#AAAAND lets add 'no time for a break because you have so much to do and you dont want to leave a speck out of place because >god forbid<< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[sharama]

So tired

[cookiewoli]

I finally finished this project I worked on since October !!! I'd like it if you'd take a look. 🥲

This is an animated comic called "Fireworks". I started this project in October and was very hyped about it in the beginning.

Then, when I was looking my drawings, I loose motivation because I thought that they were ugly. So I took a 2 weeks break. Then I looked at it again, and said to myself "You can't let this project unfinished!! After all the time working on it !" If I add all the time spent on drawings together, I have the result of 55 hours and 53min. (Omg I didn't think it will be that much). Aaaand few hours (like 4hours ?) for editing.

I still think that the beginning is ugly, but it's not a bad thing I guess ! I improved a little bit between October and December, so like this, I can see this little improvement with this project.

Now I'm a little bit more proud of it, even though it's just a test. It takes a loooot of time but I like it. I hope you guys like it and don't see it the way I do. 🥲 (A draft)

Anyway, I wanted to develop the story of my OC. Actually, I already wrote her whole story but didn't have an idea of how to show it. My English is totally broken so write a fanfic is a bad idea for me ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ I always said that "Cookie" is just a nickname and not her real one. So I quickly included her real name in the video.

When I will draw better (And especially when I will learn to draw men because, MEH) I want to do a webtoon of something like this of Sandrock ! (Even though I'm already making a webtoon in my spare time since 1 year so that's an excellent idea for my sleeping hours haha)

And Happy new year everyone !! ✨

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

[kemendin]

Played through the False Emperor flashpoint for GS stuff (I'm way behind but I can't really care that much) and now I'm having feelings again over how that all goes down in my canon:

Basically, when Malgus pulls his little coup, it's Khel who reaches out to the Republic forces - and in doing so, to Caspian - to be all 'Hey. Common enemy here, right? Let's take him down together and both sides will be minus one problem.' This is Cas' first direct contact with Khel, and he's definitely surprised by how calm and reasonable the new Emperor's Wrath seems to be. But all things considered, there doesn't seem to be a better option here, so it's agreed - they'll work together to stop Malgus.

Thus the strike team that infiltrates Malgus' station consists of Cas, Kira, Scourge, Khel, and Quinn (and maybe I'll add other characters later when and if I actually write this fic, but those are the main players here). An extremely capable, if rather tense, group of people, who are sure to get the job done, and Khel is even gracious enough to let Cas take the lead on this one.

Unfortunately, Malgus' space station is not just any old space station - it's the repurposed Emperor's fortress, where Cas, not too long ago, was imprisoned for the most horrific six months of his life. He knows this, he's really not excited about the prospect of being there again, but he ignores Kira's suggestion that he stay behind and insists on going there anyway, because he's Cas. He has to keep going, he has to push through.

Aaaand it turns out, he can't. He still doesn't remember much of what happened to him here, which is probably for the best, but one thing he does remember is the environment. The shining black walls, the searing white and scarlet lights, the hollow chill gnawing at his flesh. He makes it a few corridors into the place, maybe, but then he starts getting flashes of memories, and fear overcomes him, and he nearly has a full blown breakdown right there because he can't, he can't, he can't endure this again.

He's in no condition to continue the mission - but he can't exactly just up and leave again, either. So instead, the group splits. Kira takes Cas and finds a corner close to the hangar where they can hunker down, and from there Cas uses his slicing expertise to try and cut through some of the fortress' defences. Meanwhile, Khel takes the lead in finding Malgus with Quinn, and Scourge goes with them to serve as a guide, because even with Malgus' upgrades to the place, Scourge still knows most of the station's strengths and weaknesses better than anyone.

Nobody has a good time on this trip. Cas feels incredibly humiliated at breaking down like this, particularly in front of the Imperials, and Kira is really trying not to be 'I told you so' about asking him to stay behind, because she was here before too, she gets it, and now she just wants to make sure they all make it out alive. In the other party, Khel is still technically recovering from certain other Incidents on Ilum (Fractures in the Ice, still a WIP, sorry lol), and is just a tiny bit nervous around Scourge, given this former/current Wrath dynamic they've got going on here. Scourge, for his part, is not impressed with either his replacement or the Emperor's, and makes very little effort to hide his contempt for both Khel and Malgus - he just wants to be done with this. And Quinn is trotting along behind them just praying there isn't going to be a fight between them over their current positions, and also putting a whole lot of effort into keeping his mouth shut over the fact that Scourge is a clearly unrepentant traitor.

When it comes to actually confronting Malgus - there's a definite difference of opinions going on. Khel is actually in agreement with Malgus, to a point - he approves of change, particularly with utilising the varied attributes of aliens to strengthen the Empire, and he tries to talk Malgus down. Scourge, however, sees only a chaotic, power-grabbing pretender on the throne, and simply attacks in the middle of Khel's attempted negotiations, because he sees what Khel does not - that Malgus is never going to compromise here.

It's only during the actual fight with Malgus that Scourge gains a little respect for Khel, when he sees that Khel can fight as well as talk. They're both quite adept at reading someone else's movements, so it doesn't take them long to find a working rhythm and be able to coordinate their attacks. Quinn, of course, is used to fighting beside a Force user, and weaves himself in there with his usual competence. It's not an easy fight, but per canon flashpoint etc they manage to defeat Malgus and then hotfoot it out of there, while Cas and Kira make their escape separately.

I think on the way back to Ilum there is a definite moment of danger between Scourge and Khel/Quinn; Scourge is still a traitor, after all, and Khel knows that the Dark Council would just love to get their hands on him. But Khel isn't the type to turn on an ally, however temporary - and besides that, after fighting alongside Scourge, he's not stupid enough to try and take the other Sith by force. So Scourge is returned to his Jedi friends - much to Cas' relief - and the two groups go their separate ways, until the next time their player decides to mash them together.

[aajjks]

BC!JK

shocked.

surprised.

stunned.

whichever word is similar to being shocked, that was everyone’s face to jungkook beating up and threatening jongin for breaking your headphones. even his friends were stunned by his anger towards jongin because since when did jungkook care so much about broken headphones? no, when did he care so much about you?

it’s clear that what jongin did to you struck a nerve in jungkook which resulted in a broken nose given to jongin by the bully club’s leader.

even you’re shocked by jungkook’s defensive behavior because he’s always picked on you life jongin. HE BURNED YOUR JOURNAL REMEMBER?!?! so why is your broken headphones such a big deal?

“OKAY I’LL BUY HER NEW HEADPHONES!!!” jongin cries as he coughs up blood and goes to cover his bloody nose that was dripping on the school floor.

AAAAND????????

“a-and i’m sorry y/n. i’ll never bother you again!” he cries and after his apology, jungkook lets him go to focus on you.

you look terrified after what you just saw but before jungkook can ask if you’re okay or maybe pick on you, you grab your belongings and run out of the cafeteria.

“jeon jungkook, what. the fuck. was. that?” says yoongi who blocks jungkook’s view of you so he could follow you. “i’ve never seen you beat someone that badly over bubblegum headphones. HER headphones to be specific” yoongi adds and as much as he follows jungkook he can’t help but feel confused and voice what everyone is thinking.

“do you like her or something?”

“thought you hated her guts but what you did just showed the complete opposite”

He’s not really in the mood to be interrogated right now and you just run away from him so he’s not really having a good time in his fist is all bloody.

But it’s hard to avoid Yoongi and the other guys as well because they’ve been with him for the longest time… maybe you should just tell them the truth so they will leave him alone.

Jungkooks rolling his eyes, biting the inside of his cheek, “hyung. She’s mine. mine to pick on, mine to annoy!” He spits out, his fist is hurting a little, “she was just MINDING HER OWN BUSINESS- why would he bother her??” Of course that’s a valid question.

“Calm down.” Yoongi is seriously advising him to calm down right now? “Fuck off hyung I don’t owe you or anyone any explanation.” he’s not gonna tell them because they will never understand.

Maybe it is a little hypocritical of him to fall in love with you when he just claims to hate your guts.. but what can be done he’s already lost his heart to you and… that is the reality. “So what if I love her?” Jungkook glares at his friend. “ he did the wrong thing, so I just taught him a lesson.. and I will every time someone will bother her.” He is pointing his finger- and just like that the break is over and Jungkook quickly fix his clothes, put his bag over his shoulder and he’s out of the cafeteria.

He’s going out to have his smoke so nobody can disturb him, maybe then he’ll just take out his frustrations on his fuck buddy which he has no idea where she’s gone.

So he takes out his phone and he’s dialing her up. After a ring just as expected she’s picked up.

“Where the fuck are you?”

[oogaboogaspookyman]

Okay fuck this new pinned post to replace the now presumed dead one that i had a hard time making back then 3 2 1 here we fucken go

Hi you can call me Spooky or whatever, i am making a whole fnf mod about the funi spooky mewtwo, you can barge in if you wanna it's gonna be cool lmao

So far we have @starlossom as the artist, me as the artist for simpler things like icons and shit, @experiment14-12 is in charge of the banger tracks aaaand that's all the team so far

No other artists or anything else, just us three trying to not die somehow

Here's a few notes i find important

I'm thinking of adding deadlines to this whole project but for now just do whatever you want, take as long as you want, i only care about your health and progress overall (mostly health because i'm scared of the possibility of someone getting hurt)

For now the demo is a priority as i wanna get something out. It's gonna have one song in a week called "PATIENCE" and that's it, nothing big nothing flashy just "PATIENCE". Hoo boy why am i unnerved by that.

Updates will come in bits and pieces in order to maintain the team healthy and not burnt out, i really want to prioritize health over work as i care about people and wouldn't forgive myself if anyone got hurt one way or another.

Take care of yourself and have as much fun as you want! I don't want to make this seem like a job or anything, just a fun thing to work on for the kicks and giggles!

No payment as i don't think i can lmao and that just sorta breaks the whole thing i just said before about having fun and staying healthy while working on this.

If you wanna barge in and start something just DM me and we'll chat, gimme an example, and if i think it's neat you're in. Also if i say you can't be in the team for some reason, know that it hurts me just as much (i am slightly autistic somehow idk i don't understand either)

Part 2 will follow the same path as The Blueballs Incident because it's easier on the team and doesn't bloat it with lots of content. Like i said i prioritize health over work as i care about you and if something happens tell me and we'll see what we can do.

That's all for now, if i come up with something i'll add it here and announce it's addition. Let's hope this doesn't go fuckshit downhill because i really care about this project.

[thehumantrampoline]

Bts or thousand words The Words I’m Leaving Out

you KNOW I love this bitch, it's still the longest thing I've ever written and I worked so hard on it and I wrote SO MANY fucking dwarf OCs. And all I wanted to do was write some fuckin Varric/Hawke fake dating rip me

but my favorite part was the miscommunication and the pining and pitting their baggage against each other SO WE'RE DOING THE BIG FIGHT

“You asked me here as a friend,” she says, staring into his face and trying to sound reasonable and not pleading, “and I haven’t been acting like one.” Varric shifts from one foot to another, runs a hand back over his hair. “That’s not…” He takes in a breath. “That’s not exactly why I asked you here.”

somebody in a comment at some point was like WAS HE GONNA CONFESS and yeah he absolutely was, even Varric Tethras can't stew in pining forever without saying something at least after she's actually kissed him lmao

That brings Hawke up short. She takes a split second to think the worst, but he doesn’t look angry or anything. Right, of course she’s just made it about herself again. “I know,” she says quickly. “I know. I’m sorry, that’s not--” She shakes her head. “Before we got here, I didn’t realize how important this was.” “I don’t think you do know,” says Varric, then adds, bemused, “Wait. What do you mean how important this is?” He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose with two fingers. “You’re not still on about Bianca, are you?” “Not just Bianca,” she says. Hawke needs him to understand. She needs him to know that she understands. “Everyone. All these people here, they’re the closest thing you’ve got to family anymore.”

