#5 years of professional experience and nothing to show for it

[rosen-und-mondlicht]

rant rant rant

/extremely negative post. keep scrolling/

[maxwellatoms]

Hello Mr. Atoms, I'm an animation student in college and fan of your work. I got this assignment in which I need to ask questions to a professional in the area. Could you pretty please answer them? It'd mean a lot to me.

1- Are you happy with your career? How it's going.

2- What are your opinions, expectations and hopes about the independent animation industry that's developing?

3- What do you think about the advent of artificial intelligence? Do you fear for the future of animators?

4- If money wasn't a problem, would you still do what you do?

5- Any animators you admire and would like to mention?

Okey dokey.

1- Are you happy with your career? How it's going.

Not really, in that there seems to be no career left.

The animation industry swelled its numbers greatly before 2020. Almost immediately after that, corporate greed synergized with a pandemic to reduce animated programs and the number of people working on them to almost zero. It takes almost a year from beginning to end to make a single episode of an animated show (by the modern standard). There was nothing being made in 2020 and four years later, we''re not in a much better spot. It's going to be a long drought for (especially) Kid's TV Animation.

Recently, many of my former co-workers have hit the financial wall and can't continue, moving away after (sometimes) 20 years in the industry. I begin to wonder if I'm very far behind.

A "bounce back" a year from now would need to start today. There are still some animated shows being made now, but those are almost universally "library" properties. That means it's an existing I.P. (Intellectual Properties like Garfield/Mario/Batman/Star Wars) so as an artist you're immediately in that box. Depending on the property and the studio, it can be an unpleasantly tight box. I grew used to holding and maintaining the vision for a show, but it's less fun when it's not my vision. It's even less fun when you can't inspire someone to follow your vision because they've been so ruthlessly abused.

I'm pretty sick of how big media corporations treat their employees. If I inherit one more burnt out crew due to mismanagement, I'm gonna lose it.

Over a decade ago I fought hard to get board artists story credit for the episodes they were actually writing, and felt like I'd won a big victory for everyone. The second my back was turned, it all reverted.

Mostly... what is the point now? My career is/was developing ideas, crafting those ideas into a workable show, then managing teams of thirty to seventy people to produce a couple of dozen episodes per year. Studios actively do not want new ideas right now, and are actively searching for ways to eliminate what artists from the process. I'm not sure what my job would be under this new system, but it feels like they decided to hang onto the anxiety-inducing deadlines while removing anything remotely pleasurable from the experience.

2- What are your opinions, expectations and hopes about the independent animation industry that's developing?

It's the only way to get anything done, currently.

The current state of the industry is not sustainable. I (along with a lot of other animators I know) are trying to decide what's next, and pretty much everyone agrees that "you just have to make something".

It is (in that very specific way) a great time to be a young animator. The system was never going to treat you well anyway. If you can get something like a Hazbin Hotel happening without studio help, you can currently write your own ticket. I'm super proud of Vivsie, because that's a LOT of stuff to handle. I never had to handle my own marketing or drum up money to make Billy & Mandy happen.

There are opportunities there, but it's definitely "Hard Mode". The best idea is probably to team up with a few other people you like and like to work with.

Hopes? I hope that the young animators take over and make something new on top of the bones of the old industry, rather than just allowing that industry to patch its rotting hide with their collected works.

3- What do you think about the advent of artificial intelligence? Do you fear for the future of animators?

I suspect true AI might just peace-out like ScarJo in "Her", but we're not there yet. What we have now isn't Artificial Intelligence at all (though I do believe it may be the underpinnings of the Artificial Suconscious of what may one day become an actual Artificial Intelligence.)

The LLMs and "Generative AI" are (so far) a big dumb waste. They consume tons of energy and aren't great for doing anything creative. If you've sat down with Chat GPT for a creative writing session, you've probably run into the "out of the box" limitations which prevent it from talking about sex or violence-- which happen to be a major component of most stories.

Still, the technology has come incredibly far in an incredibly short amount of time. I imagine we're going to hit the point where we're being hazed by artificially generated political ads way before Generative AI can produce a consistent and usable character turnaround, so that'll be the test. Whatever the legal fallout is from this stuff over the next few years will set the tone.

Still, studios have a vested interest in pleasing their shareholders. Generative AI potentially has the capability of not only replacing swaths of money-eating artists, but handing that control directly to the billionaire studio heads. Mark my words: We're headed straight for billionaire-generated content.

I don't think the public at large will want to watch Elon Musk's fever dreams, so there's that. So law and general distaste might stave it off for a while, but I think there's just too much impetus for studios to continue to try to please their investors. "AI Art" is here to stay.

Eventually that will lead to millions and millions of bots generating millions and millions of songs and paintings and movies all day every day. Most of it will be utter trash. Right now (so I'm told) viewers are already burnt out, and will generally only click on what they already know. On Netflix, where there are twenty things you've never heard of and one you have, you're more likely to pick the thing that gives you comfort and gives you a guarantee you're not wasting your time. With exponentially more A.I. trash, how would you even begin to filter it out?

You'd need absolute control of an already existing distribution system. We currently have a few of those, and all of the media companies are desperately trying to merge with them to insure their own survival.

To me, the post-Gen-AI landscape looks a lot like old-school Cable, but with endless I.P. and fewer masters.

4- If money wasn't a problem, would you still do what you do?

The real question is, maybe, "What am I even doing?" These days I try to do a lot of gardening. I'm trying to learn new art skills, because suddenly twenty five years of experience managing, drawing, and writing isn't worth much. I recently worked on Jellystone until Zaslav lost 2.5 billion in the wash and had to find justification for his new yacht. The show before that? Also culled midway through to save money. The days of multi-year gigs seem to be over, and if I'm going to scrape by doing freelance, maybe I can do that somewhere else.

I'll always make art. I can't seem to help it. Ideas aren't my problem-- it's executing those ideas without the help of a structured pre-existing system. I honestly don't know if I'll ever be able to pull that off. My strengths are great, but were always supported by friends I worked with.

Can I start an indie cartoon with all of these cool friends? Sure, maybe. Most of those people have gone on to have other careers of their own and got used to being paid. Now nobody is getting paid and no one can pay anyone else. My immediate circle are all now middle-aged people with families and no jobs. Convincing them to give up a large chunk of their day for an idea that's not guaranteed to pay off is going to take some real effort.

I technically have fifteen years until I can claim my "retirement", assuming that still exists by then. That's a pretty big hole to fill with... I don't know what.

The difficult "What comes next" discussions at home are really just starting.

5- Any animators you admire and would like to mention?

There are a lot of cool animation people out there. I already mentioned I was proud of Vivsie. I was also reminded recently just how great C.H. Greenblatt and Mr. Warburton are. I know they're my friends. They're both just really upstanding, creative people who take good care of their crews.

The treatment of animation industry professionals by the studio system has been one of the most demoralizing and heartbreaking parts of this demoralizing and heartbreaking time.

---

So there ya go. If you want to look for someone whose attitude is a little more upbeat, I won't blame you a bit.

Wherever you are, I wish you the best of luck. For me, just climb up there and crush it. I would very much like to add you to #5 someday.

[hazbinhotelxreader]

Carmilla Carmine x female reader ABC smut headcannons

A/n: I did this on another account for Lapis Lazuli, let’s hope this one goes well too lol!

Requested by: no one.

Warnings: smut, gay sex. A lot more but you’ll see in the headcannons(I ain’t gonna list every headcannon)

A- After Care (what their like after sex)

-Sweetest and most caring woman ever after sex. She’ll make sure your hydrated, comfortable, cleaned up and even fed if your hungry after. She’ll even help you take a bath or shower if needed

B- Body Part (what’s their favorite body part of their partner and themselves?)

-For her? She likes her thighs. In sex or out of sex. It doesn’t really matter. She enjoys having you touch and sit on them, grind on them or simply rest on them.

-For you, she enjoys your hands. Also in and out of sex. She loves how both of your hands can intertwine together in public, or how you can caress her and touch her. Also she enjoys your fingers in her so that’s a plus for her

C-Cum (anything to do with it)

-50/50 for her. She enjoys it but she isn’t crazy about it. She’ll eat you out but sometimes doesn’t swallow all the cum. Sometimes she’ll just wipe it onto the bedsheets to get it off of herself. It’s kinda messy for her and sticky if there’s too much, which is uncomfortable.

D-Dominant or Submissive? (Their position in sex)

-She leans on more of the Dominant side. She’s not a controlling top, but she does like taking the reins. Either that or a power bottom, but she’ll let you have full control too.

E-Experience (how experienced are they?)

-She’s pretty experienced. She’s not like angel dust or some succubus who’s really good at it, but she can satisfy you better than a lot of people can.

F/Favorite Pose/position (y’all know what this is)

-Missionary. No doubt. She enjoys seeing you. Whether you’re on top of her or if she’s on top of you. She likes seeing your reactions up close and it’s much easier for her to kiss and pleasure you.

G-Goofy (how serious are they in bed?)

-To her intimacy is not about jokes and goofing off. Yea she’ll tease you here and there and chuckle sometimes at your reactions, but she isn’t going to be that goofy.

H-Hair (how well groomed are they?)

-She’s pretty well groomed. Being a weapon armor Overlord she likes to stay professional, so keeping herself well groomed (even in the areas that aren’t showing) is how she rolls.

I-Intimacy (are they romantic?)

-100%. She’s one of the most romantic girls ever. I feel like if she’s feeling really romantic, she’d get the room cozy and soft and dimly lit with candles and rose petals. Also the bath tub too. Bath tub hot and warm, filled with rose petals and candles around it, and wine for you two to drink to get the mood up.

J-Jack off (masturbation headcannon)

-She isn’t one to jack off. If she were to it would be like at most 5 times a year. She won’t jack off unless she’s really in need of release and you’re not there.

K-Kinks (one or two of their kinks)

-Praising and BDSM. Light BDSM though, like soft handcuffs or belts. Nothing too extreme where your all tied up. She wants you to be comfortable. She loves receiving bondage too, also lightly, she doesn’t want to be all tied up and fully restrained where she can’t even move. She enjoys giving and receiving praise, she won’t be too graphic about it but she’ll go far with that one

L-Location (where would they want to do it?)

-The place she mainly wants to have sex with you at is in your guys room alone. She enjoys having the moment romantic and relaxing. Though she’s up for sex in the bath if you’re up for it.

M-Motivation (what turns them on?)

-You just being sexy or seductive. If you’re in an aroused position, then that will make her aroused. If you’re speaking seductively with a smirk on your face, then she’ll be turned on. Also touching. Like rubbing your hands against her thighs or waist. She also enjoys heated kisses on her mouth or neck, it’ll turn her on.

N-No (where do they draw the line?)

-Any actual pain. She’s okay with light biting and anything pleasurable. But nothing to far. She doesn’t want to hurt you and doesn’t feel comfortable inflicting any pain on you, or herself.

O-Oral (What their like giving/receiving)

-She’s good at it, a woman knows what another woman wants. Her tongue’s incredibly skilled, she could make you cum with just licking your thighs.

-She loves receiving oral. She’ll be holding back all her groans and moans as she’s practically sweating from the stimulation.

P-Pace (Are they Rough and fast? Or slow and sensual?)

-Most of the time slow and sensual. Though if you want rough then she’ll give you rough. She likes slow and sensual for herself though, she rarely asks you for it to be rough.

Q-Quickies (Their opinions, experiences, etc.)

-She’d rather not, but she finds herself using them sometimes. She does it with you sometimes at work if either one of you needs some sort of release. But she’d rather have you in bed with her and take her sweet time.

R-Risk (are they willing to experiment? Risks?)

-Risks are rarely or not ever taken. She cherishes her time with you and wouldn’t risk getting hurt, or getting caught. She’s willing to experiment different positions, styles, or habits though

S-Stamina (How long can they go for?)

