words he spoke sounded inviting, despite all the bullshit he put you through.

time passed slowly in mason's mind as he saw the wheels in your head slowly turn at his monologue, silently praying that you wouldn’t just walk away and forget his existence. 

“one chance.” you said, holding up your index finger. “you ruin that, there won't be anymore, mount.” 

mason doesn't give a verbal response as he pulls you into him and gives you a passionate kiss. lips crashing into each other, he pulls you even closer when he feels you melt into it, your hands finding home on the back of his neck. 

"you won't regret it, love. now come on, let's get out of here."

#mason mount #mason mount fanfic #mason mount x y/n #mason mount x reader #mason mount imagine #Spotify

[lovelyhan]

hiii kai! for your ask game if you'd like to do (you know the member)

woozi + let's fall in love for the night by finneas

(perfectly okay if you don't write it lol 🤍)

anything for you freya beloved <33

⟣ let's fall in love for the night ⟢ wc: 0.9k words warnings: alcohol, one-sided pining, angst minors do not interact!

from this ask game~

for the sake of propriety, jihoon stands by the fact that he honestly didn't know.

before his best friend's girlfriend, jihoon knew you as a fellow producer he met during a conference he couldn't be bothered to attend if it weren't for the looming penalties. but boring details aside, at least he got to meet you.

jihoon grew up with nothing but praises being sung about his work since he'd picked up producing in his teens. he's used to hearing endless compliments about his music and none else.

so when you waltzed into his studio on a random tuesday just to tell him, "the percussions are off-beat. you could try a 4/4 tempo to match the melody instead," jihoon is rightfully mortified. because not only did you critique his work to his face, but the changes you suggested were the exact same things he's been considering over the course of his producing.

there's nothing else that pisses him off more than being told what to do with his own craft. but for some reason, when you're doing all the dictating, he doesn't really mind.

his tolerance turned into acquaintanceship, which eventually furthered into friendship. jihoon doesn't have a lot of people he can call friends, but if he finds it so easy to agree whenever you invite him out for drinks after a long day, he supposes he could spare you the title.

he doesn't know when the lines started to blur; when his feelings suddenly became indecipherable even to himself. jihoon has penned countless songs where he poured his heart into every word, but he can't even give a name to the warmth that settles in his chest every time you sit a bit too close to him in the studio.

it's a recurring problem he's been forcing down every time it threatened to reveal itself. you're his co-worker, for god's sake.

another reason why he shouldn't even think about vying for your affections comes in the form of kwon soonyoung—one of his closest friends from childhood.

one phone call saying that he's in town and wants to introduce you to his girlfriend is the reality check that jihoon direly needed, it seems. because when he walks into the sports bar that soonyoung set as tonight's rendezvous, he sees you wrapped around his best friend's arm like it's always been home.

you've been seeing each other for about six months now— even longer than jihoon as known you for.

part of him sulks because neither of you bothered to tell him. but then he remembers that soonyoung has been travelling across europe for a better part of the year, and you and jihoon aren't exactly close enough for you to tell him about your superstar boyfriend.

the night ends swiftly with little lapses in conversation. after all, it's soonyoung's god-given talent to ease everyone into having a good time.

the dregs of jealousy flicker like embers in jihoon's heart no matter how many times he attempts to go about the situation logically. so, despite having a few beers too many, he buys two bottles of soju before heading to the company for some late-night producing.

when he's halfway through the second bottle and is just about to call it quits, you descend upon him like an angel of death.

you take your usual seat beside him in front of his desk—on that spare swiveling seat that he definitely didn't buy because of how much you frequent his studio. for someone who was definitely more plastered than he was when you parted ways earlier, you're looking more sober than he is.

hell, you're already making straightforward comments about his newest mix—something that jihoon can't be bothered to take seriously because he's suffering through an oncoming headache and he can't stop staring at your pretty pink lips.

with little regard for the consequences, jihoon finally closes the distance he's been so careful to maintain between the two of you, lips melding together like he's always dreamed. the small sounds that escape you are muffled by his lips as he gives you kisses that only soonyoung has the right to give you.

but when you moan his name into his mouth—sighing so prettily for him, he can't be bothered to give a fuck about the fact that you're his best friend's girl.

he takes you on the same desk he swore to never use for anything else but work; his movements pointed and precise despite his state of inebriation. jihoon growls as your fingernails leave crescent moon indents on his back—panting and crying for him to give you more, more, more.

but no matter how blissed out he is, something's not quite right about how you feel around his throbbing length. he just can't put his finger on it. jihoon, of course, doesn't bother with the details. not when he finally has you wet and wanting for him.

not when you're openly proving that you want him just as badly as he wants you.

however, as he rasps out the words, "you're mine," right after spilling himself deep inside, he finally realizes what was amiss all this time.

when he wrenches his eyes open, he's painfully aware of the sticky and uncomfortable sensation in his sweats. the program on his computer screen stares back at him, as well as the soju bottles he hasn't even finished before dozing off.

there's no sign of you anywhere inside—nor is there any evidence that you were even here to begin with.

all that accompanies him on that lonely night in the studio is the shame that makes a home out of his chest and the fact that he should know better than to call you his.

except he doesn't.

notes: that song was so painful to listen to, but it's so good!! i think i've heard it a few times in passing though i just found out the title when you sent this in 😭 so really, thank you for that, and for giving me a chance to write jihoon for the first time!!! i hope you liked it <3

#seventeen smut #jihoon smut #woozi smut #jihoon angst #woozi angst #🎲 ask games #💭 request #📝 drabble #💘 freya #lovelyhan

[hopemariposa]

My Thoughts (That You Didn’t Ask For) Upon Watching Bluey

art creds: Pinterest @kawo2206

god bless *blows kiss* <3

I hate Muffin. I hate Muffin with everything in me. She is the bane of my existence. I have never wished such violence upon a toddler.

The use of the term “tactical wee” has become part of my everyday vernacular. i have to tactical wee before my classes. I must tactical wee on road trips. I tell my mother to tactical wee. Bingo’s off-handed line has overtaken my life.

I have cried far too often during these episodes. Sometimes it isn’t even during a particularly emotional scene. Sometimes I just…. Cry

in the episode “tickle crab” (S2:E1). legitimately laughed more than I do during quote-on-quote “comedy movies”

the recurring joke names used during play scenes makes me point and gawk at the screen the way that MLP FIM expected me to every time they introduced a new allicorn

It has healed parts of me that I did not know needed to be healed. I have an undiagnosed something and have needed therapy since the seventh grade. But that is unrelated, I am sure.

now I give you this rigorous list of my favorite episodes:

S1:E7 “BBQ”— it humors me.

S1:E11 “Bike”— also the first episode I cried during

S1:E17 “Calypso”— scratches an itch in my brain, bonus points because it’s wholesome

S1:E37 “The Adventure”— the perfect depiction of a child’s overactive imagination (it’s me, I’m child)

S1:E43 “Camping”— iconic episode, is the reason I got interested in Bluey, no matter what the ending will make me cry

S2:E3 “Dance Mode”— just…. such a good lesson for little kids to learn and… oopsie I’m crying again

S2:E13 “Army”— wholesome as heck. so so wholesome. also I love Rusty and Jack.

S2:E18 “Escape”— just a fun episode

S2:E20 “Queens”— Bandit in this episode??? funniest thing ever.

S2:E35 “The Quiet Game”— I love Alfie. loved him from the moment I saw him. he must be cherished. awkward little cinnamon roll 🥺

please send me Alfie fanart. please.

finally, I leave you with this:

#the first time I watched Bluey was at my cousins #spring break left me bored #I turned to Bluey ig #Hope rambles sometimes oops #Bluey #bluey cartoon #bluey heeler #bluey show #bluey fandom

[pantmonger]

Cadia Stands and Cadian Honor. A double feature! Mainly because I really didn't like the first one and I don't like to rag on authors, so thankfully the second was infinity better.

My thoughts, beware spoilers: Usual Caveat: These “reviews” are just a collection of my thoughts as a fan of the game and setting. They are in no way an analysis of the literary merits of the author or the quality of the writing. Both of which I do not have the knowledge or skill to judge.

Cadia Stands

I'll be brief. I'm sure there is an audience for this book, just as I am sure I am not it.

A dry rendition of the overall fall of Cadia. A few characters are introduced who will end up being fleshed out more in later books, but who get limited screen time and little development here. For the most part the story is told as a loose collection of action vignettes.Kind of like when I was a kid and I use to edit the combat scenes from Bab 5 into a single long combat video that I thought was the best thing ever! Just not my thing now. I found it a bit of a slog.

Still there were some moments of reflective commentary that worked for me.

'“They're just dreams” Rath says again. He does not sound like he belives it himself. She looks away, and her eyes fall on the misshapen form of Hallr. She looks away again and thinks, Look what the Imperium has done to all of us'

I wondered if this was what the writer was asked to deliver, and not necessarily indicative of their usual style, so I read the 2 short stories in the Minka Lesk Omnibus, the first of which had hints of a similar style as Cadia Stands, but started to lean out of it. The second become more my speed with it being focused on individuals, their development and emotions and not jumping around so much.

Cadian Honour

I enjoyed this book a good deal more. At its heart is the story of an imperial planet, an uprising in the name of the emperor to overthrow the corrupt leadership of the imperium, and the Cadians stationed there as the shit hits the fan.

It grants an interesting look at the weird religious variants that shelter under the belief in the Emperor as a god. How every historical local genocidal zealot, is viewed as a saint, and worship of them as valid as worshipping the Emp.