I just love how the two of them have two very similar sets of family baggage that they process in two very different ways, Hawke constantly tries to live up to what her dwindling family needs and wants from her - and this being post Leandra's death, that means trying to live up to mostly a bunch of ghosts, which is even worse - whereas Varric has just buried all of it and firmly moved on, which is... not always entirely healthy either.

His eyes are open again to stare at her. “These people?” he repeats. “The ones you’ve met? The ones at dinner? Because most of them hate me, Hawke.” He huffs a breath. “Although put it that way, I guess I can see what you mean.” “They don’t hate you. Not most of them.” Varric throws up his hands. “Okay, they’re indifferent to me at best and are aware my death or retirement would improve their lives. Didn’t think it was an important distinction.” Hawke groans. Does he really not see? What he has here, in this house, that he doesn’t have in Kirkwall anymore?

I think a lot if it comes down to the roles they had in their families and also their different status as re: their homeland. Hawke left Ferelden under duress, and was cast in the role of protector over her family, while for Varric dwarf culture and Orzammar never felt relevant to him but was held over his head, and he was the baby, the "professional younger brother" that didn't have much expected out of him. It was a lot easier for him to kick "homeland" and family off like an unwanted burden without letting anyone down, while Hawke views her loss of the same things as a tragedy and a personal failing. She's been projecting that onto Varric the whole story, thinking she understands "why this is important" and maybe she's A LITTLE closer than he'll admit lmao but it's still a set of priorities he doesn't share.

“They’re not your enemies,” she argues. “They know you. I get how you might have a hard time telling the difference between those two concepts--”

Aaaand now we're breaking out Varric's normally-charming tendency toward lying and secrecy. Kind of a low blow but. definitely a sore spot that she's been pretending isn't a sore spot. Back in Kirkwall she prided herself on knowing him best of all, and being confronted with people who know parts of him she doesn't she's a LITTLE insecure.

“They don’t know me,” says Varric incredulously. “We’ve been lying to them all week, or did you miss that?” “You lie to everyone!” Hawke doesn’t know when she raised her voice. “So sue them for not trusting you. But they knew Bartrand, and your parents. They know all these stories about you. They’ve--” She balls her hands into fists at her sides. The shawl is never going to recover. “They’ve heard you sing!” “Fuck Bartrand,” Varric grits out. “And you don’t know shit about my parents.” Hawke makes a sound that’s almost like a laugh. “Because you’ve never told me!” she shouts.

maybe you should both process your grief instead of trying to outwork or outrun it?? maybe??? while we're feeling wild maybe you could communicate with words instead of flinging around feelings like rocks?? no sorry I know that's crazy carry on

Varric points a finger at her, and she’s only seen him angry like this as a stone door pulled shut in front of them miles beneath the ground. “Don’t put your family shit on me, Hawke,” he says. “Just because you’re still trying to make your mother proud of you doesn’t mean I am.” Hawke sucks in a breath. “Living in her house, wearing her clothes--” She balls up Leandra’s shawl and throws it at his face. He catches it in both hands, and his fingers clench in the fabric. “And you drag me here so you can sneak around Bianca’s house, the Bianca, lying about everything you really care about to keep the Tethras guild seat--” “That’s not the same thing,” he growls.

I mean it's kind of the same thing Varric. Kind of it is. You guys just go about shit in different ways but you're both really really bad at making peace with your past AND a little bit with trust, you can't just say that this relationship is functional without ever actually talking about anything. Or I mean you CAN but it's not going to be something you can lean on as much as you want to. Varric especially is real bad about not actually letting anyone see more than the minimum of himself and thinking that should suffice, but KIND OF this was his way of letting Hawke see the rest, which he would only ever do because he trusts her implicitly. So yeah he's upset that she saw all of it and misinterpreted it, but like you do have to talk about shit too.

“If you’re an outsider here, it’s only because you want to be,” Hawke says, and she refuses to cry. She doesn’t know how it turned into this. “And if I don’t understand that, it’s because you can’t tell me the truth either!” She stalks over to the bed and grabs the folded quilt at the end -- the one Varric tried to take their first night here -- and doesn’t look at him as she strides past him to one of the wingback chairs by the fire.

He's just real bad at telling the truth babe it's okay y'all will figure it out

[aeterna-auroral-avenger]

Hey, I’ve got a reading update for you aaaand a book recommendation.

I finished Still Life by Louise Penny, the book the seller suggested for me when there was no Lady Sherlock. I’m happy to report that it turned out well and I actually enjoyed it. Like I said before, I was kinda skeptical at first, but when I started I wanted to keep reading, which is obviously a good sign.

The writing is somewhat simple in the sense that it isn’t super flowery, you know? Like it doesn’t take 20 million years to get to the point lol. It was also interesting how the author would switch character perspectives. It wasn’t in new chapter breaks but throughout them. It wasn’t confusing though. At least, it wasn’t confusing to me. The character dynamics were interesting too since this takes place in a small town. It’s kinda like an “everyone knows everyone” sort of setting.

I will put a caveat on all of this though and say: if you do pick this up, there’s this rookie called Nichol. My patience was done with her so freaking fast, I despised her. Normally I’m pretty lenient with rookies because they’re new and don’t know much. But this rookie? Oh my lord. She was the worst character as far as I’m concerned. So, good luck with her. You’re gonna need it.

There you have it. I don’t wanna give spoilers but I can comfortably recommend this book. It was just Nichol I hated lol. The rest of it was good. There’s 17 or so books in this series so I don’t know if I’m gonna collect and read all of them, but I can definitely see myself picking up a few more. If you decide to, then I hope you have a good time with them!

Now that I’ve finished that, I’m going to read I Was Anastasia like you suggested. The audiobook apparently has 3 narrators so it should be interesting. Unfortunately my bookstore didn’t have the new Lady Sherlock because of course not. My library got it though and I got a pretty good spot in line, 5th, so it won’t be too bad of a wait. You’ll probably be able to read and finish this by the time I get it, assuming you were able to get it in some way or another. In which case, I hope you enjoy it and it’s as good as the others.

That’s all I got for now. I’ll either give an update when I’m done I Was Anastasia or if I think of more questions or who knows? I might just send something whenever if I can 😂✌️

-Book Anon

Sorry! I thought I answered this already!

I hope you enjoy I Was Anastasia! Let me know your thoughts when you're done. Three different narrators, hm? That's rather fascinating. I think I want to listen to it now just to hear how those come into play.

And thank you for the suggestion! I appreciate it! I'll add that to my list, especially since it's a series. And this Nichol person is already on my *ugh* list LOOOOOOOOL

[enterunderscore]

Could you tell more about how you recreated the PlayStation 2 start up animation? In particular I’m wondering about the motion blur, aliasing, and other PS2 specific rendering quirks. Thanks <3

gladly! actually most of that stuff is done in blender’s compositor! i can break it down for you.

early game console motion blur was not true motion blur -- that is, the physical simulation of a camera shutter being open for too long while something is moving. to do this today, the renderer takes note of the location of every vertex in the scene during the last frame, and compares those locations to the current frame. then it will take those positional differences (sometimes creating a few extra “steps” in between those two positions for extra data) and create a blur between them, achieving this:

the PS2 (and the other consoles at the time) was a graphical powerhouse compared to its predecessor, and thanks to new rendering techniques, was able to sort of simulate motion blur without the full cost of actually simulating motion blur, like we do today.

to do this, there was a technique often referred to as “color accumulation blur”, where the last 2 or 3 frames were simply overlaid on top of the current frame at a lower opacity. it cost next to nothing, reduced aliasing (or jaggies) on some edges, and for the time was a pretty convincing full-screen motion blur effect—at the expense of it looking like “ghosting” or “afterimages”:

now, without doing some crazy render layer trickery, blender doesn’t necessarily have the compositing tools to do this exact effect (at least to my knowledge, i’m not a wizard or anything), but it’s very convenient that during the PS2 boot animation, the camera moves smoothly forwards in a single direction. 

we can't use blender's default motion blur feature for this effect, because it'll actually be high quality motion blur instead of the kind we want. blender just so happens to have a very nice feature in its compositor called directional blur.

here is first bit of the compositor node setup. here, i take the currently rendered frame, and pump it through a directional blur node, which will blur the frame outwards from the center. those “zoom” and “spin” sliders modify the intensity of the blur and the spin of the blur, and i animate those upwards as the camera gains speed towards the end of the animation. the iterations slider is what determines how many copies of the original image will be overlaid against each other to create the blur, and considering what we learned above, i set that to 2 so it looks nice and choppy.

after that, i hook up the original image and the new blurred image into an add node, adding them together!

this one's pretty simple. the PS2 typically rendered graphics at a resolution of 640x480 (it could do 240p and 480i, but for simplicity's sake i stuck with 480p). so in blender's render settings, i set the resolution to 480p.

anti-aliasing is a technique where you take a rendered image and through one technique or another, reduce the appearance of jagged edges on pixels—allowing the image to look smoother and cleaner.

the common anti-aliasing techniques of the time were extremely expensive especially for a console, so most titles didn't use it at all. this is why a lot of older games (and a lot of new ones too) can have graphics with pixelated shimmery edges. however we mostly had CRT TVs at the time back then, and CRTs are notoriously good at covering up aliasing.

blender, however, has anti-aliasing enabled by default. to fix this, we need to head over to the scene tab, and go to film > pixel filter.

blender's anti-aliasing method is called pixel filtering, and by default the "width" (strength) is set to 1.5px, which will sort of let each pixel affect the next half-pixel in all directions. it ends up looking like this:

don't worry i barely understand it either, we just need to turn it off. so i set the width to 0.01px, and bam! crispy jaggy aliasing.

finishing touches

finally, i had to give the render an old-school analog feel. the PS2 rendered digital images and sent them through a low-quality analog cable. that’s right, i’m talking about these bad boys:

since only one of these cables were used for sending a video signal, they had to send chroma (color information) and luma (brightness information) data through the same pipe... so naturally you’d get some crosstalk between the two, resulting in some odd looking color smearing: 

to achieve this in blender, we do some more compositing!

here, i am taking the frame with all effects applied up to this point, splitting it into its red, green, and blue color channels with a separate RGBA node, and then ever-so-slightly applying a blur to the blue and green channels before re-combining them back together with a combine RGBA node. it’s definitely not accurate to how chroma-luma crosstalk works in real life, but it’s good enough that the effect is convincing! (NOTE: for this screenshot i’ve dialed the blur way up to make it more apparent for this post—it’s much more subtle in my final render)

...aaaand that’s about it! 

there’s definitely a lot more at work here to make it PS2-authentic but those are the big ones! i also rendered the little colored balls of light as a separate render layer and added them on top of the frame, lowered the contrast a bit to look more like a recording of a real PS2, and turned off raytraced shadow casting.

here’s what the frame looks like before it hits the compositor:

and here it is after:

thank you for asking and thank you for reading! i love talking about this stuff.

