#and create even more noise for your players to deal with

[hughesybear]

Vancouver Canucks team president says there is no good solution in rift between Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller

Jim Rutherford, president of hockey operations for the Vancouver Canucks, made a career as a small 5-foot-8 goaltender by overcoming any obstacles in his way, but he’s facing one now that he can’t seem to get past. He has two star players who apparently can’t stand one another: top centres J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson. And it’s put him and the organization in an unfathomable bind.

In the past, he has always felt like he could find a solution to any tricky situation, Rutherford told The Globe and Mail during an interview on Monday, “and I felt like for a long time that there was a solution here because everybody has worked on it, including the parties involved.”

“But it only gets resolved for a short period of time and then it festers again and so it certainly appears like there’s not a good solution that would keep this group together.”

While that may not come as a huge surprise to the Vancouver market – both players’ names have been connected to trades amid reports they have repeatedly clashed – it is still sobering to hear when the president of the team confirms it. And then when he admits there is no solution that is likely to make anyone happy, well, then, reality really does sink in.

Of course, personality differences exist in every NHL dressing room. For as long as the league has existed, there have been situations where players haven’t liked one another. You would think that in this case, an alpha male who likes to push his weight around like Miller, 31, and a more sensitive and soft-spoken player like Pettersson, 26, could put their differences aside for the good of the team. But apparently not.

“We’ve had those conversations and I think the parties understand that and I think they’ve tried,” Rutherford told me. “As you know, sometimes emotions get deep and as much as people try sometimes you can’t get over it. It certainly appears that’s what’s going on here.”

It is, to put it mildly, a problem that could end up impacting the Canucks for years.

“We’re talking about two of our top players,” Rutherford said. “Certainly, our two best forwards. It can really be tough on a franchise – not only present but into the future – when you’re planning on peaking this team into a contending team and then you find out that’s not going to happen. Or at least it’s not going to happen with the group we have now. Then you have to put together a new plan.”

Last year, this situation seemed, well, unimaginable. The Canucks played a feisty, tightly-structured game that took them to the seventh game of the second round of the playoffs, which they ended up losing to Edmonton Oilers, an eventual Stanley Cup finalist. It was a safe assumption that the team would take another step this year, and Pettersson in particular would be back to his old, prolific self. But that didn’t happen.

Pettersson hasn’t looked anything like the player who earned an eight-year, nearly $93-million contract last March, making him one of the top-paid forwards in the league. It’s often seemed like the burden of expectations that come with that sort of deal has been too much. Or maybe it’s been the problems he’s experiencing with Miller that has shaken his confidence. Doesn’t matter. He’s been a shell of his former self.

Miller hasn’t looked like the dominant player who roamed the ice last year either, one of the top two-way centres in the NHL. He missed 10 games this season when he had to step away from the team for personal reasons. Who knows if the situation with Pettersson has impacted his game as well. How could it not if it’s as bad as Rutherford makes it out to be?

But the whole team hasn’t looked like the same either. This year’s version has, in recent weeks, taken down Toronto, Edmonton and Washington – three of the top teams in the league. But then other times, far too often, they have looked disorganized and disengaged. That’s the maddening part about it.

“When you don’t have chemistry, it’s hard to be that consistent team because there’s too much going on in the room for everybody to concentrate on what they’re supposed to do,” Rutherford said.

I asked Rutherford if he means the Miller-Pettersson drama has impacted the entire team.

“Yes, yup,” he said.

Rutherford and his general manager, Patrik Allvin, are uncertain if removing one of either Pettersson or Miller will fix the problem. “We don’t know,” Rutherford said. “We’ll just have to wait to find out. We’ll have to take it a step at a time. If we try and do it too fast, that’s really when you can make some mistakes.”

Of course, the Canucks’ problems are no secret. The entire world knows. This includes general managers who have been circling the team like vultures looking to make away with an outstanding meal for very little cost.

Rutherford said he’d been doing the same if he were in their shoes. But he didn’t earn the reputation he has by buying high and selling low.

If the right deal doesn’t come along, it’s conceivable that both players could finish the season on the team. He said he’d rather not have to trade either player.

As much as he wants to fix the problem, he has to be smart about it. He can’t just sell Pettersson and Miller for multiple first-round picks and start over, for one simple reason – superstar defenceman and captain, Quinn Hughes.

Hughes is just 25 and entering his prime as a player. He could win multiple Norris trophies before his career is over. He does not want to be part of any rebuild in Vancouver. A retool perhaps, a rebuild definitely not.

“If we were going to completely start over that means he goes,” Rutherford told the Globe. “And we’d like to figure out a way that he’s here forever.”

What does that look like?

“We’ll have to do the best we can in trades,” Rutherford said. “Whatever assets you get in return, you may turn them into something else. And we have to work our way back into being a contending team.”

Still, any way you look at it, the Canucks are in a vulnerable – scratch that – are in a lousy, horrible, rotten, just-about-as-bad-as-it-gets position. Both Miller and Pettersson are No. 1 centres. In these times, you don’t trade a No. 1 centre and get a No. 1 centre back. “Those deals aren’t going to be there,” Rutherford acknowledges.

“So yeah, if a centre goes out of here we have to get some kind of centre back but it’s not going to be the same as the centre going out. It might not even be a No. 2 centre, but you’d have to do the best with what we have until we figure out how to fill that spot back in.

“And then, of course, you have to get extra things [in any trade] that you can either use in the future to flip for NHL players now or for other positions or things like that.”

This won’t be music to the ears of Canucks fans, but Rutherford is just being honest. It’s not like he asked for this nightmare to be foisted on him because he was bored with winning.

What the Canucks look like at the end of this season is anyone’s guess. Odds are they are going to look a lot different and likely a lot less appealing. At least for a while.

[mageknight14]

I think an interesting thing about both TWEWY games after replaying them is that, when you look back at them, Neku isn’t really punished for his flaws in comparison to Rindo and when he does suffer, it’s mainly through external factors that’s tied to his development as a person. On paper, it's pretty clear that Rindo is punished more heavily for his flaws (or at least more severely near the climax): his bouts of insecurity and fear of accountability made him the perfect candidate to be Kubo's puppet, and as such, he relies heavily on the Replay to the point where he basically assists in creating an all-powerful noise that is beyond their ability to erase, all but guaranteeing Shibuya's doom sans Haz's interference. Neku’s flaw of being tactiturn isn't something constantly producing conflict for him throughout the game; he overcomes a significant portion of his flaw by week 1; and the rest of the punishment he receives mostly comes from the reapers being unfair dicks to him. Neku does struggle emotionally during week 2 and 3, but it has less to do with his flaws and more to do with him having legitimate reason to doubt whether or not he can trust Joshua and Hanekoma. Throughout the game, his doubts are articulated very well through narrative action, but these doubts aren't a result of his own isolation and delusions, you know?

The closest it gets to that point is where Neku heavily blames himself for not trusting Joshua more when he chooses to "sacrifice" himself for Neku’s sake, but that whole instance actually makes Neku more retroactively justified when he finds out the truth about Joshua’s true nature. Not to mention Joshua was giving him plenty of reasons NOT to trust him so mistrust wasn't really a product of Neku's loner demeanor; Joshua was legitimately gaslighting him throughout the entire second week.

But I actually don’t think that’s a flaw within the narrative. Quite the opposite, in fact. The thing to keep in mind about Neku was that he was essentially having his character arc in both directions. He was both having to learn to be a better person and directly confront his propensity to shut people out and refuse to rely on external help, while also trying to piece together who he even was before the Reaper's Game. He’s not given enough of a foundation to lay out who he was and what his deal is to the same degree as Rindo because for both Neku and the player, things start in medias res. He literally has no idea about who he even is as a person besides his name at that point of the story.

I don’t think Neku’s flaws not really affecting him is a problem with the narrative itself considering how people do call him out on his behavior and he does change immensely throughout the game. One could argue Neku becomes nicer a little too quickly given his few days with Shiki, or that in week 2 onwards, his distrusting personality isn't as prevalent; but on the other hand, Neku's growth from week 1 is challenged and put to good narrative use, because now he has to be willing to exercise patience and understanding with other people, especially since he has something worth fighting for that isn't just himself. W2 with Joshua is meant to teach Neku that not everyone is going to be sweet like Shiki, but regardless, you should at least make an attempt to understand such people, even if you end up never really liking them. Expand your world to include people, even if they think or act differently from you. By W3, Neku is now put in a position where he has to learn that caring about people isn't just about being nice to them or trying to understand them; it's also about being dependable enough to support others in need, which he develops into with his time with Beat. From that sense, OG TWEWY doesn't present Neku's flaws as a constant force he has to battle throughout the game, but flips this concept on its head and instead presents his arc as having to learn how to practice being an empathetic human being; something he shut himself from trying to do after the trauma of his best friend’s death.

Neku doesn’t really hate people like he claims that he does at the beginning. He actually loves people. And he fucking hates that because it just leads to him getting emotionally hurt. He doesn't want to get hurt more than he already has and that’s the reason he pushes people away because he's scared he'll end up caring about them and getting hurt again and it’s why he’s heartbroken after Rhyme’s erasure and when he finds out the truth about Joshua.

I think that's really interesting in itself. By the rules that the Reaper's Game is supposed to usually operate by, Neku won with flying colours in week one, but because of circumstances being what they were, Kitaniji had to cheat and keep players from getting their resurrection wish. So Shiki is whisked into reaper-jail as a new entry fee, and Neku is forced into yet another game, even though he should have qualified for another chance at life as he was. The development of his character from amnesiac misanthrope into someone who actually trusts another person is so stark that it feels like you're playing as a completely different guy... but then week 2 rolls around and Neku's partnered with Joshua, who very intentionally pushes his buttons ceaselessly and tests him further.

Rindo on the other hand, has his flaw presented as a constant force throughout the narrative, and presents his growth through it more organically. Everytime he does Replay, he’s essentially forced to take charge of his life and grows more confident and assured in his capabilities as a leader while also becoming more and more heavily reliant on his time-travel abilities to carry him throughout the journey, acting as a double-edged sword in that sense.

He also begins to grow out of his paranoia in regards to other people, having a habit of riding others' coattails and seeing them for their performance value first, personality second (Minamimoto, Beat, Neku when he was seeking him), especially if it's something he's heard about them (Neku the 'Legendary Player', Nagi having a 'bunch of pins') AKA, again, others' opinions.

He slowly gets better with his willingness to take accountability for his choices, but even in the final week, you still see that while he's made strides, he hasn't quite nailed the confidence just yet, and he even still relapses from time-to-time. Some people seem to look at this as a flaw of the game but I actually quite like this and I think it makes Rindo an interesting contrast to Neku as a protag.

His arc shows that you even if you are changing, change isn't like a switch; you don't just all of a sudden stop making mistakes tied to your flaw and it shows when he starts to delegate towards Beat and Neku’s judgement when they come by to start taking a load off of his back. He basically falls into a cycle of:

>improves

>falls into old habits

>improves

>does bullshit again

>improves

Until it culminates into Neku officially joining the team and unofficially taking Rindo’s role as the leader, telling him not to time-travel since it might cause more Dissonance only for Rindo to actually break this cycle and go against what Neku says in order to not fall for Susukichi’s trap.

It’s why his convo with Haz and his final choice is so impactful for his growth; with no outside influences, he has to make one of the hardest decisions of his life and he works his ass off towards making the second chance he got count.

Rindo isn’t the easiest protag to like as a person even in spite of how seemingly more well-adjusted he looks to be compared to Neku. He constantly fucks up, acts really passive-aggressive when confronted on his flaws, and said flaws don’t immediately jump out like Neku’s did. The last part might seem confusing but people tend to attach themselves more to a character when they let you know what they’re about upfront, which is what Neku did quite bluntly at the beginning of the game ("all the world needs is me.") And if you’re not reading into Rindo’s actions and his head, a lot of his characterization can fly over your own head.

It even plays into the themes of both games. Even when Neku got screwed over by the machinations of the game, he was at least able to make some semblance of a difference throughout each week such as taking down the respective Game Master. But with Rindo and the gang, almost every victory they earn gets taken away from them due to another factor out of their control.

"Oh, you took down Susukichi? Too bad, Shiba says fuck you, start the Game over. Oh, and Sho is gone too."

"You took down Motoi? Congrats but he was actually a victim of the same system that you’re all a part of and is basically a desperate man on the brink of despair, which Rindo is forced to acknowledge, especially after Motoi himself passes away the next day."