How the loose form of this faith, shaped by local preachers and planetary customs makes people gullible and capable of horrific crimes (as long as doing so can be ideologically beaten into being in His name... there's that satirical commentary)

Once again this is a story of the imperium creating its own problems, being so fundamentally broken in its religious fanaticism that a confessor who has *stitched his eyes open* and is killing folks at random because he can *tell* they are heretics, , is not seen as a bloodshot red flag, but a sign of true faith in the Emperor. (You will never guess who he's been duped into actually working for :P)

This sets the stage for Sargent Lesk and a couple of other recurring characters to get the bulk of the screen time, and give me that drama and character development I so crave with my dystopian war stories. Though a weird stand out for me is just how much the Cadians are filled with no true ScotsCadien rhetoric. Cadia stands, but was an epic failure resulting in the loss of the world Cadia. Cadians are amazing soldiers, you know except for the ones being skeevy at their fem comrades, who don't want to take orders from women, are dealing drugs, deliberately disobeying simple orders to show up to parades and drills. Cept for them... Cadians the pride of the astra militarum :P As usual I'll conclude with the Imperium being aware that its broken, with some thoughts from a Cadian General. 'Bendikt cursed to himself. He had seen enough of the galaxy to know that it was the ponderous weight of the Administratum that held the imperium back, not its soldiers. But worse then that it was the corrupt aristocracy like the Richstars that fermented unrest and heresy'

#Warhammer Community #black library #Book thoughts

[maygrcnt]

((this is not directed at you specifically))

i’m finding it a little frustrating when people say that the “only logical reason” for Tommy to be back is to be a love interest. People say “why would he stick around for multiple episodes if he’s not a love interest” but that were the case, surely every recurring character who only pops up every now and then is a love interest? Oh wait, they’re not

this series is clearly going to be a bit fanservicey as it’s on a new network and introducing new people to the show and its characters and history. Tim has openly said that he will be bringing back multiple old faces (people have taken this to mean permanently, when it’s likely just guest star/cameo as a throwback for the OG fans) and Tommy is randomly one of them. Surely that “logic” of why he’s back suggests these multiple old faces will ALL be coming back as love interests then? No, they will not, so why are people so convinced Tommy will be?

realistically, all we know so far is that Tommy is back in the cruise episodes as part of air support, and he appears in the basketball scene. For all we know, that is just part of a random montage or part of a firefighters basketball game or something. There is literally zero proof or suggestion yet that he will be romantically involved with anyone OR around long term and yet people jump on your neck if you tell them that

if i’m wrong then okay and i will gladly admit it lol, but i feel like i’m being gaslight or something when people say it’s the ONLY possible reason he could be back. Like that’s literally not true? He’s in the cruise episodes to help them. As of right now, he’s confirmed to be in one (1) scene after that where he could just… be there? Literally just a character in the scene?

“wouldn’t be around that long if they’re just friends” why not??

tbh thank you for this, especially that last sentence. because truly: why not!

tommy is someone who is already friends with two of the 118 so why can’t he be friends with more of them? like there’s actually no reason he HAS to be back for romantic reasons, there’s no reason why he even MIGHT.

i do rly think this whole thing was a crack ship post that breached containment tbh

#911 abc #ask box always open

[litcityblues]

The West Wing Re-Watch, Seasons 1 & 2

You couldn't possibly reboot The West Wing today. I know there's been chatter about it now and again and they did that dramatic presentation of an episode ("Hartsfield's Landing" from Season 3) a couple of years back to benefit 'When We All Vote' featuring the original cast and key recurring cast from the episode in their original roles. (With Sterling K. Brown stepping in for the deceased John Spencer to play Leo McGarry.)

But you couldn't possibly reboot it today. It would be dismissed as cringe centrist fanfiction almost immediately. The past is another country and The West Wing proves it conclusively. You watch the show and it's like staring back into an America that doesn't exist anymore. The politics seem positively quaint compared with today's noxious environment.

*deep sigh*

All that being said, as we all sit here, on our little rock, falling through the Universe, I'm left with the inescapable conclusion that our festering, fetid Culture War is a cul-de-sac we're all trapped in together. Both sides seem to want to keep us on the never-ending hamster wheel of outrage and ideology and it's mentally exhausting. Various horrible bills are currently working their way through our state legislature in Des Moines. I've written on vouchers, but there are parents that seem convinced now that if schools don't teach social and emotional learning, they won't discover their sexual identities. There are parents that think if kids don't hear the word 'transgender' they won't be transgender. (Whether or not these parents allow their children cell phones with access to the internet is a question nobody wants to ask because guess what? If they have the phones with the TikToks and the Snapchats and the social media, they're going to be finding out about all the shit you hate... on their own. So, game over either way.)

Our current time of nonsense is exhausting and even if The West Wing represents a politics and an America that no longer exists, it sure is nice to remember when it wasn't a toxic waste dump, so there's some nice escapism you can wallow in if that's your thing.

*ok, tangent over.*

The First Season of The West Wing is... well, you can tell it's a first season. Sorkin is, of course, infamous for using the same phrases over and over again and I'm pretty sure parts of 'A Proportional Response' show up in 'The American President' and of course, every show he's ever done has the inevitable first season finale of 'What Kind Of Day Has It Been' (and I don't know why, either. If there's an explanation for that, I've never seen it.)

But, mixed in with the inevitable 'finding of the sea legs' that every show seems to go through, you've got some really excellent episodes that peek through. 'The State Dinner' introduces Abbey Bartlett (Stockard Channing), 'Take This Sabbath Day' is a really excellent look at the politics of the death penalty (another issue that's just a non-issue in today's political discourse, but very much a cogent issue in the 90s.)

I know everyone likes to cite 'Let Bartlet Be Bartlet' for this season and it's a good episode, a nice hinge episode that sets up the last few episodes leading up to the season finale, but the one that really stands out to me is 'Six Meetings Before Lunch.'

In general, it's not a particularly memorable episode, but one subplot between Josh (Bradley Whitford) and a nominee for the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, Jeff Breckenridge (Carl Lumbly) stands out because there's a bit of a kerfuffle about Jeff because he commented on a dust cover for a book advocating reparations for slavery. This episode aired in the year 2000. And I don't know if people would call it a comprehensive discussion of reparations, but it seems like a pretty balanced one to me- well ahead of its time.

The West Wing has a few moments like that- in general, it's fairly straightforward 90s liberalism, heavily influenced by the late 60s progressivism (obviously, because people in the 90s couldn't shut about the 60s). But on occasion, some prescience peeks out.

Mandy (Moira Kelly) departs the scene after the first season and I always thought it was a shame they never managed to bring her back in some capacity- and whether that was because of hard feelings or just general luck I don't know. But to be fair to her, it seemed like Mandy was a character they didn't really know what to do with, so if the break-up was mutual, I think it made a lot of sense.

The second season is probably one of my favorites. (In fact, you could sell me on Seasons 2-4 as being The West Wing at the peak of its Sorkin-powers quite easily.) The season picks up in the aftermath of the shooting in Rosslyn and the fallout that followed. The introduction of Ainsley Hayes (Emily Proctor) as a Republican Lawyer hired as Associate White House Counsel early on in the season features one of the best encapsulations of the gun control debate that I have ever seen and one that still holds up today and explains why we can't get anywhere on that issue. (The workplace harassment subplot seems very jarring back then, but the tribalistic behavior the two disgruntled staffers display fits the politics of today lamentably well.)

'Shibboleth' is a standout episode in the early going- but really, it's 'Noel' that just about steals the whole season in many respects. But there are so many great episodes to choose from in this season! 'Ellie', 'Somebody's Going To Emergency, Somebody's Going To Jail' (which features a nicely Sorkin-esque critique of performative leftism that holds up today.) 'The Stackhouse Filibuster' is undoubtedly still used in high school government classes to teach about the concept of a filibuster even though the actual filibuster hasn't worked like that for years now.

The slide down to the season finale is just a run of episodes that do not miss. The last six episodes are building towards something and with the season finale of 'Two Cathedrals', the payoff is sublime. It's perfect. Even now over two decades later, I defy anyone to find me a show outside of like 'The Wire' that has had a seven-episode run leading into a season finale like The West Wing does here.

You can love Sorkin or you can hate Sorkin but right here, the man was at the height of his powers in a way that I don't think I saw again until possibly The Social Network or Molly's Game.

Even after all these years, 'Two Cathedrals' still SLAPS. Just fucking perfect. Fight me in the comments if you disagree.

Apparently, this is the year when I rewatch old shows, so welcome? Come along for the ride?

#the west wing #rewatch #season 1 #season 2

[theadventurerslog]

The Curse of Monkey Island | Part 7

In which I work on getting the engagment band part of the ring. My first goal was getting into the Goodsoup Family crypt so I had to find a way to die! But before I killed Guybrush there was one little aside to make. There's an ad for grog near the hallway that goes upstairs.

Thank you to @azurefishnets for putting this sign together!

The grog ad gets more added every time you exit the room and come back in for a total of six versions. By the end, if you examine it, Guybrush will comment that he's been trying to figure out what's odd about it and that it's the way her eyes seem to follow him. Yeah, buddy, that's the weird thing here.

Fun details!

Now for that whole dying thing. I had the Head-B-Clear and the note from the recipe book that combining with alcohol will cause many extremes of drowsiness. Of course the Head-B-Clear had to be opened. "Darn child-proof caps. I can't open it."

Thankfully, I had that chisel now and chisels solve everything like getting child-proof caps off. I ordered another drink and put some of the hangover cure in.

Guybrush chimes in with the requisite warning, "It just occurred to me that mixing medicine and alcohol is a really stupid and possibly lethal thing to do." It's a good thing he's a "loveably inept cartoon character with the potential for a few more sequels..." (three sequels so far!)

But he's fine...

Nothing wrong here.