[wildsunscorpion]

How Bum Geon Woo communicates through his body language (Plus how he's actually giving the special treatment Eui Joon's been yearning for)

I reread DCS for, like, the tenth time now. Yes, I'm obsessed ohmygod! I'm liking how these two characters are written so far. I originally wanted to break down just Chapters 20-24 of DCS because the first time I read it I got just a little annoyed with how Geon Woo (a.k.a. Ahjussi) was, let's say, just kind of pushing Euijoon's limits. But I ended up doing more than just Chapters 20-24. Dios mio.

I was just a little tired of seeing the same trend with guys in manhwa. They always seem to be domineering, especially if their partner is the "sweet and naive" archetype. (Eui Joon, I think, does not really fit into this mold.) Of course, that's usually because they're dealing with their own issues, and I don't really blame them.

But I like DCS because it justified that kind of behavior in Geon Woo when he was having sex with Eui Joon (in Chapters 20-24, particularly). Lol I'm probably the only one who realized this later than I should have ehehe. I'm still posting this tho.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD‼️‼️

His antics speak volumes. It's amazing how I missed all those details just because the sex scenes were. Steamy. As. Fuck. Good lordy! Geon Woo is definitely a man of few words (He once said Eui Joon makes him talk like he would for a whole year, haha!), so it would make sense to communicate whatever's going through his mind in a situation through body language.

I also want to add the times that he makes the effort to hold a conversation with Eui Joon. Geon Woo doesn't really talk when he doesn't need to, so it's important to pay attention to his actions.

☙ ☙ ☙ ☙ ☙

Chapters 0-12

The first time we get a glimpse of Geon Woo's side of the story was when Eui Joon finally confesses to the person who's been his crush for 3 effing years, Hyeon Woo. Eui Joon is inexplicably happy when Hyeon Woo says he'll consider and comes to the convenience store in good spirits. Geon Woo, keen as always, notices, and when Eui Joon tells him what happened this is what we get:

It's the way it was framed. How we see his reaction from behind rather than from the front. He turns away, seeming to go inward and brood once again.

Afterwards, another gangster comes. The guy challenges Geon Woo for taking too long at the front of the line. Geon Woo asks Eui Joon if he smokes, and when he replies that he doesn't, Geon Woo "borrows" the lighter on the countertop and uses that to throw a stronger punch to the man behind him, who temporarily falls unconscious. Geon Woo turns back to Eui Joon, seeming to have something else to say. But he sees the frightened look on Eui Joon's face and decides to keep it to himself before leaving through the door.

"And..." He pauses, turning to Eui Joon. "... Never mind. Good work."

JUST WHAT WAS HE ABOUT TO SAY?!?!?!

In the succeeding panel, Eui Joon is nonplussed. He wonders out loud, "What is happening?" Couldn't have said it better, girl. Geon Woo was just taking out his frustration and he had the perfect opportunity at the moment.

The second time was when Geon Woo invites Eui Joon to drink after the incident with Hyeon Woo (who basically asks Eui Joon to cheat with him and inebriates him—probably with the intention to take advantage of him). From the side stories, we learn that Geon Woo has taken an interest in Eui Joon after seeing him for the second time, and when he comes by through the hallway—finally discovering they were neighbors—and witnesses the two, he sees it as a chance with Eui Joon.

He invites Eui Joon out to drink, after Eui Joon's suggestion for a dinner at 2 in the morning fails to entice him. Eui Joon rambles his questions away, wanting to get to know him better, but Geon Woo doesn't immediately answer and catches him off guard when he "casually" inquires after his sexuality. Not the smoothest move there, lol, but in the side stories we see that wasn't really his intention.

"Damn it, why did I ask that question? It just slipped out..."

He answers Eui Joon's questions afterwards, surprising Eui Joon with the fact that he's actually been listening to what he's been saying for the past minute. We're starting to see just what kind of a person he is (Listening skills are always a plus in my book).

A little later, we see them on their way back to the apartment. Eui Joon asks Geon Woo to tell him anything interesting because he's been the one talking all night. Geon Woo acquiesces, asking a question that may have been part in consideration of Eui Joon's vulnerable state, and perhaps also part due to the possibility that he worried about him.

"Come to think of it... School has already started. Isn't it tiring to work 'til dawn? Aren't you working too much?"

Geon Woo's face is a little hard to read. So every subtle change in his expression says something. If you read the manhwa, you'll see the slightest bit of concern in his eyes. It's hard to catch until you've read the side stories (at least for me, haha).

One more thing I like about Geon Woo is that he doesn't meddle when it's not his business. He knows the state of Eui Joon's family—their inability to afford his college tuition, his hospitalized brother—and he knows he can help. I mean, I don't know how wealthy and powerful he is as a gangster but he probably has the means to. But he rarely opens the topic to Eui Joon.

Aaaand onto Chapter 8! Just before the first sex scene in the entire series. Eui Joon is crying because he had a shitty day both at school and at work, poor thing—all because of Hyeon Woo. He cries even more when he notices that Geon Woo, who came to the store every day, didn't come to the store that day. When he encounters him outside, he breaks down, catching Geon Woo off guard.

Geon Woo tells his lackey to leave and asks Eui Joon to stay. Eui Joon tells him he was fine and proceeds to go back to his room, but Geon Woo frightens him when he says he was already being nice. And then we get this:

"Ah, I don't mean it that way... Just a while."

That gentle tug is honestly so uncharacteristic of the usual ruffian behavior we often see from Geon Woo. It's a nice sweet detail that proves what he says in Chapter 26 (when he finally confesses) that he treats Eui Joon differently from others.

Eui Joon cries his heart out to Geon Woo, and Geon Woo just lets him. Afterwards, Eui Joon resolves to forget about Hyeon Woo. By finding someone, hmm, more physically endowed.

"I must find someone more good-looking than him. With a nicer body... And a bigger dick!"

Clueless guy basically described the man beside him.

To that, Geon Woo says:

"How long have you known me? You really dare to say anything like that in front of me?"

Which comes off as slightly hostile at first. The next panel shows a dark aura surrounding Geon Woo, which Eui Joon interprets as distress from his implications of doing it with him—whose sexual preference so far remains ambiguous (In the side stories, we learn that Geon Woo himself struggles with figuring this out.). But then, he surprises Eui Joon when he slowly leans in to kiss him.

CUE SEX SCENE! I pitied Eui Joon a little because he wasn't really in the best state when Geon Woo offered this. In Geon Woo's defense, though, from the moment he found out that Eui Joon was gay he saw doors opening. When Eui Joon said something like that, I think his attraction to Eui Joon finally caught up to him and he couldn't resist the opportunity. He definitely wasn’t distressed by the implication of Eui Joon’s words; he was distressed by the decision he had to make—to go through that door or not. Because he knew he wanted it, even though he was constantly denying it from the start.

“This dirty thought wasn’t something that I have planned from the beginning.”

The day after, Eui Joon is a little rattled. He doesn’t know how to treat Geon Woo after that—not when he realized that sex could be that hot and satisfying (uwu). Geon Woo appears to be unaffected while Eui Jon’s brain is in knots about everything. But the questions Geon Woo asks tell us that he’s beginning to show Eui Joon a little emotion. He asks to see Eui Joon’s face to inspect the healing bruise he got yesterday (the one that Geon Woo covered with a bandaid—which was so sweet, huhu). And then, he asks if he was tired after school.

“Let me see your face.”

“School classes. Are you tired after taking them?”

From my perspective, he wasn’t just asking for the sake of being nice to the person he slept with. The story still hasn’t covered much of Geon Woo’s history to know whether he had been like this with his previous partners. Although there was a moment in Chapter 27 during one of their conversations when he gave us a little glimpse:

Geon Woo: It's normal to cry over pathetic things at your age. Eui Joon: Have you cried like that before too? Geon Woo: No. Eui Joon: Then how do you know that? Geon Woo: I just... know. Because there was a guy like that around.

From the time Geon Woo invited him out to drink, I think Geon Woo was genuinely concerned when he asked how Eui Joon was doing.

☙ ☙ ☙ ☙ ☙

Chapters 13-26

Geon Woo's love language, I think, is his actions. He fights off the gangsters that bully Eui Joon into giving them discounts or even paying for them from his own pockets so they won't have to. He gives Eui Joon food and medicine when he finds out he was sick (the morning after having sex with him in the car for hours, lol). He likes taking care of the person he likes. So in Chapter 26, when he "confesses" to Eui Joon, that was Geon Woo pointing out that he's been doing the same thing all along.

"I mean, look at me just once... What kind of person I am. How I treat you. Take a good look at it. If you think that I'm good, then pick me. If not, you can throw me aside." "But. Before you do, you should understand this. Until then, I don't intend to let you get away."

This "non-confession" (he actually tells Eui Joon it wasn't a confession) actually says a lot about Geon Woo. His attitude towards their relationship is very blunt and straightforward. Once he's made a decision, he stops listening to his doubts and stands by it. I don't really know when Geon Woo decided that he liked Eui Joon. It was more slow-growing. In the side stories though, we see him considering this big-time when this thought crosses his mind:

"There's the common phrase of having the opportunity to meet your fateful love. If there's a sign for it, would it be possible to stay vigilant?"

AHJUSSI YOU SOFT-HEARTED ROMANTIC I CAN'T T^T He becomes more bold with Eui Joon afterwards, but he's still a little prickly. He's constantly weighing his options, trying to figure out in what way will doing the things he does for Eui Joon benefit him, if at all. In Chapter 13, when a customer comes inside the store and forces Eui Joon to pay for what he bought, he's on the scales. But then the memory of that morning flashes through his mind, and he remembers how the simple act of Eui Joon giving him his number had made him smile like an idiot. He beats the customer for him, taking the money he owed, and gives it back to Eui Joon. He even manages to casually ask him out on a date. The guy can be smooth as fuck.

Eui Joon: Are you saying... we should eat together? Geon Woo: Sure. I guess I've done something worth compensating. Will you give me my reward?

Take notes, people! At this point, Eui Joon has gotten him wrapped around his finger, and he didn't even know it! Of course, Eui Joon still thinks their relationship is only purely sexual, but then Geon Woo begins doing these uncharacteristically tender gestures that Eui Joon initially interprets as Geon Woo giving him special treatment.

"Let me see your face." "School classes. Are you tired after them" "I'm thinking that... You'll look good in short hair, too."

And Geon Woo even tries to initiate a conversation with Eui Joon when he feels like Eui Joon couldn't take the awkwardness. A good example was when Geon Woo treats him dinner at the restaurant.

"...." "Is this your first time coming to this kind of place?"

Somehow, these things he does still feel kind of forced, like he was genuinely annoyed at Eui Joon and everything he did. Even when he asks to do it with him again and Eui Joon refuses because he was still sore, there was a moment of frustration that shone through.