-Normally, she can for about 2 or 3 rounds. But she can go for 4 or 5 sometimes if you both are really in the mood and need it.

T-Toys (do they use toys?)

-Sometimes but not often. She’d rather use herself (fingers, mouth, tongue, etc.) rather than be objects, but she’s up for it once in a while

U-Unfair (do they like to tease?)

-yes, she does. Though it’s not harsh or cruel, a few small jokes or words or actions but not to much.

V-Volume (How loud are they?)

-From quiet to medium. She’s not too nosy, she’s loud enough for you to hear though. She will get louder sometimes if you go rougher on her though.

W-Wild card(just a random headcannon for the character)

-She doesn’t show a lot of PDA, but sometimes during meeting with other overlords, when she’s sitting down with you, she’ll trial her fingers up and down your thighs.

X-Xray (what are they like underneath those clothes)

-She’s smooth, and if you already couldn’t tell, she’s pretty thin too. Uhh breast size, not so big either but it’s not like it matters.

Y-Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

-Not very high. She has a pretty low sex drive. She’s usually not in the mood or too busy. This doesn’t mean she doesn’t have desires, it’s just not often.

Z-Zzz (How quickly do they fall asleep?)

-She waits for you to fall asleep, wanting you to feel comfortable and safe in her arms. Though if you go hard on her then she’ll probably pass out before you, especially if you had sex on a busy stressful day.

[flowerandblood]

The Taste of Shame (5)

[ dom!modern • Aemond x friend sister • female ]

[ warnings: sex content, smut, angst, aggression, possessive behaviors, remorse, feeling of shame ]

[ description: Aemond works as a professional dom, fulfilling the various fantasies of his female clients - however, he guards his privacy and does not enter into any relationships with them, recognizing that he does not want or need it. It turns out that what he wants and what he doesn’t no longer matter when he meets his friend’s younger sister for the first time. Slow burn, sexual tension, doubts related to sex work. ]

Series & Characters Moodboard Aemond NSFW Alphabet

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

Next chapters: Masterlist

_____

Nothing more than kisses and cuddles happened between them that night, and although he was dying of lust and desire feeling her so close, he felt surprisingly good about waking up feeling her warm, soft hand stroking his cheek.

He lay there for a while with his eyes closed, just focusing on how pleasant and innocent the experience was, so far from what he had been doing for the last four years of his life.

He felt a kind of peace and fulfilment, a relief that she was still with him, that she had given him the chance to show her what he really wanted.

He opened his eyelids slowly and hummed quietly, stroking her back lazily with his large hand − she smiled sleepily at him, her loose hair in a slight disarray that, however, only added to her charm.

He pulled her close to him and kissed her in a drawn-out manner with a soft click − she purred into his mouth with a smile, surprised. He sighed, pressing his forehead against hers, devastated by the fact that they both had to go to their classes.

He texted her as soon as he arrived at the university, wishing her a good day and thanking her for giving him another chance, that he was happy and that, if that's what she wanted, they could meet without sex for now, just to be in each other's embrace.

For the first time in a long time, he felt proud of himself.

He felt mature.

They had agreed to spend the weekend together, maybe go to the cinema, have a beer at some pub or watch a series at his house, just relax together.

Like a couple.

He pressed his lips together with satisfaction just thinking about the fact that the more he was honest with her the more he got the feeling that things would work out, that they both had a weakness for each other and that maybe something would come of it.

He didn't like the fact that she kept lying to her family about spending this time at her friend's house, but he understood that she didn't feel ready yet, neither of them talking about anything officially recognising that it was a tad too early.

That evening when she arrived at his place they set off straight for his favourite pub housed in an old, eclectic building full of old photographs and paintings.

They sat at the bar; he liked that she was dressed as usual, in high-waisted trousers with her T-shirt tucked in − this didn't make him feel obliged to dress smartly, finding sitting in his black trousers and tight sweatshirt appropriate.

They ordered themselves a drink each, glancing at the TV hanging above them, news from their country was just airing. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, tapping his finger on the tabletop, and felt his heart squeeze when she noticed this and smiled at him.

He felt like kissing her, but refrained.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked lightly and he swallowed loudly, flinching as the barman handed them their orders − he took a quick sip of his whisky and grunted.

"About how… how I'm glad I told you about it all then, after the lecture, you know?" He hummed, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, feeling hot in his lower abdomen at the thought that she was so close, that he was going to spend as much as two days with her.

He swallowed hard feeling the throbbing in his trousers, trying not to think about the fact that they would be sleeping in the same bed.

She smiled gratefully at his words, lowering her gaze − he stared at her admiring under the light how long and shiny her eyelashes were when she sat in that position.

"− I'm very happy too − you surprised me, but I felt that you were stifling something inside you and that you were suffering − the very first day I saw you outside our house −" She said softly, taking a slow sip of her drink, looking up at him after a moment.

He was silent for a while, just looking at her gentle face, at the expression of serenity that shone from it, that somehow gave him a sense of security.

"− I suffered for many reasons at the time −" He muttered in a slightly trembling voice. "− mostly because I realised that because of what I was doing, I could never have you −"

"− you have me −" She said with embarrassment, her eyebrows arched in slight amusement and a kind of tender emotion. "− you have broken into my heart and fill it completely −"

He licked his lower lip involuntarily, looking at her intensely, feeling her words in the form of heat on his cheeks and in his trousers − he found to his dismay that he had become completely hard and shifted in his seat. He stared at her for a moment with his lips slightly parted, unable to get a word out.

I think I'm falling in love with you, he thought, but nothing came out of his throat.

Ignoring the other people standing and sitting at the bar beside them, he cupped her cheek in his free hand, leaned over and kissed her, clinging to her soft, moist lips for a long moment, hearing her quiet sigh of delight. Her fingers ran over his hand and then kissed it, in a gesture so tender that he felt ashamed.

He had done such fucked-up things with those hands, and now her innocent, warm lips were kissing him as if he were a saint.

He had no idea how he was supposed to keep his hands to himself this night.

They both grunted, seeing the other's gazes on them, and moved away from each other, changing the subject.

They chatted for a while about her studies and the new book on modern philosophy she was reading when suddenly someone patted her on the back, two guys and a girl stood behind her smiling.

"Hi! It's lovely to see you, what are you doing here?" Asked the one who touched her, embracing her − her eyes lit up in joy at the sight of them and she quickly greeted them, licking her lips, glancing at him uncertainly.

She didn't know what to say.

"We went out for a beer together." She said shyly.

He turned his head away, impatient, hating being the centre of attention, angry that whoever this guy was was touching her as if he had known her for years.

"Aemond, these are my friends from the year, Paul, Mark and Rose." She introduced each of them after a moment.

He looked at them warily and nodded, unsure how to behave, annoyed that they couldn't just have a peace and quiet.

"Would you two sit down with us? We could join tables." Said the other boy, who he had just found out was called Paul − he felt himself starting to boil inside, he had a feeling that frustration was clearly visible on his face.

"No, thanks, we've made an appointment for two." She replied quickly, clearly feeling uncomfortable herself, Paul laughed and raised an eyebrow.

"A date?" He asked amused.

He put down his glass loudly and turned to him standing up from his seat, towering over him, the boy swallowed loudly, looking at him startled.

"Yes, it's a fucking date, do you have any more questions? Anything else you want to know, to describe to you in detail the plan for our evening, or did you get enough information? Hm?" He growled with a hint of menace, stepping towards him, forcing him to step back − he felt the grip of her hand on his arm holding him down.

"Aemond, please, he didn't mean it, it was just a joke." She mumbled pleadingly, clearly terrified, grabbing his hand.

"Sorry, mate, I didn't mean to piss you off. It was stupid, my tongue's too long sometimes. Okay?" He asked embarrassed and frightened by how decisive his response was, reaching out his hand to him.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw that she was looking at him hopefully, with a plea that he behave as he should.

He struggled to swallow his pride and rage and grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly and warningly, looking him straight in the eye.

When he let him go the boy swallowed loudly, he and the other two moved towards the empty table wishing them a good evening.

They sat back down at the bar − he glanced at her seeing that she was pale, her hands trembling as she reached for her glass and took a sip of her drink.

"− I-I'm sorry about them − they're very nice, really −" She mumbled, and he swallowed quietly, fiddling with his glass, embarrassed by his sudden outburst, by the fact that he was acting like a jealous, insecure child.

He grunted without looking at her, rubbing the tip of his nose with the top of his hand.

"− I'm sorry too − for my outburst − I didn't mean to be unpleasant, I just − I just haven't seen you in a long time and I want to spend this time with you alone −" He choked out, licking his lower lip, feeling a squeeze in his stomach at the thought that she might think he was being aggressive and insane.

"I know. I want it too." She said softly and only then did he dare to look at her, her eyes expressing understanding and peace − he shuddered when she put her hand on his, leaning in, placing a soft, tender kiss on her soft skin.

As they were about to leave he hesitated and headed towards the table where her friends were sitting. He grunted quietly − Paul paused in mid-word and looked at him with concern.

"Sorry. My reaction was exaggerated. I didn't mean to be unpleasant." He said lowly, swallowing softly, looking away, feeling strangely exposed, his hands clenched into fists.

Paul twisted in his seat, looking at him surprised, and scratched his cheek.

"Come on, I shouldn't have joked like that. I hope you don't cross us off and maybe we can go out in a bigger group for a beer one day." He suggested. He hummed under his breath, nodded and headed for the exit.

As they left the pub he felt immediately as her warm, small hand grasped his and intertwined their fingers − he looked at her surprised, feeling that his cheeks were hot despite the coolness of the evening.

"− do you feel uncomfortable? −" She asked in a trembling voice, wanting to let him go, seeing his reaction − he quickly grabbed her again, entwining their fingers back together, squeezing her even tighter.

"− no − your hands are cold −" He muttered, not looking at her, just walking ahead, thinking only of how hard his heart was pounding.

He thought he felt like a teenager in high school who was holding the hand of a girl he had a crush on for the first time in his life.

Even though they had already slept together for some reason he now felt ashamed − there was something definitive in this gesture, some confirmation of what they both dared not talk about.

By the time they arrived at his flat it was late and they decided to go to bed. Watching her enter his bedroom in only his Tshirt he felt that he was all hard and swallowed with difficulty, looking away.

He wasn't sure he'd be able to bear it, he'd wanted her since she stepped into his doorway.

He put his arms around her as she snuggled into him, kissing the top of her head tenderly, stroking her smooth hair with his hand.

They lay like this in silence, however, he felt them both squirm, his manhood throbbed in his sweatpants and pressed against her body for a moment. He pulled away from her, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

"− I − I think I should sleep in the living room tonight −" He choked out with difficulty, feeling that he was hot, a cold sweat on his back − he had the impression that if he didn't leave the room immediately he would just throw himself at her.

She looked at him with furrowed brows, pain and defiance in her gaze.

"− why? − don't go −" She mumbled and he swallowed hard, looking her straight in the eye.

"− you know why −"

They stared at each other in silence for far too long − he felt them both breathing faster and faster, her puffy lips parted as his hands clamped tighter on her body.

He didn't know when her lips were on his, their fingers clenched painfully hard on their shirts − he pulled her to him and she moaned loudly into his throat feeling how hard he was, rocking her hips against him. They both began to pant into each other's mouths and with a quick, impatient movement he forced her to pull his shirt off her body.

"− fuck −" He growled looking at her bare flesh, her girlish curves, her soft breasts.

He didn't stop her when she reached for his T-shirt, looking at him pleadingly − he pulled it quickly over his head, throwing it to the floor, untying his sweatpants, looking at her with his mouth wide open, breathing fast.

"− will you let me ride you? −" She mumbled, trembling all over, her cheeks rosy with emotion.

He swallowed loudly and thought he would agree to anything to feel and cum inside her, desperate with desire, feeling like his cock was about to explode.