"Speaking of the next day, you’re starting to form a counterattack and actually fight back against the system but oops, Shiba is here yet again to say, fuck you, do it again. Oh, and Susukichi was just playing pretend the entire time."

Not even taking down Shiba himself is enough to give them a reprieve because Kubo shows up to immediately undercut that sense of relief by revealing himself as the true villain and having Rindo’s very own powers kill his friends. Ain’t that a bitch?

But I think that in itself makes Rindo an interesting protag, at least to me. He’s the epitome of an NPC who got stuck with the protag role that he wants absolutely nothing to do with in spite of the world itself telling him to get his shit together. Hanekoma even initially writes off him at first due to only having average Imagination. But, after everything he’s been through and his character development, he’s finally able to find his own footing in the world and stand tall as the leader of the Wicked Twisters, ultimately saving both his friends and the city.

The main point I’m getting at here is how both games play with each protag’s arc in a way that neatly contrast one another and show off their respective writing styles quite well. TWEWY as a duology is fascinating to dig through and I really appreciate how multi-layered the games are.

[shuunnico]

Would you change anything about Cyberpunk's story?

I'm going to assume you mean without dramatically changing the story.

Cyberpunk 2077 Spoilers

I'd do maybe three things total.

First, I'd extend the start of the game. Jackie dies about 4 hours into the game and about half of that is spent without him.

Instead of a montage, I'd have those moments be played out. It would allow you to create subtle tutorials (unlike the actual game, where you just get teleported to a training room). You'd be able to bond more with Jackie over missions, over downtime, and you'd be able to know Mama Wells and Misty more before Jackie's death.

With the game having Jackie at your hip for that long, played straight, it would make Jackie's death more surprising and less predictable. It would allow you to world build, build up a couple more characters and make V's backstory more fleshed out.

You can start out living in the Wells' bar, then get a place of your own, get your own car, get your implants, etc. By taking more jobs, it becomes more believable that Dex would seek you out, instead of (basically )starting the game with that.

Second, I'd bring Adam Smasher back at least once more. You see him during the Relic heist, you see him in a flashback, then he's the game's final boss.

The ideal might be he's a world trigger, where he's actually hunting you through Night City. Make enough noise and he might show up and the only option is to run.

But I can see how that might be frustrating. So even if it was just one more mission where he ambushes you, that'd be fine. Just something to remind the player why he's a big deal. And, of course, make him more powerful in the endgame.

Third, I'd change the intensity of the threat to your life. The implication in game is V has months, if not weeks, to live. This causes narrative dissonance whenever the player is taking actions that don't progress the story, effectively doing side jobs when V's life is directly under threat.

Initially start with the idea that V will die in a few years. Have it start out as not such a pressing matter. Have the actual problem be the loss of control and seizures, rather than the immediate threat of death.

Then, start introducing the plausibility of a cure. At that time, ramp up the threat and have V start degenerating faster, with it being months left to live. So you have the threat being bigger, but with a viable cure on the table (and a less pressing time frame) it still makes sense V is planning for the future.

Have there be periods in the game where the main mission stalls for a bit and encourages you to do side jobs for cash or influence.

Then, near the end of the game, you have the story pull the rug out from under you. The degeneration picks up faster, giving V only days to live. Now you're in the endgame.

You generally get the same story beats, but it doesn't make you quest why you're out there doing a racing subplot when V could die at any moment from the Relic.

[chenfleur]

ΒLUΣ MΩΩΠ ☾

5.5 ☾ — do it again

volleyball player!haechan x dancer!oc

summary. - in honour of the blue moon this year, the student parliament decided to hold a blue moon gala for the school. along with that, they created an activity. you pay $1.50 for either a lock or key. each lock and key have a pair with the opposite pendant (you would know if they were your partner if the key can unlock the lock). the person you pair with is your partner for the gala. mina thinks it’s fucking stupid. donghyuck, well—he’s always looking for some excitement in his life—but deep down he just wants someone who doesn’t like him for just his reputation.

taglist. - @oc-helps @philanarose @softrenjunnie @ourbeautifulaffair @luvdroids @lokideadontheinside @nycol-ie @02jwi @tyongf-sunflower99 @resceluwu @haknyeonsju @grassbutneo @prdshobi @see3milyblog @daegalfangirl @xtra-cheese @r3niun @yuthereal-mp4 @scoups-of-sugar @y3jiishot @beomslonghair @constantinopleo @miercerise @youngestdelacour @dandelionxgal @thesunsfullmoon @tw-hyuck @cupid-yuno @your-local-emo-boy @jkjkseo @lovecherrytion @hibernatinghamster @riceballsandanime @tamakofever @faefullsun @shineoko @tojisgrossworm @sehunniepot @jisnoir @polarisjisung @shxnz @rocarecs @calumsmut @rosabella1009 @sundamariis @shwizhies @neosdaisy @rllymark @grayskies5 @antiv3nus @idontwanttobeheretoday @jeongintwt @j-hooopppeeee // send an ask if you’d like to be tagged/removed from taglist! cannot tag - @haechansgfreal @sunflower-ness @juune04 @sol123recs @vapingcandy

a/n. - i hate school. like i HATE school i fucking HATE IT

𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔. | 𝒏𝑒𝒙𝒕.

𝑏𝒍𝒖𝑒 𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒎.𝒍𝑖𝒔𝒕

Control. You’ve done this a million times and more, you can do it. 

Breathe. Timing. Aim-

SWISH.

Into the net. 

Again.

An angry sigh rips through the air immediately, making the tense air even thicker than before. 

The typically prideful, confident boy’s knees buckle. He doesn’t dare look up and meet the pair of furious eyes he knew were staring straight at him.

“Donghyuck.”

The boy still doesn’t look up, instead bending over with his hands on his knees and gaze on the ground. He’s panting a little, frustration building up to a tipping point.

“That is the fourth time, Donghyuck.” 

Mark’s voice is uncharacteristically sharp, devoid of any sympathy. It bounces off the walls of the expansive gymnasium, ringing in Donghyuck’s ears. “Are you planning on losing us four points to faulty serves at qualifiers or what?”

Any words are blocked from leaving his throat; all he can do is meekly shake his head. 

“I’ve seen you serve probably thousands of times. You’re incredible, Hyuck, and yet you’re going to stop when it actually matters?” 

“No,” Donghyuck manages to grit through his teeth. 

The whirring sounds of the large fans on the ceiling aren’t enough to conceal Mark’s loud sigh. “Do it again. Properly, please.”

The blue and yellow ball is placed into Donghyuck’s view again by Jisung’s slightly shaky hands. Donghyuck takes the ball from the younger boy, giving him a slow, lazy nod when he hears him whisper a small word of encouragement. Returning to his position at the back of the court, the boy lines up once again.

He aggressively dribbles the ball against the ground, letting the object roll around in his fingers before holding it firmly in his grip. His eyes are trained on the top of the net. He’s not even worried about aiming at this point; all he wants to do is get it over the net. It’s a goal that makes him want to die when thinking about how far he’s regressed at the moment, but he can't deal with the utter humiliation of having it go into the net again.

Control. Breathe. Timing. Aim-

The doomed swishing noise is like deja vu, and Lee Donghyuck crumples to his knees.

The silence is deafening. Mark hadn’t even bothered to give him a disappointed sigh this time—all Donghyuck can do is drag his hands down his face in defeat.

Why couldn’t he just get it right? He can serve in his sleep and everyone knows that—so why did he suddenly want the ground to open up underneath him and swallow him whole?

A hand suddenly enters his field of vision, encircling his forearm and tugging him up. Donghyuck lets himself get pulled up like a limp doll, not resisting in the slightest.

“Come on. You need to refresh your mind.”

Renjun's quiet murmurs reach Donghyuck's ears, the latter wordlessly complying as he's tugged across the floor and toward the changeroom.

As soon as they pass through the threshold of the changeroom, Renjun shoves Donghyuck onto one of the benches. The brown-haired boy winces lightly before letting his eyes shut, not wanting to stare at the fluorescent lights on the ceiling.

Renjun doesn't wait for Donghyuck to relax, questioning him immediately. "Dude, what the fuck was that? Five times?"

"You didn't have to bring me all the way into the change room to yell at me, you know."

"No, Haechan, you're making everyone fucking nervous- what's going on? Tell me what's wrong."

"There's nothing wron-"

"Cut the shit, Hyuck," Renjun says with exasperation, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Is this because of Mina?"

Donghyuck's jaw clenches. His gaze flits up to look at his friend.

"Why would this be about her?"

A moment of silence passes by as the two boys do nothing but stare at each other with squinted eyes and furrowed brows. A small pit of emotion swirls at the bottom of Donghyuck's stomach at the mention of the girl's name, and Renjun can't help but let out a sigh.

"She told me about your fight."

Donghyuck's eyes narrow. "It wasn't a fight."

"Who cares what it was? You're upset about it."

"Why are you assuming that I'm upset?"

The boy opposite him shakes his head with frustration and impatience. "Hyuck, stop lying! I know you don't want it to be, but it's written all over your face that you're upset. Can't you just admit it?"

"If you want me to admit that I'm hurt, then sure. I'm hurt."

Renjun's demeanor softens, a slow puff of air leaving his lips. "Tell me more. It's clearly bothering you past the point that it can be left alone."

Throwing his arms in the air, Donghyuck casts a glance to the side. "I don't- I don't fucking know, okay. I know it's all sappy and shit to say this but I care about my friends. I really do care and holy fuck does it kind of sting when one of them straight up tells me she doesn't want to be seen with me? Because it'll cause her trouble? Like I don't know if I should just accept that and keep going. It really doesn't seem like something that should hurt, so why does it?"

The boy can't help but let out a humourless laugh at how utterly stupid he feels. All she did was tell him that she didn't want to be seen with him in school—they could still hang out, it shouldn't make any difference where the two of them were.

Or maybe it's the feeling that they could never be close, or at least close in a way that held value to it. Donghyuck's never had to wait that long or try that hard to simply be friends with someone, and maybe it wasn't just him not making the best first impression or her having a hard time trusting people.

Maybe she just doesn't care as much. Maybe he mattered less to her than he... than he thought he did, and if they were in a room full of people, she wouldn't choose him.

Donghyuck blinks slowly.

[kanene-yaaay-o-retorno]

The way that I can't stop thinking about the song Skies Forever Blue but with the eggs from qsmp...

Like, the song probably is about romance and stuff but gosh it is also about having your entire world changed because of someone, of spending your time with them knowing at every second that you're both fated to get separated, is to fight against the destiny on your own, in little ways that matter, is to enjoy and love and cry and hurt all at once and it's so beautifullll

It's just so bittersweet and magnificent and I am in a qsmp roll lately so for me it fits so well! The way that when everyone received their eggs, their sons and daughters, to take care of they weren't taking it so seriously and it was not that big of deal because, well, ya know, eggs.... but they had quests that needed to be done for them to not die and get happy and at the end when the dragon comes back there will be a huge prize for the ones that kept them safe and sound so yeah

Then they by day things get a bit more complicated than that. Day by day, they weren't simply eggs anymore, they were little companionships that followed you around and went to adventures and chatted with you and had nice ideas so suddenly you're building a reinforced room to keep them safe because they *only have two lifes* and now you realize how little that is. The room soon becomes a nice house that you both decorate together. You sing them a lullaby everytime before they go to sleep. You tell them stories. They jump and play flutes when they are happy and do their little tantrums when they're annoyed. They like to get on your nerves and leave presents and sweet words when you least expect it. You explore dungeons together. You prepare little picnics and watch the sunset everyday.

They are now your kid. They have the name you have choosen. They have a house on your heart and you mind. They are being constantly attacked by monsters that you can't defeat permanently in an island that you can't escape from. You don’t want to escape alone anymore. You have nightmares of them dying. They love you so much. There is no secrets between the two of you. You accepted that if they are spies then you would go down for them. They are family. They only have two lifes. They still jump in front of the danger to save you. You are imortal. You would do anything for them. In the end they will always be taken away.

So aaaaa! Incoherent noises! Skies forever blue!!!! Every single time I listen to that part of the song that is like "Ever since the day, we met a parcel of my mind's lost to you" I can only think about the day that Philza logged like 3am on the server to take care of Chayanne or when the players mentioned having real nightmares of their eggs getting hurt or how Forever created and built an entire system of protection so no one else would ever go thru the pain of losing their egg ever again.