It was a sign that Geon Woo was still confused about the things he was feeling towards Eui Joon. He knew he wanted him physically, but then he doesn't take up the woman's offer that evening after Eui Joon refuses him. It wasn't actually written on paper, but knowing Geon Woo's character he might have felt uneasy about going through with it. Not particularly on Eui Joon's behalf, but it may have been unconscious because of his budding feelings.

His feelings were something that rattled him, and he was usually undeterred in any kind of situation. What rattled him more was that Eui Joon didn't know anything about what he was going through.

"Being naturally attracted to you, and going through unfamiliar emotions. This feeling should only be felt at an adolescent age."

We're seeing him from behind again. The use of this perspective in manhwas / mangas / comics usually makes you feel like can't tell what the character's thinking about, but most importantly that they're most likely about to go do or SAY SOMETHING DAMN IMPORTANT. Like, maybe, telling their feelings to the person they like!?!?!

"Eui Joon-Ah. I like you."

ASDFGHJKL DID ANYONE SEE THAT COMING?!?!?!

That actually surprised me hella lot. I'd originally thought Geon Woo was the tsundere type, but he was more honest with his feelings than I believed. However, he hadn't been completely convinced by these feelings until Eui Joon had offered to break it off. Suddenly there was an exit to his situation, but he didn't really feel happy about it. He was frustrated at not being able to properly understand what his words made him feel. Because the truth was he didn't want to break things off. He just wouldn't admit to himself at the time that the reason was he actually wanted Eui Joon.

We could see him debating it himself, poor thing:

"I didn't expect myself to be in a situation where I couldn't even understand my own feelings. I should've figured it out the moment I couldn't understand my sexual preference. I'm not that young anymore... What is this?" "No... It could also be a spur of the moment... It doesn't seem to be like that. It might also be due to pride, but I feel it's not necessary for these kinds of feelings to affect my pride... But even when it's like this, I still want to..."

Geon Woo decides to "have a little fun" before conceding to Eui Joon's request to "end their entanglement". But I've noticed that whenever something bothers Geon Woo too much, he takes a smoke. When Eui Joon makes the suggestion, Geon Woo does just that.

The slightly rough way in which Geon Woo treats him afterwards shows his frustration. He grabs his arm roughly and pulls him towards the car, but he doesn't realize he was hurting Eui Joon's wrist with his own watch until Eui Joon whines in pain—at which point Geon Woo just laces his hand through his instead. Which I thought was so sweet T^T

When Eui Joon freaks out about doing it at the school where he studies and asks Geon Woo to consider it for him, Geon Woo says, "Do I have to consider that for you too?" And when Eui Joon asks for him to do that, Geon Woo replies, "I guess I've been too nice to you." THE MAN WAS FREAKING FRUSTRATED!!! Geon Woo even challenges him to stay quiet, telling him no one will hear them if he does. Throughout the whole thing, Geon Woo wanted to dominate him, daring him to take what pleasure he could give him, but with an aggression that bespeaks the storm in his heart and mind. Reading it back, I realized just how damn hot that scene was. I mean, goddamn. After Geon Woo admits his feelings, there's a serenity about him afterwards. He no longer has to second-guess taking care of Eui Joon or expressing what he felt towards him. He gives him food and medicine the next day since he caught a fever. He "invites himself" to watch a movie with him since they both had nothing to do for the rest of the day. The guy was basically courting Eui Joon, haha. Not a confession, my ass XD

And then, when Eui Joon opens up about how he rejected Hyeon Woo, Geon Woo tells him he'll also wait for him for around three years T^T

MY HEART I CAN'T T ^ T ☙ ☙ �� ☙ ☙ So that's kiiind of a long breakdown. I included as little pictures as possible. Copyright and all that. I just really like this series so far. I want to be able to read the original someday. Hopefully I'd be able to learn Korean T^T. If you like this as much as I do, chat me up =D would love to hear other thoughts.

[likeastars]

Roku: oh, look who showed up!

Yangchen: give him a break! Sorry Aang, he's still mad about the whole Zuko thing, don't worry

Aang: wha- what is happening? I was in my bed with my family and-

Roku: you died kiddo... I'm sorry...

Aang: oh... well, it is the natural cycle, isn't it? I had to make space for the next Avatar

Kuruk: yeah you tell Kyoshi that

Kyoshi in front of a bowl: you're just jealous of how good I look after 250 years

Kuruk: *smirks* yes I am

Aang: uhm... what are you doing sifu Kyoshi?

Kyoshi: first, don't call me that and second-

Roku: you are witnessing the most irritating part of your life as an Avatar kid. We are making the basic personality of your future student, but you can't interfere with it because you're not fully dead yet

Yangchen: holy myself Roku, stop being so dramatic!

Kuruk: can we focus on the next Avatar please?!?

Kyoshi: I think we should add some stubbornness

Roku: when did we not do that?

Kyoshi: and a bit of bi disaster vibes

Kuruk: last time we did that the whole thing with Yun and Rangi happened

Kyoshi: you mean last time we did that the whole thing with Firelord Sozin happened

Aang: WHAT?

Roku: THAT- THAT'S NOT-

Kuruk: ooooooh right! So that's what was happening! How did I miss it?!

Kyoshi: they nominated Pai Sho so much in my life that you cried for the whole Avatar creation process

Kuruk: shut up

Yangchen: so I think we can all agree that we won't- and you did it

Kyoshi: what? I'm not working with another straight Avatar. And you know Raava's preferences...

Aang: I am straight...?

Kyoshi: yeah. And Zuko grew up to be a very handsome man and you didn't even look at him!

Kuruk: I'm sorry... she misses her girlfriend...

Kyoshi: shut up.

Yangchen: you know that there are more sexualities other than bi right?

Kuruk: let's make her very competitive

Kyoshi: and buff

Kuruk: and charming

Kyoshi: but like... meat head charming

Kuruk: good one! *high fives Kyoshi*

Yangchen: please not another himb- and you did it again!

Kyoshi: we listened to you while making Aang!

Roku: *mixes the elements in the bowl* aaaand done! Let's hope they don't ruin with trauma this one too!

Every avatar: *bitter laugh*

The past Avatars reacting to Korra's love life

Kyoshi: I think she should go for Mako

Roku: yeah me too

Yangchen: WHAT? Bolin is clearly the best choice! He's sweet, caring and they get along so well!

Kuruk: the firebender charm is irresistible

*Mako and Korra kiss*

Kuruk: see?

Aang: doesn't the boy have a girlfriend...?

Roku: WHAT?

Yangchen: sEe?

Kuruk: what an asshole!

Kyoshi: wait guys... isn't his girlfriend's family from the Firenation?

Roku: ooooooooooh *smug look*

Kuruk: she should steal her

Kyoshi: HELL YEAH SHE SHOULD

Aang: we do get along with her well...

*Mako an Korra break up*

Yangchen: thank Raava. She can do so much better than that Mako guy

Kyoshi: NOW GO AND GET HER TIGER- and she lost her memory

Kuruk: why would she kiss Mako again!? Asami is a much better option!

Roku: *sighs* love is blind...

Kuruk: I'll drink to that bro

Aang: we don't have any alcohol here

Kuruk: *starts crying*

Aang: *pats his back*

*final episode of season 2*

Kyoshi: Firenation girls' favourite positions are- *disappears*

I was inspired by @failingradish 's Avatars interactions

[jengarie]

#showyourprocess !

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content!

To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

RULES — When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag up to 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours!

Thank you, @rinielle for tagging me! She chose the piece above (original post), and oh boy this one was a whole ass rollercoaster ride! Unfortunately, I hadn't turned on the timelapse feature for this but I'll try to go through each part of the process as best as I can!

The photos I'm gonna upload are gonna be a mix of screenshots and literal photos of my screen, because I'm taking some of them from my updates to friends, since a lot of the steps got lost in my painting process.

But before that, let me tag some other amazing creators!

@dragonji: this gif art!

@candicewright: this yibo painting!

@wendashanren: this gifset!

@mylastbraincql: this gif!

I haven't been able to keep track of who's been tagged so apologies if you've already done this! Also, no pressure to do it at all if you would rather not! <3

Planning

Sometimes, I get an idea first and find reference photos to go with that idea. But for this one, I sought out a reference photo first, and built an idea on top of it!

After that, I roughly sketch out the base pose. Usually, this looks very messy, but it doesn't really matter as long as I understand which part goes where!

The idea for the background didn't really come until the creation process because I don't think I really planned this to be a full piece.

Creation

Sketching

Honestly, from this point on, it's more of trial and error.

So, I redid the the initial base pose—made it cleaner and a little bit more detailed. See: the added definition in their arm muscles, the rearrangement of Wei Wuxian's legs, and Lan Wangji's hand on Wei Wuxian's back. If you look at the second photo, I also changed the pose a bit midway—I tend to edit as I go sometimes when I change my mind. (For this, I thought, given the Lan arm strength, it would be better to make Lan Wangji look more at ease carrying Wei Wuxian. This gets covered by the robes anyway though, so it didn't matter much in the end.)

I also started adding details to the base! I usually start with the face and then the hair! I usually go for the clothes next, but I dreaded the robes in this piece so I guess that's why I ended up with a basic idea of what I wanted for the background instead LOL I also figured out how I want the final crop to look like, so I blocked out all the other areas with an extra layer!

Okay, onto the part that killed me like ten times: the robes. There are a lot of interactions between their robes here given their pose, and not to mention they also have layers upon layers on each of them! So, to maintain my sanity and to keep track of which part is which, I color coded them into the most colorful sketch I've ever made.

Another reason why I filled in each layer of robe with a solid block of color, is so that all the lines underneath gets covered. Without all of the colors, the actual outline actually looks like the one on the right. What a nightmare!

I also ignored the crop again for this part, because it's always better to draw past your borders, in case you decide to rotate or tilt or whatever your piece later on. I didn't do the feet anymore though, because that I was sure wouldn't show in the final piece anymore.

After that, I did the sketch one more time and then started adding the base colors. (I didn't have a screenshot of just the base colors, and the final CSP file is a nightmare so I copy pasted the layers into a new canvas to show you guys :') )

By the way, I drew their robes flowing this way, because I wanted it to frame the lower arch of the moon behind them for the composition. It was a little frustrating that I couldn't get Lan Wangji's robes a little higher because of Wei Wuxian's legs but I later filled in the empty space with his forehead ribbon anyway, so it all worked out in the end!

Painting

Because apparently, I was a masochist back then, I merged the base colors all into one layer and started adding shadows to the robes. (These days, I add shadows first and then, merge. It's much easier this way.)

And then, I started painting! Again, I did the face first and then the hair, before finally the robes. This was my first time painting side profiles and honestly it was quite a pain to figure out LOL but !!! I think I did a good job and I'm proud of how it turned out. I again used reference photos for this one but I can't link any because they were just several random Pinterest photos that I didn't save.

Another thing to note is that I use the mesh transform tool a lot, especially on faces. That's largely why Lan Wangji's face looks so different in the latter two!

And then I went with the robes. Somewhere along the way, I realized I didn't like how I planned to do Lan Wangji's sleeves and the flowy part of Wei Wuxian's robes and I... decided, with much dread, to do them over. So I sketched on top of the painted layers and redid the robes, again.

It was at this point that I decided to take a break from this piece because it was honestly very draining! I think it took about three weeks before I decided to open the file again and continue it.

