#also was able to make these just because i ended up using a screen recorder

[ishikawayukis]

it’s ok wonwoo we’ve all been there

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

SFX Magazine Issue 372 - Designing Good Omens ❤ 😊

PRODUCTION DESIGNER MICHAEL RALPH REVEALS HOW THE SHOW’S CENTREPIECE SET, WHICKBER STREET, WAS GIVEN A DEVILISHLY CLEVER UPGRADE FOR THE SECOND SEASON

WORDS: DAVE GOLDER

Invisible Columns And Thin Walls “The new studio is Pyramid Studios in Bathgate – it used to be a furniture warehouse. And unfortunately – or fortunately, because I accept these things as not challenges but gifts – right down the middle of that studio are a series of upright columns. But you’ll never spot them on screen. I had to build them in and integrate them into the walls and still get the streets between them. And it worked.

“There’s all sorts of cheeky design values to those sets. Normally a set like this is double-skin. In other words, you do an interior wall and an exterior wall, with an airspace in between. But really, the only time a viewer notices that there’s that width is at the doors and the windows. So I cheated all that. I ended up with single walls everywhere. So the exterior wall is the interior wall, just painted. All I did was make the sash windows and entrances wider to give it some depth as you walked in.”

GOOD OMENS HAD A CHANGE of location for its second season, but hopefully you didn’t notice. Because Whickber Street in Soho upped sticks from an airfield in Hertfordshire to a furniture warehouse in Bathgate, Edinburgh. It’s the kind of nonsensical geographical shenanigans that could only make sense in the crazy world of film and TV, and production designer Michael Ralph was the man in charge of rebuilding and expanding the show’s vast central set. “I wish we could have built more in season one than we did,” says Ralph, whose previous work has included Primeval and Dickensian. “We built the ground floor of everything and the facades of all the shops. But we didn’t build anything higher than that, because we were out on an airfield in a very, very difficult terrain and weather conditions, so we really couldn’t go much higher. Visual effects created the upper levels.”

But with season two the set has gone to a whole other level… literally. “What happened was that the rest of the street became integrated into the series’s storyline,” explains Ralph. “So we needed a record shop, we needed a coffee shop that actually had an inside, we needed a magic shop, we needed the pub. To introduce those meant we had to change the street with a layout that works from a storylines point of view. In other words, things like someone standing at the counter in the record shop had to be able to eyeball somebody standing at the counter in the coffee shop. They had to be able to eyeball Aziraphale sitting in his office in the window of the bookshop. But the rest of it was a pleasure to do inside, because we could expand it and I could go up two storeys.”

For most of the set, which is around 80 metres long and 60 metres wide, the two storeys only applied to the shop frontages, but in the case of Aziraphale’s bookshop, it allowed Ralph to build the mezzanine level for real this time. According to Ralph it became one of the cast and crews’ favourite places to hang out during down time.

But while AZ Fell & Co has grown in height, it actually has a slightly smaller footprint because of the logistics of adapting it to the new studio.

“Everybody swore to me that no one would notice,” says Ralph wryly. “I walked onto it and instinctively knew there was a difference immediately, and they hated me for that. I have this innate sense about spatial awareness and an eye like a spirit level.

“It’s not a lot, though – I think we’ve lost maybe two and a half feet on the front wall internally. I think that there’s a couple of other smaller areas, but only I’d notice. So I can be really annoying to my guys, but only on those levels. Not on any other. They actually quite like me…”

Populating The Bookshop “The props in the new bookshop set were a flawless reproduction from the set decorator Bronwyn Franklin [who is also Ralph’s wife]. It was really the worst-case scenario after season one. She works off the concept art that I produce, but what she does is she adds so much more to the character of the set. She doesn’t buy anything she doesn’t love, or doesn’t fit the character.

“But the things she put a lot of work into finding for season one, they were pretty much one-offs. When we burnt the set down in the sixth episode, we lost a lot of props, many of which had been spotted and appreciated by the fans. So Bronwyn had to discover a new set decorating technique: forensic buying.

“She found it all – duplicates and replicas. It took ages. In that respect, the Covid delay was very helpful for Bron. There’s 7,000 books in there and there’s not one fake book. That’s mainly because… it’s a weird thing to say, but we wanted it to smell and feel like a bookshop to everybody that was in it, all the time.

“It affects everybody subliminally; it affects everybody’s performance – actors and crew – it raises the bar 15 to 20%. And the detail, you know… We love a lot of detail.”

(look at the description under this, they called him 'Azi' hehehehe :D <3)

Aziraphale’s Inspirational Correspondence “There’s not one single scrap of paper on Aziraphale’s desk that isn’t written specifically for Aziraphale. Every single piece is not just fodder that’s been shoved there, it has a purpose; it’s a letter of thanks, or an enquiry about a book or something.

“Michael Sheen is so submerged in his character he would get lost sitting at his own desk, reading his own correspondence between takes. I believe wholeheartedly that if you put that much care into every single piece of detail, on that desk and in that room, that everybody feels it, including the crew, and then they give that set the same respect it deserves.

“They also lift their game because they believe that they’re doing something of so much care and value. Really, it’s a domino effect of passion and care for what you’re producing.”

Alternative Music “My daughter Mickey is lead graphic designer [two of Ralph’s sons worked on the series too, one as a concept artist, the other in props]. They’re the ones that produced all of that handwritten work on the desk. She’s the one that took on the record shop and made up 80 band names so that we didn’t have to get copyright clearance from real bands. Then she produced records and sleeves that spanned 50, 60 years of their recordings, and all of the graphics on the walls.

“I remember Michael and Neil [Gaiman] getting lost following one band’s history on the wall, looking at their posters and albums desperately trying to find out whether they survived that emo period.”

It’s A Kind Of Magic One of the new shops in Whickber Street for season two was Will Goldstone’s Magic Shop, which is full of as many Easter eggs as off-the-shelf conjuring tricks, including a Matt Smith Doctor Who-style fez and a toy orang-utan that’s a nod to Discworld’s The Librarian. Ralph says that while the series is full of references to Gaiman, Pratchett and Doctor Who, Michael Sheen never complained about a lack of Masters Of Sex in-jokes. “He’d be the last person to make that sort of comment!”

Ralph also reveals that the magic shop counter was another one of his wife’s purchases, bought at a Glasgow reclamation yard.

The Anansi Boys Connection Ralph reveals that Good Omens season two used the state-of-the-art special effects tech Volume (famous for its use in The Mandalorian to create virtual backdrops) for just one sequence, but he will be using it extensively elsewhere on another Gaiman TV series being made for Prime Video.

“We used Volume on the opening sequence to create the creation of the universe. I was designing Anansi Boys in duality with this project, which seems an outrageously suicidal thing to do. But it was fantastic and Anansi Boys was all on Volume. So I designed for Volume on one show and not Volume on the other. The complexities and the psychology of both is different.”

[fremedon]

I did my first phone bank of the season tonight, for my state's senate campaign.

I know we all hate the phone around here. But as a raging introvert with an audio processing disorder, I actually find phone banking hugely easier than almost any other phone interaction (and many in-person ones).

So I thought I'd write up a brief explainer of how it works.

The big thing to know about phone banking is this: It is largely not about persuading people to change their votes. It has three other, very simple, goals:

1.) Gather information to help the campaign determine where to concentrate its resources.

2.) Remind people that there is an election and get them thinking about and making an active plan to go and vote.

3.) Remind people of the candidate's name.

That's it. That's all you have to do. Two-thirds of the time they'll hang up on you and you won't even do that much. It's easy.

So. You sign up by going to the website of a candidate you'd like to support and looking for volunteer opportunities on their website. There will, somewhere, be a place to sign up to phone bank

You can phone bank from home these days; or you can do what I did tonight and go into a campaign office. If you go into the office, there will be campaign volunteers there who can answer questions for you and walk you through what to do, but you will also be within earshot of other people on the phone, so if background noise is a problem you might prefer to do it from home or bring noise-cancelling headphones.

They will send you a link to an autodialer, which you will call from your own phone or computer. The autodialer will work its way through a list of numbers. No one you are calling will be able to see your own phone number; they'll just see the number the autodialer is using.

The system will work its way through a list of numbers and only hand off to you when someone picks up. At this point, the screen will display the following:

1.) The name of the person you're trying to call;

2.) a set of buttons for how to record the initial response: Hung up, Answering Machine, Wrong Number, etc, and some version of You Are Actually Talking To the Right Person;

3.) an actual script for introducing yourself. You don't have to follow it exactly, but you can, and it will give you the points you need to try to hit--for introductions, that's usually going to be your first name, the campaign you're calling for, and that you are a volunteer.

If the call ends here--they hang up; they tell you you have the wrong number--you hit the button that best matches what happened, the call ends, and when you're ready you can tell the autodialer to send you the next call.

If the person is willing to talk, you click the button for that, and the screen will move on to the next page of the script--there will be some amount of information to give out--again, you don't need to read it all--one question to be sure to ask, and buttons to record their answer.

Most of the time, the question is going to be "Are you supporting this candidate," and your answers will be on a scale from Strong Yes to Strong No. For most of the campaign season, people answering either of those will be taken off the call list because they're not likely to change their mind; people who are undecided will keep getting calls. Right before the election, strategy will change from persuading the persuadables to getting out the vote, and then everyone who's already said they're supporting your candidate might get another round of calls to remind them to vote, and gather information about who has already voted and who the campaign should still be calling or sending canvassers to.

Sometimes there will be multiple questions; tonight, we asked three: Are you supporting the Democratic Senate candidate; Are you supporting the Democratic House candidate for whichever district we were calling; and--if they answered yes--Are you interested in volunteering.

You do not have to be able to answer every question or give a persuasive speech to phone bank for a political candidate. Very few people want to have a long conversation with you. If you do get someone who does, you have a script in front of you which contains talking points and often links to further information.

But the most persuasive thing you can do is the thing you have already done just by calling: you've let them know that someone near them, one of their neighbors, a real person with a name and a voice, cares so much about electing this person that they've volunteered their free time to make it happen.

You do need to be polite and positive at all times. That part is not really negotiable. No one that you're talking to is going to remember more than one talking point at most anyway--but they will remember that that nice person from the campaign was so polite and so cheerful. I am a salty gloomy bitch in RL, but my phone-sona brims over with love for my fellow fucking humans.

And you know, I really do feel some of that love, by the end of the night.

If you think this sounds like something you can do, I recommend giving it a try. It's an excellent way to channel your anxiety about the election into action, and it's not nearly as scary as it seems.

[threepandas]

Bad End: Witness

"Specimen '873 is starting to disappoint me. He was showing such promise. These numbers, however?" My keeper muttered to himself, distaste painting his face as he watched the feed in front of him. "Unacceptable for a battle class. He might as well be spare biomass at this point."

He was supposed to be wearing his glasses, not holding them. They may have been called "reading" glasses? But they were not, technically, just for that. They also had a blue light filter. Helped with headaches and eyestrain. He just hated wearing them because he thought they made him look old.

A God Forbid ANYTHING remind him of the passage of time.

He did NOT take it kindly.

I managed to avoid THAT landmine by virtue of having witnessed his receiving them. An "incident" that resulted in his head slamming against a screen. Protocol demanded he get checked. In the process, they discovered his eye sight was declining. It was a... bad day. I brought him things to break and stayed very, very quiet.

He bounced back fairly quickly, though. Once the arrogant researcher who had arranged for the incident to even OCCUR? Tried to come lord his "weakened old man" status over him. It was one thing to "accidently" let the battle class get unfettered access to weapons before loyalty train. But to be dumb enough to step into his lab, call him weak, and gloat about it?

Dr. Raghnall Periculum was many things.

But "unwilling to bludgeon a man to death with the nearest object" was not one of them.

He was dangerous like that. Murderous. It came and went like shifting storms, all you could really do was learn to read the triggers. Get good at knowing when to back up. When to hold really, REALLY still. After all... this was a lawless, immoral place. No one here could or WOULD stop him.

They were all just as bad.