The scene clears up and we get the gravedigger chatting and tell a joke with Griswold while Guybrush lies there.

"I wanted to be a pallbearer, but I couldn't stop coffin!' hahaha.

He points out Guybrush and Griswold just says he's been like that for around an hour now. "Passed out cold." while the gravedigger is pretty sure he's dead.

"Funny, I didn't think you could die in LucasArts adventure games."

And then you end up in a crypt.

The End. Certainly a different direction they chose for the game.

And I scored 0 out of 800 points. Here I thought I knew this game so well, shame.

It occurs to me now that I've played King's Quest, that while I always thought it was just a general reference to games with points, that it's probably actually a direct reference to Sierra games.

Guybrush is not dead, however, and the rolling credits skitter back away after he protests. However, he was stuck in a coffin down in the corner. Handy chisel time again.

Out Guybrush popped alive and well, but there was a strange knocking sound... and he goes into a tangent about how it much come the dead, that dead that surround him, and they must know his horrible secret, before remembering he doesn't have a horrible secret.

Then it was back to business as usual.

I could scoop the nails from the coffin he was in. There was a skeleton arm but he already has a nice one; Murray does have a nice arm, a nice pasty arm. There was a giant spider web that upon examining makes him wonder where the spider that wove it went...

But most importantly was the knocking. It was coming from the central coffin so it was time for the chisel yet again. To reveal...

None other than...

Stan S. Stanman!

Now this may or may not mean anything, but Stan is a recurring character throughout the series, introduced in the first game. It certainly didn't mean anything to me the first time. He was locked in a coffin due to, er, circumstances that were totally not Guybrush's doing--they 100% were but puzzles gotta puzzle right?--in the second game. He is the one thing I regret in playing Curse before any of the others because actually having this in order would have been fun. As was I don't particularly remember thinking much about it--just one more silly thing in this silly game, but learning the background in MI2 was great.

Anyway, he was not mad about the whole locking him in a coffin thing because it comfy, lots of leg room and all that, and it gave him to think, to think about the things that really matter. Basically, as is the Stan way, his whole spiel is a sale pitch for his new endeavour: selling life insurance! The previous funeral service stuff didn't exactly work out, nor the used ship selling before that.

He gave me his business card--don't worry about the technicalities of getting those printed--and shooed me out so he could get set up. The door was locked but this was "one of Stan's Kozy Krypts, all equipped with a patented Secure-Lok Release Mechanism." I just had to jiggle the handle on the door and I was good to go.

Now, I wasn't ready to leave entirely because there was that spider business. This is another easter egg. If you enter repeatedly--I don't know how many times--you get a little scene of a woman trapped in the webs and a giant spider coming down and dragging her off.

This is a reference to The Dig, another of their games, but not one I've played. Not yet anyway, but clearly I have some grim things waiting for me if I do? I think the number of times you enter might be a bit random, but don't quote me on that.

Anyway, it was good to see Stan, but that whole 'dying' thing didn't get me into the Goodsoup Family Crypt, now did it? So it was back to the Hotel to complain/boast about coming back from the dead.

No one was interested in the dead but alive again thing... No one was interested in what happens after death... boring lot.

And as for not being put in the crypt, that was of course due to not being a member of the family, so upon learning that, the dialogue option to ask Griswold if he recognizes you and try to pretend you are a Goodsoup opens up. There are some choices for a name:

Hearty Beef N. Potato Vegetable Split Pea with Ham Won-Ton

I went with Hearty Beef N. Potato this time. That's not enough to convince Griswold though. Guybrush doesn't look like a Goodsoup--more like a Brothschild; they were always weak-featured. He wanders the hall of portraits every day and none of them remind him of Guybrush. Guybrush also doesn't know enough about the family history.

This is another spot where Mega Monkey difficulty differs. In the easier mode you only have to prove knowledge of the family history.

Thankfully both tasks can be handled right now in the hotel. So the hall of portraits is upstairs. There was the portrait of C. Lambert Goodsoup which looks a lot like Griswold when you examine it.

My first step was to go inside the room and use the mallet on the big nail. The portrait fell off in the hall, so it was back out to look at it and take the picture from the frame. Then Guybrush removed the incriminating evidence with his wand.

Then he turned to the camera all deadpan, saying, "What?".

It did leave the nail behind which I grabbed.

So I had the portrait and a porthole on the door. I remember being excited for this new puzzle when I first played this mode and being proud I figured it out. Anyway, portrait, porthole window. Cut the portrait with the scissors to remove the face. Then place the outline over the door, enter the room and look through the porthole for your own DIY cutout.

Totally realistic. Stunningly Goodsoupian. Griswold came up, rambled a bit about the good wealthy stock of his family before staring at "C. Lambert" here. He didn't remember him looking quite so... common.

But, mission accomplished on that front. When you talk to him again, he does realize that Guybrush bears a slight resemblance to his great-grandfather C. Lambert Goodsoup, or "old Clammy" according to Guybrush.

There was just the history part left. But before I did that I wanted to 'die' again because you get different comments.

Griswold thinks you're just faking it. The gravedigger thinks it's for real this time. Griswold comments that "He's an awfully fragile little guy, isn't he?"

And you get dumped into the crypt again, but this time Stan was all set up.

He was ready to start selling life insurance which would provide a whole lot of money to the bearer of the policy, and I was ready to get some what with all this dying. You need to provide some collateral and you can try a bunch of different inventory items to get a few different denials. However, the gold tooth does work. So I got my insurance policy and hey, Guybrush 'died', so give me that whole lot of money.

Unfortunately, proof is needed of this miracle of dying and getting better.

It was time to go back to the hotel to finish proving Guybrush as a member of the Goodsoup family.

Stan decorated the exterior too. Really got his business going here: Mutual of Stan.

There was still the locked room upstairs but now equipped with Stan's business card I could employ the old pick-the-lock with a card trick.

Inside is a small room and a murphy bed against the wall. I pulled down the bed but it needed to be held down or it would spring back up.

You need all the nails from the coffin and the nail that had been holding the portrait up to hold the bed down. And then a skeleton was revealed, so that explains all that crashing and the guest that never left that Griswold spoke of...

You know, I believe this was my first introduction to murphy beds and this whole bit has since given me a bit of a very silly distrust of them ever since. When we were looking at houses when we last had to move, there was a room with one and I had immediate distaste for it.

The mains points of interest, aside from Mr. Skeleton here ("Wow. I bet his room charges are pretty hefty by now" - Guybrush), were the boarded-up hole the bed was crashing into and the book the skeleton was reading. Can't do much about the window (yet), but the book is all about the Goodsoup family history--exactly what I needed. Oh yeah, there's another porcelain vase if you want to torture Guybrush some more too.

With the book I was able to talk to Griswold and answer his questions about the Goodsoup family history, including correcting Griswold on such facts as when the VanSalads were really driven out of the Caribbean.

And that's that; Guybrush, er, sorry Hearty Beef N. Potato was clearly a long-lost member of the Goodsoup Family and would earn all the benefits such as instant prestige and discounts in the Goodsoup Hotel franchise among other things, and of course, will have the honour of being interred in the Goodsoup Family Crypt in the event of his death.

So, before it was time to 'die' again, I broke my attempt at sticking to one task at a time, and while I was here went for the mirror. I didn't need the mirror yet, but I would.

You can just grab the mirror but when you try to leave Griswold catches you--another difference in Mega Monkey from normal where normal just lets you leave, much like the gold tooth but this is a bit less involved. Griswold glances at the space where the mirror was first, so that's a hint.

I still had Clambert's face cut out from the portrait earlier, so with some paste I was able to put that in the mirror's place and problem solved and Griswold just saw himself. Griswold thinks he's getting old... and maybe doesn't look in the mirror enough, or is still a bit hungover.

With that it was time to drink again.

Griswold: "Oh, dear! He's had a sudden and completely unexpected relapse of death!"

Poor "young Hearty Beef N. Potato..."

And Guybrush is dead and entombed once again, but in a new tomb this time... How will he get out of this one?

#monkey island #the curse of monkey island #CMI #CMI_Log #adventure games #LucasArts

[hdawg1995]

so i've had this recurring dream 3 times now so i guess its time to share.

I keep having this dream where Square Enixe (spelt like that) introduces a new QoL feature where you can bring one of the scions with out on adventures sorta like the Chocobo. They make comments but are functionally just themselves from the Trust function.

Anyway me being me I have Thancred tag along for a while but then he can't leave? he himself doesn't know why he can't leave and is stuck traveling with me.

the first dream its alright cause i go into a 4 man with 5 people and Thancred is a gunbreaker so theres 2 tanks. its great. someone makes a comment about not reporting the bug and Thancred is like "I wouldn't mind get out every now and then but if i can't leave the party what happens when you log out?" which freaks us out cause Thancred you're a video game character why are you reacting in real time??? he doesn't know. its weird. Since i'm a little worried about him I log out in the inn thinking if he is like in a instance nothing will happen to him. i wake up.

second time i have the dream all that happens and i log back in. Thancred is gone but his character model is in Ul'dah so i go grab him and he remembers everything, tells me when i logged out the system fixed itself and he left the party but he didn't go back to his spawn point so he went exploring. he comes with me to the gold saucer and to do some side quests. I guess i was new game plusing this cause I reexperienced the fisher quest line but Thancred was there and now hes in cut scenes. he has a lot to say. I wake up.

third dream Thancred asks how i slept and is being very cheeky about the fact that this is a reacuring dream and i've been having a hard time staying asleep. i woke up like 3 or 4 times last night and the dream just sorta paused. he wondered if he was the only one glitched like this so i checked the forum and nope! all the scions are glitched! a FC friend gets Y'shtola and we go into a dungeon together and its a 4 man that now has 6 people (two tanks, two healers, two DPS) and Y'shtola is very disapointed no one is reporting the glitch because she knows she isn't programmed this way. Thancred thinks its a nice change of pace and my FC friend is worried what will happen if they were become self aware enough to alter their own code to which Y'sthola just goes quiet, stops moving, and we think maybe shes lagging but no she just changed her class and is now a death knight. Thancred says I should probably wake up before things get ugly and I do.