When I did, I just finished painting the rest of the robes and their hands. The blue details on Lan Wangji's outer robes were painted on a separate layer that I put on Multiply. I probably did more adjustments to the face and hair and stuff, because my painting process is honestly a mess :')

Final Adjustments

I added some correction layers on certain areas to fix some of the colors. See: Lan Wangji's sleeve becoming much brighter and paler; Wei Wuxian's legs having less contrast. And then I merged all of the layers (excluding the background) and added a bit of blur. See: Wei Wuxian's ponytail; the entire lower part; the flowing forehead ribbon. My reasoning for this is so that most of the detail (and therefore the flow of the eye) goes to their faces and expressions!

And then, I put a blue Overlay layer on low opacity to make Wangxian blend better with the background, added a bit of shadow on the inside and the lower sections and added the glowing details for the added flair. I initially wanted sparkles and/or stars but they didn't turn out as well as this did. I also upped the contrast by a little for the entire piece!

Aaaand, that's it! In truth, I did a bit more color adjustments to the whole piece, but I was a dummy who forgot to turn them back on before posting so ... oh well.

Posting

Before posting, I upload it either on my spare private Twitter account or on a drafted Tumblr post so I can check the colors on my phone. This is because the colors on different devices can look very different, and I would at the very least want all my pieces to look nice on both of my devices!

And then, once I deem it satisfactory, I just try to think of a caption and post! Some artists wait for a certain time where most of their followers are active, but I didn't have a lot of MDZS followers at this point so it didn't really matter to me.

It still doesn't really; I haven't actually been able to figure out when my MDZS followers are awake even now.

[scripttorture]

In my sci fi world there is a small device that, when injected into someone’s blood, cancels out special abilities/superpowers. It’s used in prisons by the government the protagonists are rebelling against. I was thinking about making it also be used to cause physical pain in to punish prisoners who step out of line, possibly controlled by remote, but I’m not sure how that would work. What would a chip in someone’s bloodstream need to do to cause pain? Would that even be possible?

I can think of several ways it would be possible. My instinct was that it would have a high mortality rate but then I realised that I actually have no way of knowing because this is pretty far from modern torture.

 I can see the appeal in this sort of fictional idea. However that comes with the proviso that torture is generally very very low tech. We live in a world where you can literally 3D print an oesophagus and the most common form of torture globally is hitting people.

 There is a really strong tendency in fiction to show these incredibly complicated, high tech torture devices: often implying that torture is complicated, ‘skilled’ and can be ‘improved’ with technology. None of these things are true.

 Personally I feel like these tropes feed in to torture apologia. They’re not the worst form of it out there, but they’re false and they function in a way that supports what torturers say over what survivors say.

 I think that you can probably write this kind of remote control press-button-for-pain scenario without tripping in to that. But only if you’re aware it’s a possible problem in the first place.

 As for how it could work- My first thought as a chemist was ‘by releasing something into the blood’ but I don’t think that would work as you’ve described. I think it would require a much larger implant then you’re implying in order to release a sufficient quantity of anything.

 Which is possible, arm implants along these lines exist. They’re bulky enough to feel through the skin and they need to be replaced periodically to keep functioning. I’ve never had one and I’m not a medic so I don’t know any more then that.

 If you’re willing to research medical implants and adjust the idea a little… Well we often use capsaicin as a way to test an animal still has the capacity to feel pain*.

 The LD50 in mice (lethal dose for 50% of the tested population) is 47.2mg/kg. It is possible to be poisoned by capsaicin although I do not have much information on what that looks like in humans. There’d be risk of poisoning from repeated abuse by the guards in this story. There’d also be a risk of poisoning if the device itself malfunctioned or was damaged and say… burst.

 Something smaller (I think the word ‘chip’ implies something quite small) would work differently because it wouldn’t have the space to hold a significant amount of any chemical.

 I think that electric shocks are probably the most likely method with a smaller device. Which also comes with a significant risk of killing someone.

 I’ll be honest I have no idea what kind of difference it would make if the electricity was applied underneath someone’s skin. It isn’t something I’ve seen before. I suspect the heat generation might cause problems. It could damage tissues and cause blood clots which would increase the chance of lethal heart attacks or strokes.

 If the heat killed a lot of tissue around the device I think that could lead to… serious problems, possibly death. Having a lot of dead, rotting tissue in the body is pretty dangerous.

 Generally repeated electric shocks kill, sometimes from heart failure, sometimes from things like falling injuries.

 It’s also (unsurprisingly) incredibly painful. Alleg has a pretty good description of his experience of electrical torture in The Question. You can also find descriptions online as the use of Tasers and stun guns has become more common globally.

 I’m finding it difficult to judge this one because my instinct is that delivering an electric shock internally would cause additional damage. But I’m not sure what that would look like.

 Again I think this sort of device could easily malfunction and kill someone. Or malfunction and just stop ‘working’.

 There’s also a chance of the immune system attacking the implant. Which- I don’t know a lot about because I’m not a medic. I think it could be an important factor though.

 With both of these ideas it’s worth questioning whether this would be worth the effort. I’ve found a lot of authors don’t quite think this through so let me try and break it down.

 This is what has to happen before it can be used:

it needs to be designed

a prototype needs to be created

it needs to be tested

several iterations of redesign and new prototypes

parts need to be sourced

the whole thing needs to be assembled on a larger scale

it all needs to be paid for

the people who are supposed to be using it need to find it easy to use

 Tasers very nearly didn’t make it off the ground. It took decades of concerted work and funding from their manufactures to make them a ‘success’. Rejali does a pretty interesting run down of the way it happened if you want more information.

 The question you need to ask yourself is: would all of this have any advantage for the abusers compared to using pepper spray, Tasers or a stick?

 Because unless you’re really sure the answer is ‘yes’ then I think this sort of thing is really really unlikely. And when it comes to writing torture simpler is usually better.

 Like I said I can see how the base of this idea could add to your story. So I don’t want to dismiss it out of hand. But the existence of a device like this says a lot about the society you’re writing. Do the implications fit with the world you’re building?

 Torturers are… generally incredibly lazy and pretty dumb. Which makes the use of high tech devices less likely. Because the competition is a slap. For something to take off it needs to be as easy, quick and reliable as that. And probably also robust enough to be stamped on, vomited over etc.

 So: is there enough drive in this world to add torture to the functionality of this device? Is there the money to fund it? Is there the time to design and create it? And is it going to be reliable and tough enough to actually be used?

 If there was a rush to make something that blocked super powers adding more things (that might interfere with that main function) to the device probably wouldn’t have been a priority.

 Basically if you want this kind of device make it fit with the world you’ve built and think about whether it’s actually adding anything that a more typical torture wouldn’t.

 Aaaand I’m going to leave it there cos I think I’m talking in circles. I hope that helps :)

Available on Wordpress.

Disclaimer

*This is something that’s done with genetically modified fruit flies. It’s a way to test whether a genetic modification has had an unexpected effects on the insect’s nervous system.

[lakesandquarries]

Tangled Up - Chapter One

for I am a tardigrade, and I'll stay at home

Benrey's spent 26 years living in a tower - 27, tomorrow. When a thief breaks into his tower, he finds his chance to escape and takes it.

Alternatively: Tangled, but the AI is self aware.

(featuring art by @kenas-artstuff​ )

Notes: check ao3 for warnings and tags! “kane radio” is just gordon using a fake name. fic title from “tangled up” by caro emerald, chapter title from “tardigrade song” by cosmo sheldrake.

Happy valentines day!!! hope you enjoy <3

AO3 Link

This is not the first time Kane’s come to tied up. It’s not even the first time this week. However, it is the first time he’s come to tied up with ropes made of human hair, and the first time he’s come to with a fucking raccoon shoving its nose in his ear.

So maybe he screams a little. Anyone would! It’s a reasonable reaction. 

The hair around his wrists is a shiny blue-black, tough when he pulls at it. Is all hair like that? Is it one of those things that’s fragile individually but super tough all together? Seems like it, because it’s not even budging.

He’s so caught up that he doesn’t notice the person in the shadows until they’re holding out a crowbar, tilting up his chin.

“Yo,” they say, quiet and monotone. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

Kane screams again.

They’re weird looking. Pale, really pale, to the point that Kane wonders if something is wrong with them, and with a dark shadow around their eyes like a bruise that makes him sure. They’ve got on a long dress, all dark blues and lace and fancy embroidery, the kind of thing you’d either have to be rich to buy or have a lot of spare time to make. Their eyes are a bright, bright yellow, almost glowing, sclera a pale blue, and their hair is the same blue-black as the hair around Kane’s wrists - oh, it’s the same hair, isn’t it? Fuck, it’s long.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” the guy says again. “You got, uh. ID? Passport?”

“Passport?” This is - this is insane. This cannot be happening. “What the fuck,” he mumbles, repeating it to himself a few times, “what the fuck, who - who are you?”

The man tilts his head up with his crowbar. "No, no. I asked you first. You're in my house, I ask the questions." His eyes narrow, almost translucent in the light. "What're you doing here? How'd you find me? You gonna steal shit?" His hand goes to his hair, tugging on the blue-black strands. "Gonna steal my hair?"

"Steal your - why would I steal your hair?" The crowbar is cold against his throat, pressing harder every time he speaks. "And aside from that, I'm not here to steal anything. I thought this place was empty so I could use it for - as a shelter! Happy now?" His tone stays steady, confident even, but his hands clutch at the armrests desperately.

“You - huh?” The crowbar pulls back, just enough that Kane’s head can drop, and he sucks in a deep breath while he still can. The crowbar moves away entirely for a moment, as the stranger steps aside to have a whispered conversation with his pet raccoon.

Yeah, this day is weird enough for that to seem normal. Between stealing the prince’s royal helmet, ditching his partner, getting chased by a guard dog, and now this - it’s certainly been a day. 

While the guy’s busy, Kane glances around, taking in the sights of the tower. It’s small. Homey. There’s a bed, a kitchen, a couch, bookshelves full of video games and a handful of books. The walls are covered, floor to ceiling, in paintings. When he looks up he realizes it’s not just the walls, the ceiling is painted too. Even the furniture has tiny doodles and carvings in it.

The crowbar slides against his throat again, cutting off his train of thought. "Is it just you?” the stranger asks. “No, uh. Backup? Not gonna...." he trails off, looking at his raccoon again, then back to Kane. "Who are you?"

He gives the man the best smile he can manage, under the circumstances, and says, “I’m Kane. Kane Radio.”

“Kane,” the man repeats. There’s a long pause where the two of them just stare at each other, before he finally adds, “Benrey.” Suddenly he tugs on his hair, pulling Kane closer to him and pushing the crowbar aside. “I wanna make a deal with you.”

“Uhh, yeah, could you get me out of your...hair, first? If that is your hair.” He doesn’t have time to make deals, and he doesn’t like the way Benrey repeated his name. Could he….? No, there’s no way. Kane’s been careful to erase any trace of Gordon Freeman. Of all people to blow his secret it’s not gonna be some random hermit living in a tower. He swallows, appreciating the lack of metal at his throat. “To be honest, I’d rather -”

Aaaand there goes the crowbar again. Shouldn’t have gotten confident. "You're lucky I'm gonna let you leave," Benrey says, voice low. Suddenly he doesn't seem like just a weird guy in a tower. Suddenly he seems like a threat. A choked yelp claws out of Kane’s throat as Benrey tugs on his hair again, pulling Kane close enough that he can see his unnaturally sharp teeth. "Wanna try that again?"