Or or the part that is "Long as all the words you say are going straight to me, I'm enthralled ". I can perfectly picture Fit having flashbacks of those years he spent in that world of devastation and being brought to the reality by Ramon, his beautiful baby boy that makes his entire life worth it

I imagine Tallulah hugging and crying and showing Willbur all the letters she wrote while he was away at the part of "How you do and where you been and why you never call, say it all"

And aaaa there is so much more! Dapper and Bbh spending literal hours planning and building together and Richarlyson being a lil brat with his parents but loving them with his entire heart. Etoliess teaching Pomme how to fight and Baghera shielding her on the first day right after they met because she was in a corner scared. Vegetta and Foolish building a freaking mansion and train because Leonarda asked them for one....

And that is not even getting into how they behave w each other! Forever crying after visiting Tallulah's house, Bbh fighting in that dungeon and screaming for Richarlyson to stay back, to go home and be safe. Cellbit and Pomme always exchanging a different kind of flower when they see each other, Cellbit and Richas building a Coffe shop in homage for Bobby, Jaiden showing her secret house to Cellbit and Richas where she used to watch the sunset with Roier and Bobby. Roier and Leonarda getting into siblings fights. Foolish always teasing all the eggs everytime they see them. Felps pretending to be Richas and Richas pretending to be him. Philza protecting all the eggs that were left in his care when their parents went to explore the train. Baghera calling Bbh "bebbou" and making a room for Pomme in Cellbit's castle. Pac and Mike creating an entire room for hide and seek. Max and bbh creating more and more theories about how to escape from the island and destroy the federation. Chayanne being so protective of Tallulah. Dapper showing all his siblings how to build things they needed to complete his quests. Quackity calling Richas "mi hijo" and being sweet and spending time w him and saying "I love you more than the 1% of the parenthood I have over u". Dapper and bbh singing Happy Birthday for the eggs that have gone away. Everyone giving armor and everything else to Slime/Gegg so he wouldn’t be alone an unprotected. Baghera making an entire lullaby just for Pomme and each of them scheduling playdates w each other....

Every single time they call them MY son MI HIJA, MEU filho (idk how u say that in french :( ) like really??? That what you've all decided to do today?? To make me cry???

I just have a lot of feelings about qsmp man

[notawizardblep]

I started playing TF2 in 2021

I was bored and was looking for some free entertainment. Stumbled upon the animated videos then dubs of the comics and then there was no going back. Long story short, the bots had always been around for me. The kicking, the dead servers, stopping everything to deal with a bot, the earsplitting noises, the spammed slurs.

But when you find a functional server the gameplay is wonderful chaos. And this is probably one of the most dedicated game communities I've taken a part in. There are hundreds of fan-animated videos and a 2-hour long horror movie free on YT and that's just a slice of the whole pie.

Even if you have no attachment to TF2, this doesn't just affect this game. This isn't a TF2 problem, but a Valve problem. Valve's neglect to upkeep their multiplayer games has also resulted in CS2 having a bot/cheater problem. That game is one year old. No matter how good that leaked game they are working on could be, it will still have the same issue if Valve doesn't change its abandonment problem. They are a billion-dollar company. Even if they don't have employees who want to do this work, they have the resources to hire people who do. People in the community have spoken up about the bot issue and even created projects to try to solve the issue on their own. The bot hosters harass these people by doing a number of illegal things. Valve has been so complacent about this issue, that the bot hosters are confident enough to commit literal crimes on Valve's own games to their customers. There needs to be a change if Valve wants to be taken seriously as a video game developer.

Community servers are also not an alternative solution to this. It is incredibly difficult to find a good and populated server because of the outdated navigation system. They are unfriendly to new players. Legit today I saw a post about bots showing up on Uncletopia a couple hours ago (a very well known TF2 server(s), and the owner had made a video in support of #FixTF2 today). Valve's neglect has told these malicious people that they can get away with just about anything. (Yes, more dedicated community servers have anti-cheat, but not each server has those resources. And this shouldn't be a problem in the first place.) They will not stop at casual. It should not be the community's responsibility to keep a game playable.

I want to experience a bot free TF2. I want others to experience a bot free game. Please, spread the world about #FixTF2. Even if we do not get the results we want, more people will be aware of Valve's harmful practices and their reluctance to change. Social media, give a negative review on Steam, call your grandma. Tell people about what the problem is and how Valve enables it. They won't listen unless they know that its bad for their business. And don't stop when they give a corpo speech tweet. Not until they actually fix the problem.

Below I've attached a link to the petition like most of these posts do. All you need is an email to participate. We are at 171k while I am posting this. The plan is to send these physically to Valve. Thank you.

https://save.tf/

[cittadeinumeri]

[ consequences of entering the city, randomly selected with a die roll ]

One of your Pokèmon gets corrupted, starting to glitch. The glitch lasts from one day to a whole month, depending on a second roll/the player’s wish. the corruption hurts, feeling like needles stabbing the Pokèmon until it recovers; 1 to 5 days of corruption don’t leave permanent damage, otherwise they will have cut-like wounds. The wounds will leave permanent scars if the corruption continues for more than 20 days

An item in the intruder’s bag gets multiplied by ten. Cloned food, drinks and healing items will retain their flavor and smell, but won’t give any energy

Five to twenty eyes similar to the intruder’s appear around them. They follow them even when they leave the city, staring for up to a whole day before disappearing. They can’t be hit or touched, but are visible from everyone

The intruder feels warmer. The warmth starts pleasant, and then slowly gets more and more noticeable. Staying in town for more than two hours will cause the intruder to get a bad fever once they get out.

An empty Pokèball in the intruder’s possession is corrupted, causing the creation of a Bad Egg. The egg can’t be released, and if the Egg is put in a PC it starts multiplying until it fills a box.

An item on the intruder’s body or bag gets corrupted, starting to glitch. it doesn’t get destroyed, but loses all of it’s proprieties once the intruder leaves the city: a food will lose it’s taste and won’t give energy, a Pokèball will stop working, money will rust, etc

A random item appears in the intruder’s bag or pockets. The item is corrupted, but becomes stable a day after the intruder leaves the city

A “clone” of the intruder is born, following them as long as they stay in the city. They won’t talk or attack, passively copying every move of their “real” double with a blank expression

a random limb of the intruder gets corrupted, becoming glitchy as long as they remain in the city the corruption hurts, feeling like needles stabbing the intruder until they recover, but doesn’t leave permanent damage as long as the intruder leaves the city in one day. The wounds will leave permanent scars if the corruption continues for more than 20 days

a random Pokèmon in the intruder’s Team gets the Pokèrus

a random body part of the intruder gets corrupted, becoming glitchy. The glitch lasts from one day to a whole month, depending on a second roll/the player’s wish. 1 to 5 days of corruption don’t leave permanent damage, otherwise they will have cut-like wounds

An empty Pokèball in the intruder’s possession is corrupted, causing the creation of a Bad Clone of two of their Pokèmon, combined in a clone of the first with the stats and the type of the second. The bad clone can’t be released, but if left in a PC box it will eventually return to the city on its own.

The intruder’s  touch becomes source of corruption for a few hours after leaving the city. Everything and everyone they touch will become glitchy, giving the same effect of the usual corruption to others, even if the damage might last from just a few seconds to a day. the intruder’s hand feels as if it fell asleep, while anyone who gets touched will get small, cut-like wounds once the corruption is over, but they won’t create any permanent scar

An item in the intruder’s bag gets corrupted, cloning itself every minute. Just throwing away the original item or leaving the city will stop the cloning. Cloned food, drinks and healing items will retain their flavor and smell, but won’t give any energy

The intruder changes their look, randomly looking half or double their age. The effects end when they leave the city

The intruder’s voice gets corrupted, making them unable to speak. Any attempt at talking will make the intruder let out raspy, scratchy noises that will hurt their throat. The effect end when they leave the city, but if they tried to speak too much they might deal with a sore throat for a few days

One of the items in the intruder’s bag gets corrupted, slowly glitching out of existence. Any other small inanimate object that touches the item when they’re they’re destroyed gets corrupted as well. While the effect ends after a day, throwing away any corrupted item and making sure they don’t touch anything ends the corruption

The intruder loses randomly their smell, taste, sight or hearing. The effects end after they leave the city, but their lost sense comes back slowly in the matter of a week

A distant music starts playing. The more time the intruder spends in the city, the louder it gets. The music is heard only by them, and even when they leave the town they might hear the music in the distance from one day to a whole month, depending on a second roll/the player’s wish. the music is a glitchy, broken version of a song important for the intruder

One of the intruder’s limbs or their falls off. The effect ends when they get out of the city and it doesn’t hurt as long as they’re inside, but once they get out they immediately feel a sudden pain at the shoulder, thigh or throat

[canarycontessa]

recent changes that have brought me so much joy

1. Routine de-cluttering

One of the biggest mistakes I've made in my semi-minimalist/decluttering "journey" is thinking that I can get rid of everything that doesn't serve all at once.

Which in itself is the product of a whole other, more foundational mistake: thinking that I can know immediately what doesn't serve me and then get rid of it.

With a few exceptions, de-cluttering does not really have to be a massive, intervention-style purge. I've had a much more gentle, yet persistent time with monthly and quarterly unburdening.

Putting things in a bag, out of sight and then revisiting once I realize I never reached for those things once. Emptying out one storage container or a corner of my closet or my bedroom to the point where there's more breathing room, a little bit of absence. And then letting myself adjust to the space, to how it feels to be lightweight and maybe even free.

2. Buying a timed safe + a safety deposit box ... for my devices

Okay here me out:

KitchenSafe makes these great timed safes that you can set for minutes, hours and even days when you want to prohibit your access to something. Generally something that feeds into your bad habits: sweets, snacks, alcohol, overspending ... whatever can fit in the box, you can lock away and free up the mental space you would have ordinarily spend

If it can fit.

I have a chunky Dell laptop, very wide. The biggest timed safe I could find did not accommodate this laptop, not to mention the other things like my smart TV remote, my smartphone, my mp3 player.

This is where the safety deposit box comes in!

My laptop, my smartphone, and my remote all fit inside the deposit box. I use the keys to lock it up. Then the keys go into the smallest timed safe I could find. And now every possible distraction has been neutralized. And y'all ...

The freedom is just incredible. Not to sound overdramatic, but I'm deadass.

Before I tried it, I knew how the basic principle would work in theory: if you try to resist a temptation, you have to commit a lot of precious mental energy to that resistance; conversely, if you just remove the temptation as any kind of viable option, you don't have to deal with the decision fatigue that comes with resistance.

I knew this in theory, but it was all that and so much more in practice. With my TV, my phone and my computer all put out of reach (typically for the 8+ hours of my workday plus the hours of 9:30 pm to 6 am to give my sleep hygiene half a chance), I've begun to embrace a much more present existence. For example:

Focusing more on my workday, improving my productivity and my colleague relations.

Writing in my notebooks again, brainstorming, writing stream-of-consciousness, etc. without running the gauntlet of trying to do it on my laptop where distractions abound

Reading my e-reader and physical books again! This has been the biggest and maybe best shift. Getting to read all the stuff in my library without trying to do it on (you guessed it) my laptop. No more competing noise near me, just me and my book.

Getting back into "single-use" devices, i.e. my e-reader and my mp3 player. I've never been diagnosed with any kind of attention deficit or adhd or anything like that, but I routinely will be using 3 to 4 devices at once for no conceivable reason. Now though, even if I choose to stay plugged in, it feels really good to be on one frequency instead of like 5.

Ordering out less. My Grubhub-ordering had become a bit of a reflex, especially in the mornings. I've gotten into morning meal prep now to give myself a better prepared option. This in addition to my phone being fully out of reach has curbed my fast food and overspending by A LOT

I'm building up the nerve to attempt a true dopamine fast, over a two day weekend up to a whole week.

3. Respecting the enclosure

I'm reading this book on writing (as I often do) and one of the first major tasks in the book is to create your "writing enclosure". Whatever you need your setting to be to produce your best work, to get down to business quickly and comfortably - build it into your enclosure.

I'm in a fluid, shared living situation, so I tend to draft my laptop all over the place. Now instead, I keep my laptop set up, along with my USB keyboard, mouse, and adjustable tray - no more cramped typing! no more stiff neck from looking down! So simple, practically a no-brainer, but its been so effective.