#ramble #dream #final fantasy xiv #final fantasy 14 #ff14 #thancred #thancred waters #its normal for me to have recurring dreams but they normally recure like once a year #not every few days #they also don't happen more than five times #so knowing my track record i'll probably get another dream eventually #and will update then.

[adultswim2021]

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! #1: “Dads” | February 11, 2007 - 11:45PM | S01E01

February 11th 2007 was a momentous day for Adult Swim. The block had been stacked with premieres towards the end of 2006, putting out obscene amounts of material every Sunday Night. The premieres petered out, then Super Bowl Sunday rolled around and then they really Petered out with a Family Guy marathon (LOL! Great job.). February 11th marked not just a return to premieres, but also the debut of LIVE-ACTION programming. This was the first-ever live-action show to appear on the block.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a huge Tim & Eric fan, and I’ve revisited Awesome Show more than most shows on the block. The main thing I remember about the show is that it was very strong in season one, and became a little more hit-and-miss after that. I think that’s because Tim & Eric realized they had a chance to crank out a lot of material in a short amount of time, and decided to take that chance, which meant that they treated those subsequent seasons less preciously than they did the first. I respect them, and I respect this decision.

Awesome Show was basically the show Tim & Eric should’ve been allowed to make all along. Before Tom Goes to the Mayor, they’d made a lot of short comedy videos. They’d made two “Tom Goes to the Mayor” shorts and it was the closest thing to animation that they had to their name, so that’s what wound up getting pitched to the network. Before Tom Goes to the Mayor they produced a 30 minute sketch comedy pilot (sold on DVD-R from their website TimAndEric.com; I think the show might’ve been titled TimAndEric.com, but it’s not on IMDB so IDK). During Tom Goes to the Mayor they produced a video podcast, but more on that later.

I just remember being so hyped for this show, and excited for live-action on Adult Swim in general. It seemed like if any network was going to take a chance on good sketch comedy again it would be them. And they did! LOOK! We’re covering the first episode of it now! Okay here are the sketches:

The opening sketch is, uh, a weird little stock image slideshow with Eric speaking in subtitled German and announcing an instructional video called “How to Make Love Without Touching”, interrupted by a big scream from their mascot “Chippy”, a hirsute baby whose main purpose is to spook the audience. It’s weirdly unremarkable, and I actually forget about it being the very first sketch every time I watch this. (NOTE TO SELF: A list ranking every first sketch of every sketch comedy show. Good idea?)

The show settles into a formula almost right away. A recurring “hosting” sketch, that’s usually fairly simple. In this episode, Tim gets a gift basket from his dad but it’s actually addressed to Eric. This one simply begins and ends the show. The second part of this sketch is at the end of the episode. 

Hacky Sack Extreme is the first “real” sketch, and is presented in a couple parts. This is the first part, where we get cool intro screens introducing C-Boy and Leif. Tim is dressed like a corny cowpoke while Eric is all about the ganja (costing him his first round of hacky sacking). The humor is mostly in how stupid everything looks. The hacky sack is very obviously added in post. The blustery announcer gives seemingly arbitrary points to each contestant while announcing their silly-sounding moves. It will vaguely remind you of either a video game, a bad reality show, and a live-action cartoon all at once.

The first Steve Brule sketch occurs on the Married News segment, which was itself a carryover from Tom Goes to the Mayor. I remember Brule was definitely considered a highlight at the time, and it’s no wonder they spun this guy off into its own thing. Who knew that John C. Reilly would be so goddamned down? According to the commentary, they asked him to be in the show and he basically came up with this character himself, and showed up with cheap glasses and his hair teased out. He called himself Brule because that was the word he and his friends used for how your stomach felt when you drink so much you start getting the shits.

I remember thinking this sketch was a mixed bag. The technical difficulties are portrayed a little too cutesy for my taste, and the weird mugging the news team does just comes off as desperate to me. I could be alone in this, but I think most Married News sketches would highly benefit from them taking it down a notch. I don’t think the characters are bad, I just think they go a little too broad with them sometimes. 

Next up is Casey and His Brother, performing a fun song about going into space. This is a nice one. Like the Married News, I also feel like Tim & Eric have a penchant for going too broad with these guys, and I think my favorite version of this might be the Right Way to Rock promo they did for Tom Goes to the Mayor. Casey’s condition is a little more advanced here. Still, this is one of the stronger Casey Awesome Show bits. 

This is followed by Hacky Sack Extreme. Look, I get it’s a comedy sketch, but it does bother me that they CARB UP after C-Boy’s round, giving Leif the edge. When Leif wins it should be no surprise. The show was against C-Boy. C-Boy is only capable of taking it out on himself, with a great ending bit where he looks forlorn at the beach. He really is a cousin of Tom Peters. 

Then there’s a short Brule’s Rules, where he just tells you to stop and roll if you catch on fire. That’s actually pretty useful, thanks. 

The Old Waiting Room sketch was created because they originally had a cartoon starring Gibbons and Friendy, which was mentioned on the DVD commentary for Tom Goes to the Mayor as a potential spin-off. Well, it didn't’ even sustain an entire sketch, as it turns out. This bit is briefly seen on a TV screen in, I believe, the very next episode. I seem to remember viewing the entire sketch at one point but I don’t think it’s on the season one DVD, unless I missed it. I could have. 

Anyway, this sketch is just Tim & Eric horsing around senselessly at 3 in the morning, filmed in the halls of Abso Lutely studios. It was created specifically to fill the void that Gibbons and Friendy left behind. It’s a genuinely dumb bit, but it does capture the freewheeling giddiness that makes Tim & Eric so goddamn charming. It seems to have given birth to the “Great Job” bit, where a particularly stupid moment in the show gets freeze-framed, turns black & white, and the words “great job” are drawn in the corner, with Bob dryly saying “great job” in voice over. 

B’Owl was a sketch originally written by Doug Lussenhopp, but it had a completely different premise. The only thing Tim & Eric liked about the sketch was the term “B’Owl”, so they turned it into a toy commercial instead. What follows are some cheeky jokes where two little girls announce things like “My B’Owl is so pretty”. I’m not sure if my brain was more poisoned then or now, but the fact that they were dragged by PizzaGate believers for stuff like this is difficult to push away. For the record: I do not think Tim & Eric meant anything other than to be amusing with this sketch, and it’s a goddamn shame that they attracted this kind of attention for it. 

B’Owl is funny, and has a lot of great Tim & Eric touches, like the weird shot of B’Owl being “for boys”, which includes this weak-chinned boy hanging out by a brick wall while a police siren flashes over him. He’s dressed like a tough guy, and gives this big stupid smile to the camera. The end of the sketch has Bob giving a huge list of things you can do with B’Owl, the last of which is “throwing away”, demonstrated on camera with a smug nod. This part of the sketch was a bob contribution, and seems like it might have been birthed in the recording studio. It’s hilarious.

The last notable sketch is a prank phone call, which Tim & Eric did more of on their website back in the day. It’s one of the things that seems to have gone by the wayside with them, and who could blame them? Prank phone calls are a young man’s game, unless you’re Longmont Potion Castle (the king of them all, and still going strong), and even he had a brief moment where he saw fit to throw in the towel, probably for the same reason.

The prank doesn’t really seem to deceive anyone, it’s just a very dumb premise being explained to a man on the phone who seems to be humoring Tim. Tim wants to paint “Happy Birthday Spray, I’m disappointed in you” in honey on his wall so that bees will swarm it, spelling the phrase out in bees, to teach his son a lesson (for getting bad grades). This has a great moment when Tim tells the man on the phone that his son’s full name is “Spraynard Kruger” and it cuts to the stock photo man frowning. 

The last bit of the show is Tim trying to prove once and for all that his father is actually proud of him, by bringing him on. Eric sees through the ruse immediately and calls him out for bringing on an imposter. This imposter is Richard Dunn, a maladroit elderly actor who clumsily recites his lines in a beautifully hilarious way. He was first glimpsed in the promos for the show, where they feed him his line, and he goes up on it, just muttering the words “Great Job”. 

Speaking of the promos, I remember the first “sneak peek” for this show was comprised of the first Hacky Sack Extreme segment, followed by “B’Owl”, so when that first Hacky Sack Extreme sketch ends I still anticipate B’Owl to come right after it. I’m not like, pissed off about it, or anything, I just thought it was an exceptional trailer and made me even more excited for this show. It truly was a great job.

EPHEMERA CORNER

Tim and Eric: The Podcast (2006)

I can’t remember if I “missed” this when it came to writing EPHEMERA CORNER, or if I decided against including it as ephemera. I think that non Adult-Swim-produced Tim & Eric stuff is a slippery slope. I think I’m also pained by the fact that at one point I had a pretty respectable archive of old Tim & Eric vids that I painstakingly tried to put in chronological order. Like a lot of obsessive projects that I felt weren’t complete enough to share (or was simply too embarrassed to show how much time I waste on stuff like this), they wound up getting swallowed by a dying computer. They might actually still exist on a hard drive that might still work, but I’ve yet to get my shit together to the extent that I would know for sure. Sad!