He barely processes the words, focused on the man - man?? - in front of him, the sharp teeth and glowing eyes and the crowbar pressing his throat shut, or maybe that’s just anxiety. It occurs to him that maybe this guy isn’t human. 

His smile is nowhere near its usual confidence, but he tries to grin anyway. “S-so, uh, what...what was that deal? Benrey?”

Benrey’s face splits into a grin, and suddenly he’s just...a guy again. A weird guy! A weird, unsettling guy, with eyes that are too bright and teeth that are too sharp and hair that is way too long, but a guy. The crowbar is lowered and Benrey steps back, clambering up his fireplace and pulling back a red curtain. Behind it is...a painting? Still semi-fresh, from the looks of it, in the same style that all the other paintings are. This one depicts the floating lanterns they do for the prince's birthday. There’s all sorts of colors, blue and silver and pink and green, and below the sky is a hill with a small figure on it with long black hair.

"You know what these are?" he asks, pointing a finger at a pink light.

Kane exhales slowly. Benrey’s gonna push that crowbar against him again any second now, so he might as well enjoy breathing while he can. Fuck, he’d almost rather go back outside and deal with the guard dog that chased him here. “Yeah,” he says, voice shaking, and he clears his throat before he continues. “The lanterns for the lost prince.” Is Benrey fucking with him? Everyone knows the lanterns. Kane’s never even been to a lantern ceremony himself but he still knows what they are. He’d need a serious head injury to forget that, and while his head hurts a bit it’s certainly not that bad. 

Benrey does not seem to be fucking with him, because he does a little cheer and fist pump. “I knew they weren’t stars,” he mumbles to himself, before turning back to Kane. Louder, he says, "I want you to take me there. To see 'em." He pulls the curtain back over and jumps down from the mantle, landing on the floor with a heavy thud. "Think you can manage that? Just there and back and I don't, uh. Y'know." He glances at the window. Kane follows his gaze, picturing Benrey launching his body out of it, and shudders. "Pretty good deal, I think."

Kane’s breath comes out in a panicked hiss.”W-well, that's not really a good idea right now, since I shouldn’t show my face in the kingdom right now considering I -" oh shit. "Oh shit. My satchel! Where is my satchel?!"

Benrey raises an eyebrow, smirking at him. “Oh, the bag thingy? I hid it. Mine now.” His smug face is the most infuriating thing Kane has ever seen, and he’d be throwing a punch if he wasn’t fucking tied to a chair. Benrey continues, "If you want it, you gotta earn it. You take me to the lanterns, I give you your satchel. Deal?"

Hid it. He said he hid it, so it’s….somewhere in here, probably, and once Kane realizes that it’s easy to figure out. He nods his head at a flowerpot. “It’s in there, huh?”

Benrey raises the crowbar again.

Oh, shit. “W-wait, no no no, no need to hit me!” He shuts his eyes, wishing he could move his arms to protect himself. He does not need any more head trauma, thank you very much. 

This guy really won’t hesitate to kill him, huh? This stupid deal is his only real option. Kane sighs, keeping his eyes shut. "L-look, I'll keep my eyes shut like this? And you can hide my satchel somewhere else. No peeking. I'll agree to the deal. Just - my head already feels like splitting."

A pause. Kane almost considers opening his eyes but keeps them shut. Finally he hears Benrey’s voice again. “No peeking,” he repeats. There’s a series of shuffling noises, bare feet and raccoon claws against the floor, and then a moment later: “Okay. You can open your eyes.”

The satchel is nowhere to be seen, without even a hint to where it might be hiding. He sighs, head dropping forward before he looks up at Benrey again. "If I'm gonna agree to this, let me ask at least one question. Why do you wanna see them so badly, and why would you need an escort for that?"

Benrey’s face goes blank. “Uhhhh,” is all he says, followed by a long pause, leaving Kane worried he broke him somehow, but finally Benrey continues. "That's, uh. None of your business. 's just - it's, uh, dangerous. Out there. For me. Need a....need a guide."

Huh. Sheltered, maybe? Benrey seems...well, a little off, to be blunt. He can’t be much younger than Kane is, but he doesn’t even know about the lanterns. Overprotective parent seems a likely answer, but whatever the reason, now’s not the time to pry. “Alright, yeah, none of my business. Okay. We go see the lanterns, come back, you give me the satchel, yeah? Deal?”

“Deal,” Benrey agrees.

“Okay. Does that mean you can untie me now?”

-----

The thing about spending 27 years in a tower, knowing that this is where you’re going to spend your entire life, is that when you get the option to leave it’s kind of the scariest thing imaginable.

Kane’s already climbed down, leaning against a tree while Benrey stands on the ledge. Physically, he’s ready. He’s got his hair wrapped around the lever, ready to swing down, ready to go, to get out of the stupid fucking tower and out into the real world, except -

Except -

“You are never leaving this tower.” Zeki’s hands are on his shoulder, nails digging in. “Do you understand?”

Benrey reaches back, trying to grab at the closet. “But -”

“The outside world isn’t safe for you. You aren’t safe for it. If you went outside, you know what would happen?”

“Huh?”

“Look at you.” She grabs his hand roughly, pulling him over to the mirror. “They’ll take one look at you, and they’ll know, and then what? You’ll fight back. You’ll hurt people. You’re dangerous.”

It’s nothing new, but. He thinks about the man he has stuffed into his closet. He didn’t hurt him. He’ll be fine! “But -”

“This isn’t up for discussion. You. Are not. Leaving. Ever. Do you understand me or not?”

He stares at the mirror, looking between himself and Zeki. She’s looked the same as long as he can remember, brown hair always pulled into a bun and dark green eyes, pale skin but not in the same way Benrey is pale. She’s human. He’s not. And she’s right, that anyone who looks at him is gonna know. That’s why he’s up here, where it’s safe. Where no one can hurt him. And, more importantly, where he can’t hurt anyone else.

“I understand,” Benrey mumbles.

“Good.”

“I, uh. I thought of - I came up with something better. For a, uh. Birthday thingy.”

Zeki turns away from the mirror, towards Benrey. “Oh?”

“You got me that - the paint. Last year. The white one?”

“That’s a long trip,” she says, pursing her lips. 

“I won’t ask about the. The stars. Or going outside. Or anything of that. I’ll, uh -” He glances at the dresser, the one where she keeps her lab coat. “I’ll make up for it.”

There’s a glint in her eyes, sharp like her favourite knife. “Fine. I’ll get you the paint.” Her face softens as she places a hand on Benrey’s head. “I’m only doing this to protect you.”

“I know,” he mumbles, as she steps away to gather her things. “I know.”

“Benrey?” Kane yells. “Are you gonna move or what?”

He jumps.

The fall is intense. Wind in his hair, sun on his face, watching the ground get closer - oh that’s close. Oh that’s very close. He stops just a few inches off the ground, hesitating once again. There’s no going back from this. The grass is so much greener than he expected, bright and shiny in the sun, drops of dew still lingering, and before he can spiral further he puts his foot down. When nothing happens - no monster appears, no pit opens up and swallows him - he puts both feet on the ground, the blades of grass tickling him. 

A quick tug, and he pulls his hair down from the lever, watching it fall to the ground, and then joins it. The grass is still damp underneath him, but the sun above is warm. He’s getting covered in dew and dirt and bits of grass and he can’t find it in him to care, busy savoring the feeling he’s dreamed of for so long. 

It’s not until he stands up that he realizes the bulk on his hair landed directly on Kane. He starts shoving hair aside, Jefferem lending a set of tiny hands as extra help. “You good?” Benrey asks, as Kane’s head becomes visible.

Kane huffs, struggling to stand. “Apart from being attacked by your mane, yeah, I'm fine. Can you help me out?”

Benrey holds out an arm. Pulling Kane up proves easier than he thought, and he pulls a little too hard, almost slamming Kane into him, the two of them pressed together for a moment before  Kane coughs and steps back. Benrey takes a moment to half-heartedly brush some dirt and grass out of his hair and off his clothes, looking at Kane. “Guide time?”

Kane blinks at him, not bothering to clean off his clothing. “Uh - yeah. Guide time. Let’s go!” His steps are loud as he walks away. 

Benrey’s footsteps are almost inaudible as he follows, crowbar gripped tight in his hands. The initial adrenaline is starting to fade, doubt settling in. Maybe this was a bad idea. It’s not too late to turn around and go back. 

He shakes his head. Lost in his own thoughts, he’s fallen behind, and he has to sprint to catch up. Hoping not to zone out again, he starts talking, letting the first thing he can think of fall out of his mouth. “The lights - the lanterns. You said they were for a...prince?”

They enter a small stone tunnel as Kane answers. His voice is soft. “Every year, on the prince’s birthday, the kings - and the whole kingdom - release a swarm of lanterns,” he explains, voice echoing. It turns theatrical as he continues. “See, their little boy was snatched away as a baby, by an evil wizard! Or...something like that, at least. They’re hoping the lanterns will bring him back.”

“On his birthday?” Benrey echoes. Weird coincidence. A moment passes while Benrey busies himself with touching the walls of the tunnel. “And they still haven’t found him? Why’re they still doing the lanterns if it doesn’t work?”

Kane’s voice is softer, more subdued when he responds. "The kings still have hope that their baby boy will return someday. It's a very human thing in my opinion."

Ah. Human thing. That explains why Benrey doesn’t understand.

Kane pokes his head through the ivy, waiting a moment before ducking back and lifting it to let Benrey through. “We’re clear.”

Raising an eyebrow, Benrey repeats, “Clear?” Is something following them, or is Kane just paranoid? Or maybe Benrey is reading too much into things. Maybe it’s normal to check for stuff like that. Not like he would know.

"Ah - well, I told you earlier, didn't I? The kingdom and I aren't... quite buddy buddy at the moment." As they walk, he keeps looking around, eyes darting back and forth. "But don't worry, it shouldn't be a big problem for our objective."

Oh. Maybe he should’ve paid more attention to what Kane was saying earlier. Too late for that now, though. “So I was right? You a little - thief boy, huh? Stealing shit?” It’s mostly a guess, but he can’t picture this guy doing any real crime. His satchel probably had some stolen shit in it and that’s why he wants it back so bad. Well, better to team up with a criminal than a guard or something, considering all the rules Benrey’s breaking.

“Why do you keep insisting I steal shit?” Kane asks, looking away from Benrey. He doesn’t even give him time to answer, immediately following it with, “Hey, you hungry?”

Immediately changing the subject, huh? Now that’s suspicious. Admittedly he is a little hungry, and curious about where they’d be getting food out here. “Only if you’re not gonna steal it.”

Kane’s mouth screws up, eyes narrowing with a scoff. “I know a good place to get food. On our way, too. My friend works there.”

Oh shit, other people. He hesitates a moment before nodding. “Sure. Sure, yeah.”

Kane squints at him again. “You're not really an outside person huh? Have you...Have you ever been outside before?”

Damn, okay, just gonna straight up ask. Benrey opens his mouth to answer and then stops. “You answer my question first.” He’s not looking at Kane as he talks, eyes on the road ahead.

