#and he also auditioned with tetris

[nyasmodei]

crimzon ruze single-handedly bringing new people into homestuck while giving old homestuckers war flashbacks whenever he brings it up is so fucking hilarious. not to mention every single clipper having to put him in 2× speed whenever he goes, “what's homestuck? I'm glad you asked.”

truly the least favourite idol of my heart <3

[starlitangels]

Audit Interview

It makes sense, to me, for a Telepath to work for the Department’s version of Internal Affairs. Until I have confirmation on what Cutie actually does for DUMP, I’m doin’ my own thing. So, say hello to my Sweetheart OC from Cutie’s perspective. I don’t think Geordi and Cutie are in Dahlia but for the sake of the story we’re gonna pretend they are I was going to try to keep Sweetheart general but with how involved Sweetheart was I decided to make things a little easier on myself. 1.8k words

—

Boo-da-ling!

I groaned, picking up my phone from the island to read the email. Geordi’s mind incessantly playing the Tetris theme finally went silent as I pulled my magic out of his head.

I swore under my breath.

“What’s wrong?” Geordi asked.

I sighed, rubbing my eyes. “My work schedule got updated. Another audit got added to my list. I have an interview with one of the Investigators today, now. One of the best Investigators on the team—and a damn powerful Stealth to boot. But... she’s garnered a rep for bending rules. I hate audting her.”

“Sorry, cutie,” Geordi said softly, pressing a kiss to the side of my head. “Breakfast?”

“Sure.”

“Why has your schedule been so crazy lately?” Geordi asked as he started to help me get breakfast sorted.

“Remember that disaster at the empowered sporting event I told you about?”

“Yeah. The Inverted.”

“Inversion. Close enough.” I nodded. “The Department put all of its employees on gag order while that was going on to not spread panic, and now I have to check in with almost every employee who was there to make sure they actually maintained that gag order. It’s just taking the Department forever to figure out who was and wasn’t actually there. It was so hectic—it’s hard to tell.”

Geordi nodded, looking like he understood, but the glaze in his blue eyes let me know he was still a bit confused. I let it slide.

I took a deep breath. “Anyway. How’s work looking for you today?”

He shrugged. “Just another day.”

“That’s good, at least.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you... mind if I... go back in?” I pointed to his forehead.

He smiled. “Go ahead. I didn’t even realize you left.”

“Well, I needed to read my email without the Tetris theme playing in the background.”

“I can’t help it!” Geordi protested.

“I know. I don’t blame you. I just had to slip out so I could read my email without distractions.”

I slid my powers back into Geordi’s head. Hi baby, I said.

I like your voice—so sweet—did I burn the bacon—

I smiled.

—

Heather Madison strode into the interview room the same way she had the last time I interviewed her—three years ago, at this point—large as life and confident. I saw her around the Department building every couple weeks, but we never spoke. She was dressed in her usual style: white button-up shirt, black suit vest, thin black tie, black slacks. But for the first time since I’d first met her, she had her hair loose, rather than coiled up into a tight bun. It was dark brown, with hints of red, and fell to her hips.

“Miss Madison,” I greeted as she sat down. “Seems every time you and I interact, it has to do with shades.”

She smirked. “Well, the first time there was only one, but I take your point.” She leaned back in her chair, folding her arms. All confidence and cockiness. “So my guess was right that this is about the Inversion?”

“Indeed. I’m here to assess whether there was a conflict of interest involved.”

“How so?”

“Your significant other was one of the shifter pack working security at the event, was he not?”

“He was.” Heather kept her chin raised, betraying no hint of worry or nerves.

“That’s where the potential conflict of interest lies,” I said.

Heather regarded me thoughtfully, brown eyes boring into me. “I wasn’t summoned to the stadium in my capacity as an Investigator,” she said. “I wasn’t on-duty. Milo called me and asked me to get to the stadium because he’d also called the mates of two of the other shifters working security who were inside the ward, and he wanted me there with them too. Both of those shifters’ mates are unempowered. We spend the solstice together while the shifter pack is out in the woods running. The three of us are friends. That’s why I was there.”