[pluugin]

The Importance of Influencers in Boosting Ecommerce Sales During the Holiday Season

The holiday season is a crucial time for ecommerce brands, marked by increased consumer spending and heightened competition. In the midst of seasonal noise, influencer marketing stands out as a powerful strategy to expand brand reach and drive sales. With social media playing a central role in consumers’ lives, influencers have become key players in shaping purchasing decisions—especially during the festive rush. This blog explores how influencers can significantly impact ecommerce sales during the holidays and provides actionable tips for creating successful influencer partnerships.

Why Influencers Are Essential for Ecommerce Success

Influencers play a vital role in bridging the gap between brands and their audiences by creating authentic, relatable content that resonates with followers. Unlike traditional advertising, influencer endorsements feel more personal, fostering trust and reliability. During the holiday season—when consumers are actively searching for gift ideas and special offers—this influence becomes even more impactful. Influencers help in several key ways:

Increasing Brand Visibility: Influencers expand your brand’s reach, tapping into their dedicated follower base for greater exposure.

Driving Purchase Intent: Trusted influencers often inspire their followers to purchase, especially when it comes to holiday-specific gifts and products.

Enhancing Audience Engagement: Campaigns like unboxings, giveaways, and live sessions create deeper connections with followers, boosting engagement.

Building Brand Credibility: Partnering with reputable influencers adds authenticity and credibility to your brand, making it more appealing to potential customers.

Top Influencer Marketing Trends for the Holiday Season

To make the most of influencer collaborations during the holidays, it’s important to stay aligned with the latest trends:

Niche-Specific Partnerships: Collaborating with influencers whose content aligns with your brand ensures more relevant and targeted messaging. For instance, food bloggers can promote festive hampers, while tech influencers can showcase holiday deals on gadgets.

Short-Form Content Takeover: Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are perfect for quick, creative videos that highlight seasonal offers and promotions.

Live Shopping Experiences: Influencers hosting live shopping events bring an element of excitement and urgency, leading to real-time sales and conversions.

Seasonal Content: Holiday-themed posts, from gift guides to festive recipes, integrate your products into the spirit of the season and connect with consumers on a personal level.

User-Generated Content (UGC): Encouraging followers to share their own posts featuring your products helps extend your reach and boost engagement.

Tips for Successful Influencer Collaborations

To maximize the impact of your influencer campaigns during the holiday season, consider these strategies:

Select the Right Influencers: Focus on influencers whose audience aligns with your target market. Tools like Upfluence and AspireIQ can help streamline the selection process.

Set Clear Campaign Goals: Whether your objective is to increase brand awareness, drive traffic, or generate sales, make sure influencers understand your goals upfront.

Allow Creative Freedom: Authenticity is key in influencer marketing. Let influencers present your products in a way that feels natural and aligned with their personal brand.

Embrace the Holiday Spirit: Collaborate on content that ties your products to popular holiday traditions, like gift guides, seasonal recipes, or home décor inspiration.

Incentivize Engagement: Offer exclusive discount codes, giveaways, or special promotions to encourage followers to engage with your content and make a purchase.

Track Campaign Performance: Use trackable links and promo codes to measure the success of your influencer collaborations. Analytics tools like Google Analytics and social media insights can help you track engagement and conversions.

During the holiday season, influencers are indispensable for ecommerce success. Their ability to engage audiences authentically and guide purchasing decisions makes them a valuable asset for any brand looking to maximize its holiday sales. By partnering with the right influencers and leveraging key seasonal trends, brands can create compelling campaigns that resonate with consumers and stand out in the crowded holiday marketplace.

This holiday season, go beyond just selling—create memorable experiences with influencers as brand ambassadors. The result? Increased visibility, stronger customer connections, and a significant boost in ecommerce sales.

Ready to elevate your holiday campaigns with influencers? Let’s start planning today!

[michael-stevens-capstone]

Week 5

I created a storyboard of my concept for my thalassophobia theme in this prototype:

To begin with, I want this to be a virtual reality experience that uses both audio and visual design to encompass the user and frighten them. I intend to create a scenario where the one wearing the headset is forced to do nothing more than sit back and take in the experience that I bestow upon these individuals. My major goal is to provide the impression that the individual using my virtual reality experience has no power over their own destiny.

This adventure begins with you as a scuba diver aboard a boat, prepared to delve into the Bermuda Triangle's depths to unravel its mysterious history of lost ships. objected to looking into the reason for these ships. As you begin on the boat and jump to the upper left, you will see your pulse rate on the side of the mask in addition to the oxygen tank batteries for your dive gear. You will begin the journey in a vibrant, fish-filled coral reef that is alive with color. It will soon lead you to the edge of a cliff where the coral reef finishes. From there, one may reach the cliff plumb or a vortexdown into the deeper parts of the ocean.

The majority of the virtual experience takes place in the second section, where you will be in a darker region of the sea with lots of eerie noises and no sense of what is around you. I envision that there would be a lot of fish in this area, but they will soon as fast as you possibly can to indicate that there’s something bigger in the area. The majority of the experience will be to make the player feel as though they have no control over their own fate and that, in spite of your ability to hear and feel what is around you, you are unable to see anything.

I'm going to experience this. Go use design that would frighten individuals even if they were in the water, but fails to depict the source of the sounds? In order to show the player that their stress level is rising, I will also play a heartbeat in their ear. It has been reported that when you hear a heartbeat, your own heartbeat coincides with the one you are listening to, so you will immediately experience the same emotions as the player character. I do not want to depict the ocean floor; instead, you will be staring out into a vast chasm of water with the rock behind you encircling you.

I'm going to reveal the real monster that will be in the region attempting to pursue you after a great deal of anticipation. In my imagination, this creature resembles a cross between an enormous eel around the size of a blue whale and an anglerfish. You will see glimpses of his face and notice small details before he ultimately emerges and your player character experiences a destiny unlike any other.

[cloudaudiovisual]

Projectors For Sale in Australia

Whether you’re a home theater buff or just want to watch movies with friends, there are plenty of great projector deals in Australia. You can also use a projector for gaming, with some featuring fast refresh rates and low input lag settings.

Home cinema projectors have come a long way from the clunky, dim models of old. They’re now brighter, more discreet and easier to set up. Most people are curious to have branded projectors but wait for the best offer. If you are one of them, you must check out the popular projectors for sale deal now.

Before that let’s have a few ideas on some of the leading projector brands with models.

Samsung Premier Smart Laser Projector

Bring the big screen home with cutting edge triple laser technology and 4K resolution for incredible contrast and detail. This ultra-short throw projector is designed to be positioned inches away from the wall and still deliver a massive 120-inch image.

It’s easy to connect this UST projector to your home network and access a range of apps including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Apple TV. It also supports AirPlay so you can mirror your smartphone’s display on the screen.

The Premiere has several image modes to choose from, including a FilmMaker mode that disables any processing algorithms for a more realistic picture. This mode is great for movies and can complement the HDR capabilities of this device.

ViewSonic PX701HDH

This projector is a great option for home use, with its 3500 ANSI lumens and Full HD 1080p resolution. It also features a long lamp life and an IPS panel for accurate color reproduction. Its vColorTuner feature lets you create and update your own color profiles, making it easy to adjust the colors to your preferences.

It offers a wide range of connectivity options, including dual HDMI ports that can support any HDMI-enabled multimedia device. You can also connect a wireless HDMI dongle to stream media content. The AV input can also be used to connect a Blu-Ray player or gaming console. It also has a vertical lens shift for flexible placement.

RCA 480p LCD Projector

RCA offers simple, inexpensive projectors for home use. They are easy to set up and can accept a range of input devices. However, they tend to make more noise than other projectors and may not last as long as a high-end model.

They work well for watching movies and videos in the living room or backyard. They also work well for decorating cakes and cookies with stencil-like images or displaying spooky imagery at Halloween parties. Some models even include a standard Roku stick, which makes them a convenient choice for streaming content. Their LED projection lamp has a 50,000-hour estimated life, which is more than the lifetime of most other cheap projectors.

Yaber Buffalo LCD Projector

Transform your living room or bedroom into a home theater with this projector. It can display a huge image of up to 300 inches, depending on the projection distance. This device features accurate color representation and provides stunning clarity.

You can mirror movies and photos from your smartphone to the big screen wirelessly thanks to advanced 5G Wi-Fi that transmits images three times faster than 2.4G models. The U9 also comes with an illuminated keypad that makes it easier to use in the dark.

This model features a focus control that helps you fine-tune the image and +-50deg 4D keystone correction technology for standard rectangular images. This means you won't have to spend time recalibrating the picture.

Elephas Mini Projector

This portable projector features a contrast ratio of 3,500:1 for quality colors and blacks, even in insufficiently dark environments. It also boasts a HI-FI stereo speaker for immersive sound that creates a true cinema experience.

This projector is comparable in size to a smartphone and comes with a carry bag and tripod for ultimate portability. It also boasts a long battery life so you can keep watching Marvel Cinematic Universe or Arrested Development marathons without interruption.

When looking for a projector, look at its lumen rating to ensure it provides enough brightness for your needs. It’s also important to check the color accuracy and gamut coverage ratings so that your pictures look accurate and vivid.

NexiGo PJ40

The NexiGo PJ40 provides an immersive movie-viewing experience. The LCD projector has a 1920 x 1080 native resolution and 600 ANSI lumen brightness to display crystal-clear images. It also has an adjustable keystone correction feature that can correct distorted image angles.

Its impressive peak brightness and contrast performance makes this projector ideal for outdoor movies or backyard gatherings. It also comes with 20W built-in speakers for an enhanced auditory experience.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

amnesia: the bunker is neat fr, its particular Stealth Strategic approach sure feels like a winning combo of other approaches wherein like, it's Outright about The Noise You Make being what makes you more findable, but in a game where you do constantly make Some noise and can choose to use Loud Measures at various points, but will also probably be louder if you have to run, with [thee enemy] being pretty solid at Looking For You....wherein like, hiding will help, but won't always be Everything / sometimes the player has to try to sneak off or make a break for it despite the stalker being around. and of course the fact that it can use the map about the same way that you do, with some limitations, but also has its Tunnel System to move around between areas / follow you & effectively teleport in at certain places, it all feels like a great combination of traits for the Stealth Survival Mode of it all, with your basically only having this One enemy to deal with the whole time

and the fact that the game is also upfront about your having Options in how to overcome various obstacles, and to get flexible with it and make your choices in how to handle problems, including of course just general Strategic Approach options like, do you treat wounds (or risk being trackable by blood, or then indirectly, by Fucked Up Rats following your blood and being loud af about it) do you keep the lights on, do you un/lock doors, etc....i've probably played as many Puzzle Games as any other type, and it gets pretty difficult when there's One Way Forward and you either can't figure out what solution you're meant to use or just like, otherwise get stuck lol. if i hadn't already known that in a:tdd you, e.g., throw a rock up there to lower one particular bridge, whilest meanwhile my sticking points were "i need to find one more Gear in this area and just cannot locate it" and then "i'm just straightup lost in the water section & keep dying before i can figure it out" whereas The Bunker is clearer about your Objectives, and it's the more Constant Menace of an enemy that in turn requires Constant Strategy to navigate the game, so your having any access to maps (though imo i'd probably still be getting lost all thee time) works fine without making things Too Easy or whatever. plus the way you could still discover whole new Areas to add to the map as you go, hell yeah

also, of course, having Kinda Weapons also works fine when you can't kill anything with them (except some rats maybe) and there's not that many bullets and the revolver or grenades or etccc all make noise, and at least theoretically you're trading off a momentary stun on the stalker by shooting it for its coming back more Aggressively....the Tradeoff of everything works. like how you can get Overall Lighting (which keeps the monster at bay) through the generator, but oil being finite as well as the time it'll run on even a full tank....and it felt like another tradeoff that like, for the whole design of this game involving continual proximity to the monster and presumably basically guaranteed encounters with it, protagonist henri doesn't have that Fear Mode about anything lol, either seeing it, being in the dark, proximity to it, etc

meanwhile the Environment is so neat too....you can't go wrong with a premise of being trapped in a bunker, and it's this kind of bonus that [meanwhile wwi is going on right outside the whole time, you've all just been barricaded in here] as this backdrop....that there's this point you can glimpse the outside world and then three seconds into it a sniper takes a shot at you. there being one type of storage space that just had like, a lot of lights arranged across the ceiling to create a Larger Space than the hallways / smaller rooms in other areas, with still shelves & etc to make it less of an Open space....the shifts in design, too, when you get further along & it's like "meanwhile: the old roman tunnels" like bare aqueducts type at first and then more so mithraesque like, designs, these huge open inner sanctum types of Other World Type Structures / the further lore that like various human mystery types of cults or whatall were effectively other world / orb / vitae adjacent....it was fun how rebirth sure expanded on Thee Lore as is, but for me w/this one it was like, oh, yeah, definitely enough of a Pattern to feel more confident in how things work around here lol, humans having those [adjacent] types of rituals & structures buried around places, that humans can get all fucked up on vitae rituals, that they can use vitae for the prolonged lifespans, but you need some alchemical type Juice to get all really fucked up like the by now pretty firmly established lore that thee monsters you encounter ever are always thusly a result of humans on cursed juice

uhhh so yeah it feels like a really solid approach of a Gaming Experience, and plenty about its replayability, though as ever, a story in there matters....already wondering like, can you possibly rescue that one prisoner? you go "oh lord a chapel. probably a lot going on in there" but the playthrough i watched didn't really hang out overly long in there or scrounge for notes or anything lol so it's like, well, maybe also if i was better at remembering which guy is which (though the very organized Notes Section sure helped, having this sidebar of Names and their assorted notes as subsections)....probably my fave of the sequels overall for sure, rebirth's like dimension hopping feature & other world exploring & lore expansion was fun like absolutely i'm riled for this like atdd further info. machine for pigs i don't remember amazingly but it definitely was like, puzzly, and hell of a machine....i do like how each game has like, different environments, different mechanics, different stories w/different ways protagonists are kind of doomed to be stuck in this. fun variety, but yeah the bunker was the most like [Oh Neat] ride start to finish all throughout, felt Contained and Structured, kind of like a bunker lol, and i'm enjoying anytime thinking about amnesia: the dark descent like hell fucking yeah what a game