A groan in response, and then, “Fine, neither of us get an answer, then.” Kane picks up his pace, quickly getting ahead of Benrey.

“Someone’s grumpy,” Benrey mutters, rushing to catch up again. Kane’s anger surprises him. “I don’t care if you are. I’m breaking like....every rule possible just being here.” He pauses, scuffing at the dirt. “‘s all cool. Y’know. Be gay, do crime.”

Kane bursts into laughter, stopping in the road for a second. “Real rebel, huh?” he asks, shooting Benrey a grin that he returns nervously. “Fitting, then, for you to break out with a thief.”

Benrey’s grin widens, delighted. “Hah! I was right.”

“Yeah, yeah, congratulations, Blueberry.” The smile twists at the corners, as Kane leans closer to Benrey. “But that means we’re in my business now. So what about yours? You said you're breaking every rule right now. So... you weren't allowed outside that tower for some reason?”

That same empty expression makes a return as Benrey freezes. Twirling a strand of hair around his fingers, he clears his throat, forcing himself to start moving again. Walked right into that one, huh? And he’s not a coward, he’s not gonna refuse to answer after he finally got Kane to admit something. “Yeah,” he mumbles. “I, uh. Yeah. Not allowed. Very not allowed.”

If Zeki knew what he was doing right now - she’d kill him. Worse than kill him. Beside him, Kane’s gaze is soft, head tilted and eyebrows furrowed. 

“Well…” he starts, “sometimes, you just gotta do what feels right, even if it hurts or makes someone mad. Trust me on that, I know from experience.” To punctuate his last words, he nudges against Benrey’s arm, almost affectionate. Benrey jumps for a second, hand darting to touch the spot Kane had brushed against, almost expecting it to feel different somehow. But no, it’s just his arm. 

“Experience,” he repeats quietly. “Uh, yeah. I mean - I’m here.”

“That you are, Mr. Independent.”

[crazy-loca-blog]

heyyyy! I wanted to ask you some newlywed questions for Casey and Ethan! The trick is to answer these as them!

For Both:

Who gets sick more often? Do they follow doctor orders when they're sick?

Their signature dish or drink?

What's your spouse's catchphrase?

Who's neater?

Who's the better kisser?

For Casey

Fill in the blank, My husband is the world’s worst ___________.

Which of his relatives would you say liked you the most? Why?

Ethan agrees to have takeout for dinner from "his favorite place". Where is that and what do you get him?

Describe your first birthday with him. What did he get you? How did you celebrate?

How does he like his eggs cooked?

For Ethan

What is your favorite thing to do for her on the toughest days?

What do you remember the most about the first time you met her?

What does she spend the most money on? What are your thoughts about that?

Describe her using emojis only.

What were the best ten minutes next to her?

OMG Bree!!! This was such a challenge because before the series finale, I think I was one of the very few people who never ever pictured Ethan and Casey as a married couple!! But this is incredibly fun, so let's see how it goes (by the way, I had to cheat on the emojis question, but only because I remembered emojis are different depending on your phone and I don't know if they'll be fully visible, so I had to add a description! 😂):

Masterlist

For Both:

Who gets sick more often? Do they follow doctor orders when they're sick?

Casey: Me. I get sick at least twice a year. But I'm much better at following doctor orders than Ethan because I hate being sick, it makes me feel useless, so I want to recover fast.

Ethan: Casey. And no matter what she says, she's a terrible patient. She is stubborn and wants to go back to work even though she's not feeling OK.

Casey: At least I try to keep positive when I'm sick. When Ethan gets sick... OMG, he is a walking nightmare! You're so lucky that I promised to love you for better or worse.

Ethan: I won't deny it... I only get sick once in a while, but being sick puts me in a bad mood, she must love me a lot to stay around me when I'm not feeling OK.

Their signature dish or drink?

Casey: My cookies recipe, Ethan can't resist it. I learned it from Sienna, but I added my personal touch to it and now they're a must in our kitchen.

Ethan: I like to cook fish and meat, and I can proudly say I've managed the technique for them fo be perfectly cooked.

Casey: Ethan could always try Masterchef if this medicine thing doesn't work... cooking is one of his many hidden talents.

What's your spouse's catchphrase?

Casey: "Interns..." and then he pinches the bridge of his nose.

Ethan: "OMG!" with a very surprised expression on her face.

Casey, surprised: OMG, I don't do that!

Ethan: *laughs* You just did it!

Who's neater?

Casey: At home? Ethan. At work, definitely me.

Ethan: Agreed. We both have our moments. Casey is the most methodical doctor I've ever known and she makes my job as Chief of Medicine much easier, but at home she is... chaos. And I'm the complete opposite.

Who's the better kisser?

Casey: Ethan, he is an amazing kisser! I'm so lucky to say that he's all mine! *laughs*

Ethan: Casey, you can feel the love in each one of her kisses.

Casey: Keep going, Ramsey... I may actually love you a little more after this interview...

~~*~~*~~*~~

For Casey:

Fill in the blank, My husband is the world’s worst ___________.

Casey: Liar. He may fool other people, but not me. He has a terrible poker face, so when the expression on his face doesn't match his words, you know he is lying.

Which of his relatives would you say liked you the most? Why?

Casey: Alan. He says I'm the only person his kid actually listens to, so... 🤷🏻‍♀️

Ethan agrees to have takeout for dinner from "his favorite place". Where is that and what do you get him?

Casey: Pasta from a restaurant that's a few blocks from our home. They have different pasta recipes from all over the world and we've tried almost every single dish on that menu and we both love them all, but his favorite is actually an Argentinian stuffed pasta called sorrentinos. They're like raviolis, but extra large... he likes the ones filled with spinach, ricotta and nuts. And they usually don't have takeout, but we go there so often that they are willing to make some exception when it comes to us.

Describe your first birthday with him. What did he get you? How did you celebrate?

Casey: It was the sweetest birthday ever, so take a seat because this is a long story that deserves to be told. At that time, we were seeing each other in secret and kind of trying to figure things out, but we weren't even official. And we had been dealing with a really tough case in the team for weeks. We couldn't diagnose this kid and I tend to break everytime I must see kids battling for their lives, so we were working late almost everyday, I was exhausted, my energy was drained and I didn't feel like celebrating at all. So I had told my roomies that I just wasn't in a mood. I was also trying to hide it from the team because you know, it's the job, but Ethan suspected that the case was getting to me. And he confirmed it when Sienna told him how much this case was affecting me at home. So he decided to do something about it without going over the top and by keeping things simple. So that day, I woke up because someone was knocking at our apartment's door... and he had sent me the most beautiful bouquet I had ever seen... but as we were secretly "a thing", I had to tell the roomies that it was a gift from my brother, because I didn't want them to think I had a secret admirer or something like that! 😂. And after work he just asked me what I wanted to do because he didn't want to push me to celebrate if I wasn't in a mood... and I just said I wanted to go home. But for some reason, and now that I think about it, I never asked him why, he didn't take me to my place. Instead, he took me to his place, he cooked an amazing dinner, we took a nice and warm bath, and then we cuddled and watched silly movies until like 2am "because even though he hates silly movies, he had realized how sad I was and he wanted to make me laugh". I felt so pampered, so protected, so taken care of... I was happy. And that day I knew it: Ethan was home.

Ethan: For the record, I only took you to my place because I knew that if I took you to yours, you'd be taking the work home with you again and you'd be feeling miserable because solving the case was taking us longer than expected.

Casey: *smiles* Sure, babe, you keep telling yourself that.

Ethan: *rolling his eyes* It's the truth...

Casey: Just remember what I answered about you in the first question...

How does he like his eggs cooked?

Casey: Poached. And he won't tell you this, but he actually enjoys fried eggs more than he likes to admit, so I'd say those are a close second and they'll probably take the first place soon.

Ethan: What can I say? a not so long time ago, a very stubborn intern told me "it's OK to treat yourself sometimes", and it stuck with me.

~~*~~*~~*~~

For Ethan:

What is your favorite thing to do for her on the toughest days?

Ethan: Casey is a person who enjoys the simple things in life. And even though I would bring down the moon, the stars, the sun and every single planet to make her feel better and to show her how much I care, I've learned to know that when she's not feeling OK, she needs something as simple as a hug and a shoulder to cry on. No questions, no judging, just support.

What do you remember the most about the first time you met her?

Ethan: It took me 30 seconds to realize that she was not the average intern. Any other intern, including me, would have failed at dealing with the pressure of an emergency thoracotomy in those circumstances, but she was brilliant.

What does she spend the most money on? What are your thoughts about that?

Ethan: Sneakers. Why does she need so many? She only wears a pair at work, a pair to workout and a pair on weekends. She even owns a basketball pair even though she hasn't played basketball in over a decade! She has enough sneakers to wear a different pair every day for at least two months.

Casey: Guilty as charged, I won't fight you this one...

Describe her using emojis only.

☺️/😂 -> Not only she is funny, she always has a smile on her face. If she's not smiling, then you know something is wrong. 🤓 -> She is a nerd and she is proud of it. 🔥-> Passionate. 🥊-> Fighter. 👩‍❤️‍👨 -> The love of my life. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 -> We haven't talked about it yet, so I don't think she knows it, but I can see this one in our future.

Casey: *surprised* Wait what? Our future? Now you have to show me which ones you chose!

Ethan: Patience is a virtue, Dr. Valentine.

What were the best ten minutes next to her?

Ethan: Every minute that I spend next to her is perfect, how could I choose only ten?

Casey: Aaaand that's how my husband manages to leave me speechless... I love you, Ramsey...

[imgonnagetkilledbynutstink]

Hey, another GVF as Brittany Broski. This time the news video. This is a long one because it's literally the whole fucking video but I swear it'll be funny I swear (please read this it took me a long time)

//

Josh: hello everyone, welcome back to Eye Witness 69 news channel. I'm your host, Josh Kiszka. Tonight we're gonna be going through some of the most awful current events today of the the times of... LA New York Times.

//

Josh: first story. A homeless man poops on the wall and smears it around with his hand *shows the card he's reading off of* there's nothing on this- and local tourists take pictures with the wall art. More to come on that later. Hehe, more to come- sorry.

//

Josh: next- oh, it's time for a commercial break.

Jake: oh would you look at that. I'm the one reading the adds also as well so let's get into that and read.

Jake: have you ever been on vacation and pissed your pants in a hotel room?

Danny: uh no... D-do people do that?-

Jake: well do I have a good thing for you. Now for 14.99 plus 70 dollars shipping and handling you can have a portable washer dryer for your *gets cut off by really loud washer dryer sounds*

//

Jake: come on down to mother of- *wheeze* come on down to Uncle Jeolberts Licorice Imporium. We've got all different flavours of licorice. Black licorice, yellow licorice, red licorice, toilet bowl licorice, toilet cleanser licorice. "Oh! I dropped my licorice in the toilet! " it's alright. That's the flavour. That's what we're going for, it's fine. Take it out, rinse it off-

//

Josh: welcome back to Eye Witness 69 news. Welcome back to Eye 69 news, I am Cher Bitch!... Cher impression, check. This just in, Taco Bell beans are powder mixed with tap water aaaand even after seeing those videos I will continue to eat Taco Bell beans. The FDA is not approving any of the items on the Taco Belle menu. Will I still to eat them? Yes. *coughing*

//

Josh: uh oh we've got a current alert... Current alert.