"− I − fuck, just come here −" He breathed out, laying on his back, gripping her upper arm and pulling her to himself. They looked at each other dreamily, panting loudly as she sat on top of him.

He tilted his head back and groaned low with pleasure as she guided the fat head of cock to her puffy slit, sliding it into her hot, fleshy core, not waiting a moment, resting her hands on his chest, her tight walls sucking on him greedily.

"− oh God − yes −" She mewled raising and sinking onto him with quick, sure slaps from which he ran out of breath.

He tightened his fingers on her waist, rooting into her with brutal, quick thrusts of his hips from which they both started to moan, her insides wonderfully tight and hot, all wet, allowing him to slide in and out of her with ease, making sure that with each of his thrusts his swollen manhood rubbed her where she needed it.

"− fuck − fuck − don't fucking stop −" He exhaled with difficulty, feeling that he had never wanted to come so badly in any woman before, slamming into her with quiet click of her moisture, his cock all slick from it, opening her wide again and again.

There was something final and raw about it, just pure desire.

"− Aemond − p-please −" She babbled, rubbing her upper wall with it's tip, each time she sank down on him giving his root a wonderful squeeze − his cock twitched and pulsed inside her every time she did this, in no other position had any woman teased him so wonderfully.

"− o-oh fuck − keep going − harder, right here, fuck, yes −" He gasped in pleasure, tilting his head back, feeling her speed up her pace − he clenched his fingers on the soft skin of her plump buttocks, forcing her to let him deep inside her, responding to her every motion with a thrust, panting loudly in desperate need of it.

He looked at her beautiful body glistening with sweat, her breasts bouncing softly with each of his stabs − he felt that he was a few pushes away from orgasm, her walls squeezing him like crazy, wanting to keep him inside her.

"− I-I − I'm gonna cum −" He choked out with difficulty, embarrassmed that his fulfillment was approaching so terrifyingly quickly, his cock twitched and throbbed heavily inside her as he rocked his hips, chasing his peak.

He gasped when her soft hand ran over his hot, sweaty cheek, their bare bodies slapping hard against each other again, again and again.

"− me too − oh God, Aemond, yes −" She mewled, tilting her head back with her eyes closed, moaning sweetly with pleasure, her plushy walls began to squeeze him, greedily sucking him inside.

He shuddered as he felt her insides clench on him in orgasm and just let go, filling her with his semen, clasping his hands tightly on her hips, rooting his seed deep inside her, gasping heavily with pleasure.

"− fuck-fuck-fuckkkk −" He mumbled, rocking his hips for a moment longer, feeling her hot body fall on top of him, her hot breath surrounding his face, her naked breasts pressed against his chest.

He slipped his hand quickly into her hair, the other stroking her back, panting loudly along with her, unsure if he had ever before in his life come as hard as he did now, when he was driven simply by pure, unbounded desire.

"− I'm sorry −" She whispered quietly, and he shook his head, not even having the strength to open his eyes.

"− no, baby − that was amazing −" He muttered, pressing his cheek against her head, focusing on how wonderful it was to be inside her, to feel her warm body with all of him, his half-soft manhood still twitching inside her. He hummed with contentment when he felt her moist lips brush his neck.

"Looks like we didn't last too long with our decision." She whispered with amusement and he snorted involuntarily, trailing his fingers down her bare back.

"Mmm."

They lay in silence, listening to the night sounds of the city outside the window and the quiet ticking of the clock, feeling at last relieved and at peace.

Something between them was different from their first night, the sex was different too, more open, wild, tender.

He realised that for the first time he had let go of control, allowed someone else to take the initiative.

Still, he didn't feel dominated or threatened − what she did was merely a manifestation of her desire, of how much she wanted him, letting him admire her, simply taking pleasure from her body.

He ran his fingers through her soft hair and hummed under his breath.

"We can do it again one day if you want. I enjoyed it." He murmured, placing a lazy, warm kiss on her forehead. She lifted her head and looked up at him, the tips of their noses almost touching.

"If you'd like to repeat what we did back then…you know, when I first came to you…then I think we could try it too. Once in a while." She said embarrassed, and he involuntarily licked his lower lip, unable to hide the dangerous gleam that appeared in his eye.

"− deal −"

______

Aemond Taglist:

(bold means I couldn't tag you)

@its-actually-minicika @notnormalthings-blog @nikstrange @zenka69 @bellaisasleep @k-y-r-a-1 @g-cf2020 @melsunshine @opheliaas-stuff @chainsawsangel @iiamthehybrid @tinykryptonitewerewolf @namoreno @malfoytargaryen @qyburnsghost @aemondsdelight @persephonerinyes @fan-goddess @sweethoneyblossom1 @watercolorskyy @randomdragonfires @apollonshootafar @padfooteyes

[dramarising-replacement]

Most of you have no idea how making a living with art actually works Your experience begins and ends with watching a generic popfur smut artists get 10k a month in passive income via patreon subs and cashapp donations and it shows In the professional art world if you take 40 hours a week to produce 1 digital piece you will be replaced laughably fast. Being expected to yield something after a 40 hour work week is not crunch culture, that's an average full time job. People I've worked with who make an income exclusively through art are capable of producing 6 12x12 water color landscapes a week and that's on the slower end. Hobby commissions =/= art as a full time job It's unreasonable to expect fully lined and painted art from a commissioner online to be done quickly. That's a completely different standard for completion time since most people who do commissions are only doing it on the side and aren't looking to enter professional spheres The site credits almost 20 artists. A significant few being "contributors" im not sure if they were hired on a one-off contractual basis to do one or two drawings and no more than that, but nearly all of them address themselves as active members of the art team so Im counting them as well. A lot of the apparel is copypasted, rotated and flipped. There is nothing wrong with this but it's a simple fact and it's efficient. I'm not sure why users get so angry about acknowledging this but I'm not arguing this point because it's obvious with the barest amount of looking. Undel sketched and lined a dragon in 5 hours in a stream where she was heavily distracted by chat and kept forgetting how to use her tablet. They dont' color by hand, they run it through a coloring program. All of this adds up to a system that should be more efficient than it is If this site can't manage to get a modern done more frequently than 1 every 5+ years then it's a sign of either gross mismanagement or they need to hire more productive artists "the artists are already bogged down/there's too much apparel" yet they release a new ancient every couple of months which increases their gene bloat and errors and decided it was a good idea to add 2 genes a month to the festival items. Those are not the choices of a struggling team. Nobody adds a few gallons to the tub when they're already drowning.

It's fine to think that the pace that they produce art is acceptable. If your standards and opinions line up with their output then you're entitled to feel that way. At least try to admit it's based on your personal preferences and opinions rather than a professional standard you clearly don't know anything about

[mrinafria]

Night on the balcony, OG vs ALT Seon Jae

[tw: death/killing]

It's a given that OG Seon Jae was murdered by the taxi driver but I've always been more curious about the how of it, because it was never shown to us. I really thought they'd shed some light near the end of the series but oh well. I won't complain because I got the epic rom-com ending of all times. But I think we can all agree that they deliberately left so many things out to give us the cutest fluffiest ending known to mankind lol.

A couple things that clicked as I was rewatching the ALT 2023 episodes recently, *coughs* for the 19th or so time *coughs*. There's this scene:

You see Seon Jae struggling with the taxi driver, who is trying to sedate him using that hanky since the moment he barges in. Of course there's something on it, which happens to be:

In the 2009 timeline, Tae Sung's dad and his partner at work talk about how the Taxi Driver's modus operandi is using animal anesthetics on his victims. We'll come back to this shortly.

A couple things to remember:

1. OG Seon Jae was already physically unwell when we see him post-concert. It was most likely a panic attack (was it because he saw the taxi driver? We'll never know why T-T). It's very likely he took medicines to calm his nerves. Some of these anti-anxiety/nerve-calming medicines can have the same ingredients as anti-depressants based on my experience, and one of the things they do is make you slightly drowsy, as a consequence of relaxing your nerves [disclaimer: please remember this is just based on my own experience and opinions I've seen people share. Medically there might be more to it.]

2. OG Seon Jae did not jump off on his own (because he is Seon Jae). However, that doesn't necessarily mean he didn't have depression. Im Sol's incident and him blaming himself ALL through 15 years is enough for anyone to spiral into it. Whatever little we saw, there were telltale signs of it, so it is possible he was under medication in the OG timeline (BUT he didn't jump off the balcony).

3. Basically, he was not in the best frame of mind when we see him in 2023, lost in thoughts of Im Sol and their unexpected meeting on the bridge, and then checking up on her secretly, as she gets back to her apartment. I won't get into details because I promised myself this was not going to be another one of my OG Seon Jae eulogies.

He was basically preoccupied with other thoughts and physically not in a good shape to put up a fight. Heck, he didn't even bother to pick up the call from his agency CEO or react to the doorbell right away.

UNLIKE THE ALT 2023 SEON JAE.

4. ALT 2023 Seon Jae had met Im Sol without any of the guilt and pain of OG Seon Jae.

5. ALT 2023 was already "in a relationship" with Im Sol (*giggles*) when we see him in the hotel room.

6. Unlike his OG self, he never seemed to have any panic attacks/mental health issues. He confirmed it himself when Im Sol kept asking about medicines/depression. He longed for Im Sol, but he wasn't in anguish, torturing himself for 14 years over something that never happened in that timeline. So he is perfectly well and capable of not going down without some struggle or fight when the taxi driver attacks him.

Now, going back to animal anesthetics.

[Disclaimer: I'm no professional and this is just something I learned. If any of you have a professional opinion about it, please let me know!]

I initially wrote off the chloroform trope for OG Seon Jae because it's detectable during autopsy. And according to the news, nothing suspicious showed up in OG Seon Jae's autopsy except for medicines.

Some animal anesthetics, however, are undetectable in human bodies, unless you're conducting specific toxicology tests if you are suspicious of something other than chloroform. I assume nobody did this specifically because no signs of struggle were found, giving no reason to suspect the cause of his death (again, we'll never know the specifics of toxicology tests done for Seon Jae's autopsy -_-)

If this progression of thought is right, something like this might have unfolded in the OG 2023 timeline:

7. Similar to ALT 2023, the taxi driver breaks into Seon Jae's hotel room. Seon Jae probably tries to fight him but he's not able to because of ^^^1-3 reasons. Taxi driver sedates him comparatively easily.

8. Once Seon Jae is unconscious (wow it's difficult to type this because my brain won't stop playing out this scene), taxi driver fixes the room so no signs of struggle can be found later.

9. Once he is done, he takes Seon Jae and throws him off *okay breathe*

10. Seon Jae's eyes are shut when we see him underwater. He is likely unconscious because of the animal anesthetics so obviously he can't swim or save himself.

That's a lot of conjecture going on in here lol but this at least helps me not to overthink this anymore. The only thing that's still bugging me: Everyone is busy checking out what happened with Seon Jae, so it may be possible the Taxi Driver manages to sneak in to delete the cctv footage somehow, but I'm not convinced myself. Why do I have a feeling the script actually had a different plan with the whole OG Seon Jae incident thing, and they just edited ALL of the other stuff out to make it more romcom-y? Again, no complaints, I LOVE they made it more romcomy, but I've already rewatched the series so many times, it's very hard to pass off all these things as nothing when I see they were trying to form a connection underlying the main plot.

Anyway.

[accio-victuuri]

xiao zhan - GQ February issue cover story 1-3

01 Relaxation

The studio is on the Huangpu River in Shanghai. Xiao Zhan was wrapped in a black down jacket, took off his shoes, and sat cross-legged on the corner of the sofa, looking very relaxed. The filming came to an end for the time being. Although he had been working continuously for more than 7 hours, there was no trace of fatigue on his face. This is a face that always attracts attention. A few months ago, the studio released a set of Xiao Zhan's birthday photos, and sharp-eyed netizens immediately noticed that his face had become "rounder." In order to play the role of Guo Jing in the movie "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" directed by Tsui Hark, Xiao Zhan gained weight before joining the cast. His cheeks were no longer so thin, and his figure was obviously stronger. In the photo, he had Wearing Hu hawthorn children, it shows a bit of vicissitudes of life.