[badbxarwrld]

Bad Bxar Wrld x AI : How the Boy Who Cried Wolf relates to challenges faced by new and emerging creators in saturated markets.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a well-known fable that teaches a valuable lesson about the dangers of repeatedly making false claims. The story revolves around a young boy who is tasked with watching over a flock of sheep. To pass the time, he repeatedly cries out "wolf" even though there is no danger. When an actual wolf does appear, the villagers ignore the boy's cries for help, as they have grown tired of his false alarms.

This story is an apt metaphor for the challenges faced by new artists and marketplaces trying to emerge in a saturated market. In today's competitive world, it is easy for these newcomers to get lost in the noise, as they struggle to gain attention and credibility. They may be tempted to make exaggerated claims or resort to sensationalism in order to stand out, but this strategy can backfire.

Just like the boy in the fable, if new artists and marketplaces repeatedly make false claims, they will lose the trust of their potential customers. In a crowded market, trust is everything, and once it is lost, it is difficult to regain. The result is that these new entrants will find it harder to gain traction and establish themselves as legitimate players in their respective industries.

So, what can new artists and marketplaces do to overcome these challenges? The answer lies in building credibility through consistent and authentic messaging. Instead of resorting to sensationalism or false claims, they should focus on building a solid reputation by delivering on their promises and providing a high-quality experience for their customers.

In conclusion, the Boy Who Cried Wolf serves as a cautionary tale for those trying to emerge in a saturated market. By avoiding false claims and building credibility through consistent and authentic messaging, new artists and marketplaces can overcome the challenges and establish themselves as successful players in their respective industries.

Bad Bxar Wrld's response:

Bad Bxar Wrld's Space Cave community (to be officially released to the public in phase II beta by April 2023) has been designed to ensure that every new Creator (seller) is given a fair chance, while actively vetting their credibility. The design allows for equal opportunities by utilizing a search by seller system rather than the traditional (painfully time consuming) search by consumer, while supplying Creatives (buyers/consumers) with full-service satisfaction. No need to cry wolf here. Creators may be able earn positive income from day 1 without lofty investments that impact not only individual and small business pockets, but the environment as well, in saturated retail markets. This is possible through the Universal Green Standard initiative set forth by Bad Bxar Wrld where technology is used to truly connect creators worldwide and create personalized products without limits or waste.

Below are some AI generated artwork created via the new platform by only using a text prompt. Artwork like this, made by you or anyone worldwide, can be reconfigured to fulfill the surface of multiple products. For example, a new jacket that is personalized to your body or unique centerpiece for your living room, both that could be made from 100% recycled materials.

Bad Bxar Wrld is in the business of fashion, art, culture, and sustainability as well as providing a seamless online experience for its users. When products are purchased and made from sustainable sources, we all get rewarded in more ways than one: good deals, a personalized fit, and a better planet.

[jetremulant]

[ CLASS CARDS ]

Prospective, promotional character cards for the player classes (and enemies you'll have to face) in Soft Daisy. They are as follows (left to right):

[ THE SOLDIERBODY ]

A hybrid, salvaged military machine, cobbled together from various police and army units, held together with "Magiflesh (TM)" a special flesh matter that is Systemsphere's equivalent of duct tape or gum. There exist other, stronger, variants of the Soldierbody deeper in Systemsphere's more sensitive systems. These mindless jarhead machines exist only to enact corporate violence and terror on any that don't adhere to the corporation's heavy laws and edicts... or KAPEK's... or those that do when the big AI feels like it...

Dumb, slow, sturdy, combat effective.

[ THE PSYCHEBODY ]

A psychic meatball. A real headbreaker. Biomechanical unit of vatflesh and recycled polymers. Thin, weak, somewhat gangly in form. But the head--an enlongated mass of augmented brains and extraneous combat lobes--is the source of the real power. It sees you, it can boil your blood, blow your head up, wipe your brain like a bad harddrive, set you on fire, force confessions of your secrets among other things. An indispensable corporate asset. These meatballs are born into the Intellect Corps, the logic tribes that ensure Systempshere and its many, many systems run flawlessly, as they see fit, for the god machine. They work like a network of minds. A few rogue ones get smart and vanish into the commercial wastes. Good money for a mindfreaker. Needs 'focusing' gear to properly use for garden variety combat and is as soft as flesh comes, but it can hit hard when it wants to…

[ THE FLESHBODY ]

If the military force of the Soldierbody fails along with the sneakiness of the Stealthbody and the psychic might of the Psychebody, then you have to get freaky. This rollicking sack of mutagen-rich flesh is a company approved bioweapon unit for commando raids and executive ordered plagues. This meatboy is an all-purpose utility footsoldier, capable of infecting, mutating, multiplying and eating--whatever is needed to complete it's task. Fire is a recommended element for dealing with these, though some get smart and consume chunks of metal to make use of those stronger properties in their bodies, or consume enough Keratin to create interesting horns and nails that enable them to grow into the rumored higher level Fleshbodies…

[ THE STEALTHBODY ]

A custom, disposable stealth unit cobbled together from cheap polymers and recycled plastics and light metals. What the unit lacks in durability it makes up for in lightweight movement--prime stealth material, little noise, fast as lightning. These units, purchaseable and tradable, serve as Systemsphere's assassins. Hush-hush 'removals' and liquidations, on the go, for the busy executive. When force fails, you take them by surprise. Even better, it's cheap material and light weight allows for a nifty set of computer frying gear--cyberspace combat machine--if these things don't shoot you in the head from behind out of a grate, they'll fry your systems and make you die slowly.

[ FUN FACT: These pieces will also serve as art in the in game class selection menu! ]

[blueathens]

Song 1: Here’s To Our Broken Hearts

-Unrequited Love Series-

                               CHAPTER 12

A/N: So this chapter is different in the fact that it tells the story of what the song is talking about...and the lines in bold are the some of the ‘lyrics’ of the song I creatively created. The lyrics aren’t following one another it’s just some main lines that would have been sang - don’t know if any of that makes sense but I hope it does :)

Song: Out Of Love by Alessia Cara Quote: “...But you never said it back.”

Masterlist//Dusk Till Dawn Masterlist//Agape Masterlist

One of the three that were now in the home of the receiver of Mason’s gift slide the mixtape into the rectangular box in the side of their record player – it was something he was waiting to do for ages, but he had to wait for the other two to come down to his – and rushed back to his seat as they all just stared at the music player in front of them, waiting for it to emit noise.

And at last it did, a quiet melody of a piano filled the quiet house before a voice spoke, a quiet yet soft voice spoke before they began to sing the first number.

And the words they spoke before the song officially started was:

“I told you I loved you once...”

                2020 – Before Any Deal

The night started with friends around a table, laughing and smiling as each tells different stories in different conversations. But for Y/n she wasn’t listening one bit, she was looking at the girl next to Mason, his girlfriend Alex Smith, or for Y/n, Ben, and Dec they call her Little Miss Scarlett as they never saw here in anything but red.

I still remember Little Miss Scarlett

She was clinging onto him, digging those red nails into his bicep that flexed under the white shirt, the sleeves were rolled up and to Y/n he was looking perfect under the restaurant dim lights and the candle flickering in front of him.

I couldn’t complain though, he was right there

Y/n boyfriend, Dan, was sitting next to her and Y/n wasn’t dumb to notice the way his eyes flickered to Alex’s exposed cleavage, ogling at the way her breast were pushed up and together. Y/n didn’t care though…it wasn’t the first-time things like this happened and it won’t be the last. Y/n was used to being seen as the second choice in these things or not even a choice at times. She was used to her previous boyfriends wanting her to be like other girls, she was used to them wanting more from her, using her in ways they want, it was never her choice anymore.

And for once she wanted to be someone first choice…she wanted to be loved.

Maybe if I spoke though, I would be by your side then

Y/n watched how Mason’s lips brushed the shell of her ear, whispering something that made her laugh, showing off her perfect teeth behind those red lips of hers.

But Y/n’s eyes didn’t stay on her for long – unlike Dan’s – no her eyes were fixed on Mason. Watching how he fiddled with the third top button of his shirt – the other two were already undone and Alex defiantly loved it as she slide her hand and rubbed the top of his chest – she watched how his tongue went over his bottom lip as he listened to a conversation next to him.

Alex placed her elbows onto the table, propping her up so she could thread her fingers together so she could rest her chin onto them.

“So, Y/n,” the words were spoken so bitterly, and all Y/n could do was nod and smile as she waited for Alex to continue.

You just sat there and let her speak to me with words of venom, but you didn’t care as you watched me drown in poison.

“Its kind of sad that you’re wearing a dress,” she smiled, “jeans and a top is kind of a…male thing.” She giggled sickly. “And girls were makeup and all.”

“I’m not one for that,” Y/n told her kindly, when really the deadly words were eating her alive.

“Clearly,” Alex looked her up and down in such a dirty way that Y/n just wanted to curl into some blankets and hide forever.

Friends huh?

What a fucking lie that was

“And I heard about all those men that been chasing you up,” Alex continued, and Y/n begged the world to just swallow her up now she never had to hear all the words she has been saying to her all night, and Mason, who was listening to all of it, didn’t stop it. “Kind of a playgirl are we?”

“They were rumours.”  Y/n truthfully told her.

“Sure,” She wickedly smiled. “Probably took them to bed and all.”

“Hey,” Ben interrupted as he finally heard the conversation that’s been happening at the end of the table. “Shut the fuck up,”

“Ben.” Mason glared as he clicked his tongue to the root of his mouth, glaring at one of his best mate who raised his brows questionably back.

“Mason,” Ben blinked, “your just gonna sit there and allowing Alex to say things to Y/n?”

Mason shrugged as he brought his drink to his lips.

“What a dick.”

Y/n raised from her seat, Ben eyes following her movements and Alex smirked as she too noticed Y/n about to leave.

If I told you maybe you would have saved me

“Where you going babe,” Alex snarled. “Finding someone else to fuc-”

“Will you just fuck off already?” Ben growled and Mason rolled his eyes, but those eyes watched how Y/n left the restaurant and Mason stood quickly, leaning over the table to reach for her bag and jacket and left to follow her.

It was dark outside the restaurant and like usual England, it was raining. The rain from the heavy clouds above them were falling down upon them.

It was like one of those cliché scenes.

But I told you those words

I told you the words of love

I told ya, I told ya, I told ya, I told ya, I told ya

“Y/n!”

She didn’t stop walking.

“Y/n!”

She continued to walk through the rain.

“You forgot your coat and bag!”

Y/n stopped because she did in fact need her purse.

She turned around and Mason jogged to stand in front of the unimpressed girl.

“What got you so annoyed?” Mason smiled brightly as he held Y/n coat out for her as she took her bag out of his hands.