Danny: this just in, bombs. So many bombs so many missiles and- oh, library footage now. Going to the live footage of so many bombs and missles coming down every where today so... Watch out for that... We are selling bomb and missles merch out side of the drop locations.

//

Josh: oh and now we cut to the weather. Sam with the weather.

Sam: hello everyone, I am here reporting the weather. Rain, so much rain... And fire. And if you follow this stream here it's the Mississippi River, and through the Mississippi River, a hurricane wiping away all of the cows- that's tornados- all of the tornados are through the valley... And it's on fire! Now back to you.

//

Josh: thank you so much the weather update, Sam on the weather. Next we have: local culinary hot spot, Ma And Pa's kitchen, burned down! Aleena Shay set arson to Ma and Pa's Kitchen. The beloved hole in the wall spot in West Virginia. Really sad about that one. Condolences to Ma and Pa.

//

Josh: and now for more Cher impressions. We're here to go, it's Cher bitch!

*phone rings*

Josh: hello? Yeah... what do you mean no more Cher impressions? They love the Cher impressions. But they love when I do the Cher impressions. Oh so ratings go down when i- hey, ratings don't matter. this is my television channel network. That is enough. Where is my agent? Do news anchors have agents? I need an iced coffee...

//

Josh: and now a local news reporter who is interviewing someone to mimic that scene from Monsters Inc. Let's go to Jake, on sight.

Jake: it picked me up with it's mind powers and shook me like a dog!

//

Jake: IT'S FORD TRUCK MONTH. COME ON DOWN TO TOM THOMPSON'S FORD OVER ON ISLE 95, WE GOT TRUCKS EVERYWHERE, EVERY TRUCK YOU COULD EVER WANT. WE GOT AMERICAN EAGLES, BALD EAGLES, UH... TOPAY EAGLES FLYING EVERWHERE. IT IS ALSO DODGE RAM MONTH. DODGE TRUCK RAM FORD MONTH- EVERYONE'S DRIVING TRUCKS- I'M FROM TEXAS BUT ALSO FROM NEW YORK.

//

Josh: and now the section of the show where we do fall recipes.

Sam: have you ever wanted to make a fall recipe? Well welcome to the show. Sam- cooking with Sam the fall special series with special guest... Sam. *sighs* today's recipe- hold on I gotta read it. Todays recipe is pumpkin hotdogs... To make pumpkin hot dogs, we first must delve into my grandfather being in the Vietnam War. My grandfather served in Vietnam- *cuts forward* okay where getting into the recipe finnaly. We need a hot dog bun, a weenie, relish, mustard, and pumpkin spice. Now that sounds delicious. This was written in by Tammy from Iowa. Iowa is not a real state.

//

Josh: we apologize for the inconvenient interruption for out nightly news broadcast. We are now going to toss over to Danny with the traffic report. Danny? How's it hanging?

Danny: hey everyone, it's Danny with the traffic report. As you can see, very much clogged traffic, so many accidents, oh my god, there goes another one. An accident here, an accident there, an accident everywhere. It's like a dutch poem... Be careful if your going up the 101 98... A... South... East... Because- pfff- boy do I have a story for you. If you are traveling to LA... Stop. Back to you.

//

Josh: thank you Danny... And Tammy... And Tommy and Sue. This has been an excellent Thanksgiving dinner. I really loved the mashed potatoes, they where my favorite. Next on the nightly news: coyotes. Rabid coyotes taking over the city. One by one. Ferrel. Fomaning at the mouth. Screaming. Yelling. Banshees. The elderly are going first. Unless you are vaccinated against rabis you are next for these coyotes to come. They're coming

[kylos]

i was asked to make some fic recs of stuff i’ve been reading since tros dropped but since tumblr has a glitch where i can’t add a “read more” cut in asks, i decided to make it a separate post because i have a LOT. all of them are rated E except for like, three lmao and they’re mostly modern au ones with some fix-its thrown in. i’ll put two of my favorites outside of a cut and the rest after it.

(won’t you let me) walk you home from school by somethingdifferent modern au. ongoing. ben and rey are co-workers at a private school. rey as a elementary school art teacher is SO CUTE. her and ben have a slow burn enemies to lovers situation going on and god, what can i say about this fic. one of THE BEST reylo fics i’ve ever read. incredibly in character. you know those fics that are so enthralling that they draw you in and you realize like 3 hours later that you’ve read the whole thing? this fic is one of those stories. it reels you in. and REY. i hate fics that are like, “she’s so plain and mousy and ordinary and lanky” like, NO. i love that this author characterizes her as the vibrant, sweet, radiant person she is. and ben’s deadpan humor in this is amazing. he’s got it so bad for rey but he’s such a self-sabotaging goof. just, god. i can’t stress enough how amazing of a fic this is. a must read. and if you love what we do in the shadows, read somethingdifferent’s cracky wwdits x reylo crossover oneshot - it’s hilarious

a place to go by delia-pavorum (literaryminded) modern au. bit of a slow burn. ben and rey are strangers and accidentally both end up at luke’s cabin during xmas vacation because luke, a fellow teacher at rey’s school lends it to her for the holiday and a certain grumpy tol nephew of his happens to drop by thinking it’s vacant. they get snowed in. [in bill hader’s stefan voice] this fic has everything: bed sharing, an enemies-to lovers dynamic, slow dancing to frank sinatra, snark, british!rey and ben finding her accent adorable, ben reading jane austen to a sick rey, smut, and fluff. another one of the best reylo fics i’ve ever read in the past 5 years i’ve been a shipper. it’s so well written and it made me cry with how moved i was by it. i stayed up all night reading all 8 chapters it was that good.

the man, the stallion, and the wind by voicedimplosives modern au. i love this fic so, so, so much. rey picks up a hitchhiking ben and they have to hang out in her trailer while the winter storm calms down. so fluffy and smutty i love it so much. their characterizations are perfect. definitely a fic that i’m gonna come back to read over and over again.

between two lives by neonheartbeat modern au. rey’s a model and her car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and she stays with mechanic ben solo while her car gets worked on. SUCH a good fic. the build up to their relationship is *chefs kiss* and the smuttttt. amazing. and i was not prepared for all the feels.

carve your name upon my heart by TourmalineGreen modern au and 3 chapters. one of the most unique fics i’ve ever read. it actually got me really emotional and i like, hardly ever cry reading fics. rey’s an artist that creates a sculpture (ben) that comes to life. such a beautiful fic, i absolutely adore it.

big dick problems by TourmalineGreen modern au. rey and ben are co-workers at a book store and ben being a kind of aloof person, rey thinks he hates her (she’s wrong ofc asdklfjsd). anyway one day at work she sees that he was browsing the r/bigdickproblems subreddit on his phone aaaand i won’t say more. seriously, go read this. it’s SUCH a good fic, ben & rey are so in character and it’s a good plot.. it’s one of those fics that i’m definitely gonna come back to re-read a bunch of times.

rebel side of heaven by jeeno2 modern au. ben and rey are friends, but i guess they’re more so acquaintances in the same friend group. ben’s a virgin and rey offers to teach him about sex but unbeknownst to her, ben’s got a massive crush on her 😏

tattooed heart by KyloTrashForever modern au. one of the best modern au fics i’ve ever read. i stayed up all night reading it, it was soooo good. just. the smut, the fluff. i can’t recommend it enough. the description: “ Rey Johnson has found herself down on her luck lately. A week long vacation to Hawaii for her best friend’s destination wedding should be just the thing she needs, only her day has been hell. Hell, her year has been hell. When the hot bartender with that fucking mouth makes her an enticing proposition, she finds herself unable to refuse. Besides, it isn’t as if she’ll ever see him again...”

sealed to me by glittergothh canonverse and takes place after tlj. this could serve as a tros fix it tbh because it’s like it’s own movie. i love the plot and ben & rey are so in character. the knights of ren actually play an integral part in this. love the finn/ben interactions.

love like ghosts by Yours_Truly_Commander_Shepard canonverse. my favorite tros fix-it fic so far. features the world between worlds, ezra, ahsoka, and anakin. rey goes back in time to save ben. and the scene where rey visits ben on mustafar 👀🔥 LORD. i LOVE this so much and it was just what i needed to read after the train wreck that was tros.

I've Got You, Babe by crossingwinter modern au. oneshot. a REALLY cute t-rated fic about ben taking care of rey after she gets the flu :’)

charcoal and petals by Hormonal_Trashbag modern au. a really sweet tattoo artist/flower shop worker fic that i really enjoyed! i’m a sucker for this trope because of abigeyedowl’s gorgeous tattoo-artist!ben and florist!rey art tbh

9 Pints by tigbit modern au. ben’s a vampire. oh my god this fic is amazing. it’s still ongoing but some of the best smut i’ve EVER read. a bit of a slow burn but man. it’s so good.

miles from where you are by Mooncactus modern au. i hardly EVER read anything under M but this has to be one of THE best reylo fics i’ve ever read. their characterizations, the slow burn, oh my god. it’s SO good and funny and fluffy. enemies to lovers perfection. the description: “After an argument over Star Wars fandom with a "gatekeeping, entitled monster" with the cryptic username of KyloRen, Rey finds herself stuck in a series of unavoidable video calls.”

saving mr. wanks by LovesBitca8 modern au. oneshot. rey catches ben in the act of uh, wanking off in the men’s restroom lmfaooo. it’s rare when a fic actually makes me like cry of laughter and this fic was hilarious. and the SMUT oh my god. so good.

auld lang syne by KyloTrashForever modern au. oneshot. ben and rey are roommates. ben keeps getting text messages from an unknown number with uh, explicit pictures and he eventually accuses rey of sending them to him ASLKDFJSD. i won’t say more because i don’t wanna spoil it but i love this fic sm.

bliss, balance and birth by crossingwinter canonverse. oneshot. ben teaches their daughter how to read. this is SO cute and just what i needed to read after tros.

gorgeous by Ever-so-reylo (Ever_So_Reylo) modern au. ben and rey are co-workers and they end up having to go on a company retreat. enemies to lovers perfection

caught in the headlights by jeeno2 modern au. twoshot. “Rey Johnson forgets to wear a bra to work. Fortunately, nobody notices. (Except for Ben Solo.)” 😏

transference by fear_of_being_bitten modern au. ongoing. rey is ben’s psychologist so this is definitely a taboo fic but GOD the tension between them is like no other fic i’ve read. ben’s an asshole with this air of bravado about him because he’s trying to cover up his insecurities and rey is having none of his shit no matter how much he tries to push her buttons. it’s so well written and another one of the best reylo fics i’ve read. i’m so eager for each update to the fic. here’s an excerpt:

“So you enjoy controlling powerful women,” Rey repeats, making her voice sound uninterested.  She takes notes, although it’s unlikely she’ll forget a word of what he’s saying.  It gives her an excuse to look away from him.

“I do.  But it’s not the taking of the control that I like.  I’m big enough that I can take whatever I want.”

me when i read that:

aaaand that’s it for now. i’m still continuing to read fic like every day since i got laid off (thanks covid lmao) so feel free to hit me up in a few weeks or months or whatever and i’ll share more of my fave fics <3