Gritty Sci-Fi Otome games are... a lot less fun to LIVE. To be honest? They are actually pretty horrifying. Traumatizing, really. Hellish. As in, I am pretty sure this is a futuristic version Of Hell (but that is a personal opinion). I regret EVER playing a single damn one. But... BUT? I CLING to the knowledge I gained from it. So I can not regret it completely. Because through them? Through KNOWING this world?

I KNOW this will end. KNOW we will be free. That these monsters will pay for what they've done. The epilog promises a golden age. A beautiful, peaceful dawn after this long and terrible night, filled with horrors. I just... I just have to survive. Hold on. Keep my head down and pray.

I may be trapped in hell, but I'm not broken.

We will be Free.

I have SEEN IT.

Sometimes the greatest defiance is just refusing to die. Just keeping hope alive. I... I can do that. May not be able to fight my way out. Not smart enough to hack or sabotage these nightmares. But I can stay alive. I... I can do that. Bear witness, that someday I may stand against them in trial. Record. So no one is forgotten.

It doesn't feel like enough. I feel tired and angry. Hateful and small. But for the sake of my sanity? I make myself feel nothing. Compartmentalize. I've... I've become unfortunately quite good at it. Good at a lot of terrible things. Like placating. Making myself small. Being invisible. A retail smile. Being one with the furniture.

See, just like the poor souls on the screens in front of him? I'm a Clone. Of who? I have no idea. None of us do. They use old DNA databases. From when it was first commercially available, I think. Like those ancestry tests. Here it was squirrelled away, kept for later use. Which... was us.

My template has been dead for centuries, I think. Or perhaps? She would have considered herself my mother? I hope she would have, strange as I turned out to be. We are all children of the dead. It'd be nice to think they'd have wanted us.

Dr. Periculum's cup lifts lightly as he take a drink, more focused on his work then anything else. That heft is about midway point. I've discovered if I begin brewing now, it will be done by the time his cup is empty and he wants more. A glance at the closest screen gives me the time. Food too, is a good idea.

He likely won't eat it. But if it's there? The chances are higher. And when he comes out of his focus, it'll be available. Less chance of him getting irritated by hunger.

On a well practiced route through piles of notes and projects I know better then to touch, I quietly make my way to the coffee machine. Begin another round of abomination the caffeine tar. It is, quite honestly, a wonder he hasn't accused me of trying to poison him to a heart attack.

A few granules of salt, a bit of cinnamon, some expensive fatty creamer, aaaand? There. Unholy bitterness gone. "Just" a cup of liquid tar so potent it could make a rhino taste time.

I also grab one of the meat pies and put it on a little paper plate.

Ah... what has my life become? That I am so well practiced in make snacks for a monster? Picking them up, I don't dare answer that. That way lies madness. Don't think about it. It can wash out in therapy. After. Because there WILL be an After. There HAS to be an After.

Careful steps and...? Just as I estimated. He just ran out. I nearly silently tap the paper plate down to the edge of the table then slide it forward, with-in ease of reach, but not too close. Then I swap the cups. Go to step away. Only to freeze. As, out of the corner of my eye, I see one of his hands briefly leave his keyboard to make a nearly dismissive "one moment" gesture.

Stay put. Don't move. I'll address you when I'm done with my, more important, thoughts. I feel the flash of fear, of panic, but let it go. There is nothing I can do. I will be hurt or I won't be hurt. There is no use suffering twice, through speculation and fear, I remind myself. Force my mind empty and pleasant. Retail smile. Happy to serve.

He finishes. Leans back, dissatisfied with some project or other, and finally slips on his glasses. Gestures imperiously for the cup in my hands. I do not question of course, merely hand it to him. He takes it, passes it to his other hand, and sets it aside. Then, casually, leans slightly over and wraps a thickly muscled arm around my waist. Dragging me off my feet and into his lap.

"You know, girl? B-21873 really was, actually quite promising. I was starting to think I'd keep him. Decent speed, good stamina, excellent problem solving. His test scoring was exceeding all expectations. Really thought I might have gotten you a little friend to play with. A gaurd so I could send you out on some chores safely. But no, he just HAD to be a failure." He said, leaning forward to grab his cup.

I was crushed awkwardly close. Could feel every moment. Acutely aware of his woody and sea air cologne, the coffee on his breath as words were spoken far to close, the beating of a heartbeat I could feel against my arm. Hyper aware of him. Why was I in his lap? This felt dangerous. I should not be in his lap.

Between sips, he turned his head and pressed his lips to my temple, not kissing... somehow worse. Just... just breathing me in. Slow, deliberate, and deep. Like savoring a scent, a sensation. The subtle back and forth, as though rubbing his lips against my hair. Enjoying the feeling against sensitive skin. It could almost be a cuddle on any other man. It took everything I had not to shudder.

"Unlike you of course. You pet, could never disappoint me. If these rejects tried even half as hard as my perfect darling girl? The world'd be a better place." He paused his almost nuzzling. To simply rest his head against mine, pulling off his glasses so he could tuck his head closer. His breathe was hot against my ear. His voice gravel and distain as it spoke of others.

"It's disgusting. Like they don't even try. We spend countless resources breeding, feeding, and training them... for what? Failure? I'm starting to think those bastards are deliberately sending me bad specimens."

Every word he said was horrifying. I could not cry. Dare not. But my heart screamed for those poor souls. They were just kids. Trapped in hell. Tortured from birth. Disposed of when they no longer met some arbitrarily impossible anime standard. If I turned my head, even slightly, I KNEW, I would be faced with screens of untold suffering. Feeds of "testing". So called training. Autopsy reports and datapoints.

Lists of who... who had been deemed "not good enough".

Who were scheduled to become "recycled biomass".

But if I looked? I would weep for them. And that? That was dangerous right now. Right NOW? I had to be pleasant company. A child's doll to be dragged around. No thoughts, no differing opinions. Preferably no opinions at ALL. Just warm and huggable. Soft. A beloved pet who serves coffee and brings things when told. Endure. I just... I must simply ENDURE.

The night will end. Dawn will come. Believe in her.

J-Just empty your head... and Believe In Her.

An alert pops up. I can hear it on a screen somewhere behind me. Dr. Periculum turns his head to look, reaching for his snack. Freezes. Then, a sharp bark of laughter. It's violent, like the strike of a lightning bolt, jostling me. The ones that follow just as harsh. He's not a man that laughs often. And it's not a kind sound.

Filled with schadenfreude, his laughter is like the vicious barks of hunting hounds. The shots of a weapon. A short and harsh to the ears sound, over and over. Delight in the suffering of an enemy. The fall of a rival. It strikes through his body like seizures. Making him lean forward to read. Brace against the desk, tighten his grip around me, widen the brace of his legs.

Glancing up, his eyes are alight with manic glee. His grin is vicious.

He looks Feral.

"Well, well, WELL! What do we have HERE?! Is that Jack ANDERSON'S facility I see? Mr. 'Master of the genome' himself? Looks like SOMEONE got AHEAD of themselves! Ha!" Raghnall cackles spinning his chair so I can see the screen. Leaning back to grab his cup and toast with it. "Look what we have here, pet! Some fucking KARMA! I knew that little shit wasn't worth the paper his degree was printed on! See this? THIS is what happens when you can't control your own damn compound!"

"Rest in PIECES, you worthless little SHIT!"

I sat. Frozen. As Dr. Periculum laughed and laughed, his mood viciously pleased. Because... because I recognized that facility. Chapter Two. There was an animation that played. The... the BREAKOUT! Joy filled me. Like the first rays of dawn. That was HER. S-she was OUT! Free! She DID it! Oh god... oh god she was COMING! It had finally BEGUN!

I caught myself. Barely.

My eyes felt a bit wet so I disguised it with a fake yawn. I dare not show empathy. NEVER show empathy. Keep it guarded like diamonds in your chest. If he thought, for even a moment, that I empathized with anyone but him. CARED about anyone but him? They wouldn't last the hour.

And it would be the longest, cruelest, hour in existence, as they died.

You make that sort of mistake exactly ONCE.

"Ah~ todays a GOOD day. And you know what we should do?" He hummed, nearly a coo as he spun us almost lazily around on his chair. In whimsical circles like a bored child. "We should celebrate. Ding dong, the fuckers dead~ HA HA! Not to mention? It's been entirely too long, pet, since I've spoiled you rotten. We should get a cake, hmm? You want a cake? Lil treat? Sweet lil treat for my girl?"

"I could get you that new dress I've been looking at. Bet you'll look like a classy lil princess, won't that be nice? Can even make it match the trackers I'm finishing up! No more uncomfy collars when we go out! Just pretty lil bracelets, ain't that nice?"

I force myself to smile. Nod. Ignore the fear and anger, the humiliation and helplessness. It's not time yet. Bid your time. You will LOSE your chance for True Freedom if you give in to your anger. Your hurt. Patience, THEN strike. Remember! Chapter two! There are FIVE.

It is COMING.

He stopped spinning, planting his feet on the floor. His manic grin softening. No less unhinged, less full of teeth, but perhaps the closest a man like him could come to loving. His eyes obsessive as the roam my face. Cataloging everything.

"You know, pet? You really might be might greatest creation. Best thing I've ever made or done. Anyone wants you? They'd have to pry you from my cold, dead hands. I'd burn EVERYTHING down. Kill just about EVERYONE." His voice was the sort of whispered confession meant for churches, not the heart of this hell he had built. It felt unholy. Dangerous.

Exactly like him.

"Once I figure how to take humanity to it's next stage? Reverse aging? Heck, even stop it. I promise, pet. Gonna take you with me. You're coming along for the ride. Straight to the end. Heat death of the universe. Well become GODS, pet. Live forever and a day. Bet you can't wait, huh?"

"Don't worry. The futures going be BEAUTIFUL. Just you wait."

[nr1chaedickrider]

That strange feeling, this breathtaking attraction.

Momo wants to try out something new.

mutual masturbation ; switch!momo ; switch!reader ; both are so needy for eachother ; degradation ; praise ; phone sex (yes, again !^_^) ; use of mommy ; happy 6th !!!!

men dni.

-

your screen lits up with a message from momo, as you open it, you see the voice message she sent after you sent her one of you touching yourself.

"my desperate slut, hm? feels so good doesn't it?" she says, making you let out a moan while listening to her degrading you.

you decide to try something out, not knowing if she would obey you, not knowing if she would do what you tell her to do.

"feels so good..

wanna hear you so bad, please, mommy" you moan as you record the voice message for her, sending it to her as it shows "seen just now".

you wait for her to answer, looking at the opened chat nervously as your fingers still move inside of you.

another voice message from her.

your mouth hangs open as you play it.

"god you sound so good for me.. y/n fuck- god... always sound so good for me baby.." she moans out, you hear her sheets shuffling a little as the voice message ends.

you start typing with your free hand,

"can i call you, please" you write.

"yeah god" is what she answers.

you think you've never called someone this fast.

the phone rings once, then twice before she picks up.

you both giggle a little awkwardly.

until this moment, it has always been her getting off as you talk her through it, or the other way around.

but now you're both needy for each other.

momo breaks the silence with a moan.

you decide to move your fingers again, also moaning.

touching yourself while you're able to hear her at the same time does something to you, it hits even better when you curl your fingers even deeper inside.

"you sound so fucking good, fuck..." you moan out, she lets out a louder whimper when you start talking.

"my desperate slut isn't even able to answer? hm?" you say, adding another choked out moan.

you can't help but to moan too, your fingers moving faster, trying to make yourself cum so desperately.

as momo gets needier and needier, closer to her orgasm, you say (or rather, order) "you don't get to cum until i've finished."

she whimpers at your words, driving you even crazier than you were before.

she mumbles and slurrs a lot of "please's" and "baby" while you're able to hear the way her cunt takes her fingers and the wet noises coming with it.

everything drives you crazy, your fingers curl inside of you as you moan louder, feeling dizzy because of all the pleasure as you cum with a loud moan.

fucking yourself through the orgasm while you hear how momo begs you to cum, calling you mommy.

"what a good girl you are, hm?" you ask, completly out of breath.

"cum for me baby"

it's like she obeys immideatly, cumming with a high pitched moan.

you hear her heavy breaths as she tries to calm down.