Tim and Eric: The Podcast was actually a fairly significant step towards Awesome Show. It was basically like a cheaper version of Awesome Show. I don’t remember if it was compiled from older stuff; I could have sworn Billy Williams was a standalone video from before Tom Goes to the Mayor even. They are worth a watch if you haven’t seen them. I am (thanks to my wife who actually bought it back then and decided was too big for her) the proud owner of a Billy Williams T-shirt. It still gets worn.

MAIL BAG

You forgot Boat Show!

I DID NOT! For some reason, that post was flagged for being too “adult”. I’ve contested it and hopefully it becomes more visible, because I read the guidelines for what constitutes an “adult” post and I don’t think my write-up actually qualifies. But we’ll see, I guess.

#adult swim #adultswim2021 #tim and eric awesome show great job

[drzootsuit]

Couldn't help but notice the Porate still doesn't have a Mod Eater counterpart

Does it help you at all to know that Canon Pirate apparently sees the Angler as an apprentice of sorts for pirate hood?

Or that one of his possible names is James T. Beard, referencing Kirk from Star Trek?

The pirate has been driving me crazy, and I'm going to use this as an opportunity to wax about it!

The Hyperlight Alice was concocted because I wanted the characters to have a home base that could move from place to place, going to different mod worlds so that I could possibly explain all of the crazy stuff in mods as all being in one setting. The original idea behind making it a cruise ship was the thought that perhaps certain mod NPC's could even come with, becoming recurring cast members.

That idea probably won't happen, A. because there are a lot of modded NPC's, and B. because there are a ton of base-game Terraria NPC's!

Seriously, I hadn't processed how many there were until I started designing them all! There's almost thirty! And trying to make all of them characters is tough.

The Pirate has been kicking my ass, because at every step, I keep asking what his point is. My first thought was to have him be a space-pirate who, when defeated, books his ghostly ass a room on the alice in order to play trickster mentor and drink all the booze.

Sounds good! I even started sketching a sexy ganondorf looking guy in a pirate hat!

But wait: a sexy older guy with ghost powers who acts jolly but has a tempered darkness he uses to guide the heroes in his own weird way?

Oops! that's literally just the way I already wrote the clothier!

Once I realized that, things spun out of control. Making him a cunning bastard in general started to feel off, because there are so many cunning bastards on the ship. Captain velacruz, the party girl, the clothier, the dye trader, the merchant, and truffle cover most of that spectrum.

And most of their potential bones, I feel like I've used. The Merchant being the angler's uncle. The party girl being a master manipulator. the clothier's ghost curse. All the bits that would have made up the pirate got divided up and split across the cast.

Other ideas have flown furiously in my head. Maybe he's a retired naval officer instead of a pirate. Maybe he's a mashup of beetlejuice and Ramsey from epithet erased. Spooky did a fantastic design where the pirate is a beachside amusement fortune teller that Vix broke, who's ghost is now haunting her... but even though he did such a great job with the design (I should see if I can find it and post it) it still struck me with "what potential story can I weave with this? How does it help things?"

Other ideas have occurred as well, and they've been getting very esoteric: making the pirate the face of the haunting that pervades the Alice. Making them a mysterious wanted space pirate that I can introduce when the story actually requires them. Making them a deliberate imposter from outside the story who has put on a pirate hat in order to steal their spot.

Making the mod eater versions of the NPC's has been a blast, but in doing so, I've learned a little bit about asking yourself what role a character fills in your story. And I do think I can beat this. the tavernkeep also stumped me in the same way until I found a story role I liked: put-upon neurotic normal, and now she adds a good dimension of emotion that was missing before.

So I'm sure the pirate has a niche. I just haven't figured out what it is yet. Who knows? Maybe it will end up being that invader from outside the plot (she's a character who I made a vow to try to include in every project I work on, long story. Ask me about it sometime!). Maybe it will even be an existing mod character! The spirit mod's gambler would look good in a pirate coat.

Overall though, I think this is proof of how creative we can truly get with the things we work on. There are endless possibilities when interpreting and playing with tropes and ideas, no matter simple they may seem. Where even something as simple s a little sprite of a pirate captain can drive an artist crazy trying to think of all the infinite possibilities of who he could be as a character.

I do wanna try to finish the set before new years tho so I do have a bit of a deadline.

#mod eater #terraria #asks #terraria pirate

[deangirlnotagirl]

Season 1 Episode 2: W*ndigo

Let’s do this.

- I love this recap remember when if you missed the first episode you just didn’t watch it until the reruns or dvs anyways those dramatic screen titles “what they witnessed sent two brothers on a quest for answers 22 years later”

- Oh there it is there’s the SUPERNATURAL noise with the title page ok it was just the pilot that didn’t have it

- Ok we’ve traveled from California to Colorado

- Love the flip phone and game boy in this cold open what a throwback

- Once again genuinely pretty creepy good job supernatural

- Oh that transition out of Sam’s dream made me jump I think my volume is a little too loud

- Aw Dean offers to let Sam drive that’s cute I love watching their relationship emerge

- I love their maps makes me miss maps

- Love watching Dean improvise and figure out who he needs to be to get the information he wants (and figure out what information he wants)

- Her brother looks like a high schooler so like once again I’m asking how old is Haley

- On this rewatch I’m really enjoying watching Sam’s arc of going from almost getting a full ride to the top school in the county to returning to hunting. The way he actually kind of loves it sometimes in a way Dean maybe doesn’t. It’s so tragic because it’s not what he would have chosen and he worked so hard to get away and all of that was taken away because he couldn’t escape his family forever. But at the same time we see from the pilot that he really has fun once he gets into it and hates that he has fun but starts to lean into it and find his niche as the show goes on.

- Ok so Dean introduced them as Sam and Dean and his fake ID says “Samuel Cole” which I looked up and don’t see an obvious origin (like a musician or something) so does that mean this is just a random name Dean picked and that he’s using Sam’s name sometimes when he hunts? Because that hurts.

- Every 23 years nice I love a recurring monster who hibernates

- Noticing that they pretty much never have to work very hard to get information bc they so clearly actually believe the person when nobody else ever has and even if maybe Sam and Dean are full of shit maybe they’re not and this is proof the person they’re interviewing is not crazy. Anyway if that’s not a metaphor idk what is

- “Corporeal”

- I forgot how angry Sam is this season (and a lot of seasons) and honestly he deserves to be angry right now

- Dean’s fragile masculinity lol but also Roy’s fragile masculinity the fragile masculinity of it all

- Ok I’m pretty sure they save the lost brother right like I hope so?

- This is a lot like the x files episode detour where they go into the woods and are hunted my an invisible humanoid but that doesn’t make it less good I loved that episode

- Once again I’m genuinely getting creeped out

- I really don’t like Roy

- Sam and Dean realizing John isn’t here and he wasn’t leaving a clue for them to find him. Realizing he put them on this case to keep them off his trail and set them up to doing his job while he goes on hunting his obsession.

- The fact that Dean sees Sam getting obsessed too and it scares him.

- “Saving people, hunting things, the family business” 😭😭😭

- Dean saying all that anger is going to kill you to Sam and he knows because he’s seen it happening to their dad ugh.

- Friendly reminder as they explain the lore that use of w*ndigos is major cultural appropriation and racist please read link on the title of this post to learn more

- How many do not enter signs can one entrance have

- They really do a good job of making this scary by not showing the scary thing good use of budget there sometimes you don’t need a giant cgi monster for good horror (no hate to giant cgi monsters I just love practical effects).

- The way that neither Sam or Dean are particularly freaked out by almost dying many times in this episode (or last episode if I recall). Sam even after taking a break from hunting presumably for most of the past four years - like that kid left home at 18 why has he had enough near death experiences at this point to be so cool headed in a crisis. Wtf John (I say over and over again throughout this show)

- Ok phew they do save the brother

- The way Dean uses the swagger to cover up everything else

- Again I just feel like this girl is too young but I guess if she’s old enough to be taking care of her younger brothers maybe she isn’t? Whatever what do we expect from supernatural

- Sam’s driving the impala!!!

- This last shot reminds me of my cousin Vinny

I’m doing this watch through as an escapism/nostalgia fueled way to remember a specific time in my life and let myself enjoy a very flawed show. So like as a monster episode this was scary and fun to watch and there was good character development and a good intro to the monster of the week episode format. And at the same time it’s a reminder of rampant casual racism to the point that it was basically thoughtless - I’m sure it just never occurred to the writers that there was anything wrong with using a being from another culture as a monster for Sam and Dean to fight and I’m sure this won’t be the last time they do this.

#supernatural #supernatural rewatch #supernatural meta #supernatural fandom #spn season 1 #spn 1x02

[dvanaestmrva]

so

- aced attorney is about a guy who switches majors from art to law because his kindergarten crush moved away and became evil and a prosecutor and he won't respond to his calls so this is the only course of action.

- also this same guy ate a glass necklace with poison in it that his toxic girlfriend gave him to cover up her murders (then she fakedated him for six months and tried to frame him for another murder) but that's not important right now.

- so then he defends his other kindergarten friend for the murder of the friend's 40th ex in court and wins.

- then his mentor dies and her sister is framed and he takes down the ceo of a massive corporation who has blackmail material on the entire justice system because apparently this is where the stakes are at 2 cases in

- this ceo leaked information about the guy's mentor's mother that she channeled a ghost who said that a guy was guilty of a murder but that guy was found innocent and thus she was declared a fraud and went into hiding. for this reason mentor became a lawyer to find out what happened to her mother. she was about to give the press information about how the ceo was blackmailing everyone in the justice system so he had her killed.