Y/n wanted to slap him right there and then, but her heart screamed at her not to. Her heart was too crazily in love with him that she couldn’t do anything. Her mind told her she wasn’t in love with him and that he was just a complete dickhead, but her heart told her that she was in love with Mason.

And at the moment she was listening to her heart as it spoke louder than her fuzzy mind.

The way her heart yelled to her like rough waves hitting amongst rocks with the poets shouting on the cliffsides about their true loves with their dying breaths.

“Nothing, I’m fine.” Y/n reassured him, snatching her coat out of his hands, and throwing it over her arm before crossing her arms over her chest.

Mason laughed nervously as his hand went through his wet hair.

“I know when my best friend is lyin-”

“Are we really best friends?” She snapped making Mason stepped back slightly, blinking and staring at her as if she was alien.

I told you out in the pouring rain

And you left me standing in the freezing rain

You left me crying in the pouring rain

And yet I never loved you more

“I don’t understand.” Mason awkwardly laughed. “You know your my best friend and-”

“Then why didn’t stop her?” Tears pricked the young woman’s eyes as she stared at the man before her. “You just sat their smiling and allowing her to say all of that rubbish to me!”

“Exactly it’s rubbish!”

“Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt!” Y/n hand went to her chest, knees bending slightly as her face dropped as she emphasised the pain. The pain of drowning in venomous words. The pain of feeling those word scratch her mind with those long sharp nails of theirs, dragging a long cut across her mind and her feelings, watching how she just falls through the gaps with no one to help.

Expect for Ben.

But she thought Mason would…it doesn’t matter…even though he sat there and did nothing Y/n’s heart still beat for him.

And him only.

And I guess that’s the sad moral of the story for someone who grew with such toxicity, they can never see when they deserve more.

Mason is her forever, we all know that.

But that day he wasn’t for her, he was the voice in her mind, he didn’t fight her side.

He knew she was nice and wouldn’t be rude to his girlfriend. But why didn’t Mason step up and stop Alex?

Maybe Y/n mind was right. Mason did in fact not love her and it was all unrequited.

“I don’t like seeing you with Alex either.” She told him quietly.

Y/n also didn’t like the fact of how Mason was always on her mind. If she was on the bus listening to music he would be there, with that ‘god-awful’ smile and that hair of his, he would just be in her mind, and she may say it was horrible but truly her heart fluttered at every thought of him. Her mind would go back to that one time they talked about moving to the countryside together – as friends – and Mason told her she could have as many animals as her heart desires.

“What?”

“I don’t like you with her because I love you.” Her voice broke into million shards of glass…something that Mason wasn’t going to repair. “I-I don’t really know what love is actually…but what I feel for you…I know it’s something.”

You told me out in the pouring rain

And I left you watching the freezing rain

I left you crying with the pouring rain

And yet you never loved me more

“Oh.”

That was all Mason said and Y/n knew that he didn’t love her the way she loved him.

That it was time to shield her heart up with concrete wall and never let another soul in for the man it beats for just shut it down with one singular word.

She watched how he left her standing in the pouring rain, crying.

And yet her heart continued to crave for him and him only.

But all she could do was walk back to her car and leave like nothing happened.

Like she didn’t just leave her heart in a carpark.

So here’s to our broken hearts.

                                   2023

“...But you never said it back.”

Everything went silent as the next song came along in a few seconds. It was a traditional Y/n thing to do for her songs so people can catch their emotions within those seconds before the next theme of song comes along.

“Did she just-”

“Yep.” Dec interrupted Ben as he waited for the next song to play. His eyes were fully open whilst rivers streamed out of them with the other two people.

“Mason was a-”

“Dick? Yeah.”

“She’s always loved him...” A Scottish voice announced. “But they just keep on missing one another.”

A/N: Oof- this was such a short and bad chapter...sorry

                                   𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 ◁ II ▷ 𝑁𝑒𝑥𝑡

[nyasiaaaaa]

The Little things

Pairing: Din Djarin x Fem reader

Word count: 8k

Warnings: established relationship, shooting, angst, Smut (18+), spanking, Dom/Sub, oral sex ( m and f receiving) P in V, fingering ( f receiving), spitting, use of good girl ( once), breeding kink if you squint, Fluff, helmet-less Din ( he only wears it when he’s outside), tw eating

A/N: First time writing smut and first time writing for a Pedro character. For @its--fandom--darling 1k follower celebration!!! Thank you @absurdthirst for all your help. Thank you @aripariii for looking over this.


You throw your head back in frustration as you contemplate giving up feeding the kid. You had been trying to feed him vegetables for the past week. Every time you wanted to feed him some smashed peas with a spoon, he would use the force to push it into your mouth. You lift your head as you take a deep breath, ready to try again when Din walks in and throws jerky on the table for the kid. You look at Din in disbelief before getting up to clean the mess while you let the kid eat.

“I’ll be back in a few; this shouldn’t take long,” Din announced as he stood in place, scanning the room for his blaster.

“You missing something,” you asked, hopping on one of the crates looking over at him with a mischievous smile 

“Give it,” he grumbled out, walking up to you holding his hand out

“Give what,” you questioned as you tilted your head. “Give this,” you smiled, pulling out his blaster.

Din tried to reach for it as you pulled back “nope, let’s make a deal.”

“I don’t have time for games, cyar’ika,” he replied trying to convince you to give it up.

“Then let’s not play any. I’ll give you your blaster if you quit giving the kid what he wants when I’m trying to give him a balanced diet, ok.” 

“Ok,” he agrees to take the blaster from your hand. 

“Also, you don’t have to rush back for lunch; just make sure you are here for dinner” he gave you a nod in response as he fished, packing up his things.

You pick the kid up and dust him over, carrying him over to Din so he could say bye. Din looked down at his son and ruffled his head before looking at you. He bent down, placing his cold beskar helmet against your head. He didn’t need to say anything you already knew and vise versa. Din straightened up and walked towards the ramp before typing in buttons and letting it down. 

As Din was walking away, he stopped to remind you for the millionth time, “cyar’ika, don’t leave the ship, this is one of the most dangerous plants and-“

“I know you’ve told me all this before. I won’t leave me. The kid and I are going to chill here and watch cartoons or something,” you told him, interrupting his repetitive speech.

He stood there hesitantly, debating in his head before choosing to just walk down the ramp and away. You guys never did that stop and turn around things you’ve seen in movies; there was no need to. He was always going to come back; he had promised you. 

As soon as the Din was far away enough, you closed the ramp and started getting ready to leave. Dins birthday is coming up, and you’re trying to make him a chocolate cake. In one of your late-night pillow talks, you asked Din what he remembers from his childhood before the Mandalorian, he replies that he doesn’t remember a lot. What he does remember is how every year, for his birthday, his mom would make him a chocolate cake. It was the best thing he has ever eaten in his life, well, the second-best thing he adds a few seconds later. 

Since then, you have been collecting all the ingredients you need to make the cake over the next couple of weeks. You have everything but cocoa powder, the most crucial ingredient. You’ve looked everywhere, every plant, every website you couldn’t find it anywhere else but this plant. 

You don’t want to go against what Din has asked you, especially because you said you wouldn’t. Still, you just wanted to do something special for him, for his birthday, because he deserved it. After all, he had done for you, you wanted to do something for him even if others might consider it a little thing you knew it would mean a lot to Din.

 For example a few months ago, you tried to make sure Din started enjoying his meals more and eating meals more frequently. You did this by eating together like a clan Breakfast, Lunch, and dinner. You and Din sit next to each other at the small table you had built together, the kid in his high chair. Din had to adjust to it but never complained. He even started to look forward to it, rushing back to the ship sometimes after a bounty to make it in time for lunch or dinner.  

You smiled, thinking fondly of the memories you’ve created with your clan over the past months as you started getting ready to leave. As you’re finishing up and was about to leave, you activate the droid; you have to watch the kid. This droid you had found in a past mission but never had a reason to fix it until now. You had been working on it the ship during flight and while Din was away on hunts. 

When Din had asked you about the droid, you said you were programming the IG-11 to help clean around the ship. Din had been uncertain because of its killing background but ended up letting it go. You had lied though, you had kept the Droids programming and just added few changes to it. The changes were that when you left, its mission was to protect the child and take care of all its needs. It was to kill anyone or thing that came onto the ship unless it was you, Din, or the kid. 

The little white lie was never a problem either because you only activated the droid when you and Din were out to watch the kid, and you always made sure to come back to the ship before Din to deactivate it, plus Din never questioned why he’d never seen the droid in “action.” 

You set out to the local market nearby, where you were hoping to find the last ingredient so you could make the cake. Since you started a little late today and this is one of the most dangerous plants in the galaxy, you walked a bit faster than usual. The quicker you walked, the more excited you got. You were about to be done getting all the supplies to make the cake, just in time, because Dins birthday was in a couple of weeks. As you neared the market, you prayed to Maker that the thing you’re risking your life over was going to be here. You were incredibly proud of yourself for keeping this a secret from Din without him suspecting a thing.

***********

Din had tracked his bounty to a bar nearby; as he neared the bar, he could hear the noise of people inside. As soon as he stepped foot into the bar, it went silent, some people shaking in fear, others puffing their chest out and rising onto the balls of their feet slightly. Din looked around the bar; it wasn’t a bad bar. It just wasn’t the nicest. 

The same color brown wood was throughout, green bar stools, plastic lawns chairs, mice having a party in every corner. Also, the floor was sticky; he could feel it with every step he took, he would have to use a little more effort than usual to lift his foot up, and you could hear it in every step. Din hadn’t spotted his bounty during his initial scan of the room, so he turned to the bartender to ask if he had seen the bounty. The bartender wasted no time and pointed to the backroom as he kept his head down. Din reaches the backroom and sees a smaller room same design and layout as the front with four men playing poker and three bodyguards. Dins usually not a man of words, but he doesn’t really feel like fighting today, so he tells them, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The choice is yours.”

 One guard rushes towards Din and tries to grab him, but Din is quicker; he pulls a blaster and shoots a bodyguard in the chest. He starts getting attacked by two of the bodyguards but takes them out with ease. After the last bodyguard fell to the floor, he heard footsteps pounding against the floor, then pressure is applied to his back, one of the poker players had jumped on him. Din falls backward, crushing the person underneath him; he then quickly rolls over, props himself on one knee, and pulls his blaster to shoot the guy. Din then whips his gun around to the other side of the room to find two people standing there shaking with their hands up, neither of them his bounty. Din snaps his head in the direction of the door he came in as he hears the bell ring that’s placed above the door. He pushes himself off the ground and starts chasing after the man.

*************

You had to go to three different vendors in the market, but you finally found the cocoa powder you were looking for, the lady dared to charge you three times its worth, but you didn’t care anything for Din. You had to wander deep into the market to find the cocoa, so on your way out, you were doing a slight jog. You had hoped you were making good time and would make it back in time, but you had no way of knowing for sure.

***************

Din is chasing after the guy, and he’s so close the guy knows this too. The bounty suddenly stops in the middle of a crowd; he pulls out a blaster and waves it. Sounds of shock and fear echoed threw out the public. Din steps forward to get the guy he needs alive; the man suddenly looks around frantically, pulls the closest person to him, and puts a gun to their head. It was you. The bounty had put the gun to your head. Din’s mind blanks. He has no other thoughts besides getting to you; he doesn’t care if the bounty is for him brought in cold. The bounty had touched what’s his. 

Din quickly pulls his blaster ready to fire when suddenly you pull forward, folding over as you push down on your toes; you then spring up, moving your head back to strike the man’s head. The man then stumbles backward from the sudden impact. Din is quick to act as he runs towards the man and then shoots the man in his arm, the man falls to the ground, and Din proceeds to lift the man up and place him in handcuffs. 

Din turns towards you to scan your body as he looks for any injuries. His beskar covered face then looks up towards you as he asks, “hurt,” and you proceed to shake your head no. Before you can ask if he’s hurt, he grabs your arm and pushes you in front of him, signaling to walk. You do walk as he follows, dragging the bounty behind him. 

The journey back to the ship was quiet, too quiet even the bounty tried to speak on the tensions, “struggle in paradise, eh.” 

Din pressed his finger into his wound for that one.

You’d been so distracted by the event that happened you had forgotten about the droid, but it was too late. Din had already typed in the code, and the ramp was coming down. 

This was the first time, the one time Din wasn’t the faster person in the room; by the time Din pulled his blaster out, it was too late. It all happened in a blink of an eye. The bounty was dead. The droid shot him. 