"it's really embarrassing that you couldn't even say anything" you laugh.

[starsomens]

I'm sorry if you're not taking these type of requests or any at all, but I had a thought...

So imagine, after you and noah made one more sex tape and you're editing it he gets so turned on by watching you guys fuck, how hot you looked and how well he fucked you that he wants to fuck you right there and then.

And after ,you're just finishing editing, and you're cockwarming him for the rest of the time it takes to have a half decent tape :)

Obviously, he is a perfectionist. He'll finish the rest by himself until it looks like a movie ( playing with himself along the way because he just can't resist how beautiful you looked taking him)

Thank yooou

Kisses for you 😘 😘😘😘🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

Note: I....ANON! I don't know where yall be storing these stories, it amazes me to no end!

Warnings: SEX! Unprotect PIV (protection first!!), dirty talk, creampie, rough-ish sex, recording, watching your own sex tape, masturbating, slight somnophilia (masterbating while reader is asleep),

You open the door to your room and go right to your boyfriend who sat in front of his computer. You open your bottle of water and take a seat in his lap, after taking a few gulps you off him but he declines. You set the bottle down and lean on his chest watching his computer screen. What was he doing? Well you were currently watching him edit your sex tape. After the first time you made one it kind of became a habit. The tapes became longer, the editing started taking place, and of course more rounds came when editing or watching.

"I like that shot," you said pointing to the screen "You make a good camera man babe" you compliment. The shot was set up at the corner of you bed, filming you in a low doggy position. Noah's arms caging you in, his body low to your own as he thrusted into you. The thrusts werea bit shallow but they were strong and felt amazing. You were able to see Noah fucking you so nicely, and your face while he did so

"Yeah I like it too, look how well you're taking me," he rewinds to the start of that segment to when he first pushes in "I also noticed how your eyes roll back whenever I put it in" he chuckles. Another thing he loves about sex tapes he can visible see what your body reacts to the best.

He lets the segment play to review the edits he made, the sounds of your moans and his grunts leak from the speakers. The slushes of your juices being pumped in and out of you only added to the erotic scene. Noah feels you wiggle in his lap as you watch the screen intently. He leans into yoru ear and whispers

"Like what you see princess?"

"mmmmm" you couldn't help it! At first it was a bit strange to watch yourself get fucked but after some time, to becomes unbearably arousing. Noah's hand trails down to your pussy and rubs over the fabric of your panties, Luckly you only had on one of his shirts. He could feel how hard he was getting the longer he watched.

"Tell me princess, tell me what you want" he asks as he grinds upwards against your ass. His breath becoming heavy against your neck as his digits dip into your aching pussy. His fingers dragging in and out against your sweet spot, your legs spread to allow him more access.

"Mmm I want...your dick," you moan as you grind against his hand, your moans nearly syncing with the ones on the screen.

"Use your manners princess," he kisses your skin as his other hand begins to slip his hard cock out of his underwear.

"P-please!" you nearly beg as you can feel your juices start to drip out on to his fingers

"Good girl....so good for me," he slips his fingers out and licks up your slick juices. His hands find your thighs and adjusts you on his lap, you hover over his dick, as he aligns himself with your entrance.

"Now, sit on my dick like a good little slut," you whimper as you sit down on his hard cock. You were still a little sensitive from how you were just an hour ago. You let yourself slide all the way down, his cock stretching and filling you to the brim

"OH...fuck...." "shit," you both moan out, you back arching away from Noah. Noah hits play on his computer and spanks the side of your ass

"Come on princess, fuck yourself on daddy's dick," you start to rock your hips in circles, making sure to push back a little extra for him to see. He lifts up the shirt you wore up and over your head. His large hand comes down and strikes your skin and grabs at it "yeah baby...just like that..." he watches as your hips bounce up and down his cock. He spreads your ass to watch more clearly.

"Fuck Noah....fuck so good!" you moan

"Mhm, that's right princess...tell me how good you feel..." he leans back to watch your ride his cock biting his lip hearing your whimpers and moans "I know baby, I know."

" 'S...so good! You're so....big...so fucking....good!" you lean foreword allowing more pressure against your g-spot. His arm wraps around your hip, and his slender fingers rub at your sensitive bundle. His lips kissed up your back as he rubbed with more pressure

"Good girl....good fucking girl....make yourself cum baby" he licks and bites down on the junction of your neck and shoulder, holding the skin between his teeth enough to cause you please. Feeling you tighten around him as you hear yourselves finish on the screen.

"Have I ever...told you...you sound like a goddess when you cum?" he chuckles into your neck "Could cum just from it...." he thrusts half way to meet your hips as your moans become louder and your breather sharper

"That's it baby..." he whispers in your ear "let me hear it again" like a prayer being answered you cum again with goosebumps covering your skin as the tremor overtakes your body. You ride him slower and slower riding out both of your highs

He could feel the mix of your cum and his rolls down on to his lap as you pulse around him "making such a mess baby, such a pretty messy pussy" you carefully stand up and whine as you feel him slip out of you leaving your empty. His kisses just above your hip and gives a gentle slap to your pussy

"Why don't you get the shower started, I'll meet you in there" his round brown eyes looking up at you as he tucks himself back into his shorts and takes a deep breath. He saves his progress on his editing and gets up from his chair to go and wash up with you in the shower.

.....

"mmm babbeee..." you roll over in bed and cringe at the light in the room from Noah's computer "come to bed" you muffled against the blanket cracking one eye to look at Noah. He spins in his chair and tilts his head

"I'm almost done angel, 10 more minuets and I'm there" he whispers to you, you simply hum and just close your eyes again. He spins back to his screen and observes the last clip to be edited. This time you were holding the camera and Noah was laying his stomach between your legs. To some this may only be arousing to women, but he loved videos of him eating you out. He's able to recall your taste, your smell, the wetness, the texture and of course the way you'd pull on his hair when he hit just the right spot.

"..oh fuck....yes noah fuck...." he hears your quiet whispers as he watches himself lap at your pussy. His shorts had gotten tighter from just the few seconds he watched, looking over to you, he felt a bit guilty...but damn this was hot. He brings himself out for one last round before his night ends and starts to pump his shaft slowly but surely.

Precum leaking from his tip and giving himself some lubrication to work with. He takes deep breaths as he watches the screen, you legs snapped against his head only for him to pin them down to the bed. He tries to keep his panting to a minimum, not wanting you to wake up and see what state he was in. He looked over his shoulder and stared at you as he slept. Peacefully me now knowing the sinful acts, he was committing just a few feet away from you.

Each curve in detail of your face, how peaceful you looked, the way your lips were slightly parted as you snore in your slumber. Just seeing your gorgeous face made him twitch his fist. The low volume of your moans and breathing brings him back to the screen. He grabs his phone and opens his camera. He knew tours to be difficult, especially when they were more than just a couple of months. He always records a few videos for you or he had to leave on his next one. Just so you can have fresh content before he leaves.

His hips start to buck and thrust up into his hand as you writhe under his hold. He fucks his fist faster and faster as he finally cums. The thick liquid coming up in small spurts as he rises out his high. He knew you loved when he came on video with his moans of course.

Grabbing some tissue he cleans himself up, saves his final edits for the video. He shows the computer down and pushes away from his desk. He crawled into bed behind you and pulls you into his body. He kisses the back of your head and snuggles into you for the night.

Little did he know that you saw the entire thing and you were sure to tease him about it in the morning. ;)

「✨Taglist✨」 @lilhobgobbler @cncohshit @vir-tual @tdopomymind @concretenoah @misspygmypie @leneisdown @lust-for-sacher @thescarlettvvitch @cind6547 @itsmrsfuentes @just-pretend-again @lma1986 @daylightlvrs @darling-millicent-aubrey

[enstarriedownbad]

Leo Tsukinaga x F!reader

Minors DNI

Genre: smut w/ comfort at the start

Tags: switch!Leo, Invited over, music production, fluff, sleeping in his room, confession, hurt but healing

Plot: Leo invites you over to help you with music production. Looks like it turned into something else.

Words: 3,040

By clicking on "show more," you acknowledge that you are 18+ and consent to read this fiction.

"Onii-chan! This is the first time you bring a girl over! ... Does mom know?~" a shy voice says while peeking inside the bedroom.

"Here is my room! Make yourself at home--"

"Ruka!" Leo exclamates, surprised.

"Is she your girlfriend? Can you introduce her to me?~" Ruka asks her brother.

"G-girlfriend??", Leo says while looking at you, blushing briefly. He coughs. "This is Y/N, a fellow musical artist. She's staying for dinner, so I'll introduce her to you at that time when Mom and Dad will be here too," he replies in a serious tone.

"Good afternoon," you greet her joyfully, "so you are Leo's sister, 'Ruka-tan'. I heard a lot---"

Leo cuts you off and puts his hand over your mouth.

"Wait. Ruka-tan doesn't know I call her that. And she isn't aware of the way I talk about her," he whispers in your ears, embarrassed.

"...? What are you two doing?" Ruka asks.

"Hum, nothing. We're busy with music right now. We'll come down for dinner," he ends the conversation.

"Oh, okay... Sorry for disturbing you. See you later Onii-chan and Y/N!" she says with a soft smile as she leaves the room.

Leo removes his hand from your mouth.

"Sorry about that, Y/N, my family is erm... A tad bit curious about my life, hahaha~ But Ruka-tan is a sweet girl! I'll introduce you two formally later. ☆"

Sounds like his tone is back to his usual one. You start wondering why he's using a different one with his sister. After all, when he's around the rest of Knights, or with his friends, he's always laughing or shouting something joyful. But you also like this new-found side of him.

"So, should we start working on the music part? I'll teach you the base of producing," he adds.

"Sure!"

"You can sit over here next to me. Can you see the screen well?"

"Yep!" you reply.

"Okay, so~ To start, the program I use is---"

"---And then to add harmonies, I suggest you scale the song up by 3 tones and record the main lines while listening to it. That way it's easier to record and you can cut the parts you want~ Or you could just scale up the lead vocals! But be careful because sometimes singing the 3rd above the melody creates a dissonance with the chord structure underneath."

"Okay, I see. Hmm... Can we do a quick break before going into the harmonic dissonance details please?" you ask him.

He looks at the time on his computer screen.

"Oh it's already been a few hours, haha. It's only 6 PM, then we still have time before dinner, so sure!☆ What do you want to do in the meantime?~" he asks.

"I don't know, but my back hurts from sitting on a chair for so long," you reply.

"You can stretch a bit or relax on my bed if you want~ I'll go get you something to drink," he says while getting up. "What do you want? We have orange juice, coffee, tea, water..."

"I'll get the same thing as you if that's okay," you reply.

"Okay got it! ☆ See ya in a second!" he tells you while leaving the room.

You do as he says and lay down on his bed for a bit. You look around you. Posters of music, musical instruments, lyrics, musical sheets WIPs... Even those very sheets are tinged with his fragrance. Everything in that room makes you think of the great Leo Tsukinaga.

He's very passionate about music. When he was teaching you earlier, you noticed that sparkle in his eyes, even though it probably wasn't his first time teaching music. He seemed happy to give music lessons. Often, Leo seems so... out of reach. Therefore, you are glad to be able to bond over something together.

You hear the door move.

"Okay I'm back!" Leo says as he enters the room with two cups of coffee. "You said you'd take the same thing as me, so I brought coffee! ☆"

He hands you a cup and waits for you to sit on his mattress before sitting next to you.

"Thank you, Leo," you thank him kindly as you drink on your coffee.

"No problem, Y/N!" he replies with a wide smile.

"And thanks again for inviting me over and for teaching me, I really appreciate it..." you say kindly.

"Oh, well, it's the least I could do for you. You've been a big help to Knights, and I've always wanted to return the favor to you~ So when you asked me for musical advice earlier today, I didn't waste a second to invite you here hahaha. After all, who better than me, a musical genius, could teach our dear Y/N? ☆"

'Dear Y/N'... That nickname makes you smile.

"I see, haha," you reply.

"You know," he adds with a softer tone, "before we met, during the year I founded Knights, I was used to constantly pleasing people for different reasons. But it only took the better of me."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that..."