- oh yeah ghosts exist by the way and your assistant who is your mentor's sister summons your mentor's ghost to help you in court

- this also causes him to break his kindergarten crush(kc henceforth)'s perfect guilty record (that he got by being a fancy cravat wearing fuck, updating autopsy reports in the middle of trials, cutting his detectives' salaries at any given opportunity, evidence forgery which they retconned for some reason, being a fancy cravat wearing fuck, among other things) which isn't very nice but okay

- then he defends the star of a kids show which is also kc's autism special interest and unravels another conspiracy spanning back years. kc helps him win even though he is the prosecutor because he is a little shaken up by current events and also autistic and gay

- this is where we introduce wendy oldbag, a 70yo woman with a crush on kc for some reason who is a boomer stereotype. kc cannot get her to say her name in court. or cooperate. this is a recurring character by the way

-"thanks to you i am saddled with Unnecessary Feelings"

- and then kc gets framed for murder

- it turns out this murder is connected to the incident where kc's father died which is also connected to everything else happening. more on that later

- but who prosecutor if kc in jail? well it's bastard von parmesan. kc's adoptive father/mentor who has not been defeated in court in 40 years. things he does: sustain his own objections in court. direct the proceedings instead of the judge. scream really loud because the trial didn't finish in three minutes and how is he going to get the world record court speedrun now. object in downpitched fnaf voice to every single statement that you make at every moment. tell everyone his credit card pin number in order to make a point. stun gun you and your assistant in a police station to stop you from getting critical evidence.

- luckily on our side we have: our idiot kindergarten friend, our mentor's sister who can channel ghosts but not right now but who will sacrifice herself and get dragged out of court to help us save the case, and a parrot

- at one point you have to *interrogate the parrot in court* just to prove the identity of the witness who is the real killer and prove his motive for murder. because apparently the witness *has no fingerprints because they were burned off in the chemical factory*. but bastard von parmesan, *just in case you cross examined the parrot,* retrained the parrot within 24 hours to not give you the critical information you needed. so you have to get it to tell you other information and piece it together for the court from there.

- this is the best case in the game holy shit

- eventually you uncover that kc is pretty sure he accidentally killed his father fifteen years ago at age nine when they and another guy were stuck in an elevator for five hours and kc threw a gun at them to stop them fighting over oxygen, information which is repeated to us through the same cutscene at least three times. this is the same incident in which your assistant's mother was asked to channel a ghost, which led to her being ostracized from her community, which led to every single thing that happens in the entire series

- in no world would this make him guilty of any crime, except for this world, where the legal system is so unbelievably fucked that trials are limited to three days, the statute of limitations for murder is fifteen years, and a child who accidentally killed someone at the age of nine years old is legally the same as an adult who killed someone on purpose

- and after he gets declared innocent of the current crime he for serious goes "i killed my father, yeah, it was revealed to me in a dream" in a court of law

- since the statute of limitations runs out that very day you then have to defend him for that and prove that actually, no, bastard von parmesan was the one who got shot in the shoulder and then shot kc's father in return and then left the scene leaving no trace and kept the bullet for fifteen years and trained kc to become a prosecutor just to mastermind a shitfucked plan to frame kc for the murder of his father and of the others involved in The Incident.

- bastard did all of this because he got a bad grade in law one (1) time, didn't even lose the case, and didn't realize that a perfect score at law was not normal to want or possible to achieve so he killed a man

- i will reiterate: this indirectly causes *every other thing that happens in the series*

- kc is free but this has clearly done some damage

- then our assistant leaves to go do spirit medium training because she felt like she could have been more useful even though she risked her life to recover critical evidence. so we have to investigate another murder with a science weirdgirl using newly updated modern mechanics. it is the longest case in the game

- we unravel another conspiracy in which the police chief framed the weirdgirl for murder and blackmailed her older sister and installed her as chief prosecutor in order to advance his career. we also briefly think the same guy was killed in two places at once but he was just moved. the police office's mascot is a critical part of this case because the vase used in the murder looks like the mascot by pure coincidence. i don't remember much about this one though if i'm honest

- in the process of all this kc was framed for evidence forgery and we find out that all his coworkers also hate him forever and always and he has to climb twelve flights of stairs every day to get to his office and that he is god's chew toy and his personal hell will never end

- the compounding of all of these events happening to him causes him to fake his own suicide and run away to europe without telling anyone including the protagonist which causes severe emotional harm to anyone remotely close to him. this is what the aita joke was about.

- the protagonist decides he hates his crush forever because of this for almost the entire second game and refuses to talk to anyone about him or what happened to him, because he is the most closed-off motherfucker in the west once you chip past his shonen exterior

- i am sure this only confused you more but that was the point. tune in next game for: hate-filled miserable yearning that the protagonist flatly refuses to talk about or explain to anyone, bastard von parmesan's daughter franzy "the sequel" von parmesan who is german and whips you, discourse going on in the spirit medium community, whatever the hell happens in turnabout big top, and more!

woagh

#answer #Anonymous

[septembercfawkes]

Scene vs. Summary & When to Use Which

When I was a young writer, I didn't fully understand what a scene was and what a summary was. Later, when I understood the difference, I wasn't always sure when to use which. These days, I occasionally help writers with the same things. They may use summary for what should have been a scene, or they may write a whole scene for what really should have been summary. Understanding the difference and when to use which can be key when writing a successful novel.

Sure, some of it is subjective.

But what might be surprising to some, is that most of the time, one is more . . . "correct" than the other.  

Scene

A scene is a structural unit that tends to have these qualities:

- Happens in Real Time

A scene will largely happen in real time. This means we "watch" the characters move, act, and talk, as if it were happening in real life.

- Dramatizes (Shows > Tells)

A scene dramatizes. It uses showing more than telling. If a character is angry with a friend, we see that anger in action and conversation. We may witness her yell or kick a rock, for example. It's like watching a stage play.

- Concrete

Because it is dramatized, a scene will usually be more concrete. It will more likely appeal to our senses and the physical world and experience.

- Characters Acting in a Specific Location

A scene will have characters in a location (in some very rare cases, the setting or society may act as characters). They might be talking on a train ride, or exploring a cave, or dueling in the snow.

Scene Examples

(Because a full scene often lasts pages, these examples are passages from specific scenes.)

"This won't take long, Andrew," said the doctor. Ender nodded. "It's designed to be removed. Without infection, without damage. But there'll be some tickling, and some people say they have a feeling of something missing. You'll keep looking around for something, something you were looking for, but you can't find it, and you can't remember what it was. So I'll tell you. It's the monitor you're looking for, and it isn't there. In a few days that feeling will pass." The doctor was twisting something at the back of Ender's head. Suddenly a pain stabbed through him like a needle from his neck to his groin. Ender felt his back spasm, and his body arched violently backward; his head struck the bed. He could feel his legs thrashing, and his hands were clenching each other, wringing each other so tightly that they arched. "Deedee!" shouted the doctor. "I need you!" The nurse ran in, gasped. "Got to relax these muscles. Get it to me, now! What are you waiting for!" Something changed hands; Ender could not see. He lurched to one side and fell off the examining table. "Catch him!" cried the nurse. "Just hold him steady--" "You hold him, doctor, he's too strong for me--" "Not the whole thing! You'll stop his heart--" Ender felt a needle enter his back just above the neck of his shirt. It burned, but wherever in him the fire spread, his muscles gradually un-clenched. Now he could cry for the fear and pain of it. "Are you all right, Andrew?" the nurse asked.

- Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Mrs. Reed occupied her usual seat by the fireside; she made a signal to me to approach; I did so, and she introduced me to the stony stranger with the words: “This is the little girl respecting whom I applied to you.” He, for it was a man, turned his head slowly towards where I stood, and having examined me with the two inquisitive-looking grey eyes which twinkled under a pair of bushy brows, said solemnly, and in a bass voice, “Her size is small: what is her age?” “Ten years.” “So much?” was the doubtful answer; and he prolonged his scrutiny for some minutes. Presently he addressed me—“Your name, little girl?” “Jane Eyre, sir.” In uttering these words I looked up: he seemed to me a tall gentleman; but then I was very little; his features were large, and they and all the lines of his frame were equally harsh and prim. “Well, Jane Eyre, and are you a good child?”

- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Summary

A summary has these qualities:

- Condensed Time

Summaries condense time. They may cover a month in a single sentence. They may talk about recurring events over a time period, within one paragraph. They may relay a past event (or in some cases, a future event) within a brief moment. They don't happen in real time.

- Explains through Telling

Since the moment isn't happening in real time, the audience is told more than shown what happened. This gives summary a stronger, guiding, narrative hand. Rather than experiencing the passage like the character, it's more like the audience is being guided by a storyteller (generally speaking).

- More Abstract

For those reasons, telling is more abstract. It's more likely to express ideas and concepts, rather than specific experiences.

- Characters and/or Setting may Change Swiftly (or Maybe Not Even Be Present In Some Cases)

A summary may not focus on a specific character or stay in the same setting. It may move quickly through settings or may not even mention a specific setting.

Summary Examples

Mother came home and commiserated with Ender about the monitor. Father came home and kept saying it was such a wonderful surprise, they had such fantastic children that the government told them to have three, and now the government didn't want to take any of them after all, so here they were with three, they still had a Third . . . until Ender wanted to scream at him, I know I'm a Third, I know it, if you want I'll go away so you don't have to be embarrassed in front of everybody. - Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

John had not much affection for his mother and sisters, and an antipathy to me. He bullied and punished me; not two or three times in the week, nor once or twice in the day, but continually: every nerve I had feared him, and every morsel of flesh in my bones shrank when he came near. There were moments when I was bewildered by the terror he inspired, because I had no appeal whatever against either his menaces or his inflictions; the servants did not like to offend their young master by taking my part against him, and Mrs. Reed was blind and deaf on the subject: she never saw him strike or heard him abuse me, though he did both now and then in her very presence, more frequently, however, behind her back.

- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

When to Use Which

Most novels are better written with more scene than summary. Scenes dramatize the story, so that the audience feels like they are experiencing and participating in it. Scenes are more impactful. Scenes are more likely to stir emotions. Because they are more concrete, they are more likely to stick in the reader's memory.

However, this is not to say all novels are better with more scene than summary. You can indeed find successful books with more summary. This can be particularly useful in books with huge casts and many viewpoint characters, books that take place over a long period of time (such as a character's entire life), or books with powerful, present omniscient narrators. Not all books that rely on summary more than scene are bad.

But most books are better told largely through scene than summary.

And pretty much all novels need some of both.

So when do we use which?

Sometimes I edit passages that are weakened because they are summarized instead of dramatized. Other times I read scenes that offer very little dramatic value and should have been summarized.

Scenes

A good rule of thumb is the more significant the moment, the more likely it needs to be rendered as a scene.

Big turning points and climactic moments should almost always be a scene--whether that turning point relates to character arc, plot, or theme.

This means that the climactic moments of the beginning, middle, and end, should almost always be a scene.

Anything we've been building up to in the primary plotline related to the arc, events, or theme, should probably be a scene.

If you are following a story structure, key moments in that structure should likely be a scene. The inciting incident should likely be a scene, the midpoint should likely be a scene, Plot Point 2 should likely be a scene . . .

Now, in a novel, there may be many plotlines besides the primary. The less important the plotline, the less likely you need all its turning points in scenes (or even on page).

Impactful moments should usually be scenes. If they are summary, sometimes the audience feels cheated. Imagine building up to the climax of a novel, only to have the author summarize it. It's almost always a letdown.

Sometimes newer writers do this sort of thing, because they are intimidated by trying to write the scene. They may feel unsure that they can write it well. Remember, you can edit, and edit, and re-edit the scene to make it better. Daring to write a poor scene and then edit it, will get you further in the long run than avoiding it altogether.

In many genres, you will have what are called "obligatory scenes." These are what they sound like. They need to happen. In a scene.

So in romance, you almost always need to have a first kiss scene. In a murder mystery, you almost always need to have an opening scene where a body is discovered. Obligatory scenes should be scenes, not summary, most of the time.

Summaries

On the other side of the spectrum, we have summary. If an entire novel were written with scenes, it would probably be long and boring. Not everything is important enough to be a scene. And if you make it a scene, it's a flat scene without any real turning point or change. This kills pacing.

Use summary when the audience needs to know the fact that something happened, but it's not important for them to experience it.

For example, the fact that Jacob didn't get much sleep the prior night probably isn't important enough for a full scene, but it might be important for the audience to know for the next scene. It might influence what happens in the next scene. That is a good time to use summary.

Use summary when you need to cover a broader length of time in a shorter amount of space. For example, you may have characters who need to trek to a distant land, which may take months. But the story isn't about the trek itself. Use summary to tell us about the trek, without making the story only about the trek. (Not to mention if the trek was all in scenes, it'd be overly detailed and likely boring.)

Along the same line, summary can sometimes be great for scene transitions--usually when what happened between the scenes is worth mentioning, but not worth dramatizing.

Summary is also important in providing context for the reader. Summary may be used to set up a situation or to provide additional background information that the reader needs in order to interpret what is happening in the story, accurately.  

For example, you may summarize a short backstory to explain a character's current behavior.

Scene vs. Showing; Summary vs. Telling

Scene is mostly like showing, and summary is mostly like telling. However, the concepts are slightly different. For example, I may write in a scene "Emily was tired," which would be "telling" but I wouldn't consider it "summary." Just as I wouldn't necessarily consider "I felt angry" summary, so much as I would consider it to be telling.

Likewise, you may have a scene that is largely introspection, which may be showing a character's thought process as he summarizes events through telling sentences.

Yeah, if we get deep, it turns into splitting hairs.

Even between showing and telling, if you want to make yourself really crazy, sometimes you can use summary and telling on a small scale to show something on a big scale. For example, to show that a character has a habit of being late, you may use summary that includes some telling about his morning routine, to cover several such instances. However, one could easily argue that you could simply do a scene that shows him showing up late, and have another character use dialogue that implies this is a common occurrence.

But let's not induce headaches today! My point is, that the boundaries do blur, and things aren't always as clear cut as we make them sound.

Nonetheless, because summary and telling overlap, you can use many of the same technique that we use to write great telling, to write great summary. And rather than rewrite all those techniques, I have them in my article "10 Cheats to Tell Well."

Mixing Scene and Summary

In order to write a great novel, many scenes will include some summary within them. Like I mentioned above, you may need to slip in some backstory information through summary. Or perhaps in the scene, the characters are having dinner, but you want half the scene to be the cooking and the other half to happen while they are eating. Depending on how long the food takes to make, you may need some summarizing: "Don finished putting the toppings on the pizza and then put it in the oven for 30 minutes."

Similarly, if you are going to have a lengthy passage of summary, it's often effective to include scene-like moments--perhaps a paragraph that captures part of a conversation in real time, before going back to summary. Or maybe the summary includes a significant action that would be rendered better with a little more detail, like a half-scene.

In any case, we want to make sure we are using both scene and summary, and perhaps just as important, that we are using them at the right moments.

#writing tips #writing tips and tricks #writeblr #writing reference #writing tip #fanfic #written #editing

[sameheart-sameblood]

Live While We’re Alive

(gif by @rex-is-best)

pairing: commander wolffe x f!reader

summary: you thought being a newly recruited civilian doctor to the GAR was hard enough until you developed a hopeless crush on Commander Wolffe

words: 2.8 k

warnings: mature, some suggestive talk, mutual pining, medical exams, co-workers to lovers, a doctor having inappropriate thoughts about their patient 

a/n: I started writing this awhile ago and then lost all creative motivation but I've been in a Wolffe mood the past few days and sad we didn't get to see him in The Bad Batch so here we are. I'd like to apologize to my doctor dad and all medical professionals everywhere lol. Also, I had intended for this to end in smut but then got lost in feelings so there mayyyy be a chapter 2. We'll see ;)

read on ao3!

You want to fuck him. It’s been decided. This realization couldn’t have come at a worse time, though. You’re surrounded by Jedi and Clone Officers in a very important meeting detailing your next mission. But you only have eyes for one of the men and he’s currently standing at the head of the room giving a briefing to the holo of Master Yoda. It’s a testament to Commander Wolffe’s presence that you barely notice the little green Jedi Master he’s conversing with. Well, his presence and his extreme handsomeness.

When you’d first met him, you’d been truly intimidated. The other women you worked with nodded in understanding, whispering they had been thrown off by his cybernetic eye and prominent scar. But that wasn’t it. You’d noticed those things, but that wasn’t what made you uneasy.

It was the fact that he took one look at you and seemed to see right into your soul. You couldn’t explain it but you felt like with just a glance, he could tell your deepest insecurities. And stars, did you have a lot of those.

You had worked your way up through the medical field and had started your residency at the biggest hospital in Coruscant. After your training ended, you had secured a permanent job there. It had been difficult, to say the least. Though you knew you were qualified, even more so than most of your male co-workers, you still doubted yourself often.

Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi had come to visit you one nondescript Thursday afternoon, telling you of the need for doctors in the GAR. He said you came most highly recommended when he was searching for recruits but still, you thought a mistake had been made and that someone soon would realize and send you back to your normal life. It was a recurring nightmare you’d developed in the past few weeks that shook you from your sleep.

You had agreed to join the GAR, sympathetic to the cause and wanting to do your part. The next few weeks had consisted of you getting your bearings and meeting the rest of the staff at the base . Kix, the clone medic in charge, had helped you learn the ropes and had introduced you to all his brothers. At first, you had been overwhelmed by the sea of identical faces. As the weeks had gone on, you’d learned everyone’s names and they’d made you feel welcome, like one of their own.

The Commander and you had crossed paths several times. He was polite but distant. Not like you blamed him. He had more important things to do than exchange drawn out pleasantries. With each run-in, though, he seemed to be making more of an effort to be personable. Unfortunately, each conversation left you looking more and more like an idiot. Or a di’kut. The boys had been teaching you some Mando’a.

You were a medical professional, a well-respected doctor and yet Wolffe made you feel unsure of yourself. It had been so long since you’d had a crush that you didn’t realize this was what the beginning of one felt like.

*******

As you sit around the war room table, you feel even more like a school girl. Instead of paying attention to whatever Master Yoda is saying, you’re transfixed by Wolffe’s face. The hazy blue light from the holo reflects off his features, making him look ethereal. His scar looks even more prominent and you blush, remembering how often you’ve wondered what it would feel like to let your fingers trace it.   And his lips. They’re moving, responding to whatever the Jedi has said. They’re mesmerizing and now you’re thinking of what it would be like to kiss him. Or even better yet, to have those lips pressed against the plushier parts of your body.

You continue to stare until you realize his face has turned to you. It probably only takes you a second to come back to reality but it feels like an eternity. Somehow you’re able to respond to the question.

“Yes, Commander. All medical personnel are prepared for an 0800 liftoff. Kix will take his team with the 501st and I’ll have my staff along with the 104th. We’ll reconnoiter once we’ve landed on Hisseen.” The rest of the table nods, moving the conversation along. Wolffe stares at you for a moment, a hint of a smirk on his lips. You avert your gaze, finding the table a much safer object of your attention.

The discussion wraps up and Wolffe stands at attention, puffing his chest out, before Master Yoda disappears. Once again, your eyes are drawn to him. You’re not sure how but he makes something so mundane look indescribably attractive. Wolffe’s head turns in your direction but you’ve already bolted from your seat, hoping to cool down in the hallway.