You were nervous, it’s not like you were in desperate need of the credits, but the money could have help, and you know Din just went through a lot to get him.

“The child is safe, would you li-“IG-11 started before Din shot him. You were about to complain, but then you remember the situation you were in.

You stood in silence for a couple of minutes before deciding to look at Din only to find him staring at you. You turned your head away so quick that pain in your neck started to arise. “Din I-I-I’m so so sorry this is all my fault, I’ll take the blame, ok. Just tell Greef Karga, ok. Can he be brought in dead? I mean, it’s not a big deal, y-y-you’ve done it before. Greef Karga will s-still a-a-a-accept it right …. RIGHT!”

Din didn’t utter a word as he dragged the body onto the ship; he put the body into carbon freeze and closed the ramp. Then he just stood there. He didn’t move an inch. The tension in the air was so thick, you could even breathe properly. You knew this was your time to leave him alone. Earlier, you had noticed that the kid wasn’t in IG-11s arms, so you were planning on looking for him, assuming that he had been put to sleep because this was around his nap time.

“Ok, so I see that you need alone time; I’m just going to find the kid and take care of him,” you said as you turned to go look for him.

You didn’t even get to do a complete 180 before Din grabbed onto your wrist and twisted it, pulling your body closer to him. You could hear the hard deep breaths he was taking as he stared right into your soul.

“Why,” he whispered out, hurt invoice.

 “I-I-I,” you tried to speak, your eyes moving back and forth as you tried to find his.

“Why would you be so stupid? I told you not to leave, I told you this place was dangerous. You didn’t listen, why can’t you ever just listen.” He snapped at you, saying every word with a tremble. He let you go and started to walk away from dragging his feet across the floor.

“I’m sorry,” you choked out, your eyes watering up, tears threatening to fall.

 Your words had made him stop dead in his tracks. “Are you” he questions as he walks towards you. Each step he took towards you, you took one back till your back hit the wall. You were nervous but weren’t afraid, you knew Din would never hurt you, but you still didn’t like to be around him when he got like this. 

“WHAT WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU RISKED YOUR LIFE FOR? DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND THAT YOU COULD HAVE DIED TODAY? DO YOU EVEN CARE?”

You did understand how sideways things could have gone, and you were trying to tell him that, but the words kept getting caught in your throat. So you ended up just slowly shaking your head in agreement.

“Are you sure cause you don’t seem like it? What about that FUCKING droid? You lied to me; why would you do that? You already know how I feel about them, so why would you do that. And to leave THE KID with it. I hope whatever you got was worth it. Just do what I brought you here for and watch the child,” he growled out as he walked away towards the cockpit so he could set our next coordinates. 

You stood there for a second shook but started to move to find the kid after the ship took off. He was in your old room, which you and Din turned into a toddler’s room after you moved into his. You picked the kid up and sat down in a rocking chair. You hugged the kid close to you as tears fell down your cheek. You were angry. Din had no right to talk to you like that. You messed up, you understand that, but to yell at you like he did have. Plus, you had risked your life for something for him. It doesn’t matter that he didn’t know it; he should know you better than to just assume that you would have intentionally risked your life for something stupid.

***********

 Din sat in his chair in the cockpit, feeling the weight of guilt immediately; the weight of his beskar couldn’t even compare to how heavy this felt. He felt awful; he regretted every word that came out of his mouth. He was just so angry; he had almost lost the only person he has ever cared about since his parents besides the kid. That was no excuse; he has had his fair share of screw-ups, the number of times he has almost gotten killed was too many to try to count on both hands.

 He took his helmet off and put his hands in his head. He was stressed after all the events that happened today, but he was most worried about what had just happened in the bay. He deliberated on going down there and apologizing to you but ultimately decided to give you your space and apologize later today. 

Din was going to apologize, he swore on Maker, but later that day, when he found you so he could apologize, you were sleeping in your old room. He was tempted to move you to the room you shared but then decide against it knowing you had fallen asleep in your old room for a reason. He slept in the cockpit that night; it didn’t feel right without you next to him. It’s funny Din spent most of his life alone; now he doesn’t even know how to sleep alone. 

The next day Din did honestly try to apologize to you, but every time he entered the same room as you were in, you got up and left. Din understood that you probably need space after the fourth time stepping into the same room as you and you walking out. Din decided that you probably needed one more day.

The next day came, and you still were leaving every room he came into. He was sad; he missed the family dinners and lunches, he couldn’t wait any longer, he decided to apologize to you as soon as possible.

Din stepped into the kitchen area around lunchtime; he knew you were cooking something that requires your full attention, so he knew you wouldn’t step away. 

“I’m-I’m sorry, I should have never yelled at you like that. I was angry because the bounty tried to run and then held you at gunpoint, he was touching what was mine, and I-I-I took it out on you. I should have never taken it out on you; I’m sure whatever you went out for was well worth it. I’m sorry, cyar’ika, ni kar’tayl gar darasuum.”

Din waited there for something, anything, you didn’t say a single word. You instead finished up your cooking, turned the stove off, and proceeded to fix you and the child a plate before heading off to the cockpit to eat. 

Din stood there in shock; this is not how things usually go after an argument. Din stood there for a few minutes as he contemplated what to do next. Maybe he had said it wrong, he thought; Din hadn’t apologized a lot in his life, he could count how many times on one hand, and all those times he had been with you. All those times, you had also accepted it, so Din shook his head of the thought that he had said it wrong. He decided to give you another day to think about accepting his apology.

***********

A day turned into two, then three, next things Din knew, three weeks had passed. It had been complete silence for three whole weeks. Din was dying inside. He barely ate or slept; he missed you, everything about you, even things that seemed stupid. He missed the way your hair smelled, he missed the warmth of your body as he slept next to you, he missed your smile. Din has never been before addicted to something, but he will bet this is what it feels like to go through withdrawal.

He craved you mentally and physically; he had started waking up this past week on the verge of a nut. He always had the same dream to, he would apologize and you would accept. Then he would worship your body like never before, discovering new things about you, what turns you on and how flexible you really are. Each and every time right before he would nut, right when you give him permission to cum inside, he wakes up, every time like clockwork. 

*************

It was around lunchtime, and Din sat in the kitchen debating his next move. He needed you. He missed the way you guys used to be as a clan; just him and the kid alone wasn’t the same. He looked up and saw you putting the kid in a high chair and turning to the fridge, taking stuff out to make sandwiches. He laid back, watching you move around the kitchen. You had one of his shirts on with some shorts that you couldn’t see unless you reached up to get something that made your shirt rise. 

He watched as you bent over getting something out of the fridge, his dick twitched in his pants. He had been so deprived of you that anything you did got him hard; he grunted as he started to palm himself over his pants.

You had heard Din behind you, you smiled to yourself, you knew he was dying inside, you’d heard it every morning when he was rubbing one out. You honestly had stopped being mad like a week and a half ago. You just wanted to see how long Din could stay away from you; you really wanted to see how long till you had Din Djarin on his knees. 

You finished cooking and made some food for the kid and you, but instead of going up to the cockpit like you usually do, you ate in the kitchen. You decided to stand up to eat, leaning over the counter, back facing Din. You moaned with every bite you took, doing a little happy dance.

You had unknowingly confirmed to Din that you were no longer upset and were playing. He had suspected it but wasn’t sure; you would do things like get changed with the door open or take a shower with the door open. He saw those things and thought that you were ready to talk, but when he tried, you walked away. He had assumed that you weren’t ready and wasn’t doing those things on purpose. He knew now, though, that you were playing some type of game, a game he was about to end. 

You had finished eating and looked up to find the kid sleep in his chair. You took the kid and put him in his room so he could sleep in peace. You came back to the kitchen to clean up; you felt Din’s eyes on you everywhere you went. You walked over to the crates to put some things from the kitchen up, passing Din as you went. You had felt him before you saw him, his back pressed up against you. You could feel the heat radiating off his clothed body as he pressed up against you. You leaned in for a second before realizing what you were doing. You turned around, trying to leave, but Din stood in your way. You had no other choice but to look up at him and go along with whatever he was trying to do.

“What do you want, Din,” you asked 

“I was going to say I was sorry.”

“Well, apology not accepted,” you said quickly, cutting him off before he said another word.

“See cyar’ika keyword, was, “he replied looking at you with his brown eyes

“So what do you want now, Din,” you asked as you walked backward, eventually running out of space as your back hit the wall. You swallowed the lump in your throat and asked him again what he wanted.

He didn’t reply; instead, he reached up and took a finger drawing it from your collar bone to your chest; you shivered as he stared circling your covered nipple before pinching it.

“You,” he said 

 “What”

 “You had asked me what I wanted now, and my answer is you,” he replied.

You were about to question it when he brought his finger up to your lips to quiet you before bringing his hand down and up your shirt to play with your breast. He made a low groan in his throat when he realized that you weren’t wearing your band wrap.

“At first, I was mad that you had put yourself in danger. Then I was a little sad when you started dodging me; it really hurt when you didn’t respond to my apology,” he chuckled. You could hear the smirk in his voice. He lifted up your shirt up over your head. He placed his hands back on your breast and then pinched one of your nipples, making your head fall back as you moaned out loud. 

“Then you started playing games with me, messing my head all up. To blame you for playing this game would be wrong of me,” he said as he left you boobs, and his hand traveled up to wrap around your throat. Your body leaned into his touch, your hand reaching out to wrap around his wrist that was at your throat. 

His hand squeezed your throat tighter at your silent request as he pushed you back, bringing his head down to bite along your collars before mumbling against your skin, “I realized that it’s not your fault, I should have taught you better, and I will” he said and then quickly pulled away and grabbed a chair to sit down.

“What,” you asked, eyes popping out head. You were confused, but it was too late; Din had already pulled you over his lap. He had pulled down your shorts; he was excited to see that you were wearing a thong, so he left your underwear in place.

“Din, what are you doing?” you questioned as you shifted around on his lap, trying to get a better look at him.

“If you’re going to act like a little brat, then I’m going to treat you like a little brat,” he said as he processed to take his gloves off. 

“I will give you an equal amount of slaps on each cheek, and you will count each one out, ok, and safe word is cake, ok, “He asked as he messaged each cheek.

You shook your head as consent, “I need to hear a yes cyar’ika,” he said, giving you a little tap on your right cheek.

You yelped, surprised by the slight sting that followed that slap, and wondered how on Tatooine you were going to endure more, mainly because you and Din have never done something like this before. A slap or two while he hit it from behind, was the closest thing that had ever happened.

“Yes,” you were excited, you’d never seen this side of Din; you might even start messing with Din more often. 

Din was smiling; he always loved to try new things with you. He continued to run over each cheek for a few more seconds before he raised his hand and landed the first smack on your right cheek. 

“One” You choked out as he rubbed the cheek he just slapped. 

It was hard, and it stung, but there was something about it that turned you on. 

Din lifted up his hand before smack the left cheek “two,” you tried to suppress your moan. You were kinda embraced at the fact you were getting turned on from this.

When Dins hand landed on your right cheek again for the second time, you moaned loudly as you said the number three. Din smiled at that; he was happy you were enjoying this new thing. Din continued to tear your ass up, each slap hurting more than the last. You were getting wetter with each one to the point where your wetness started to drip down your leg, your underwear no longer keeping it in as it was soaked.

You were preparing to feel a sting on your left cheek for the last slap. Instead, Din pushed you off his lap and set you onto the floor. You laid there confused as he spread your legs open and took your thong off. He got on the side of you and leaned down to kiss you. Your lips captured his in a passionate kiss. You were distracted as Din slipped his tongue into your mouth, so you didn’t see it coming. He had raised his hand and slapped your pussy. You throw your head back as you moan, tears streaming down your face from the intensity of the sudden, overwhelming rush of pleasure. 

You shot up before going back down as you raised your hip as he started to rub circles on your clit. He reached down, placing kisses along your neck up and down your neck to your collarbone and back up. He took your ear lobe and brought it into his mouth, pulling on it before letting it go.

These slow circles on your clit were killing you, “Please,” you whimpered as you reached down, placing your hand on top of him, encouraging him to go faster. 

He slapped your hand aways, stopping because of you. He rubbed his nose up and down on your ear before asking. 

“are you going to be a good girl for me?”

You shook your head up and down, unable to speak as he started playing with your clit again. You didn’t realize that this game you were playing had affected you too till now. You were so desperate; you would do anything he asked just so you could cum on him because of him.