"But seeing you act so kind with us - with me... It gives me a reason to keep trying my best every day and to always keep doing what I like," he says.

You both smile at each other.

"Did you finish your coffee?" he asks.

"Yep," you reply.

Leo takesyour cups away and sits back next to you. He seems to be stressed out.

"... Is it safe to assume that you'd pick me over my music?" he whispers with a cold, anxious gaze.

"What do you mean?" you reply.

Leo gets closer to you and firmly looks you in the eyes, waiting for an answer.

"Of course, I'd pick you over your music, Leo."

"..."

"Is that not what you wanted to hear?"

Leo moves his torso and puts both of his arms next to your thighs. You try to back up a bit but Leo gets even closer to you, making you lay on top of the bed sheets. He gets on top of you.

"Really ☆? Me? But why?" he asks.

You look away from his persistent gaze, not wanting to look at him in the eyes with what you are about to tell him, as you feel it is a bit clingy.

"Well, I do love your music for sure," you reply. "Both your talent and hard work can be felt in your productions. Your songs have such a nice touch to them. But, I obviously like you more. You would still remain the Leo I look up to, even without your songs,. Your energy, your smiles, your kind words, and your affection... I could go for weeks without listening to your songs, but I'll miss you a lot if I don't see you every other day. I'm also thankful that you reply quickly to my messages. It makes me feel like I'm wanted. And you know, even during the weekends, I keep wondering what you are up to, and I..."

You stop talking, realizing that it looks like a confession. Leo has yet to react. You are starting to feel embarrassed.

"Sorry, was I rambling too mu--"

You feel a drop falling on your face. You look up, only to see Leo, tearing up.

You are met with Leo's bare and genuine gaze as if his smiley mask has finally fallen.

You gently raise your thumb toward his cheek, wiping a tear away from his face.

"Are you sad because of me?" you ask him with an empathic smile. "Is it because you don't--"

"... Not at all," he cuts you off. "If anything, I couldn't be happier right now..."

"?"

"You know," he adds, "I've been anticipating your answer ever since I've been interested in you. I wanted to ignore it, but I couldn't close my eyes on such matters anymore. That's why I finally got myself to ask you before our relationship got... more serious," he replies as tears escape from his eyes.

'Our relationship'... you wonder if you heard that correctly.

"Leo, do you...?" you ask as you brush his wet cheek.

"Sorry if that sounds selfish," he replies. "But..."

You swallow your saliva, anxious.

"Can I be childish with you one last time and ask you to say it first?" he says with a look even more anxious than yours.

"Fine," you reply while softly brushing his hair. "I like you."

"Mhh?" he mumbles like a desperate child.

You take your courage into your own hands as he gets closer to you.

"I love you, Leo the genius," you emphasize the adjective with a sarcastic tone.

"I love you too, Y/N."

...

You look at each other, eyes filled with all sorts of new feelings.

Leo slightly tilts his head.

It only took a second of intense eye contact before your lover leaned in for a kiss. His lips feel soft. The kiss is so gentle and sweet. You wrap your arms around him, not wanting to let him go.

As the kiss gets more and more heated, you can't help but taste a salty flavor from Leo's tears of joy. This doesn't stop you nor him from going all the way in, twisting your tongues together, only inducing more and more needs in each other.

It looks like he has finally opened himself to you. And you, on your side, desire him just as much. You want him to be all yours. He wants you to be his.

The stimuli don't make you think straight, but you two are sure of one thing: this kiss is only the start.

You pull away for a few seconds to catch a breath.

"...", you pant.

"...", he grasps for air while looking into your eyes.

His green gaze is so mesmerizing. You fail to remember what you wanted to say. Leo's looking at your lips.

Your lover gets closer to you, sealing a second French kiss. You don't need words to communicate now: you can use your body.

As his tongue touches yours all over again, you can't help but moan of pleasure. The arousal is building up. You keep following his lead. An aroma of coffee, tears, and sweetness accompanies this second kiss.

"Ah! Y/N...," Leo moans. "I don't think I can hold myself back any longer," he says, all red.

You look down, only to find a bulge in his pants. You have an idea.

"Don't move," you tell him as you reverse your respective positions, with him now lying on the bed while you sit on his legs.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"Leave it to me," you reply as you arch your back and move your face towards his crotch.

You unzip his pants and lower them as well as his boxers.

"!"

You get met with Leo's rock-hard cock. Now, nothing is retaining him. You take a last good look at him, all red and shy, before diving in.

You slightly open your mouth as you put some hair strands behind your ears. Your lips finally touch his cock.

"Mh!" Leo moans.

You lick his tip while looking at him in the eyes. You can tell it's his first time from how much that first contact turns him on.

After coating his head in your saliva, you begin taking the whole thing in your mouth and start the blow job. Your lips are wrapped around his length. You swirl your tongues in circles, going back and forth. Your hands are also doing a great job caressing his thighs.

"haa~," he moans.

You suck gently on his cock, varying the pressure of your suction based on his moans.

As much as you want to keep his dick in your mouth, your jaw is hurting.

You take his length out of your mouth and begin stroking it. You gently squeeze his cock and spread his precum over it.

"I'm close..." he whispers.

You give him a few last strands to finish him off.

"Y/N..." he moans as he cums on your clothes.

You both take a few minutes to get your breath back, panting. You lay next to him.

Leo looks at you with insistence.

"What is it?" Did you like it?" you ask.

Before you get to hear an answer, Leo flips over and gets on top of you.

He begins stripping you off.

"Wait, don't remove everything. It's embarrassing me," you guard him all shy.

"Everything about you is beautiful, Y/N," he says as he removes your shirt and bottom clothes.

Now, only your underwear is left.

Leo removes his shirt, making you see his bare chest and upper muscles. As you appreciate the view, he opens a pack of condoms and opens one with his teeth in a very sensual way. He carefully puts it on his member.

"Are you ready?" he asks in a lower register than usual, teasing a very intense intercourse.

"Yes, please be gentle," you ask, even though you don't mean it, and he knows it.

He places the tip at your entrance and begins entering you. Having a thick length like his in your pussy rather than in your mouth is extremely different. It even hurts a bit.

"Wait, Leo, it hurts," you tell him.

He quickly stops and changes the position by bringing both of your legs on his left shoulder. He resumes grinding again.

"Does it hurt now?" he asks you.

"Not really," you reply.

He took this as a green light. He's almost fit his entire shaft inside of you by now. The new angle is more pleasurable for both of you.

"Are you comfortable now?"

"Yea..."

"Then I hope you're ready for this," he says, "because I'm about to make you remember this moment."

"Wh-? Ah!", you moan as he begins thrusting into you with no restraint.

His rock-hard cock is hitting your deepest end without fail each time he thrusts. You feel full, yet still want more of him. You're drawn to the manly expression he has on his face while doing you. You could leave everything to him, and he'd still do such a nice job satisfying you.

"I like that face you're making right now," he abruptly compliments your love-driven look. "If I could, I'd make sure you keep this expression every day when it's just the two of us".

This implies he would be down to fuck you so brilliantly every day like he is doing right now.

"I..." you're at a loss for words.

Leo kisses you on the lips as his cock keeps going in and out of you.

"Mh!" you moan out of pleasure as his mesmerizing emerald eyes are fixated on your expression.

Wet noises are getting louder and louder with each thrust. The atmosphere is so intense. You feel your climax approaching, as well as his. After all, his cock is so dominating that you can't help but tighten over it.

"Ah~" he finally lets out a deep moan. "So tight... I can't last any longer."

"Me neither..." you reply.

Leo rests his head next to yours, closing the last bit of space you had between you two, keeping you still below him.

Leo starts pounding into your pussy in a way faster way, indicating a climax.

"Ha..." he moans. "Ah..." "I'm gonna cum right now".

"Me too..."

Leo locks you in that position and gives you his last yet deepest thrust before giving in to a mutual orgasm.

"Ah ah, Y/N, I love you!" he moans as he cums inside of you.

"I love you I love you," you say in ecstasy while holding onto his back.

You feel warm and safe in this moment. You completely let go of everything, only caring about Leo.

Both of your breaths take a while to recover. Leo pulls out cock, and you got to see the condom full of his semen.

He puts his boxers and pants back on but remains shirtless.

Since the climax sensations went off, you feel embarrassed about the situation and put your clothes back on before Leo lies your body back next to him.

"... That was nice," you break the silence.

"For sure," he replies. "You know..." he hesitates. "What I said still stands," he reminds you while looking elsewhere.

"What you said?..." you ask before remembering the next second. "...Oh!"

"Is that a no?"

"No, I mean no, I mean..." you stutter. "I mean I'm down too, if it's with you."

'With you' those words make him all flustered even though he's the one who asked you to hook up from now on.

"What is it? You're all red," you tease him while pinching his cheek.

"It's nothing!" he pouts like a kid before taking on a more serious voice. "I've been thinking..."

"Mh?"

"I don't want you to think I just want your body, not that I don't want to do it with you but... Ahhh," he struggles. "Okay let me ask you this before I lose the courage."

He looks at you in the eyes and doesn't break the eye contact.

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

"I'd love to", you reply with the biggest smile.

Leo kisses you on your forehead before kissing you everywhere on your face.

Knock knock.

You hear the sound of a door opening.

"?!"

"Onii-chan and Y/Nnee-chan! Time for dinn-" Ruka calls for you before stopping in her tracks. "Wait, Onii-chan, why is your shirt turned upside down?"

"Oh it's nothing don't mind it," he says all sweaty while trying to remain a composed look, all that as you acquiesce all awkwardly while sitting on the floor.

"Ookay...", she replies, confused. "Whatever, dinner is ready", she says while closing Leo's bedroom door.

You look at each other.

. . .

...And burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! ☆ Did you see that? Safe!!!," he laughs.

"I was sitting on the floor and she didn't ask me any questions hahaha," you laugh. "But maybe next time lock your door, Leo," you say sarcastically while giving him gentle elbow bumps.

"Sure, sure," he says while having tears of laughter in his eyes. "Well, should we go eat dinner with my family?" he asks. "I'm going to present my girlfriend to them".

I'M SO SORRY FOR THE LONG ASS HIATUS HOLY MOLLYYYY 👤👤👤🤬🤬🤬🤬

I've had this in my drafts for 10 months and finally finished it 👤💧

Many things happened, including me being busy with other stuff and also taking a break from enstars. Hope you still enjoy my writing, and have a nice day 👤💖

[kneelingshadowsalome]

okay but WHAT IF

engel asks for a custom dildo specifically molded after his cock. könig gets it, he understands, she gets lonely when he’s not around, and as a gift he does allow her that one thing.

but suddenly, one day, while getting freaky, she pops the question, “what if i used your own cock on you?” and something like, “will you let me fuck you if i had a strap with your dick on it? will you take it like i did?” and she’s not even being dominant about it, she just babbles it out all cutesy and needy just how he likes it cause she knows that he could never say no to her when she’s like that.

and könig is just so conflicted. he wants to say no and abide by traditional norms of sex, but it’s his engel and not only that, but… you can’t tell me he wasn’t even remotely curious about exploring that particular side of sex, a woman lovingly fucking another man with a strap, something about being able to be completely and utterly vulnerable with her on that level, and feel pleasure from it all too… it’s like she’s reawakening something in him that he’s been shoving down for years because… issues…

what will könig do?

YES YES YESSS!! ❤️

I was thinking about this exact scenario and you're so lovely to send me such poetry about this because König getting pegged with his own dick?!??! I'm biting the dry wall, the screen, the bars of my enclosure because this would make his brain tick and itch and *explode*. Because:

1. Engel is a freaky girl and would def suggest something like this and in such a cute, adorable, innocent way too that König nearly melts on the spot.

2. And you're so right: he can't say no to her. He can't deny his sweet angel anything so of course she gets what she wants.

3. The thought of trying his own dick also does things to him. He doesn't know what it is and why the fuck would he even want to try it, but hey, it is what it is and he's going to take it like a man. (We already know it's his suppressed homoerotic tendencies having a ball here but would he ever acknowledge them in any way? Haha nope. Also even the thought of trying his own cock gives him some sort of sick satisfaction 👀)

4. "Will you take it like I did?" combined with Engel's *innocent angel blinking* would be the last straw. He can fucking take it, no problem.