Kix pushes through the crowd to get to you. “Hey, Doc. How’d the meeting go?” You shrug. “Nothing new to report. Just making sure we’re all set for our campaign.” He’s shifting back and forth, a sort of glazed look in his eyes. You realize he’s not paying particularly close attention. It’s the look of someone asking you something just so they can request a favor in return.

“Hmm oh yeah, that’s nice. Say, Doc, do you think you could cover for me for a few hours? I have some urgent business to attend to.”

“Since when is playing Sabacc with Fives and the boys urgent?”

“Since I remembered how terrible they are at it. I can make a real killing playing against them.”

You laugh. It’s true. You’ve come to love those men but a lot of them are really horrible at the game. You’ll need to give them a remedial course if you have any downtime on Hisseen. “Of course. What do you need me to do?” He rewards you with a huge grin. “Nothing hard! A few higher ups coming in for their physicals. Just the usual. Make sure they’re in tip top shape to get shot at by some tinnies.”

He gives you the list. It’s only a handful of men but the last one on it makes your blood go cold. “Commander Wolffe needs a physical?” Kix is oblivious to your inner turmoil. “Oh yeah, but he knows the drill. Honestly everyone can do it themselves at this point. We’re basically there to oversee it as a formality.”

You swallow down your apprehension and nod. “Sounds easy enough. Go have fun. And take it easy on them, will ya? Let them keep a little of their dignity intact” Kix just grins and shoots you a wave as he runs off.

*******

Your first few appointments go just fine. The officers are professionals and Kix was right, they could do these routine physicals with their eyes closed. You give them all your seal of approval and settle in to do your paperwork before your last, most anticipated patient arrives. The forms in front of you hold no interest and you find yourself checking the chrono every few seconds.

It’s not easy but you manage to finish your work. You set it aside and take steadying breath. Five more minutes and he’ll be here. You scold yourself. The Commander has never been anything but professional. You’re the one thinking these very unprofessional thoughts.

And you’re a doctor, for kriff’s sake. Your patients should be able to come to you without worrying you may be fantasizing about what they look like naked. But these are uncharted waters. It’s your first time having to deal with a patient you’re this attracted to. They really should take your medical license away.

Just as you’re thinking of packing it all up and handing in your resignation to the Jedi Council, a knock at the door snaps you to attention. Well, here goes nothing. You scold yourself once again for checking your reflection in the mirror before answering the door.

You had tried to adopt a passive, professional look to your face before greeting Wolffe but it must not have worked. “Everything alright, Doc? I’m not early, am I?” You shake your head.“Not at all. Punctual as always, Commander.” You beckon for him to come in and take a seat. You close the door, then sit across from him at your desk.

Your datapad hums to life and you busy yourself opening the appropriate forms you need to fill out. The weight of his eyes is heavy on you and your cheeks heat up in spite of yourself. You push on through as best you can.

“Well, Commander, how are you feeling today?” There’s that ghost of a smirk again but it vanishes so quickly you're not sure if you imagined it. “I feel like a million credits.” You giggle despite it not even being that funny. You’ve got it bad. “Glad to hear it. This should be quick then.” You gather your equipment and get to work.

First, you take his weight. Then, you listen to his heart. You press the stethoscope to his sternum, thankful you can do this over his blacks. He observes you the whole time. “And what about you? How are you today, Doc?” You risk a glance and meet his eyes. That was a mistake.

“Me? Oh-um just fine. Maybe not like a million credits but a few hundred at least.” You trail off dumbly but he humors you with a chuckle. You’re not sure you’ve ever heard that sound from him before. It’s like music to your ears. “Anything I can do to help? You do look a little flushed. Are you sure you don’t have a fever?” You avert your eyes again.

“No. I’m alright. It’s just, uh, hot in these uniforms. The coarseweave doesn’t breathe.”

“You sure? Maybe I should be the one giving you a check-up.”

You realize he’s toying with you now.

“That won’t be necessary, Commander.”

You move on to check his lungs. “Breathe in for me.” You move the stethoscope to his chest, then move it around a few different spots on his back. “You can call me, Wolffe. If you’d like.” He breathes in every time, not even needing prompting, ever the dutiful soldier, even when he’s teasing you.

“I would like that. Thank you, Wolffe.”

Next, you measure his blood pressure. You’re shocked that it’s so low. He sees the look of surprise on your face. “Something wrong?”

“Not at all. The opposite, in fact. Your pressures are great. I just thought with your lifestyle they might, understandably, be a bit higher.”

“What kind of lifestyle do you think I have?”

You’re backtracking as quickly as you can. “I just meant, your life as a soldier, it must be extremely stressful.”

There’s that smirk again. “It is. But you don’t get to be a Commander by not being able to handle the pressure.”

“Of course. But even so, if you’d like some stress relief techniques I can suggest some.” He hums as if really thinking it over. Thankfully there’s only one part of your exam left. Which is good because you’re not sure how much resolve you have remaining.

“Everything looks great. I’ll just do a head and neck exam and then I can send you on your way.”

You need to touch him for this part but you stop yourself, hands hovering but not quite meeting their destination. You feel like once you touch him, really feel his skin under your fingers, there may be no going back.

Wolffe sees your hesitation, then slowly reaches out to take your hands. You watch with wide eyes as he guides them to his neck. He looks up at you innocently enough but you can tell he’s laughing internally. You try to reign in control of the situation.

“Sorry, I just got distracted.” The Commander studies you but this time it’s in earnest. “Are you nervous? This’ll be your first time in an active war zone, right?” You had been anxious but not about that. But now that he mentions it, yeah, you honestly don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into.

“Yes, I’m not sure what to expect. I guess you could say I’m a little scared.” Wolffe gently holds your chin, directing you to look back at him. “I won’t lie. It’ll be overwhelming and frightening. Battles can seem never-ending. But I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”

You’re staring into each other’s eyes and you don’t want to stop. But then he’s clearing his throat and gently removing his hand from your skin. You realize you’ve been resting your own hands on his shoulders this whole time. “Thank you, Wolffe. I do feel much better knowing you’ll be there.” You offer him a smile, hoping it conveys just how much you appreciate him looking out for you.

You begin your exam, gently kneading where his neck meets his shoulders, checking for any anomalies. Then you move to his throat. The throat you’ve so often been distracted by. It’s featured prominently in your daydreams. You move your hands along it, under his jawline. Having a man this powerful baring one of the most vulnerable parts of his body to you is intoxicating. Focus, di’kut.

Everything feels normal except for some knots you find resting right below the surface of his smooth skin. “Lymph nodes feel good. You’re a little tense, though. But I bet it’s from that bucket you have to wear most of the day.” He hums in thought. “True. But even so. Maybe you could give me some of those ideas for stress management?” He looks up at you with big eyes. There’s mischief in them but something else. Vulnerability?

You gulp audibly. “Of course. There are a few that work particularly well, um, like deep breathing techniques, going on walks, talking with friends, meditation, journaling, physical activity…” You’re rambling, fighting a losing game against your resolve. Wolffe thinks on it. “Physical activity seems like a good place to start.” His hands come up to gently cover yours that are still resting on his neck.

The sensation of his calloused fingers on your skin sends shivers down your body. You close your eyes, feeling the last of your self-control topple over. “Wolffe,” you whine “We shouldn’t…” He immediately drops his hands, worry etched on his face. “I’m so sorry. It’s just- I thought you wanted-.” He cuts himself off, snapping up to his feet and to attention. “Doctor, you should report me to General Plo Koon for immediate disciplinary action.”

Dank Farrik, you’ve just ruined everything.“Wolffe! No, I’m not reporting you to anyone. If anything you should report me for being so unprofessional.” His shoulders relax a bit but he still eyes you as if you’re a live grenade that might explode at any second. “What do you mean?” You sigh in frustration. This isn’t how you wanted to confess your feelings to him.

“I…want you, Wolffe. The second I realized that I should have asked to be re-assigned to a different battalion. Instead I thought I could push those feelings down and continue to do my job. Looks like that was a mistake.” You hang your head, avoiding his piercing gaze. He’s silent for just a moment but it feels like an eternity.

“So, you want me and I want you?” You nod your head, ashamed, as he continues. “Then what’s the problem, Doc?” Your eyes snap to his, not believing what you’re hearing.

“Isn’t it wrong of us?”

Wolffe sits down on the exam table again, genuinely thinking on it. “I don’t see why. We’re both consenting adults. We don’t work directly with each other- I report to General Koon, you report to General Kenobi- so there’s no real conflict of interest. The worst we’ll face is a little ribbing from the boys if they find out.”

You raise your head to look him in the eyes, needing to make sure he’s serious and that this isn’t some twisted joke. What you find staring back at you is hope and promise. He senses your trepidation and gently takes your hands in his. “I’m sorry if I came on strong. But the thing about this life is that there are no guarantees. Tomorrow isn’t promised and so I figured I’d rather go for something, someone, that I want and have my heart broken rather than regretting my inaction.”

Your eyes roam the scars on his face, evidence of just how true his words are. You’re heading into active battle tomorrow. One or both of you could be injured, or worse. You step towards him. He spreads his legs so you have room to get closer. You rest your forehead on his, breathing him in.

His hands come up to caress your sides. You take a shaky breath. He questions you softly. “Cyar’ika?” Ah, now that’s one of the new words you definitely remember. His vulnerability makes you ache and the decision to hand your heart over is an easy one. “You’re right, Wolffe. Might as well do some living while we can.”

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#commander wolffe x reader #commander wolffe x you #wolffe x reader #instead of becoming a doctor like my family wanted i decided to just write about being one who's slightly inappropriate instead #tcw fanfic #tcw #allie writes #my writing