“You and Mr. Greer were lost sight of quickly, according to the notes that have been compiled from your Investigator coworkers who were present and on-duty,” I said.

“And, given I wasn’t on-duty, this whole audit was pointless. I was present as a private citizen, not an Investigator.”

“Nevertheless, my higher-ups want this audit completed,” I said. “But, I will note that you are correct.” I typed a few notes into my work laptop. “Did you have anything to do with the announcement made by the academy staff member over the loudspeaker?”

“No.”

“May I use my telepathy to verify that?”

“Be my guest,” Heather said, waving vaguely toward her head.

I pushed my powers at her mind. After a moment of resistance—probably instinctual—I was allowed in.

—another stupid audit—didn’t do anything wrong—Internal Affairs people are nice enough—barking up the wrong tree coming after me—Gosh, that sounds like Milo—happens after we’ve been together for three years—I didn’t even say one word to Lasko—Milo is still suffering after all this and I have to deal with this bullsh—Hello, Auditor.

I bounced my eyebrows in acknowledgment of her greeting, already typing that she’d thought about not saying anything to the academy staff member.

“Miss Madison, you’ve gotten quite the reputation in the Department. One of the most powerful Stealths in the country. You get good results, but it’s not gone unnoticed that you don’t mind bending the rules to get those results,” I said.

Heather shrugged. “Bending is better than breaking, wouldn’t you say?”

“‘The ends justify the means’ is a dangerous mindset in this Department, Heather,” I said.

“My means don’t break the law. And I still get the results they want.” —wonder what they think I’ve done this time— “So I’d be so bold as to say my higher-ups don’t mind so much if I don’t follow the rules to the exact letter.” —fifteen-hundred people are dead and IA wastes my time with this—nothing against IA as people—but this audit is bullsh—sorry, Auditor.

“Be that as it may,” I began, “my higher-ups are in charge of monitoring corruption in the Investigation staff. So whether or not your bosses care about you bending the rules doesn’t matter.”

Heather raised an eyebrow. “IA thinks I’m corrupt?” Her head clanged with laughter like a bell. —wow, IA must be really bored if they think I’m corrupt—I’m one of the only people keeping the Investigative team limping along—outdated—underfunded—bass ackwards—place is turning more and more into a joke—needs serious reform before people like CloseKnit can snatch power—government as we know it could crumble—hate group could take their place—and IA is pointing fingers at me—ridiculous—you want corrupt Investigators? I keep a list in my desk—that way I know never to work with them on cases—

I took a deep breath, typing notes about her thoughts into my laptop. “My bosses don’t think you’re corrupt. I’m just here talking to you to make sure you’re definitely not.” I shut my laptop. “Look, Heather, off the record—I think you’ve been doing a good job. I know the Department has a lot of... issues, and your team is doing their best. I’m here because this was my assignment. You’re one of the best Investigators on the team. And with the recent breakouts, your team has been stretched pretty thin. But this Inversion came out of nowhere—and no one knows how to respond to it.”

“Ye-up,” Heather said, popping the p. “Trust me, I’m well aware. I was there. I saw the aftermath of the ward coming down. The bodies. The injuries. My friends in my boyfriend’s pack half-dead from fighting off shades for hours.” —Milo still can’t shift—Core fried—all I can do is watch him struggle—Department has done nothing but bicker with DAMN ever since—

I scrunched my eyebrows. “Off the record, why is Mr. Greer’s Core fried?”

Heather stiffened, her posture straightening and going rigid. “Even off the record, that’s none of your business,” she said. Her magic gave a powerful shove and she pushed me out of her head. I didn’t bother fighting it—even though my telepathic magic would have been a lot stronger than her resistance as a Stealth.

I thought for a moment. “I think we’re done here. You’ve told me plenty—and you’re correct about not needing an audit as a private citizen present. You’re excused.”

She got up and moved to the door without another word.