5. König looks all but confident when the time comes though. Nu-uh, this was a big mistake, a huge mistake, what the hell, how can Engel take all of this—

Meanwhile Engel is like "Baby, are you okay? 😥"

König: "Ja ja ja, keep going, all good..."

6. Even with the proper prepping, the abundant encouragement and soft giggles he receives from his sweet angel, it's an arduous business! Most extreme things he has ever done, and that's saying something...

But because Engel is a sweet little thing, she makes love to him very gently and he ends up cumming in record time, all over himself, after sweating a bucket and gritting his teeth and shedding a few tears of love and frustration and pleasure ❤️

Engel looks a bit disappointed because "Already...?" :(( Does this mean no more pegging...?

(And also: did she do well? ❤️ Will she get treats and praises and kisses now? Maybe some fingering and tongue, pwetty please?)

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Poor Boy

Alright so, apparently the rule for me is going to be that I have to watch every Only Friends episode multiple times. Because the first watch through is just vibes and pure, unadulterated emotional reactions to whatever is being laid in front of me; and the second watch through I have to keep pausing the show every thirty seconds to make another observation.

I don’t know what it is about Episode 4s but they are always where everything starts kicking in to high gear for me. Now, not sure how many more academic papers I am going to be able to write for the bit for this show, but there are so many things about body language, about hands, about relationship dynamics, about drug use, etc that are swarming in my head at this point. 

In constantly talking some other tumblr users ears off about this show, @lurkingshan tasked me with writing a post about Only Friend’s seventh main character.

The POOR BOY shirt. 

Why? Because god are there already some juicy literal and metaphorical character dynamics at play with this shirt, (at least in my perception) and I have been commanded to discuss them, and if you have not realized it by now I love discussing my silly little gay shows. 

What is initially and primarily intriguing to me is the fact that the Poor Boy shirt ends up making rounds in the show. Sand gives the shirt to Ray → Ray keeps the shirt rather than returning it to Sand → Ray gives the shirt to Mew. 

To each of these characters, the shirt means something different, not only from a place of sentimentality, but from a literal, textual meaning. 

Sand

Sadly, we have not yet seen Sand wear the Poor Boy t-shirt, but he is the original owner. From my view, Sand’s relationship to the t-shirt is fairly simple. It is a literal translation of Sand’s own economic status. Sand is poor, and the Poor Boy t-shirt speaks directly towards his everyday reality. 

Sand’s decision to put Ray in this shirt feels petty. Sand is very aware that Ray is rich. (I mean, his first words to Ray when they wake up the next morning are “you’re up, rich boy?”) Now, obviously we cannot peer in to Sand’s mind about the fashion choices he is making, but the entertainment value of seeing this rich boy in a poor boy shirt was there. In this capacity, the Poor Boy shirt serves as a physical manifestation of the wealth disparity between Sand and Ray. Sand owning that shirt is a literal statement, Ray wearing that shirt is hilariously ironic. 

Or is it? 

Ray

We know (or at least can suspect) that Ray has some sort of alcohol dependence from the very first moment we meet him, based on his ascribed role as The Drunk. On the off chance the initial reaction was not “oh this kid is an alcoholic” the narrative continues to build that aspect of Ray’s character when his second trip to the bar also results in him getting plastered, and when he drinks from a flask in the middle of the day, and when he is constantly seen on screen with a whiskey glass in his hand. 

Now, I will not say that everyone who is an alcoholic drinks as a trauma response, but I will say that there are many people who use substances to cope with life stressors. So, when I see Ray with alcohol constantly, that is an indication to me that there is maybe something more beneath the surface of his party boy aura. 

We learn in Episode 2 that Ray’s mother died and he was present for her death (#trauma). [In case you didn’t notice, Ray’s mother died with an empty glass in her hand and empty liquor bottle at her side.]

Sand jokingly calls Ray out on his motivation for paying Sand to hang out with him: “Now I know. You’re a lonely spoiled rich brat. Your friends left you because they have lovers. That’s why you need a new friend. Your life is dramatic. Poor you.” 

Sand says it teasingly, with a smile on his face. But Ray? Ray turns his back to Sand, takes a long pull from his glass, and heads over to the record player.

Perhaps you know where I am going with this already, but I want to just take a second to review the order of events by which I am going to make my final conclusions about this shirt in relation to Ray. 

Episode 1

Ray is introduced piss drunk and hanging on to the edge of the toilet for dear life, he is quick to anger, he gets drunk at the bar again, he tries to drive home, Sand drives him back to his apartment, he wakes up in the Poor Boy shirt, he gets kicked out of Sand’s apartment for being a #rudeboy, Ray calls Mew, Mew wonders how he got to Sand’s place when Boston said he would take care of Ray. In short, Ray gets extremely drunk, is abandoned by all of his friends, taken home by Sand and as a result is adorned with the Poor Boy t-shirt. 

Episode 2 

Our first Ray sighting in Episode 2 he is sitting outside drinking a nip, alone. No one inside the hostel even questions where he is. Mew is the one that goes outside to check on him, calls out his drinking habits, and tells Ray “I can’t be your emergency staff all the time”. Ray sees Sand selling something on campus and follows him around. He breaks Sand’s plum wine bottles and then offers him 10,000 bhat to just hang out, drink, and listen to music. Sand learns about Ray’s dead mother. Ray goes wakeboarding with the rest of the college pals, Ray tries to help Cheum, makes her ankle hurt worse, and literally the only person that talks to him besides to tell him to stop (Chuem) and to question his ability to help (Top) (aka the only person who engages in casual conversation with Ray) is Mew. Ray has his second hang out with Sand, Sand calls out the fact that Ray’s friends have abandoned him because they all have lovers, he says he will be friends with Ray, and Ray and Sand fuck. 

Episode 3

Episode 3, Ray clings to Sand the morning after, offers to drive him to school, volunteers to handle the music for the pool party (much to the surprise of all of his friends). Ray then spends most of the rest of his screen time either flirting with Sand or simping over Mew. Top belittles Ray, Boston calls out Ray’s crush on Mew and calls Ray’s life dramatic, Ray is left alone at the party and runs in to Sand, offers to take Sand home, starts making out with Sand, and then interrupts the guaranteed dicking down that he just convinced Sand to make an exception for when he pulls himself fully and instantly out of that make out session to answer Mew’s call, pissing off Sand. 

Episode 4

Episode 4 opens with (yet another) show stopping performance by Khaotung (seriously this dude is a powerhouse) where we learn that Ray was at one point actively suicidal and made an attempt. We learn in a very short period of time there that Ray does not have a lover, a sibling, or family that he feels like he can rely on. Mew is his emergency contact because he is the only person who is consistently taking care of Ray. On the phone with Mew, Ray says “If I’m gone, I won’t be anyone’s burden anymore, right?” When Ray breaks down sobbing as Mew holds him, Ray says “No one loves me. I’m all alone. Everyone hates me. My mom never loved me. Her life was ruined because of me. She died because of me. She never hugged me like this, you know? I’m bad luck, Mew. No one loves me!” and it is at this point that we can look back at all these other interactions Ray has had over the three prior episodes and see that two years after his suicide attempt, he is still being called a burden by friends and strangers, he is still alone.

[As an aside: I want to make it extremely clear that there is a lot of juicy complexity to Ray’s dynamic with his friend group. I am not saying that his friends are inherently bad people for the distance they place between themselves and Ray. First, they are college students, second Ray has a lot of mental health and addiction things going on that they are not equipped to handle, and having to constantly manage a friend with an addiction, especially one that can make them escalate situations really quickly (see Ray ready to fight Sand in the bathroom within like, thirty seconds of talking) is challenging. But I am also not going to absolve them entirely of the kind of statements they make about Ray, when they don’t return his ‘i love yous’ when he’s drunk and when they call him a burden, because these are things that were such a strong part of his belief system that they are part of the driving thoughts he verbalizes when he tries to kill himself.]

While it took us fully four episodes to get there, we find that the Poor Boy t-shirt that Ray wakes up wearing in Episode 1, while inaccurate for his literal financial reality, is incredibly, aggressively precise and accurate to Ray’s emotional reality. 

Mew

Cutting back to present day in Episode 4, Mew has been picked up by Ray and brought over to his house to spend the night. Ray’s first action in the scene is to turn to the coat rack he has in his room, pull a white shirt from it, and hand it to Mew to change in to for pajamas. Ray asks Mew why Top didn’t pick him up and Mew states that he did in fact call, but Top was busy fucking Boston helping his dad at the hotel. Ray makes a comment about being a substitute and feeling forgotten when Mew is with Top, Mew tells Ray that he is his most beloved friend, and then he looks at the shirt, turns it around to show Ray and asks:

“Is this yours?”

Now, I assume Ray is aware of what shirt he gave Mew to wear, but there is something disconnected in what I am reading from Ray’s reaction to seeing Mew hold up the shirt. 

To me it seems a bit like Ray is...not surprised, but perhaps uncertain? He knows that shirt is Sand’s but he has spent all this time at the party trying to convince Mew that he isn’t interested in Sand, that there is no attraction between them, because Ray is still hung up on Mew and some part of him is hoping there is a chance. Ray lets Mew tease him “Poor boy, seriously? How dare you wear this?”

Ray remains quiet, until Mew once again presses Ray about getting together with Sand.

 “Why don’t you hit on Sand? I think he’s lovely” (preface- I do not know Thai, but I do know that ‘narak’ typically means cute. Mew definitely says ‘narak’ when he refers to Sand, but it is translated as lovely so the caption may not be completely accurate). “I want you to have a boyfriend. Dating a musician is freaking cool.”

Now, there are a couple things I see at play in this moment. First, I am pretty certain that Mew is still very much aware of Ray’s crush on him. I think the casual comments Mew makes about Top being the first person to make his heart tremble and how heavily he is pushing Ray to ask Sand out or even to just try to figure out if Ray does genuinely have interest in Sand are ways for Mew to kindly, gently remind Ray that he does not reciprocate any romantic feelings. 

Secondly, Mew is and will be commenting on traits that apply to either himself or adjacently to Ray. When Mew says dating a musician is freaking cool, we know he is referring to Sand who is actually a musician. But for Ray, who is desperately in love with Mew, is it too far of a stretch for Ray to believe that Mew’s sentiment may also apply to people with really strong tastes and interests in music?

Third, Boston has stirred up some resolve in Ray from the party, trying to convince him that he needs to tell Mew that he is interested, to even have a fighting chance at maybe getting Mew to date him. So he lies: 

“No. I don’t want to be in a relationship just yet. Besides, Sand isn’t my type.” 

Something I absolutely love about Only Friends so far is that no one is telling the truth 100% of the time, but also no one is lying 100% of the time and we don’t yet know enough about most of the characters here to be completely certain which parts they are being truthful about. Nick is lying to Boston, or at least keeping secrets from him (he did not tell Boston he bugged the car), but he will fully, easily, and readily admit to Sand that he bugged the car and recorded Boston and Top having sex. He will fully, easily, and readily admit that he is nasty and also that he isn’t trying to blackmail Top. Top will omit the information that he slept with Boston, but he will admit to drug use and pull a baggie of coke out of his pocket to show Mew. Some of my mutuals are still in debates around how much Top is lying, including whether or not he is telling the truth about the fire he was in as a child, etc. 

In this case for this scene with Mew, we know Ray is lying about not wanting to be in a relationship. He does want to be in a relationship…with Mew. But is he lying about Sand not being his type? It would certainly track, considering Ray was the one that initiated the sexual relationship between them and continued to pursue it. Yet at the same time, Ray is stopping in the middle of a make out session, disregarding Sand’s feelings entirely, and taking Mew’s call. And Sand’s lack of wealth is something Ray has exploited or tried to exploit on multiple occasions. (Which is in part why it is very important to recognize the second Sand realizes he may actually be enjoying Ray’s company, that he rejects all offers of money from Ray).