Strictly speaking, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Greatest Man" is Xiao Zhan's second filmmaking. There are many previous versions of the character Guo Jing, and the pressure on him is obvious.

On the day of the cover shoot for "GQ", Xiao Zhan got up very early to go for a run. He couldn't help but think, my god, I'm going to lose muscle again after sweating so much. He debated whether to continue, and finally decided to run for 30 minutes. When the time came, he thought that body fat would start to be consumed after 30 minutes, so he ran for another 10 minutes.

It's all about work. "Actually, I don't want to run. running will lose muscles, but I have to run to reduce swelling." After the filming, he planned to do weight training again no matter how late it was. An actor's self-cultivation is to be ready to shape the image for the role at any time, but he must strictly control his diet and manage his body shape. Xiao Zhan regards both as professional standards and requires himself to do so.

Before meeting, I thought Xiao Zhan would be very cautious about interviews. To my surprise, Xiao Zhan had a rare sense of relaxation, answered all questions, and even had some humor. Mentioning that actors should observe characters in life, he commented on the sitting postures of several people present. When asked what he had not expected after joining the industry, his answer was that he could not eat whatever he wanted like his high school classmates.

The interview lasted nearly two hours. I was curious. In the past few years, Xiao Zhan has been under huge attention. What kind of experience has it been for him?

Xiao Zhan said that many times, he has forgotten this matter. It didn't cause him a lot of trouble in life. The most "cruel" thing may be, "You can't eat as much as you want." "

I still sneak out to ride a bicycle, take a walk, and do a CityWalk. Only once, just now in after walking in the alley for 5 minutes, I was recognized. I also sneaked into the cinema to watch a movie. No one will care about you, really. after leaving the Internet, many things will be solved easily. Sometimes the world is right in front of us.

He has a lot of things he wants to do, such as taking the subway and going to the mall. "I will really take the subway, maybe tomorrow. It's so normal. I used to do it every day. Take the subway." For Xiao Zhan, this is his real life. The voices on social media no longer bother him. "After all these years, I'm still bothered. Am I still alive? (Laughs) It's really okay."

At this stage, Xiao Zhan is very satisfied with his living situation, " I have a job, a life of my own, and an audience that likes me, so I have nothing to be dissatisfied with."

02 Becoming an actor

To some extent, Xiao Zhan’s sense of relaxation stems from his increasingly clear goals. The voices from the outside world no longer bothered him. He knew what he wanted and what he didn't want. Now, he is doing more subtraction for himself. In the past two years, he has rarely appeared in variety shows, taking the career of actor as his most important goal at the moment.

In 2023, three film and television dramas starring Xiao Zhan will be broadcast, and each role will be a challenge for Xiao Zhan. During the interview, Xiao Zhan said many times that he was "under a lot of pressure", and he said this almost when reviewing every stage. But his tone is light, without the heaviness of complaints, more like an analysis and summary afterwards. The reasons are often specific and objective: the first time he comes into contact with a performance without physical objects, the first time he takes the leading role alone, the first time he plays a modern drama...

"Where Dreams Begin" is a script that Xiao Zhan particularly likes. He likes stories about that generation very much. When he was a child, he watched some movies and TV series, such as "Days Related to Youth" and "Happiness Like Flowers". When he mentioned the 1970s and 1980s, he felt that the sun was bright and colorful. Many people say that Xiao Chunsheng is a perfect character, but in Xiao Zhan's opinion, this is his biggest flaw. He thinks this character is very interesting and wants to give it a try. Xiao Chunsheng is a young man from Beijing. How to express the character's momentum and speak authentic Beijing dialect is a big challenge for Xiao Zhan, who has lived in Chongqing since childhood.

Shiying's character in "Yuguyao" is aloof. Because he didn't want to live up to everyone's expectations for his costume look, Xiao Zhan tried his best to lose weight before joining the cast. ""Yuguyao" is a script I got in 2020. Among the things I can choose, this is the script with the most complete characters and the most delicate emotions. It is also very logical and self-consistent. It is my The best choice."

"Sunshine By My Side" is the script that Xiao Zhan has been exposed to for the longest time, starting at the end of 2019. Although Sheng Yang in "Sunshine By My Side" closely overlapped with Xiao Zhan's career before his debut, he had to move his life as a designer to the screen and act in a natural and convincing manner. "Modern dramas and life dramas are really an unfamiliar field." At first, he was too eager to finish his lines and memorized them so well that when he said them, it made people think that no one in life would speak like this. Later, he discovered that in modern dramas, The logic of where to break the lines and where to put the emphasis is actually very strong.

In the past few years, he has played soldiers, doctors, designers, and Beijing youths. "There are no special considerations, it all happens naturally." He rarely plays repeated roles. But when choosing a script, Xiao Zhan will not deliberately avoid themes that he has acted in before. He will just put himself in the audience's perspective to feel whether he can be moved by it.

In 2021, Xiao Zhan starred in the drama "A Dream Like a Dream", playing the role of Patient No. 5. On the day of the premiere, many topics related to the drama appeared on Weibo hot searches, becoming a phenomenon-level event in the drama circle.

Xiao Zhan hesitated for a long time about starring in "A Dream Like a Dream". There are many reasons for hesitation: he is from Chongqing, not from a professional background, the play cannot be negative, it lasts for 8 hours, "A Dream Like a Dream" is very famous, and there have been many classic versions of the role of Patient No. 5 before. But after reading the script, Xiao Zhan felt that he must act.

Drama is a very pure thing. Dozens or even hundreds of people gather in a space to tell a story. This is an experience that is impossible to bring about in film and television dramas. Xiao Zhan yearns for it. He began to recite his lines crazily, and moved himself to Tangshan to rehearse intensively with the entire crew for more than a month, grinding out one scene after another.

"I was very nervous for the first performance. I am still nervous now when I think about it. When Gu Xianglan rang the bell, I became excited." The moment the light hit him, Xiao Zhan felt that everything had stopped. He could not see the expressions of the audience under the stage. There was only white left in front of me.

Xiao Zhan adjusted his breathing and began to speak his lines. The director said that the actors in the opening scene controlled the rhythm of the entire story, so every time Xiao Zhan said that line, it was when Xiao Zhan was most nervous. As he spoke, he would gradually forget about his nervousness and let out a long sigh of relief after speaking. I thought, ah, it’s finally over.

Once, at the end of the first half of the performance, Patient No. 5 went on stage to find Gu Xianglan with a painting and an address, and had a long monologue. Walking to the middle of the stage, Xiao Zhan suddenly lost his voice. He couldn't remember the beginning of the next word. After hesitating for about 1.5 seconds, he chose to skip that word and continued. The audience shouldn't be able to tell, he thought. He didn't think of that word until the end of the show.

"I couldn't remember it when I got to the break room, so I turned over the script and saw that it was this word."

"Which word?"

"A very common word, for example, drinking pure water. What kind of water was I thinking about? Distilled water? Tap water? Boiled water ? I just can’t remember." Xiao Zhan replied.

Acting is a very profound knowledge. Xiao Zhan said: "We have only scratched the surface so far." When filming "Sunshine By My Side", the opposing actors were all experienced actors. In terms of acting skills, Xiao Zhan is still very immature and exerts all his strength. Too much force will easily leave performance marks. He told himself to "be less pretentious", feel everything the other party throws at him with his heart, and respond honestly.

Xiao Zhan once expressed that due to life experiences, it is difficult to understand many characters. He discussed this issue with his seniors, "Everyone has two opinions. Some people say that of course you have to go through it. Without experience, you don't have a picture. How can you act? What you act is all fake. Also there is a voice saying that everything can be solved by technology."

Xiao Zhan's own answer is, "act more and be exposed to all types of genres" and "cooperate with more good teams, actors, and directors."

"To be honest, what I can do now is to act what my mind can touch. It's really difficult for me to act something that I have no concept of at all. Maybe in the future, through a work or with more good directors, Working with actors can solve my confusion. I look forward to this day coming soon."

03 Breaking away

Relaxation is the side of Xiao Zhan. He can balance part of the pressure, but there is part of it that is difficult for him to resolve. Xiao Zhan doesn't sleep well. "It's very difficult for me to fall asleep, and I sleep very lightly. It's like sleeping and not sleeping, which affects my state the next day." Especially when he just joined the team and is in a state of high nervousness. In this state, he often dreams about filming on location and not being able to do it well.

When he goes to different cities, Xiao Zhan will bring the same type of pillows and quilts. "I will bring everything that can help me sleep well." He has also tried aromatherapy lamps, lavender essential oil, and various other products that make him fall asleep when applied on his body. Medicines, sprays that can be sprayed on the pillow to make him fall asleep, melatonin, and meditation music. Finally, he found that the best things that made him sleep well were eye masks, earplugs, and not looking at the phone, "because I know that if I look at it, then I will Don't sleep, just get up."

Not long ago, Xiao Zhan found an old book "Departure" at home. That was recommended to him by his company boss when he was working as a designer. The concept of organizing life described in the book made Xiao Zhan start to rethink what he wanted and what he should give up.

Xiao Zhan has a particularly axial side to his character, "If I insist on something that I think is right, it will be difficult to be convinced." For example, if he decides to be an actor, he doesn't want to do anything other than an actor, " Come on, let's debate. No one is right or wrong. The team is also for your own good. Isn't it a good thing to have a lot of work? But for me, I have to subtract because some things are really not what I want. "

Xiao Zhan's acting experience began with a story about "an older amateur chasing dreams in the entertainment industry." He participated in the talent show at the age of 24, learned dance from scratch, debuted as a boy band, acted in online dramas, and played supporting roles in theater movies. Until he became popular in 2019, Xiao Zhan also became a star that attracted attention.

When you decide to do something, you must try your best to do it well. This is what Xiao Zhan has been taught since childhood. When he was in junior high school, his family bought him a mobile phone. When he first started sending text messages, he often used spaces to replace punctuation marks. His father said to him sternly, "What about the punctuation marks? Why is there no period at the end of the sentence?" From that time on, Xiao Zhan paid great attention to punctuation marks.

Xiao Zhan has been competitive since he was a child, and he doesn't want to miss any opportunity when it comes to things he can control. When he was taking the bus to school, he would worry about the person on the bus who missed the stop because he fell asleep.

For things that he cannot control, he will remind himself not to argue and learn to accept them. Until then, do what you can.

When asked which drama Xiao Zhan worked hard for, Xiao Zhan's answer was surprising. He said: "Every one." Before becoming famous, he auditioned for many dramas and went through interviews to enter the final round. , I had already put on makeup to try out the scene, but was replaced. Of course, scripts will be handed over now, but Xiao Zhan always tells himself that people only have intentions and can hand them over to many people at the same time. When he encounters something he really likes, he will take the initiative to meet with the director and explain his understanding of the character.

[victusinveritas]

Writing advice from Nick Mamatas.

Some science fiction/fantasy creative writing students I have encountered, a field guide

1. World-Savers: these are generally older students, have no real interest in SF/F, are writing a book to express political or metaphysical ideas they consider to be radical and necessary for the future of life on Earth. In reality, they're writing long Platonic dialogues about their ideas, and authority from various culture and pop culture tropes (aliens, noble savages, fairies, resurrected presidents)–to the extent that their work has a plot at all, it involves a Christ figure transforming the world via a sacrifice. The ideas aren't very radical either: "pollute less" and "love your neighbor, unless they're a dick" are common. Occasionally the message for the world has to do with something more prosaic: reverse budgeting, the evils of Affirmative Action, the importance of installing solar panels, how dare Eileen divorce me and fuck like three guys in the six months after she moved out, etc. These students are utterly confused by actually existing SF/F stories they read, and often interpret them in bizarrely sexual ways. They don't believe in numbering the pages of their manuscripts, and often attempt to submit work in PDF so it won't be stolen.