 He took his hand away from cunt and brought it up to your lips. You looked Din in the eyes as you took two of his fingers into his mouth and sucked on them. You closed your eyes as you moaned, tasting yourself on his fingers. You weaved your tongue around his fingers before you hollow your cheeks, making a popping sound when he pulled them out.

He ran his finger down your body before shoving two fingers inside of you. You moved your hips down to meet the thrust of his hand. Your legs threaten to close as the pleasure builds, nonsense mumbling falling from your lips.

“More,” you begged 

“Faster,” you cried as he gave in to both of your demands. 

Suddenly he stopped, and your whines of complaint soon turned into a moan as he pressed his tongue against your clit. He shifted so he could wrap his hands around your thighs as he dove in. It was still the best thing he has ever tasted, he thought to himself. Your back arches as he bites softly on your clit before he sucks on it, and he pushes two fingers into you. You reached down your finger through Din’s hair, causing him to moan into you to moan as you clench around him. Din loves feeling the way your body reacts to him, the way you gripped his fingers, his tongue, his dick. 

You were close. You can feel it, and so could Din, so he quickened his pace. 

“I’m- I’m. “You tried to speak be couldn’t 

“I know,” he said, moving his thumb to circle your clit

You were so close, you could feel it in your stomach. You were about to cum when Din pulled his fingers out and started to lick them clean. 

You let a puff of air out as you lose your high. You prop yourself on your elbows as you looked at him, throwing your hands up asking why.

“I just wanted you to see how it feels to work so hard for something only to have it taken from you at the last minute.” He said, standing up but never breaking eye contact with you. You choked on your spit when you realized what he was referring to. 

You tried to stand up, but he placed a hand on your shoulder, pushing you back down into your knees. You cocked your head to the side, and he just reached down and took your hand, placing it on top of his pants.

You looked up at him licking your lips before unbuttoning his pants and pulling down his zipper; you pushed his pants down along with his boxers down. You spit into your hand before wrapping your hand around his dick as much as you could. You stroked him before sticking your tongue out and licking the tip, then running your tongue up and down his shaft. 

He grabbed you by your hair, yanking you back to look up at him. “Don’t play with me,” he said before taking his hand and wrapping it around your jaw to keep it open as he spits in it. 

He let you go, and you stroked him a few times before taking him into your mouth. You moaned around him at the taste of him; this caused Din to lose his balance for a second, making him grab onto a crate to balance himself. 

You swirled your tongue around his head before going back and forth, taking more of him in each time, you pulled back off of him, but strings of spit still connecting you to him. You purse your lips as you spit into your hand, reaching down to massage his balls before taking him back into your mouth, making sure to lick the pre-cum as you did. 

He reached behind your head to grab your hair as he thrust into your mouth, you gag on his dick, but he keeps going knowing that you will tap against his leg if it gets to be too much. Din grabbed on to your head with both hands as he continued to fuck your face; you could feel him inching down your throat with each thrust. He was about to nut; you could feel it as his balls started to tighten. He griped your hair tighter, signaling for you to look at him. “Where,” he asked, slowing down so you could choose.

He let go of your hair as you pulled back, sticking your tongue out. He smiled down out at you before taping his tip against your tongue a few times as he started to stroke his dick. He quickens his paces and grabs onto your head, pulling it tight, so he won’t miss his target. Din grunted as if he was in pain as he painted your face with white streaks. He rubs his dick smearing the last bit on your tongue. You swallowed the bit in your mouth before feeling around your face the rest and swooping it into your mouth. You licked your lips, smiling up at him when you were all done.

He bent down and swiped his thumb across your cheek, getting the little you had left behind into your mouth. You sucked on it for a second before he pulled it out. He grabbed onto your hand, helping you up as his hands cradled your face, and he pressed his lips to yours; he moaned into your mouth at the taste of him. He reaches down to grab your ass before smacking up light and kneading it as you wrap your arms around his neck.

He pulls back, breaking the kiss as he taps your side, signaling for you to jump up so he could carry you. You jump into his arms, and he takes you into the room you shared and lay you against the cot. You lay there waiting for him as he finishes getting undressed.

He got onto the cot and got between your legs; he stroked himself a few times before lining it up with you. He looked up to meet your eyes looking for consent, and you nodded your head, giving it to him. He slowly pushed into you feeling your walls stretch around him before tightening. Your head falls back as your eyes rolled into the back of your head. You grab onto the sheets, bunching them into your hands as you feel yourself being starched to your limit. You take your legs and wrap them around Din’s waist. You cross your ankles as you try to push him into you to make him go faster.  He stops suddenly, he’s not even all the way in, and he stops. You’re starting to regret trying to make him go faster, you can’t see much, but you can see him smiling. You know that smile, nothing good is about to come out of that smile. 

Din pulls all the way out before slamming back into you completely. You didn’t even make a sound because the air is knocked out of you; your back arches as you try to catch your breath. As soon as you caught your breath, he steals it as he leans down for a kiss capturing your lips roughly.

As he continuously pounds into you ruthfully, he takes one of your legs wrapped around his waist and pushes it to your chest to get a better angle to go deeper. You cry out with every thrust, your voice bouncing off the walls, echoing in the room. 

“Mine, This body, theses tits, this tight as pussy, it’s all mine,” he told you as he takes one of your nipples into his mouth. 

“It’s yours; every part of me is yours,” you agreed as you wrapped your arms around his neck, bringing him in closers. 

You were close, especially after being denied earlier; you need release. Din quicken his paces as he felt you clench tightly around him.

“I-I-I’m close,” you screamed out. 

“Cum for me, riduur,” he whispers in your ear.

The name he calls you pushes you over the edge; you clamp down on his dick as you cum. That doesn’t slow him down as he continues for a few strokes riding out you high before pulling out, flipping you onto your stomach, and pushing back into you without warning or rest. You back arch into his thrust as he makes your legs go apart, spreading you wider. He pops onto one knee, driving into you mercilessly as he reaches down to press your face into the mat. 

As he’s thrusting into you, you feel one of his fingers circle around your unstretched hole; you guys had been saving that experience, maybe for this moment. “Can I please? I’ll only put a finger in,” he begged you you nodding your head under his hand. He acknowledges the movement as he pulls out, reaching down swooping up some of your wetness before plunging back into you. He teases the hole before slowly pushing his thumb in, causing you to arch your back even more and let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. “ f-f-fuck, Din” you stutter out when he got fully in.

Din quickens his pace in you as he sets a steady pace with his thumb. This was new to you, so being stretched like this, you were close to began for more; you wanted to know how it would feel to be pushed to your limit in both holes. You decided against it as you feel Din reach under you to toy with your clit, you chocked on your spit as you tried to catch your breath, all this pleasure was becoming too much for you to handle, you couldn’t even seem to catch your breath. 

The pressure builds up in your stomach once again as you feel your peak near. You let sob into the mattress as you feel yourself clench around Din like never before as you cum. Your back arching to the point of pain, which only adds to your pleasure. You feel Din slow down; at first, you are confused about what he’s doing, but then you realized he’s watching how well you take him. He’s looking at how your pussy quivers around him with every stroke. He then speeds up for a second, loving the sound of skin slapping and the gushing sound your pussy makes as your wetness flows out of you staining your sheets. 

Din chuckles before pulling you up by your hair, pressing your back to his chest, as he starts to thrust into you. Your body naturally arching into him as he reaches up and cups your right breast, moving his other hand down as he rubs vicious circles on your clit. Your tried body slumping against him as he takes you from behind. He knows you’re tired even if the grip you have on his dick says; otherwise, he stills know. He leans down into your ear, telling you, “you have one more in you, I know do.”

You reach up to take his hand from your breast to wrap it around your throat; you gave his hand an extra squeeze encouraging him. You get that familiar feeling in your stomach as he continues to pound into you with one hand wrapped around your throat and the other one rubbing circles on your clit. You whimper as you try to tell Din you close, but your body is too tired to even conjure up the words. Din understood you though, he was close, not far behind you. He knew that the feeling of you coming around him would do him.

You throw your head back against Din’s shoulders as you felt yourself unravel on him. Din places a hand on the wall as he losing his balance the feeling of your tighten around him as you milk him dry, he continues to pump into you, riding out of yours. Din pulls out, turning you onto your back, laying you down before opening your legs and settling himself between them. He pulled back for a second because you had winced in pain, his dick had rubbed against your extremely sensitive mound; he pulled back, readjusting his self before laying back down. He played comfortably in your arms, his head in the crook of your neck as he rubbed circles in your side while you laid there with your arms wrapped him.

Din lifts his head up and leans down to capture your lips in a sloppy but passionate kiss that held a lot of emotion behind it. You pull away, and he pushes his head into the crook of your neck, and you reach up and run your fingers through his loose curly. 

“I’m sorry about everything I said, it was wrong, and I was out of line.” He said but face still in your shoulder 

“It’s ok. I should have been more careful when I went out; I didn’t even bring a blaster with me,” you replied as you continued to massage his scalp.

“What did you get from the market.”

“It’s a surprise.”

“I hate surprises. Do you not remember the droid.” He asked 

“Hey, at least we know it effective,” you said laughing, but Din wasn’t

“Too soon,” you asked, but you knew it wasn’t as you felt Din smile against your skin. You guys fell asleep just like, you holding him in your arms.

********

The next day went by so smoothly; you guys were back to the daily routine like nothing happened. Din was excited to get back to the meal sharing, he didn’t say it, but he didn’t have to. You guys had eaten breakfast together but had your lunches separate because you each had your own projects to do. Which is what you told Din, but you had actually needed the rest of the day to set up everything for his birthday dinner and make the cake.

You weren’t even sure if Din knew today was his birthday, but even if that’s true, it will make for a better surprise. 

Din was coming down soon; he just had to set new coordinates. You guys needed to come out of hyperspace to get gas before continuing on your journey to the next plant where the next bounty is at, which is two days away. 

During one of your trips to the market, you found a pretty little black dress; you were so excited to wear it for his birthday. You don’t even remember the last time you were in a dress, and you knew Din had never seen you with one, so it would be like icing on top of the cake. 

 You heard footsteps above you move, and you were quick to act as you turned around, lit the candles on the cake, and flipped the light switch. 

You heard Din slide down the step and walked towards you; your back was still turned to him, and it was dark, but something was illuminating your face; he just didn’t know what. He reached over to the wall next to him and flipped the light switch on. He turns and sees the kid in his high chair next to you.

“cyar’ika,” He asked, stepping closer to you.

 You then turn around slowly, not wanting to make the candles go out. As soon as Din sees your face, he gives you a small smile, but it drops when he sees what’s in your hand. You were nervous for a second, thinking that you had crossed a line or something. Then you saw a single tear roll down Din’s face; you had never seen the man cry. You had been with him for close to a year and never have seen this. 

You set the cake down and quickly went over to him, embracing him in a hug. He hugged you back so tightly as if he was going to lose you.

“Ni kar’tayl gar darasuum, ner Ridder,” he said, but you only recognized one of the words used.

You reached up and wiped his tears and took his hand and led him over to the cake, Din looked at you before bending down to give you a quick kiss, and he straight up, closing his eyes for a second before bending down and blowing out his candles. You clapped your hands in enjoyment and excitement and reached over to pull in your face for a quick kiss. You heard a slight noise, and you pulled back and turned to see the kid clapping also.

You laughed at that before reaching over and grabbing a knife so Din could cut his cake. Din happily took the knife from you as he cut himself a pretty big piece of cake; he took a fork and a huge bite. Din moaned as he took his first bite, slowly chewing on the chocolate fudge cake with chocolate frosting. His tongue dashes out to lick up any residue that he might have left on his lips.

“I might have to change my mind. This might be the best thing I have ever tasted,” Din said, bringing down the fork for another bite.

You faked gasped, “what does that make me second.”

“You know what? I think I need a refresher, especially with you in that little black dress,” I said, licking his lip, and he wrapped an arm around your waist.

“Later, the kid and I are hungry; it’s time to eat,” you said as you shoved him off of you. 

He wrapped his arms around you from behind and kissed you on the neck before saying, “no, seriously, this is the best thing anyone could have given me. I have a question though, is this what you went out to get” he asked, you hummed in response. 

“As much as I love my gift, and I really do, please do risk your life over something like this. All I need is you and the kid, and I’m happy, ok.” He said 

“Ok”

Cyar’ika - darling

Ridder - wife/partner

Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum - I love you.

ner Ridder - my wife/ partner