As Mew continues to talk, he continues to state advice that could apply to himself: “Don’t set your standards too high.” Ray is a drunken mess of a college boy, and if Mew is telling him not to set his standards too high, wouldn’t it also be possible that Mew could see Ray as a lower standard and still decide to date him? 

“Just date someone who loves you and takes care of you.” Mew is the only person that really seems to take care of Ray at this point. Boston abandoned him, Cheum doesn’t really interact with him all that much, Top hates him, etc. When Ray attempted suicide Mew said he loved him, when Ray attempted suicide Mew said he would always be there for him. Mew has supported Ray for so long, Mew has taken care of Ray for so long. And now Mew is casually naming the qualities of his good friendship to Ray as a recommendation of how to find someone to date. 

So to me, it makes total sense that Ray would try to kiss Mew and admit his feelings. 

But why is the Poor Boy shirt relevant to Mew? 

Because there is someone else we have seen take care of Ray multiple times already…

Sand. 

The OPB (original poor boy). 

Sand says he can differentiate between love and lust, but the ease at which he relents to Ray’s puppy dog eyes, the speed by which is is made upset at being abandoned by Ray, the safeguards he has in place that he is constantly undermining, we know that if Sand is not already in love with Ray he will be getting there fast.

In my opinion, the Poor Boy shirt acts not as any form of physical or emotional commentary for Mew’s state specifically, but serves instead as Ray subconsciously projecting Sand on to Mew. Despite how quickly and strongly Ray has been drawn towards Sand in recent episodes, despite the good vibes, and good sex they’ve had going on, despite their mutual attraction to one another and some matching interests, Ray has given this reminder of the first care Sand provided (despite throwing him out after Ray gave him an attitude) to Mew. And it’s not like Ray hasn’t had the opportunity to give Sand back his t-shirt. Ray and Sand have hung out there at least twice and fucked each other in Ray’s bedroom. But Ray hung on to the shirt, why? 

Sand’s shirt on Mew’s body is misplaced, either as a subconscious acknowledgement of his growing interest in Sand or as a way for Ray to physically place reminders of the care and attention Sand has been giving him on to Mew, who Ray is still crushing on, even as Mew has slowly started to pry himself away from the responsibility of taking care of Ray.

And as we approach the end of Episode 4, we see Ray start to realign his expectations, settling in to the reality that Mew has not, does not, and never will like him romantically. We are introduced for the first time, to a physical, tangible object that Ray owns that is connected to Mew and to Ray’s relationship with Mew as a result. Ray sits in the tub, the same tub he tried to die in two years ago, the same tub Mew held him in two years ago and told him he loved him and promised to always be there for him.

Ray thinks about what this pendant symbolizes, the words Mew told him when he gifted it to Ray: “You are the brightness, you are a ray of sunshine. You should be hot and lively.” Ray says at the beginning that his friends hate him, that he is all alone. So I don’t think it is a far stretch of the imagination by any means to say that Mew may be one of the first if not the first person in years to make Ray feel like he was loved, valued, supported, and understood. 

And it is not surprising as a result of that that Ray would fall in love with Mew, especially if Ray’s addiction has been ongoing for years and he has been a difficult person to maintain friendship with. 

Ray has crossed boundaries and suffered immediate consequences as a result, but those consequences included finally hearing directly from Mew that his feelings have not changed over the last two years. Ray is drunk 99.9% of the time, that doesn’t mean he’s blacked out by any means, but it does mean that frequently his judgment is going to be inhibited. It is highly likely, in my eyes, that Ray needed the direct admission rather than Mew’s gentle rejections over the last two years. 

With Mew finally voicing his regard of Ray as only a friend, Ray is now able to re-evaluate the advice Mew gave to Ray at the beginning of the episode, and consider who else (besides Mew himself) Mew’s statements might apply to. The answer, of course, was staring him in the face the entire time. With the Poor Boy shirt removed from Mew’s back, Ray is forced to understand the shirt more as a physical tie to Sand, like the keychain is a physical tie to Mew. 

(hehe this angle makes it look like it says Poo Boy or Poop Boy) 

Ray looks at the shirt and thinks back to the record shop not-a-date with Sand, the honesty Sand had with him, the ease at which Sand shared information about himself, his interests, the gentleness with which Sand treated Ray, even just placing the headphone on him. Ray thinks of the song they listened to together, titled เรา which translates to “we” and he makes his choice. 

Looking forward: I am curious if this shirt will continue to make its rounds, with Top having recently fucked Boston, there is also a total possibility that Mew is being branded as the Next Poor Boy whose life will fall apart as truths are revealed and consequences enacted. 

Thank you to @lurkingshan for edits and observations!

[fault-classic]

It's been a little while, what have I been working on?

My latest work went into making some pretty significant tweaks to the battle results screen. Really starting to tie things together now, but it's not quite finished yet! That's not all, though.

Back in May I was experimenting with RPG Maker's "weather" system. I had implemented a map-specific "overhang" layer that framed the edges of rooms with black space. That prevented weather effects - like snow particles - from displaying beyond the boundaries of the room.

The frogs are just my debug objects for turning the snow on and off.

But it's not like I wanted it to snow indoors - after I had the overhangs figured out, I rewrote the behaviour and graphics code for the "snow" particles to create these dust particles that float around aimlessly.

This ought to make the catacomb interiors feel appropriately dusty - and make the environments feel less still and lifeless in general.

They even display on the battle screen... though sometimes they tend to crowd around the left side of the screen because of the panning and sliding during the battle intro animation. I'll have to fix that at some point.

During May and June, Vito got a complete set of battle sprites and an attack animation.

And so did Yolei. Oh, and the dog enemy is also new.

The dog enemy is very evasive, but also cowardly and not very tough.

It is capable of the "flee" action, something that slimes and skeletons will not do.

At the end of June I added a MAJOR quality of life feature. When Ashley is facing something on the map that can be interacted with or talked to with the action button, a quotation bubble with an exclamation mark will pop up above their head. No ambiguity! No more pixel hunting or mashing the action button in front of every random tile!

I didn't save any screenshots in July, it was a busy month I guess. But in August I got back to work.

Remember this old sprite? From February of 2023?

Well, I'm revisiting this enemy type with more practice under my belt. Here are some gifs I recorded as I was figuring them out and implementing their assets and abilities.

As armored enemies, they are very hardy - the weaker party members will have a hard time damaging them with basic attacks.

In addition to their basic attacks, all undead enemies can perform a skill that inflicts "fear" status on one party member, which depletes their morale over time...

Here's the same battle running with the mood lighting and dust effects turned on. While I was fiddling with the code, I was also able to configure the target animation to not play if the skill misses. It looked sloppy otherwise.

At some point I put a big, animated door on the front entrance of the debug dungeon. I used this door as a testing model for other interactive doors to use later.

I also spent the last few days of the month filling out Nana's spellbook with some more spell animations. "Dazzle" inflicts dizzy on the entire enemy party. Dizzy enemies have a chance of hitting the wrong target with their basic attacks - including their own allies. Hitting a dizzy target with a basic attack will also knock them down and stun them for one turn.

"Fume" poisons one enemy with a cloud of noxious gas, dealing damage over time.

I should of course note that since skeletons don't breathe, they can't be poisoned in the final game - I was only using this one to demonstrate the animation here.

that's all for now!

[should-know-better]

What's in a name?

Thinking about the name "The Last Shadow Puppets" today. We know that Alex has never been happy with the name 'Arctic Monkeys' so it seems reasonable that he would take considerable time and pains to choose a name for the side project with Miles. Indeed, we know that Miles also gets quite involved in wordplay (just listen to Ransom).

The official story for the name, according to Miles in the 2008 Daily Record is:

“We got the name The Last Shadow Puppets because a friend of ours was on the phone lying on her bed and she was doing shadow puppets on the wall.”

Then, the pair also speak about it in the John Norris interview (part one). X

However then, in this 2016 interview (dailymotion.com) Alex tells us that the name was due to them listening to "sixties girl groups, and the Shadow Puppets seemed like it could be a sixties girl group name."

Hmmm... so a totally different story. Had Alex forgotten how they decided the name in that 8 year period?

Also, who is this girl who was on the phone to them? (Three people on one phone call in 2008 also seems odd to me? idk??) So I wondered if this is a constructed story that they came up with to hide a deeper meaning of the name.

I soon discovered via a quick google, that the original story doesn't even describe 'Shadow Puppets.' Images using hand shadows on a wall is called 'Shadowography' or 'Shadowplay' (which surely is referred to in EYCTE, especially as it refers to an ancient impulse, which is described below).

'Shadow Puppets' are flat figures that are placed between a light and a screen, that have been used as a traditional art form for centuries. So, in other words, you DON'T SEE THE REAL IMAGE OF THE OBJECT creating the art. Although it's not until later that we see Alex's different personas for each record, I wonder if he has thought about people seeing the real him for a long time.

Now consider the word, 'Puppet.

Definitions from collinsdictionary.com include:

'a doll that you can move, either by pulling strings that are attached to it, or by putting your hand inside its body and moving your fingers'!!! I promise I didn't make this up! or 'a person whose actions are controlled by a more powerful person even though they appear independent.'

Sexual connotations aside, is it possible that Alex is aware of how controlling the record industry is, even at this young age? I know that in interviews around the time, he's excited about everything that is happening with AM, but is there a little cynicism in there too? Little examples are dropped out, like AM originally wanting the first record out many months before it was (John Kennedy interview), so perhaps he's realised the control that the industry has over him - controlling him like a puppet.

I do like this definition of a puppet though:-

'they are a symbol of transformation and metamorphosis, a vehicle for expression, granting freedom and creativity where we might not be able to find it.' 'Puppets are a mirror that reflect back our own desires, fears and aspirations.' Source: storymaps.arcgis.com

The 'Shadow' side of the name also fits nicely with what we perceive of the relationship between Alex and Miles:

Shadow - 'a darkness in a place caused by something preventing light from reaching it.'

Am I overthinking when I consider this an apt description of someone hiding something? Or a feeling that you have if you're unable to be the real you?

Finally, we come to 'The Last' part of the name. 'Last' also has multiple meanings, some more relevant than others, including, 'the only remaining', 'the most recent' (e.g. last year), 'to remain usable for a length of time' (e.g. built to last). 'Last' applies to something that comes at the end of a series, but does not imply that the series is completed or stopped.

However in the John Norris interview, Alex and Miles explain why they chose this word:-

JN: And the 'Last' part of it?

MK: Cockiness, arrogance...

AT: Arrogance...

MK: Arrogant little bastards.

AT: Stark arrogance.

MK: Yeah.

Why was the word 'last' chosen as arrogance? It could be that they are saying there will never be another us, but that's not arrogance, it's true for everyone.

I wonder if it is referring to them having a youthful optimism that they feel that they won't be manipulated by the music industry. They are aware of what goes on, but it won't happen to them.

This would tie into the timing of the release of the name. Up until only a couple of weeks prior to the album launch, they were going to be called 'The Turner and Kane Project,' (see NME article January 2008 and John Norris interview). Then suddenly it changes. Could it be a ironic nod to the many X-Factor artists who were everywhere during this time and who were manipulated by the industry? The most recent Christmas Number One had been Leon Jackson, who had just won the show (and it was obvious that this would get to the prestigious festive top spot).

I'm not saying that Alex and Miles were dissing the artists, more so that they were saying, we are not going to be puppets in this world. After all, they got to record their album - Miles said in his interview with Nihal that the label said "let him go and do that with his mate," when Alex asked.

As usual, we will probably never find out the real thought behind the name. Maybe there was a girl? Maybe it was wordplay? After all, Alex told us that the album titles were ironic to him, so maybe it's not too much of a stretch that the band name could be too.