2. Children with Money: recent college grads, or drop-outs, these people have read Harry Potter, Twilight, and perhaps three or four other best-selling young adult series and nothing else. They are easily upset, especially when someone suggests reading more. Their main interests are YouTube personalities, video games, and a sort of Puritanical pansexuality that actually makes smut boring. They often "forget" to read the work of other students, and have no idea how to use a printer. They warn the other students that their story might be "too intense" because it contains, for example, a depiction of a car accident. Their stories are routinely awful, and always contain a character named "Aidan." Sometimes their parents come to class to make sure I am "not a serial killer", as though they could possibly tell from looking at me. (Oh, "Mamatas" IS a white person name...I guess?)

3. Anointed Ones: They contact me, or the people running the workshop, beforehand, to make sure that "the class is right" for them. They have file cabinets full of their stuff, and after many decades of toil, they are ready to reveal their work to the world. They just need a mentor, and an ally—could I be the one they've been searching for lo these many years? Prior workshops were full of callow teachers and jealous students. Why they were only allowed to submit ten pages a week! Some of them have actually read fairly widely, but you wouldn't know it from their work: three adjectives per noun, a fetish for speech tags other than the word "said" or no tags at all. Often these stories include as characters philosophical prostitutes with very sensitive nipples. They never miss a class and often show up more than thirty minutes early. One time, I had to hide in a closet to avoid an extensive pre-class conversation with one.

4. Frightened Proles: These have read Stephen King and Dean Koontz and sometimes even horror writers from this century. They generally have working-class jobs and write about working people who encounter the supernatural on the late shift. They really hope they can sell their novel soon, but they know it'll take a lot of work. (Ten more drafts oughta do it!) They wear baseball hats to class and look like enormous eight-year-olds. They get very excited when I mention professional wrestling or do a taiji move in class. Their significant others are often nameless—"my girlfriend" "my wife." They buy my books and bring them to class for autographs. Some of them get published after, especially flash fiction.

5. Repairables: decent writers, often involved in the SFF "scene", who need to be fixed after a bad experience with Clarion or another workshop or an overeager editor at a semipro magazine who told them some idiot nonsense they decided to believe because they were told it was "unprofessional" not to consider editorial feedback. These either get published...or lost to MFA programs, video game jobs, fandom, podcasts, or other writing-shaped pursuits. Most of them are ferocious name-droppers; the ones who heard of me beforehand know to keep quiet though.

[singularsoldier]

Why Scout and Miss Pauling are a terrible ship

Alrighty, if you’ve been into tf2 for awhile, you’ve definitely seen this pairing pop up. This whole thing is probably gonna sound like I’m beating a dead horse, but I wanna give my full two cents on these two using canon material (comics, game, and Expiration Date). Before I dive in, my stance on these two is 100% never gonna change. Save the counterarguments and keep scrolling

VOICE LINES

In the game, Miss Pauling has a lot of voice lines both towards the individual mercs and to the player themselves. However, how she speaks to Scout vs everyone else is drastically different. Let’s look at Scout’s when given a contract:

Starting off, Miss Pauling is…pretty rude towards him. “Wrap up whatever you’re bragging about” “I’m assuming you’re talking right now. Please stop” and others. It’s evident that she doesn’t want to hear a word out of his mouth. As we all know, Scout talk A LOT, but if she liked him to any degree, she wouldn’t be this mean towards him. If anyone even tries to say “well maybe she’s mean bc she likes him” no. Sorry, not how healthy relationships work. If anything, that further proves my point on why they’re terrible together.

Now, lets look at other lines (I’m too lazy to add everyone):

See the major difference? Miss Pauling isn’t mean, rude, or dismissive. She’s friendly! She’s joking! Lines like these show that Miss Pauling considers Engie (and everyone else) her friends. Scout gets nothing like that.

By the way, Miss Pauling canonically hangs out with the mercs (and Saxton’s assistant Bidwell). When you look at her contract lines with everyone else (including Bidwell), she’s cheerful and having fun. Scout on the other hand? She’s a frustrated dungeon master because Scout wants to make a muscle wizard and won’t stop flexing.

My experience with dungeon masters has been “fuck it, be whoever you want”. I had the dumbest, weirdest characters, and the DMs didn’t care! That’s the fun of d&d (g&g for tf2). Miss Pauling not letting Scout have a buff wizard, and Scout not even trying to follow the rules, shows how incompatible they are. Neither of them are willing to make a compromise especially because of the fact that Scout’s a pretty narcissistic guy. He’s a pathological liar in the comics (which are coming up) to impress people. Who wants to date that?

Onto the congratulations:

Pretty standard, right? Nothing extraordinary or, honestly, anything outside of standard professionalism. Scout gets a quick thanks and the line goes dead.

For anyone else:

The other classes get something Scout doesn’t: enthusiasm. Miss Pauling is beaming in her lines for the other classes. Also, Scout has the least amount of congratulations (only 5) out of everyone. Miss Pauling also says to a few other classes “i owe you one” and “i knew you could do it”. Again, ten times friendlier than how she speaks to Scout. If she liked Scout, she would have similar lines or ones that are even a bit flirtatious. Nope. Nada.

COMICS

If you’ve only played the game, you’re missing out! The comics are great (and unfinished), and they also reveal more of how Miss Pauling engages with Scout. For example:

Immediately stopping him from talking again, and straight up letting him get hanged. If that was my crush, I would, you know, not let go so they don’t die. She has very little regard for Scout outside of “annoying guy I work with”. Hell, she canonically spends more time with virtually every other class (aside from Engie obviously and maybe Medic) than with Scout. Another thing in the comics:

This right here. Scout has been working for Mann Co. for six years (meaning he joined at 21). In six years, Miss Pauling has made zero indication of liking him. What person goes six years without even trying to flirt or even hit on with their crush? Especially when Scout is VERY LOUD about his infatuation. Even the biggest introvert would jump on that free chance.

Oh, another thing! When Scout tries to get some alone time with her (while fighting for their lives) she turns him down. Pauling would rather watch Soldier and Zhanna fight naked while cover in honey than go with Scout (who wouldn’t?) which, when you think about it, caused Scout’s death because he faced the Spy bots alone. Sorry Scout, ass and tiddies are more important than you!

EXPIRATION DATE

The long adored sfm video. While the video pretty much cements Scout’s feelings for Miss Pauling, it also cements her lack thereof. Lets dig in:

First off, we know that Scout only had the bravery to ask her out because he thought he was dying. How does he invite her? By setting off the briefcase alarm!

As Miss Pauling says, it’s “the one button he’s never supposed to touch”. Not only that, but it wasted her only day off of the year. A fact she is visibly pissed about and refers to a couple times. Scout was pretty selfish to do that. Another thing, Pauling repeatedly refers to the “date” as a prom. (“Are you guys having a prom?”) She literally had no idea Scout was asking her out. Why? Lets face it, she would say no or dismiss him yet again. Even Scout knew that, so he faked a literal emergency that forces her to visit. Once again, lying to try and impress her with a date.

So, Scout comes up with an elaborately self centered plan to get Miss Pauling to come to the base, and when she wants to storm out, he desperately tries to save face with dinner. Cue our bread monster fight where Scout confesses that he likes her. And her response? Nothing. Throughout the whole sequence, Miss Pauling doesn’t answer or even respond to a word he says. You’d think if you were in mortal danger, you’d tell your crush “i love you! Now help me kill this bread monster”

At the end, Scout says “so its a date?” To which our beloved Miss Pauling says, “well, no. You did waste my one day off”. Not only that, but Pauling even offers for him to join her on missions, which he instantly says no to. Idk about you, but I’d bury bodies with my crush any day of the week. The fact that Scout was offered multiple chances to even be near Miss Pauling willingly, yet turned them down, is pretty telling of his character.

Scout wants a date, yes, but how he envisions it. Typical candles and pretty lights with a pretty girl. Meaning, what he enjoys and what he sees their romantic life being like. Not shaving off fingerprints or hiding bodies. Things Miss Pauling does literally 24/7. You know, things she likes doing. Its evident in her vacation lines that she wants to go back to work and that she isn’t a fan of vacations. Once again, Scout’s selfishness stops him from getting anywhere near the girl he’s obsessed with.

So, we have: Pauling doesn’t want to hear Scout’s voice, she’s barely cordial with him, she sees Scout as at best a coworker, and she was, indirectly, responsible for his death. (Note: not making this into A Point, its just fucking hilarious).

All in all, these two have no chemistry. Scout has a six year long obsession, and Miss Pauling has a six year long distain for our quirked up white boy. Their whole dynamic is the age old “dumb jackass loser wants pretty girl” and lets face it, we’re sick of that. Scout couldn’t even come up with a reasonable, honest way to see Miss Pauling in person. He selfishly wanted a date (that fits his myopic view of what dating Miss Pauling looks like) and didn’t care how he got it.

I’m not trying to attack anyone with this post. Its a ship analysis, and I hope it at least points out the major flaws between them. Unless Scout changes his entire personality (he won’t), Miss Pauling is never gonna like him.

[elegantjellyfishwerewolf]

Why I don't like "Wizards"

In general, I think that the "Stories of Arcadia" began to slide after the release of "Three from Heaven", but more on that later. In this post there will be many comparisons of "Wizards" with "Trollhunters" due to the fact that they are a direct continuation.

1. The first thing I didn't like was that the narration was too fast, and if this is still acceptable in the first series, then in the rest such narration begins to annoy, because it does not allow you to delve into the story and concentrate on at least one action.

For example, already in the second series, a lot of things happen: the arrival at Arthur's castle, the interaction of Claire and Morgana, the acquaintance of Jim and Deya, Steve becomes a knight, the trolls escape from Camelot. Of course, there are episodes in which the narrative goes normally, for example, in 4 episod, but basically the story does not have the ability to concentrate on one moment and continues to throw out new information to us.

2.The second problem, for me personally, is the characters. 1. I really didn't like that Steve's intelligence was cut so much, he wasn't a very smart character before either, but he could still come up with interesting ideas to solve problems (for example, when in the second season he guessed to use umbrellas to help trolls), but then they made a complete jerk out of him who, throughout the entire viewing, only irritates with his tantrums. If you remove him from the series, literally nothing will change, because his "knight's arch" didn't really lead to anything. After the battle of Kilahed Bridge, he says he will continue Lancelot's cause and bring back the Knights of the Round Table, but in the end he did nothing of it. 2. Another character who, in my opinion, has become worse in "Wizards" is Claire. I'm the only one who thinks that in the two weeks she spent in Camelot, she became too good at using shadow magic, considering that she studied with Douxie, who himself said he didn't understand anything about shadow magic. And even after becoming such a professional magician, for some reason she still can't guess to open a portal under Jim and only then, after escaping from the fortress of the Secret Order, try to bring him to his senses, BUT NO! Instead, she tries to convince Jim to enter the portal himself, and when she tries to open the portal under him, Morgana has already arrived by then, and she has to retreat. 3.The third character is Douxie. I immediately say that I do not hate him, the only thing that confuses me is his age. He is 900 years old, just think about this figure! And with all this, he behaves like a teenager who is 18-19 years old. The authors are trying to show us that he has changed since the events in Camelot by showing his younger version, but these changes can happen in a maximum of 2 or 5 years, BUT NOT IN 900 YEARS!!!! While watching it, the thought did not leave me that it was a 900-year-old man who, for some reason, continues to behave like a teenager.