[lemotmo]

Unfortunately, probably so

Q. He's been on set. They're just not showing him there yet. You're out of your mind if you think he's not there.

Q. Honest thoughts: is he going to be in season 8 or no?

A. I don't believe he has been on set yet, anon. I do think he will be there but it's pretty obvious that he hasn't been there yet. Perhaps you can check the fake Twitter account for his exact whereabouts. Second anon, yes I believe he will be around for at least most of 8a. I don't think we will see that much of him but I think he'll be around. I don't trust Tim at all to not play with that dynamic a bit. He has said several times in the past that he hasn't defined Buddie yet because he likes the idea of relationship drama. If the plan is actually Buddie, I don't think he will be able to resist using Tommy to create some drama. Once he puts Buck/Eddie together that is it relationship wise, that is their endgame so drama for them, at least in the way Tim talks about things, will have to be manufactured in other ways. I love a lot of things about Tim but I don't trust him at all to not use Tommy to build up the drama pre Buddie. Especially if they did bring in Lone Star writers. They just write completely differently tone wise. I absolutely loathe the idea because it will be virtually unbearable around here throughout that entire process, and it's possible, given the behavior that Tim became aware of, that he changed direction a bit, but I still don't trust him to get there in the best way. It's just too easy of a route to take. There have been a few people who managed to figure out that the cameo videos came to a stop around the same time they started writing for the season. So along with whatever conversation took place, I'm sure Lou got his final episode count and just decided to go ahead and walk away from them. So while I think his return will still only be a handful of episodes I think it's going to be a rough handful of episodes. If I get canon Buddie out of the drama I don't care how we get there, but I know lots of people do so I want to try and prepare myself now. And once it becomes apparent that Tommy is just drama in the lead up to Buddie his people are going to become downright unbearable. I'm very excited about lots of things but I just want to get his part over with.

For the record, anon, I'm praying like crazy that I'm wrong. I want to be wrong. I want to be wrong so badly.

Thank you Nonny!

Yeah, I also expect Lou there for a few more scenes. It'll suck to find out that he's on set. Not because of him specifically, because it will give the storyline a fitting ending on screen and it might be interesting to watch it play out for Buck as a character. (Even though I agree that, if Tim really wanted to, he could make Buddie happen without the Tommy factor involved.)

But because of the reaction of a certain subset of the fandom. The loud Tommy stans will be proclaiming that Lou is there as a main now and he's going to ask Buck to marry him or something unhinged like that. And then when they realise, during season 8, that BT's relationship isn't going to last very long, they'll throw a loud tantrum like a bunch of 5 year olds who don't get a sweet before dinner.

I'm just over all of that nonsense.

What this fandom needs right now is some peace without a very loud minority trying to harsh our buzz.

Also, to be honest... I don't care how they make Buddie canon either. I've been here for 6 seasons now. I'm tired. The time is now. However they do it, I'll just be happy about it, no matter how it happens.

And finally, I'm also manifesting that Ali (and me as well) is wrong. Very very wrong indeed. Sorry my dear. :)

IMPORTANT! Please don't repost this ask and/or a link that leads straight to my Tumblr account on Twitter or any other social media. Thank you!

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[cosqf]

An Alastor redesign!!

alright i have many thoughts abt this funny fella. keep reading for the design process + lots of ideas

ok so. i think he has too many "themes" going on - deer, radio, voodoo, shadow powers, tentacles, deal making, the list goes on. To have a balanced character one must make their "deal" clear and stick to only a few themes! So, based on that i chose to focus on the radio and deer aspect and then sprinkle some of the rest here and there.

To start, i wanted to make the main themes - radio and deer - crystal clear from his appearance. So i gave him some bulky headphones, similar to the ones radio hosts would use when broadcasting (and he's always broadcasting! more on that later) and painted his skin in deer-like patterns (freckles like deer spots!!! cute). i also gave him antenna/radio towers for his deer antlers.

Secondly, i got rid of his hairstyle and ears. but those are his main thing! i know but look it just doesnt fit much. Alastor is a mixed polite gentleman radio host in the 30's, and his hairstyle should if not directly reflect his past life, at the very least it should hint at it, and that bob cut is way too modern. what about the ears then? personal biased choice, really.

i played around with multiple ideas, throwing shit at the wall and seeing what stuck. i liked the idea of his hair having some curls like an old telephone wire and tried to mix that somehow with popular hairstyles for men in the 30's. don't mind the quality of the sketches

Next, his outfit! (the picture has the outdated hairstyle, which i changed cause i thought it didn't fit his gentleman vibe, despite really liking how it looked)

most of the changes i did were either because of personal opinion or because i had an interesting idea. i also wanted to keep the red suit going so that i did.

i gave his little mic little antlers and also a little "screen" that shows the radio waves it's recording, cause i think that's a neat look. some stripped pants cause it seems it was popular in his time, and his buttons are actually radio dials! i also kept the bowtie.

Alright, for the fun part now! when compared to Vox, who's the tv demon and quite literally a tv, Alastor sure didn't enough radio elements in his own body. so i had this idea, what if he had a radio built into his chest? instead of his voice (or whatever sounds he wants) coming out of his mouth, it would emanate from this radio, still with that old-timey effect he has. i also gave him a radio frequency dial that would change on it's own, maybe depending on his mood or when he's using his powers in a certain way, i havent fully decided yet.

Now, about his powers. most of them would work the same way, with a few tweaks. Since he's mouth-mute and is broadcasting his voice through the radio, i think it'd be cool if he made his voice echo from all nearby speakers - phones, tvs, whatever, he'd hijack them to ensure he's properly heard and grab everyone's attention, using the power his mic grants him. he could also be able to eavesdrop on audio transmitted through radio waves, so no phone calls or tv signals would be safe or private near him. when he wants to reach more people or crank up the volume his antlers would grow, extending the signal's range. with this, when he's angry or wants to look threatening, his antlers would shoot up, feeling like he's shouting at you from every direction. he'd fill the air with static, making your hair (literally) stand on end, and distort the sound around him to make sure only his voice is heard if he wants it to. these moments are when i imagine his frequency tune dial and button-dials spinning erratically on his body.

now onto his shadow and tentacle powers. i felt they didn't quite match his overall vibe BUT since they're such a core part of him i couldn't get rid of them. so i figured they could be like extra power granted to him after he struck the deal for his soul, very convenient and powerful but not entirely his own. breaking the deal would also mean losing that power which could be interesting for him considering how power-hungry he usually is and how truly desperate he would have to be to break the deal anyways. And so, since his shadow puppets (the ones he uses to fight adam and have the wall fixed) wouldn't be his this way, i changed it so they'd look like deer instead! and its part of his own power set. when the souls he owns and he "teared apart" aren't screaming on the broadcast he could summon them in and they'd help his fights out, just like normal.

heres some more sketches!

as some final notes, after his battle with adam some fun things would happen. with his mic broke and his wound fucking up the radio he has on his chest he'd have no way to broadcast his voice out, which would mean our beloved radio host would be unable to speak until he either fixed his mic or managed to heal up completely. fun stuff :)

thank you if u read all of this or just scrolled for the pictures, im grateful anyway. i want to make it clear i didnt make this redesign to "be better" than the original but rather as a fun creative assignment i gave myself, to enhance what i like about Alastor and smooth out the hard edges. i also wanna say i took inspiration from many things in the community - other redesigns, theories, rambles, they all helped me come up with this one. shoutouts to u all too

[jakeysbuttsheeks]

Dancing with your ghost.

Warnings : mentions of Ed , mental disorders, anorexia, alcohol use , crying, sobbing, angst , fluff , cringe but I need to cry , grammar mistakes, etc .

Parings: Jake X reader

Another day of frustration as you throw your front door open after fighting with the lock .

Just when you thought your day couldn't get any worse , the first thing you smelt when you entered your apartment was Jake .

You tried everything to get rid of him from your life . But nothing could remind you more about him that your house where the two of you stayed for years .

He dumped you over text . You had been arguing with him for not making time for you when he was on tour and you assumed he got high with his brothers that night and decided to text you and end it all .

You blocked him on everything and gave him no way did him to contact you . But you did wait for him to come back home everyday after that, and he never did .

Everyday you came home you wished your door was already unlocked to find Jake inside , ready to get back together but he never came .

It started to tell yourself he actually meant it when he dumped you and didn't just say it because he was drunk . The thought pained you.

There wasn't one day where you didn't cry yourself to sleep and wonder if he ever missed you or just moved on . In your head you were still his and no one else's.

You stood at the entrance of your apartment, staring blankly at the lifeless living room . Jake gave it the light and now that he was gone , every started to give out.

You couldn't help the gut wrenching sob that choked out of you as you began sobbing unconditionally. You were tired of not being able to get over him as easy as he did . You wish you hated him but you loved him more than anything. Everything would be so easy if you just hates him .

The dismal events of your day also led to your breakdown. You decided to treat yourself to numb out the pain . Drinking yourself to sleep was an alternative to crying yourself to sleep .

You sat balled up on the couch with the neck of a huge bottle of jack Daniels in your fist . You took a sip ever few seconds, replaying all the moments you and Jake had had .

This one time when you gifted him a vinyl and he loved it so much he would play it every evening and force you to dance with him .

You startled up when you realise you still had that vinyl somewhere and you hadn't played it since Jake left .

You hurry your way to find it in the mess of your house . Digging through some old papers and files you had lying around and looking through all your other vinyls .

You start to cry again in frustration when you couldn't find it until you realised it must've still been in the record player.

You head over to it and find the vinyl still there in the record player collecting dust . You take it off and wipe it before hurriedly putting it back , cranking up the volume before turning it on .

It only broke you down even more . Your remembered this one time you really didn't feel like dancing but Jake pulled you into his arms and swayed you to the song , kissing your cheek and talking to you with his lips pressed against your ear .

You could almost feel him holding you and guiding your body to sway to the music as you stood empty in the middle of the room with tear streaming down your face .

The room was spinning and you knew you were really drunk. You trip over to your phone and grab it , falling down on your knees by the couch as you open your phone .

You unblocked Jake's contact and immediately called him , your brain foggy and you didn't even realise the extent of what you were doing ,calling him after almost a year.

"fuck you" you scoff as you toss your phone back into the couch when he didn't answer.

You rested your upper body against the couch , your eyes heavy as you started to pass out , until you phone started buzzing.

"oh fuck" you look at your screen to see 'jakey' calling you .

You let it buzz as you stared at it , your thumb grazing over the answer button, just itching just to hear his voice just once .

You didn't even know when you had answered the call . You were started by Jake's voice faintly helloing out . You turn the phone on speaker and you hear him again , loud and clear.

"hello?" He called out . You tried to swallow a sob , hoping he wouldn't hear it but he definitely did .

"y|n?" He said, his voice went soft when he heard you cry . You couldn't bring yourself to speak .

"a-are you alright? Do you need help?" Jake speaks , he was worried you could tell by his voice.

You immediately cut the call and finally cry out the sobs you'd been holding in . You thought hearing his voice would help but it only made the hole in your heart bigger .

The phone buzzed again and again. You decided to pick up the third time and turned the phone on speaker again .

"y|n? Are you there?" He sounded more panicked.

"jake-" you choke out he immediately recognises you were just high and you weren't in any trouble of any sort.

"are you okay?" He still asks anyway.

"why'd you go away Jake?" You ask , your voice tearful.

"I'm still your girl" you continue knowing he didn't have an answer.

"baby-" Jake's voice strains, seeming to break down at your words .

"do you really not love me anymore?" You slur , your eyes staring to get heavy again as you play with the fibres of your couch .

"not even a little bit? Not at all?" You ask.

"I will always love you, even if I never see you again" Jake says and you pause everything.

"what the fuck does that mean!?" You yell . If Jake actually still loved you why did he never come back ?

"you know what it means" Jake says , his voice sounded heavy .

"then why did you leave me!? Why did you never come back and leave me to think-!?" You scream but Jake interrupts you.

"because I made a mistake! I thought we would never work and I still don't think we will!" He answers.

"but I can't seem to want anything more than to just be with you again" he continues.

"and when you blocked me and cut all contact I thought you didn't want me to come back- i- I thought you wanted me gone" he explained as you stayed quiet and listened.

"I miss you so much jakey i-" you couldn't finish your sentence as you continue to cry .

"oh baby" Jake's heart clenched and he wishes he was with you just as much as you wanted him to be with you .

"I miss you too y|n. So much" he speaks , his voice trembles with an exasperated sigh of sadness . He sounds like he's on the very of tears and it only makes you cry harder .

"come home" you sniffle, your tears seeping into the couch .