4.Morgana. After The Wizards, I hated her. The authors tried to make her an ambiguous character, but in the end they created a bunch of plot holes. In Wizards, she says she wants to help all magical creatures, but in Troll Hunters, when Angor asked her for help, she tricked him into serving her and killing Merlin's champions. She also stole troll children and used creepy experiments to turn them into changelings (also against their will). Yes, even in the series itself, she contradicts herself when she gives Gunmar a sword that can control the mind. 5. The secret Order. I have no doubt that the authors came up with these characters only when they were writing the script for "Wizards", and that they did not exist initially. Because after the battle on the Kilahed Bridge, they say they will now try to change the world. AND THEY DECIDED TO DO IT ONLY AFTER 900 YEARS!!! SERIOUSLY!!!!!! You say that they have been recovering all this time, but I will say that only Belrog needed to be restored, and the rest of the Order members could try to carry out their plan to steal the seals alone. AND WHERE WERE THEY WHEN GUNMAR AND MORGANA ARRANGED ETERNAL NIGHT?!!?! I very much doubt that magicians of their level would not have felt such a strong release of magical energy.

3.Plot holes. There are too many of them! Literally in every episode I noticed one or another plot hole. Of those that were very noticeable: 1. Deya could not be the first hunter because Kanjigar said that troll hunters tried to kill Gunmar many times, but never won. 2. Morgana couldn't create a changeling in a couple of days, which also grew so fast. 3. When the moment came to conclude a deal between Angor and Morgana. 4. Creeper's poison created the Order of Janus, changelings could not create an order in a couple of days, and Morgana could not create such a number of changelings. 5.In the third season of trollhunters there was shown the battle of Merlin and Morgana and it had happened not only in another place but also there was no Douxie on the scene. 6. Blinky said that the confrontation between Merlin and Morgana lasted for centuries, as a result, it happened within a couple of days.

There were also many minor inconsistencies in the plot: 1. The battle on the Kilahed Bridge was different from the one we were shown in the third season of "Troll Hunters".

2. The design of the Deya is different from the statue in the forge of heroes.

3. WHY THE HELL CAN MORGANA OPEN PORTALS WITHOUT A STAFF?! Then why didn't she just create a portal in the finale of the third season and fly out of it? 4. The process of creating the amulet is different from what we were shown in the third season.

5. Where did Belrog get the staff of shadow if it was destroyed in the finale of the third season? AND WHERE DID THIS STAFF GO AFTER THE EIGHTH EPISODE?!! 6. The hand that is used to create the amulet is also different from the one that was shown to us in "Troll Hunters".

7. During Morgana's incarceration, she was wearing a helmet and a raincoat. 8.Wendel's appearance is also different from the one that was shown to us in "Troll Hunters".

(This is probably going to sound like a quibble, but why didn't Jim react to Draal in any way?)

And this is the main reasons why I can't perceive wizards as a direct continuation of the trollhunters series.

4.Of course, there were moments in this show that I liked, for example, the acquaintance of Blinky and Aarrg, the storyline of Merlin and Douxie, but, alas, the cons in this show outweighed the pros for me.

[ohanny]

I've been waiting for this show since last year because they kept marketing it as poly and I won't let them cop out because if they do I will set something on fire so here's my personal step by step plan on how we get these three together:

1. Seiji, who has been shown to be really decisive about his moves, pursues Ken who is way more cautious and turns him down because Ken really fucking wants to but NEEDS this job and he's scared and Seiji is bummed but he gets it and gah all the sexual tension on stage.

2. Enter Pan and basically where we are when the show starts and Ken realizes he might have fucked up and underestimated exactly how many feelings he has.

3. Ken confronting Seiji about his thing with Pan with a "It is forbidden, the laminated rule board says so" and Seiji is all "Oh for fucks sake grow up, Ken" and when Ken looks at him like a hurt puppy "But -" Seiji is like "But what? Was I supposed to wait for you forever?" before walking off.

4. Ken corners Pan in some broom closet or whatever. Pan's like "Uh?" and Ken's like "Seiji. He's not some fun thing you can experiment with, okay? So if this is like some gay awakening or whatever -" and Pan's like "It's not! I really like him, okay!" and he's all defensive and genuine and then a bit baffled because Ken looks... sad? And then Ken looks at him with his big wet brown eyes all "Good. You have no idea how lucky you are" and walks off and Pan is like "... huh?"

5. Pan goes to Seiji like "I know this is none of my business but it was kinda made my business so uh... is Ken your ex or something?" and Seiji is suspicious all "What the fuck did he say to you?" and Pan is like "He just wanted to make sure I was being serious and I am!" (Seiji smirks and Pan blushes) "But then he got a bit weird and just... told me how lucky I am to have you?" And then Pan watches Seiji get that same kinda sad look in his face before shaking his head and wrapping his arm around Pan with "Nah, we never had anything. He's just being Ken."

shockingly step 6 might involve Pan having ALL the brain cells because 6. Pan as a professional university dude shipper internet kid being able to do the math about this weird pining + sexual tension going between Ken and Seiji. And then he has to have a moment of introspection because a) he hates all the girls hanging all over Seiji but b) he does not hate watching Seiji and Ken be all over each other on stage. So maybe to test this out, he invites Ken to crash his planned date with Seiji and he's all "Oh, he's your best friend! We should all hang out together!"

7. Them getting drunk in some bar and Seiji getting handsier by the minute and Ken is like "Yeah, I'm just gonna head home ._." and Pan is like "Booooo, don't you like me?" and Ken's like "I like you kiddo but I really don't need to see this" and Pan pouts because he's a baby and then he suddenly grins and jumps up all "You can't leave before a good night kiss!" Before Ken can do much, Pan plants a big one right on his lips and then shoves Ken at Seiji like "Seiji too!" And Seiji is smirking a bit because when does he not and also Pan is adorable but then Ken is at his face with those big brown eyes and suddenly it's not all that funny anymore? And then Ken is kissing him, soft and careful and oh and Pan's like "Oh yeah. I am definitely into this. Noice."

8. Nothing more happens because well, Pan is drunk as fuck and Ken is a gentleman and all but next morning when Pan wakes up in bed with Seiji, Seiji's like "So how much of last night do you remember?" and Pan's like "Kissing Ken... oooh I remember" and when Seiji's like ... Pan is like "Oh come on. Don't tell me you don't want to?" and when Seiji's like "It's not that simple" Pan is like "It actually is if you're not dumb about it" and Seiji's like "I think Ken was wrong. I'm lucky to have you" and Pan's like "BOTH of you are, I am amazing!"

9. Pan showing up at Ken's door all "Hi! I am here to take you out!" and Ken's like ".... I am so confused right now? Where's Seiji?" and Pan's like "Working on his abs with Great which means I am bored and since I would rather die than go on a stairmaster, I decided we will get to know each other better!" and Ken just.... goes with it because he seems like a pretty chill dude although he is kinda moving with the energy of someone expecting a bomb to drop and then at the end of the evening Pan's like "Let me take you home" and Ken's like "That's Seiji's place?" and Pan's like "Yeah, I don't really put out until the third date but Seiji totally does and I wanna test my hypothesis on exactly how much I like to watch you two... unless you don't want to! In which case we can just... watch a movie or something!" and Ken's like oh fuck it and kisses Pan who fist bumps in glee and god it's so dumb but also adorable.

10. They live happily ever after and all love each other and shower together and save TWICE as much water like the environmentally friendly gays they are, the end.

[pliablehead]

Heyo, what do you consider the top 5 must-watch EE interviews???

I AM SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO ANSWER THIS and I think it's because I really don't have a proper answer!! So much of my deep dive into EE was done in one long hyperfixation spiral back when I was first getting fangirl-level into them, a good 6 or 7 years ago, and so I'm running into the problem of most of the interview content I've consumed all sort of homogenizing into one sort of blur of Lore that I've internalized and I am not doing a great job at separating out into its individual components! So, that said, the following list is probably not in line with what I'd actually ultimately believe to be the best, most crucial ones--it's just the ones my brain can call to mind at the moment. lol. BUT HERE ARE SOME:

serious/insightful: • Jon and Alex for Tape Notes podcast. (so not a must-watch so much as a much-listen, but there are a few individual clips from this on youtube in video form as well I believe.) RDF is my favorite EE album and I thought this was a hugely interesting look into their writing process and also had a bunch of cool personal stuff in it! Plus, I think it's a very good look at who the band are, like, "now" -- there's a lot of great content around from MA up through GTH, but by the time they were on album 4 and all like, 30+, and especially once covid hit and sort of changed the trajectory of like.. bands, in general, I feel like it's just been a different animal re: regular interviews etc. • this 2013 3-parter with Jonathan. It's been ages since I watched it but I remembered it almost immediately, and for some reason I'm remembering it as an oddly vulnerable Jon moment. just talking about things. (more good band lore! etc.)

funny/meme-y: • Mike and Jez at Isle of Wight. Unlike many others, I could not possibly count how many times I have rewatched this, and it is funny every time. The interviewer is a buffoon asking totally clueless questions and Jez is having absolutely none of it, he's just chomping his chewing gum the entire time, Mike's doing his best, it destroys me. • Mike and Jez look at memes. Less interview-y and more just #content but whoever edited this video did a TOP NOTCH JOB and it's one I often show to not-in-this-fanbase friends that can still be a fun look at the band and a good laff. • This very sweet one with Alex and Mike being interviewed by a literal child. Contains the infamous "Jeremy, and yes," which is one of my most quoted EE-related sentences ever • this Man Alive track-by-track, also audio only.. the BITS that Jon and Alex are doing. truly incredible stuff

just lads having a nice time :) : • the CAPSLOCK ON talkback - lots of pleasant band and lyric insight, and a great Jez cheese moment at the end • this livestream dot com session is some performing but some Q&Aing, so not really an interview proper, but the energy in the room is delightful alskdghj

other noteworthy bodies of work: • anything with Andy Backhouse. I'll be the first to admit that Andy can grate my nerves sometimes, he often feels annoyingly a little too simp-y or something, but the other side of that coin is that as a huge fan of the band he actually does always ask them questions that are like, Real, he Gets them, so it's guaranteed to be a notch up from just random music journos who are engaging with them on a more surface industry level. Nothing is more frustrating than watching an EE interview where the interviewer just so blatantly doesn't "get" EE's whole deal and doesn't know how to interface. Andy never has that problem ! • any episode of Chips of Chorlton that features them (I think Jon's been on twice and Jeremy once). Dutch Uncles are their friends and hearing them all shoot the shit in an extremely comfortable environment is suuuuch a pleasant and wholly different experience than when the lads are being Professional Music Band guys, even when the latter still consists of them doing fairly goofy things

A VERY LONGWINDED AND NOT ESPECIALLY COMPREHENSIVE ANSWER ?? !!!!! Ultimately I think I was the wrong man for the job. @hellkitepriest has way more of an archivist's nature sort of just intrinsically than I do, he can probably do a better and less ridiculous job akjdshglak

[traintrainingmontage]

Skarloey Appreciation Essay: Interpersonal Intelligence

I know that I still have several ficlet ideas to write, but instead, have an analysis. This one's about Skarloey, mostly because he's my absolute favorite, but also because there's a lot to say about him. This is primarily based off of the Railway Series and Model Series seasons 1-5, since they're what I'm most familiar with (although it's been a while since watching the show, so please pardon me if I miss anything from that perspective).

For this analysis, I want to briefly mention how the various sagely characters excel in different types of intelligence. Some know a lot about the world and are happy to share their knowledge (Edward), while others are highly experienced and have that experience to fall back on when trying to guide and help others (Toby). However, out of all of them, I would argue that it's Skarloey who has the best interpersonal intelligence, in that he's great at creating healthy relationships between himself and others, and by extension, maintaining a measure of relative peace on his railway.

Interpersonal intelligence is defined as "the ability to understand and interact effectively with others. It involves effective verbal and nonverbal communication, the ability to note distinctions among others, sensitivity to the moods and temperaments of others, and the ability to entertain multiple perspectives" (University of Tennessee).

To start, I'd like to give some examples of how Skarloey is good at this. Skarloey is a "do no harm, but take no shit" kind of character. When done well, this kind of character tends to be highly compelling. (In fact, Toby could also be classified in this way, albeit differently flavored.) Some Skarloey-specific examples include:

-Skarloey scolding the coaches after they sabotage Sir Handel (Old Faithful). Skarloey essentially scolds them for endangering the passengers, and when they try to blame Sir Handel, Skarloey's not having it. What's particularly notable is that he doesn't take sides here; he doesn't validate the coaches' feelings nor does he defend Sir Handel. Instead, he focuses on their professionalism, and the coaches really don't have anything to say in their defence.

-Building on the previous point, this whole event, especially with Skarloey pushing himself on the passengers' behalf, resonates with Sir Handel. It ends with Sir Handel thinking that "Skarloey is the best engine in the world," which is high praise coming from an engine that referred to Skarloey as "rubbish" in his debut (Sir Handel). It's almost a shame that Skarloey left for six years to be mended, as if he'd stayed, a number of Sir Handel's more overbearing qualities might have been ironed out sooner.

-Skarloey's own character growth is also on full display in terms of the way he treats others. The worst comeback he actually has in the RWS, toward anybody, is when he says to Sir Handel that all respectable engines want to work, and then immediately follows that up with advice for Peter Sam (Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady). Every other time another engine says something rude or ridiculous, Skarloey says nothing and winks at some other engine, or keeps it to himself ("Rusty told Duncan about the bad bit of line, and warned him to be careful. 'Huh!' he grunted, 'I know my way about, thank you! I don't need smelly Diesels to tell me what to do.' Rusty looked hurt. 'Never mind,' said Skarloey, 'you've done your best.' He said no more, but he thought a great deal.") (Rock n' Roll). He's come a long way from the hot-tempered engine who threw petty insults at Rheneas (Stick-in-the-Mud).

-Skarloey delivers lessons in ways that aren't just "you shouldn't do this because I said so." This way of giving advice to headstrong engines often gets ignored, as seen when other sagely engines try it. Instead, he takes a more cunning approach, as seen by his tactic of goading Sir Handel into facing off against George (Steam-roller). There are other engines who are cunning, certainly (just look at Donald and Douglas, or some key Thomas moments), but they don't really try to pit other engines against each other. The only other one who does in a notable way is Diesel, and he's not really protagonist material for most of the series.

In this case, the other engines (let's be real, it's Peter Sam and Duncan) are fed up with Sir Handel's boasting, so they tease him. However, he just shrugs them off. By contrast, Skarloey recognizes that trying to be straightforward won't work, so he decides to appeal to Sir Handel's pride in the hopes that he and George might teach each other a lesson. It's a strategy that ends up working exceedingly well, and also doesn't undermine his standing with Sir Handel himself. Honestly, Skarloey can be a little bit devious and that's such a fun character trait (it shows up again when Skarloey just doesn't tell the others that Culdee's Godred story is made up (Bad Look-out), choosing to let them stew and perhaps be a little more mindful of their behavior, and those moments are some of my favorites).

-Skarloey earnestly compliments others when they do well. He's incredibly grateful to Rusty for fixing the track, and tells him so. He speaks earnestly about Rheneas, and compliments Culdee upon hearing about his railway. Not a lot of other characters do this unless under duress or when they feel bad for taking things too far! In fact, tying into this point is that Skarloey doesn't kick others when they're down (see above), and stops the other engines' teasing when it gets out of hand (Peter Sam and the Prickly Problem).

There are certainly other examples of Skarloey's excellent character (one of my favorite character traits of his is how he owns up to his mistakes and even talks about them as proof of how he's grown instead of trying to hide shameful moments from his past, making him more relatable), but I'll instead pivot to why he's my go-to for a shining star of interpersonal intelligence by comparing him to some of the fandom's other favorite sages.

-Edward is probably the most wholesome character in the whole series. He's kind, he's giving, he doesn't complain, and you just want the best for him. However, he's also been worn down by life to an extent. His coworkers are often rude to him for no reason, even while they begrudgingly respect him, and unlike Skarloey, who is undoubtedly the moodmaker on his railway, Edward simply isn't; Gordon is. While I feel bad that Edward is treated this way, I also can't help but wish that Edward would have stood up for himself and others more, particularly in the early days when the railway's culture was still being figured out, because everyone on the NWR always has something to prove. It's super fulfilling when Edward proves his worth and shows that not only is he still useful, but that he has an unmatched will. However, while letting his actions speak for themselves is great, all he's really done is prove that he too can still run with the young'uns. He's earned their respect in terms of his abilities, but not their respect for his authority as an experienced engine with good advice to give, or their respect as an equal, really. He's a coworker who's shown that he can handle his work, but his opinion doesn't hold as much weight as theirs.

Perhaps part of this is that Gordon is a physically larger engine with an ego to match (after all, size DOES matter in the inherent engine pecking order, and the Skarloey Railway engines are all the same size so that's much less of an issue). Perhaps it's that Edward simply isn't confrontational, and would rather just let a lot of this slide. Perhaps another part of it is that the NWR just has so many more engines now and without that groundwork, it's very unlikely that the railway's culture can be changed at this point without a lot of effort from multiple engines. However, everybody constantly picking at each other's old wounds and feeling defensive all the time does not lend itself to a kind railway. Edward just doesn't stop that nonsense in its tracks the way Skarloey does, and he doesn't really come to the defense of some of the smaller engines. He moreso manages the fallout and is a counselor for the others, reactive but not necessarily proactive. Edward is a kind, nice character, and I absolutely adore that about him, but he often comes across as just rolling with the punches or being a shoulder to cry on for the others instead of taking a proactive role in setting the other engines straight. (To be fair, what he needed most was James or Henry having a character arc that would let them get out of the shadows of their inferiority to Gordon or their own selves/circumstances and back Edward up more often so that people actually heeded and respected his advice, but that's hardly Edward's fault.)

-Toby, on the other hand, takes no shit from anybody and will bite you if you give him grief. That's also a great character trait, but it has the side-effect of making him difficult to get along with. He's filled with great advice, but the other, haughtier engines don't want to listen so Toby doesn't want to give it; he's happy to watch them fail abysmally and come crawling back. I absolutely love Toby as a character, but these kinds of people are rather difficult to get along with in real life. I find that Toby and Duck are particularly similar in this regard; they don't take shit from the other engines, but come off as more prickly for it. Everyone except their closest friends are coworkers at best, and so they also don't necessarily improve the vibes of the railway as a whole. Toby and Edward are two ends of the spectrum, two extremes in this regard.

Thus, to me at least, it's Skarloey who wins out in terms of being the most interpersonally intelligent sage character, who makes his railway a good place to be for everybody on it. He uses a couple of different strategies to help other engines see sense, whether it's being straightforward with them, using a story as an example, or cajoling them a little bit. He scolds others when necessary, but doesn't use their shame as ammunition and doesn't tear them down. People may not like the story "Pop" Special because it makes Duncan seem too nice, but I like it in the sense that it shows how decades of being around people who are good to you and treat you well can lead to an insular, angry person becoming kinder and more thoughtful. Who made that the culture on the railway and enforced it? Skarloey.

Like I said at the start, this analysis is limited to the Railway Series and Model Series seasons 1-5, so I'd love to hear others' opinions on what I've put forth here. I hope you enjoyed; ficlets to come soon(-ish)!

[babovens]

MP100 Theatre Kid AU

Welcome to the AU that takes all my theatre experience and shoves it into the mp100 cast members (pun intended) because Teru is the definition of that theatre kid and I have thoughts.

This is Teru and Shigeo’s character sheets, but I’ve got ideas for Reigen, Ritsu, Shou (definitely a tech kid), Serizawa, the BIC (stage crew), the telepathy club, and even Claw. (And maybe Mogami?)

Teruki “Teru” Hanazawa

Background:

He grew up being ignored by his parents and classmates. Nothing he did got their attention, no matter how big or small. Good grades were expected and getting in trouble got him shunned even more.

During music class in elementary, his music teacher, Koyama-sensei, announced their class was doing a short musical for the annual cultural festival and it would have some solos.

Teruki wondered if that would get him some attention, even a small amount.

He wasn’t expecting his audition to get a standing ovation.

That applause was the birth of his performing obsession (he was finally being seen).

He was quickly taken under Koyama’s wing who introduced him to the theatre troupe he was a part of: Seasoning Stages run by Touichirou Suzuki.

Teruki auditioned for the troupe and was immediately praised by Touichirou, saying that he had a gift. That he was special.

No one had ever said he was special before.

He was accepted into the troupe on the spot (because a certain Shou Suzuki was sick of the troupe and the type of people in it).

Shortly after, Touichirou signed off on his equity card at 13, and he decided to make his stage name just “Teru”. It was still him, but it was different. New.

He’s followed all of Touichirou’s advice of keeping your friends close but your competition even closer.

That way, when the time came for auditions, he could hit them where it hurt (intimidate the newbies and psych out the upperclassmen).

As far as he was concerned, he had made it. He was working professionally, he had friends (not really but don’t tell him that), and he was on his way to even better opportunities (Broadway?). What could possibly go wrong?

A certain boy with a bowl cut steals the lead from right under his nose that’s what.

Character Traits:

That Theatre Kid™

President of Black Vinegar’s Drama Club.

Tenor high-belt for days.

Very good relative pitch, but not perfect pitch.

Corrects those who spell “theatre” with an “er” instead of an “re”.

Sings/hums along during professional productions when in the audience.

Upset if he’s not the last one featured during bows.

Will blow a gasket if you say “the m word” backstage (Tome does this just to piss him off).

Gives “tips” to other actors (“Not to start drama or anything, but Inukawa, you’ve been doing that kick on 5 and 6 instead of 7 and 8. Yeah, it looks really bad.”

“Do you even know what a triple pirouette is?”

*Checks phone for the 1000th time for the cast list*

Specialty: Mega-Musicals/Pop (New Style)

Shigeo “Mob” Kageyama

Background:

Loved to sing Ritsu to sleep when they were little.

Discovered he had perfect pitch during music class as a first-year elementary student.

He didn’t mind others asking him to sing, but he was more focused on his singing getting Tsubomi’s attention.

Ritsu mentioned interest in the school musical, and so Shigeo took to the stage, hoping that would pique Tsubomi’s interest.

However, he quickly learned that the other kids in the show were not very welcoming to new kids. Especially new kids that got a lead on the first try.

They couldn’t target him because of the teachers favoritism towards Shigeo, so they targeted Ritsu (who got in the chorus) instead.

The kids struck during the final performance, but it went further than they anticipated.

What was supposed to be humiliation via bag of flour dumped on Ritsu turned into a loose stage light jostled one too many times falling.

They were lucky it hit his leg.

Shigeo’s normal performance nerves turned into full on stage fright after that.

Shigeo doesn’t do solos anymore.

He still participates in shows, but feels out of place, even in the ensemble.

When asked why he still does theatre despite his apparent disinterest, he simply replies, “because I don’t know what else to do.”

Music is all he’s ever known, and he isn’t sure what else he’s good at. He doesn’t know what else there is for him.

Meeting a certain arrogant blond arsehole, that’s what’s there for him.

Character Traits:

The Quiet Kid™

Sometimes comes off as a know-it-all due to his musical talent, but he truly just wants to help the performance be the best it can. (“Oh, no you’ve been singing the fifth in the chord a little flat. It’s okay though. That’s a really high note and it’s hard to sing.”)

Music is memorized by the first rehearsal.

Is always cast in the chorus (the “mob”) because of his stage fright.

Doesn’t have a voice type label because the kid has range. More often than not though, he’s in the baritone section, but has a bright tone. He sings in the section that’s the weakest.

Very calming to be around during rehearsals.

Secretly wants to be stage crew (BIC members run that) but doesn’t have the strength, and the constant running around can be overwhelming.

The only person who has heard him at his full potential is Ritsu and Reigen I’ll get to him later.

Specialty: Excels in all genres EXCEPT singer-songwriter/poetic: The most vulnerable genre of singing. It’s hard to be yourself when you don’t even know your “self”.