"I am honey I am. I got into the car as soon as you called I thought something had happened to you" Jake spoke and you immediately picture him drive to you while he talked to you the entire time.

You could believe what you were hearing. Jake was actually coming over ? He was already on his way? He still loved you ? This had to be some sick dream .

It wasn't long till you slowly passed out with your upper body lying on the couch , still kneeing in the floor , unable to keep your consciousness any longer .

You were woken when you felt strong hands scoop you up by your underarms , temporarily bringing you to your feet before carrying you up.

"Jake?" You speak in a daze . Still wondering if it all was a dream or if you were just going completely out of your mind .

"I'm here baby it's me" Jake speaks and you can hear him , loud and clear , his scent and his warm body . You couldn't be dreaming it felt too real .

You could barely keep your eyes open as he set you down into your bed. You barely caught a glimpse of his silhouette bending down to you . You wished your weren't so drunk.

The last thing you could interpret was his fingers intertwined with yours and all you could do was squeeze his hand before you were gone. Passed out cold .

You woke up frantic, turning around in your bed to find it empty and cold. What kind of sick joke was your mind playing on your for you dream of something so real.

Tears pricked your eyes and your head spun from your hangovers and the remains of the 'dream' you had .

The room door suddenly opened with Jake walking in with a cup in his hand . He stopped in his tracks when he saw the expression you had on your face like you'd just seen a ghost .

So it wasn't a dream then?

He just stood there waiting for you to say something with a worried face but you were in tears wondering if you were going out of your mind to the point that you were imagining him .

"do you want me to leave?" Jake asks nervously. The expression you had probably gave him the wrong impression.

"what? No-!" You answer rapidly.

"okay" he sighed , a smile almost forming on his face. "I thought you were just drunk last night and didn't mean to call me over" he continued.

"I thought I was dreaming" you speak and his shoulders drop . You didn't know they were tensed up until he dropped them and walked over to you .

"that's understandable. You were passed out drunk on your knees by the couch with our song blasting on the record player when I reached" Jake sat down on the side of your bed , turning at you . You frowned , not remembering being on the floor .

"I made you coffee" he hands it to you but you don't take it from him . You can see he gets hurt from the look in his eyes but he tried to hide it .

"I'm guessing your anorexia is back" he asks , resting the cup on his lap as he looks down at it .

"I just don't feel like having coffee" you say apologetically.

"since when do you lie to me?" He turns at you .

"there's nothing in your refrigerator or pantry . Nothing in your cabinets either . Not even a cereal box" Jake speaks .

"I- I was supposed to restock today" you explain and he sets the coffee cup down on your side table and shifts himself on the edge of the bed , facing you with his palm on your knee.

"let's go shopping then" he says . He knows you're lying. He didn't want to push it if you weren't comfortable.

"okay" you nod and he reaches for your hand and squeezes it .

"do you remember what we spoke about?" He asks. "On the phone" he elaborates.

You pause to think back , trying to remember what exactly you had said to eachother .

Vaguely you remember the excitement of hearing his voice . But it was a blur . You just knew he said exactly what you wished to hear from him . But you don't remember what he said exactly or what you told him .

"I still love you y|n" he sighs, like he wished he didn't. "I always will" he adds .

"I'll always loved you too Jake" your voice cracks as you suddenly remember Jake telling you he missed you over the phone.

"I should've come home to you. But I didn't because I thought-" he stops mid sentence and looks into your eyes. "I'm so sorry y|n" he breaks down and it makes you emotional .

You immediately pulled him into a hug and he wrapped his arms around you tightly as you caressed his hair and felt his body shudder as he cried softly.

"it's okay" your chest ached . His body was warm and his hair smelt fresh . His embrace was euphoria , it was the only place you wanted to be.

"ahh" jake let out an embarassed groan as he lifted his face off your shoulder and wiped his eyes "I'm sorry" he breaths , apologizing for crying.

"it's okay" you soothe , petting his hair as your own heart breaks watching him cry .

"I'm sorry too Jake. I wasn't a good girlfriend. I didn't trust you and I fought with you all the time and you didn't deserve that" you start and he just stares at you .

"but" you look down nervously "I realised that now , and I would do anything to go back and do it all differently and have a more mature approach to things" you finish and then look back at him and his eyes are still on you . You couldn't read the expression he had on his face tho .

"unless it's too late" you say as your body tensed when Jake didn't say anything.

"are you saying to want to get back together?" Jake asks , like he just processed what you had said.

You nervously nod and his hand moves to your face, rubbing a tear from your cheek with his thumb as he cups your face before tucking your hair behind your ear.

"I'd like that too" he confesses , suppressing his feeling of overwhelm.

You smile uncontrollably, though the sad expression still on your face as his eyes fall to your lips before leaning in . You press your lips against his and gently kiss him as the world around you crumbles. He almost made you forget if you ever loved anyone else. You didn't think you could love anyone else after Jake anyway.

You feel his fingers gently hold the back of your neck , seeping up onto your scalp . You can feel the blood rushing to your face and your heart thumping so hard it made you giddy. You were sure you were red as a tomato. But more , you were at the tip of your cup with overwhelm.

He breaks the kiss by resting his forehead against yours "oh I've missed you" he breaths, his eyes still closed as he recovers from the kiss.

"don't leave again" you say could help the tears as you held him tight and he opened his eyes and looked at you , his forehead still against yours. You could feel his energy.

"never" he responds, noticing your tears and lifts his forehead off yours and pressed his lips right under you eye , and then doing the same for the other , kissing away your tears .

You couldn't help it tho . Jake's embrace, his voice, his scent , his lips , his touch. Everything overwhelmed you .

"I promise" he adds , a murmur to himself as he pulls you into him , you buried your face into his neck and wrapped your arms around his waist as he swayed you slightly, coaxing you to feel better.

[lucrezianoin]

How to use Photomode mod for BG3 (free cam mod)

I received a cry for help on youtube on how to use the photomode (free cam) mod, so I am going to try to write a very very simple guide.

First of all this mod is not free, but can be downloaded through fransbouma's patreon. The patreon post is this one, and the guide for the mod is here:

STARTING THE MOD

The post about how to is here, so I will summarize the main points.

1)Download and open, you will have a folder like this:

The only thing you need to click on is the one I highlighted: IGCSClient.exe. No installation is required, this is the actual photomode mod. You can keep this folder wherever, I keep it on my desktop because I am lazy.

2) Open the game first!! This is very important. Launch the game, and wait until you are in the menu, or even in the actual game.

3) Now click on "IGCSClient.exe".

Now you will see that that "inject" button can be clicked (it cannot be clicked without opening the game):

Click on it, this will activate the mod. And now you should get these 3 pop ups, the last should say "Camera found". These to me appear on the left top side of my screen.

Okay, now the mod can be used!

CONFIGURATE IT

Okay, now make sure that you now what and how to use it. Click on "Key bindings".

I only use specific buttons, and I did not change any other thing. So I ignored "configuration" and "image adjustments", as I was fine with how my game was captured.

The buttons I use and I make sure to set up to easy to remember keyboard buttons are:

As you can see I never use the path-system, and have yet to learn it! For now I am only using the ones above and for me they are enough to explore the game.

Basically, as you can see from my pictures these are the main functionalities:

Enable/disable camera is the main one. By clicking it you activate the mod in game. This means that now you won't be able to click on game dialogue, but you will be able to use all the other buttons and functionalities.

Toggle/game pause is another one I use often. Because the game keeps playing even with activated camera mod, you might want to pause it to make sure to position your camera. Keep in mind that if a dialogue started, the game will play it anyway even if you paused it, and will pause the start of the next dialogue. For example, if Astarion is saying "Do you have a moment? We need to talk", and you press pause as "Do you", Astarion will sort of move in a glitchy way and the dialogue will pay normally, then he will pause at the end of it.

Increase FoV/Decrease FoV are two I rarely use too much, but basically they increase or decrease focus

Toggle HUD makes sure to make the HUD (the dialogue subtitles, and all the extra stuff around the frame) disappear. I always toggle this off.

The rest are other options to basically turn left and right, rotate, go up and down. My mouse also turns the camera left and right, up and down. It is only a matter of making sure your numpad is activated, and playing with it. At the beginning I was very clumsy!

NOTE: Recording a dialogue, as you might have noticed from my videos, work like this for me:

Enable camera (I press -)

Toggle HUD off (Delete key on my keyboad)

Pause (0)

And then I move around to find a good angle.

You can see an example here:

This happens if there is a continous scene, which means there is no dialogue choice in the middle of it.

Here is an example of what happens if you have dialogue choices:

You can see that there are some jumps. This is what is happening:

I activate the camera mod

I zoom in and out and turn around a bit

At 0:17 I deactivate the HUD, so the subtitles disappear

Then I check a round a bit, and at 0:39 there is a jump. The jump happens because I deactivated the camera mod

And then I reactivated the HUD. This is the only way to actually continue with the dialogue. So then I choose the dialogue option and...

I reactivate camera mod

Small warning: this is a photomode, it take pictures, so recording videos is not as smooth. You will get these flashes because the camera tries to "focus" on the new pov. Ex. If you have the camera on Astarion with the mod, but in game that moment is showing Tav, you will have a small flash of Tav.

[detailtilted]

Ode to AgtSpooky, SPN Con Videographer Extraordinaire

Ode to AgtSpooky, videographer extraordinaire, She’s so very stealthy, you'd never even know she was there. She casually moves her monopod, innocent as you please, And you’d never even guess she’d just fooled the video police. “Oh no, oh dear, Jensen has once again decided to pace! How ever will we keep our cameras on his handsome face?” But AgtSpooky, she’s not fazed, she casually flips her wrist, And now fans for many years to come will see his every twist. The video police, they look so hard, but somehow they can’t see That AgtSpooky recorded it all to share with you and me.

Her activities put her at risk of getting kicked out, Yet still she shared with other fans, her files freely about. Videos are now permitted, but fans like her led the way, For how could one see such fun and not also want to come play? Her videos spread far and wide as diverse fans flocked to watch. In time Creation learned that free publicity was top notch. If you laughed at the J2 antics from back in 2007, You likely have AgtSpooky to thank for that piece of heaven. Her breakfast videos on YouTube have fifty thousand plus views, But that they originated from her, to many may be news.

Fast forward a couple decades, to 2024, Some crazy stranger came knocking, and she didn’t slam the door. DetailTilted, a newer fan, found her dead video links, Then she hunted her down and sent an e-mail of excessive length. It may not always be wise to answer the pleas of strangers, Doing so may sometimes lead to some unexpected dangers. Her secret footage of Jim Beaver's dancing has now been leaked abroad. To the witness protection program she goes, her courage we laud. Dear AgtSpooky we hope you fare well, whatever you may do, But your skills shall remain a legend; they’re surpassed by very few.

Terrible poetry aside, AgtSpooky really is awesome, both in regard to her generosity and her video skills. Below are two screen shots from my VANCON 2009 editing process to demonstrate why I suddenly went off the deep end and started composing poetry for the first time in my not-so-short life. 🤣

In these screen shots, I had four video sources synced up to the same moment in time, arranged so I could see them all at once to decide which ones to use at which times. Her video, the one in the top left, was frequently the only one with a clear view of Jensen and/or Jared.

Jensen started pacing in his panel, making it difficult to keep the camera on him without getting caught, but somehow AgtSpooky was able to stay on top of his movements where others often lagged behind. In the J2 panel, they were sitting further apart and most people had trouble getting both of them in their video frame. AgtSpooky was at an angle that worked much better and she was the only one able to consistently get both of them.

Her footage from these two panels never made it onto YouTube as far as I could find, so I’m really excited to share my next two enhanced videos. Her coverage is better than what’s on YouTube today. I still have more work to do, but I’m on track to have Jensen’s solo VANCON 2009 panel up on YouTube on July 5. The J2 panel will probably follow 3 weeks or so after that. There wasn’t a solo Jared panel at this con because they ran out of time.

Video Editing Screen Shot from Jensen's Solo Panel

("Video C" made up for recording so much footage of the curtains by adding some on-screen text that made me laugh. 😂)

Video Editing Screen Shot from the J2 Panel