[subliminalbo]

10 Years of Subliminalbo

Candice Swanepoel: Mindless Supermodel on Tour Annotated [ 1 ]

Originally published November 26th, 2013

Hundreds of young women were gathering at a Victoria's Secret in Pasadena [ 2 ] where Candice Swanepoel was promoting a new lingerie line, Obedience by Victoria [ 3 ]. Many only showed up to get an autograph and a picture with the supermodel, but a select few were chosen to join Candice in a private meeting after the event [ 4 ].

Once the fifteen chosen girls followed Candice into the room, each one received their very own Obedience bra which Candice ordered them to put on [ 5 ]. When all of the girls had returned from the fitting rooms, they found that Candice had stripped down into her underwear and was waiting to greet them in her own pair of Obedience by Victoria lingerie. Then she began her demonstration. The girls listened intently to Candice's every word as she went over the usual stuff: how the bra gave enough lift to create the illusion of larger breasts, but didn't sacrifice the comfort that every bra needs [ 6 ]. How all the designs, for example her's with black and white polka-dots [ 7 ], were cute and flirty but sexy and mature all at once. And how the bra kept a woman mindless, blank, submissive [ 8 ].

"Each bra comes with its own unique identification card [ 9 ]," Candice spoke promptly, professionally, as if she were reading from a script [ 10 ]. "And the holder of that id card controls the wearer of the bra. As long as I'm wearing Obedience by Victoria, I have no control of my own. However, since I have your cards, I do have control over all of you. Does that make sense? [ 11 ]"

"Yes, Mistress Candice," the girls replied [ 12 ].

"Good," Candice smiled as she looked upon an audience of blank faces. "The bra was assembled in America with materials produced in Pakistan [ 13 ]. Utilizing research that is only legal in Yugoslavia [ 14 ], Victoria's Secret has created a bra that is truly a first of its kind, and a look into the future of the industry. Please refrain from wearing Obedience by Victoria for more than four hours; prolonged use may cause memory loss, catatonia, loss of motor control, and irregular increase in sex drive. If you experience any of these symptoms, remove the bra immediately and consult a physician for you could be experiencing early signs of mind control poisoning. Ask your doctor before use [ 15 ].

"Now, my girls, [ 16 ]" Candice took a breath.

"Yes, Mistress Candice?"

"You're all going to go home, and you're going to find another girl. It could be your sister, your friend, your mother, your cousin, it doesn't matter. You're going to find another girl and you're going to make sure she gets a bra just like yours [ 17 ]."

"Yes, Mistress Candice. We will obey."

"Good. We want every woman in America to experience Obedience by Victoria with us."

"Yes, Mistress Candice. They will submit."

Mindless, the women left the mall and headed home, all thinking about their mission [ 18 ].

Candice boarded the fastest plane out of LA, en route to Milwaukee [ 19 ] where the next Victoria's Secret on the tour was located. On the plane she received a call. "Yes," she spoke quietly into the receiver. "I fitted them all with the bras...Yes, the effect was instantaneous...Of course I'm still wearing mine...Yes, I do nothing but think of you when I'm wearing it...Yes, I will do anything...Yes...Anything for you, Master. [ 20 ]"

[ 1 ]. Mindless Supermodel Model on Tour created a lot of problems for me. It was originally meant to be a series of shorts where we see Candice in different little mind control vignettes, but the idea of a mind controlling lingerie brand was too broad to just bury in a random one shot, so I kept writing about it. I pretty quickly moved to writing fictional characters after this short, but Obedience by Victoria remained an important bit of lore for several years until I just said fuck it and swapped out Victoria's Secret for Fleur-de-lis, creating ersatz versions of the Victoria's Secret models that I'd previously written about. You can read a much, much better version of this story here as Obedience By Fleur #1.

[ 2 ]. Before Romero, I liked to set these stories in completely random cities that I've never been to.

[ 3 ]. Fun with brand name parodies. I thought Obedience By Victoria was so clever for some reason.

[ 4 ]. In my "just writing a quick caption to establish context for the manip" era, these stories start so abruptly. It feels really weird to just jump into something without any groundwork.

[ 5 ]. They aren't even mind controlled yet lmao

[ 6 ]. Incredibly painful to read a 19 year old kid write about women's underwear like he knows what he's talking about.

[ 7 ]. I used to go out of my way to place the story in the manip somehow, but this proved incredibly limiting. At some point I stopped letting the manips tell the stories and today I rarely reference imagery from the manips.

[ 8 ]. This is supposed to be a "murder, arson, jaywalking" joke, but the bit doesn't land because I spread it out over three long sentences instead of one list.

[ 9 ]. Huh

[ 10 ]. Because she's under mind control, you see. Totally unreasonable to suspect that a person pitching a new product for their company would be reading from a script.

[ 11 ]. Weirdly insecure for a mindless drone.

[ 12 ]. Nitpicking myself here but I don't think "replied" is the word choice I would use for fifteen mind controlled girls speaking in unison today.

[ 13 ]. I wonder if this was researched or if I just picked completely random countries. I'm guessing the latter.

[ 14 ]. Oof, most of the jokes in my early stuff just don't land. I've always been better at the melodrama.

[ 15 ]. Pretty good bit.

[ 16 ]. I would also probably not have her say "my girls" if I were writing this today. Just reads weird to me.

[ 17 ]. Not the first instance of serial recruitment in my writing at this point (the sequel to that Fleur-de-lis chapter that I posted the other night has it), but the first that I like.

[ 18 ]. Are they mindless or are they thinking? Just a weird transition paragraph that exists to remind the reader one more time that there's mind control in this story.

[ 19 ]. What even is this tour? Surely there are Victoria's Secrets between Pasadena and Milwaukee lmao

[ 20 ]. This is a Metal Gear Solid reference and it's fucking stupid

[anxresi]

...I put WAY too much effort into this for it to be a simple blog post. :p

This Is a response to a post from @starryknightwrites. Their post starts in italics below, mine is below the stars in normal font.

...........

It is not the victims’ responsibility to save their bully.

(Miraculous Season 5 Spoilers be here)

I don’t know who all needs to hear this, but I’ve been seeing some… takes… around the ml fandom. Between Chloe defenders’ unwillingness to give her any responsibility for her actions and the writers’ determination to ruin her completely, I can’t choose a side.

It’s not Chloe’s 14-year-old classmates’ duty to save and bend over backwards for her anymore than it’s Audrey’s 14-year-old daughter’s duty to save and bend over backwards for her. Her classmates are kids with no experience dealing with abusive parents or who can barely sort out their own home problems. Not trained therapists who must know exactly what to do to make it through to Chloe. They’re also kids who suffer from Chloe’s cruelty all the time and are understandably hesitant to get in her face constantly touting self improvement methods. How counterintuitive to human behavior would that be? Twice bitten (or in this case 100+ times bitten), twice shy.

I’m sure Audrey has some trauma/valid reasons for being a jerk too, but no one is suggesting that Chloe spread herself super thin in the face of her assholery so that she can just CHANGE her.

Chloe’s classmates have been nice and open to her, given her chances, gone to her party and tried to include her in group events. They often only lash out at Chloe when she lashes out at them (if that), which is constantly. Marinette went out of her way to get her back in school and made an attempt to get her mother to open up to her. A misguided attempt, but AGAIN, Marinette is a child. She is not a therapist and she was meeting Chloe where she was. She knew Audrey would laugh in her face if she tried to use the “she’s your daughter and you should treat her better” route.

Anyone who says the class didn’t try hard enough with Chloe/ didn’t give Chloe a chance hasn’t met a middle school class. Those kids could be horrific to Chloe with all she has said and done. But they’re generally nice. And they demonstrated kindness to one another ALL THE TIME so it’s not as though Chloe doesn’t know how to be kind.

Chloe is 14. Not 4. She knows what kindness looks like. She’s not an alien, scouring the dictionary and hoping someone will PLEASE teach her how to kind. She, at this point in time, does not want to be kind. Funny thing about recovery. You have to want it. YOU have to want it. Any professional will tell you that. It takes more than people continuously bending over backwards in the face of your cruelty. All that will result in is doormats. No. In order to heal and to improve, you must be at a point of accepting responsibility for you and DESIRING change.

Chloe isn’t there yet. Nothing her classmates do will change it. Maybe it’ll take time and reflection. Maybe it’ll take a new setting. Maybe it’ll take a harder fall. But she’s not ready and that’s no one’s fault but her crappy parents and hers.

I don’t mind Chloe having to suffer an incredible low to rise, though I’m not sure if that’s what the writers are doing. The leaks for future episodes seem a tad too… vengeful- especially where Andre is concerned.

But let’s not lean all the way to the other end of the spectrum and eliminate Chloe’s personal responsibility from the matter. The primary factor in her turnaround will be CHLOE.

.............................

My take: There never will be a ‘turnaround’. The writers have made it quite clear that they’ll move Heaven and Earth to make Chloe the most hated character in the show, including, but certainly notwithstanding:

*The removal of any and all her obvious positive traits displayed during the first two-and-a-half seasons. Or just pretending they never existed. Now she’s just a one-dimensional pantomime villain, who lives to hurt others. Pathetic.

*Severing her few genuine relationships in the show, including the one with her once doting father (who now says he prefers an unrelated girl he met canonically a few months ago) and her childhood bestie (although they’ve had little to no interaction for a long time... will we even notice?)

*Specifically writing a FLASHBACK episode where she psychologically tortures everyone’s favorite bean Marinette at the swimming pool with SPIDERS. If cynically making up new ways to loathe Chloe as they go along doesn’t show the desperation of Thomas and friends to make Chloe Public Enemy No 1, nothing does. And hopefully, to anyone with half a brain, it won’t.

*All these ‘attempts’ to set Chloe on a different course by various characters in S4 and S5 come across as half-hearted and mealy-mouthed, with no chance of working. The dialogue is bad, the set-ups are awful and I am not buying any of it as genuine for a minute.

*The same way other people in the show are dumbed down for Lila’s blatant lies to work, some of Chloe’s fellow students seem to have taken stupid lessons to make her look worse by association. For instance, can anyone actually believe the Kim we know in the show is the same Kim in the leak for the episode Derision? I know he can be pretty dim sometimes... but he’s not lobotomized!!

*I’ve already discussed the ruinous introduction of Zoe at great length, whereby not only did this new Mary-Sue wannabe steal Chloe’s superhero position, but also her agency and potential on the show. But don’t you think it’s a bit of a coincidence Chloe progresses from a typical school bully to a complete monster the second her ‘very sweet’ sister arrives in Paris? I doubt it. Trying to make the new arrival seem better by comparison, no doubt. Laughable.

I could go on, but I’d be in danger of repeating myself from stuff I’ve already said in the months since it became clear just how much they were willing to throw Chloe under the bus. I never thought they’d do THIS thorough a job, though. At least we now know what Thomas is using his clout for behind the scenes.

I’ll just end by disagreeing with your final point... the main factor in Chloe’s fate on the show will be those who produce it, because fictional characters have no say how they’re written funnily enough. And as we’ve already established, the hacks who put together Miraculous have no intentional of reversing course from the heap of shit they’ve created, so her chances of getting ‘better’ are zero-to-none.

Besides, even if Chloe WAS real and had some choice in her own life, the fact she’s now a virtual prisoner of The Worst Parent In The World who intends to ‘take control’ of her existence from now on doesn’t tell me there’s much chance of her escaping this tragic cycle of abuse from mother to daughter (That Marinette our ‘hero’ ENCOURAGED in a previous episode, don’t forget).

Naturally, the writers didn’t consider the Unfortunate Implications of Chloe’s S5 hopeless ending whatsoever. Or they were too dumb to understand them. Either way, it’s an unforgivable error that could have more far-reaching consequences among the viewers than they can possibly fathom.

It also, talking from an artistic POV, sucks. Big time....