“Oh, and Miss Madison,” I put in. She turned around, eyebrow raised. Echoes of attitude bounced off of her, brushing against my telepathy. “You did the right thing. Phasing through that last door to drop the ward.” She hadn’t thought about what she’d done in words, but I’d seen flashes of her memories.

“There’s no proof I did that,” she said.

I smirked. “Always the rule-bender.”

“Fifteen-hundred people died, auditor. Rules shouldn’t matter when even more lives were at stake.”

With that, she phased through the closed door and left.

I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my eyes again.

—

“You look like hell,” Geordi said when I shut the door to our apartment behind me.

“Long day,” I said.

“Hug?” He opened his arms. I practically fell into them. “Are you okay, cutie?”

“Magic’s kinda spent. Compared to usually, anyway. So... I’m feeling a bit burned out.”

“Well, go sit down. I’ll get started on dinner. Then when you’re feeling better you can come help.”

I kissed him. “Thanks, baby,” I said. He released me from the hug and I fell down onto the couch. Face-first. I heard Geordi chuckle lightly. He rested a hand on the back of my head and kissed my hair before I heard him shuffle off to the kitchen, sliding the last few feet on the vinyl floor in his socks.

“Do you have enough left that you wanna be in my head?” he asked.

“I have enough left but I don’t want that strain, right now,” I replied, voice muffled by the sofa cushion.

“Okay,” he remarked. “Guess I’ll just have to hum the Tetris theme, then.”

I groaned into the cushion. “Please don’t!” I protested.

Geordi laughed. I wished I could get drunk on the sound. I’d never been sure what I’d done to deserve him—but I counted my lucky stars every day that I had him in my life.

I heard him start opening cupboards. Tapping his fingers on the counter to the notes of the Tetris theme. I snorted. “I’m thinking some Spanish rice and Instant Pot chicken—what do you think?”

“Sounds delicious,” I said. “Want me to make rolls?”

“We don’t have time for you to make them from scratch. It takes three hours!” Geordi exclaimed.

“Figured I’d ask—don’t get your panties in a knot,” I retorted.

We both laughed. “Love you, cutie.”

“Love you too, baby.”

[namtanlovesfilm]

How much of a say do gmm actors have in their projects? I’m assuming smaller actors don’t really have a say. But actors like offgun, do they get to pick their projects? I know they mentioned being apart of Not Me even before tol, which made me assume the two of them pick the shoes they want to do together? But also Off said he wanted to do bl with Gun again if gmm would give them a show. So that makes me think they don’t actually have much of a say in their projects?

well as I said before, it's kind of a collection of many things: firstly directors might already have certain actors in mind for certain parts, since gmmtv basically always works with the same directors, so they get to know the actors pretty well. this is why we see directors like p'aof working with ohm & earth multiple times. then what I learned during the p'nuchie 3 hours interview that's truly my holy grail for behind the scenes on how making a gmmtv series actually work, she said that gmmtv execs recommended quite a few actors for not me, and I'm sure it's the case for all gmmtv shows. the only actor she said specifically came to audition was first, which leads us to the fact that gmmtv actors also audition to certain parts when they want to play them. so the gmmtv casting process really is a tetris of many different people coming together, but I think gmmtv execs really have the last word bc they're the ones who have to make sure all or at least almost all of their actors have at least one role a year. and of course being a big actor gets you a lot more privileges than just starting out, which is why we see the newbies in a lot of small random roles during their first couple of years there. so for offgun specifically, I think gmmtv would surely give them a show, if they fit the description & maturity expected out of it, which as we see in many gmmtv bl shows, they don't always have. but I think there's hope in them getting another bl show bc the bl genre is becoming much more mature & offgun are clearly amazing in those roles. we shall see!

xxx

[pyraffin-drgo]

All Heavy interactions in Poker Night at the Inventory.

For you to interpret however you wish.

Video Version

(They have [bootleg movies] in your country?) "I like movies, yes." (Yeah, like what? [Lists movies]?) "No. My favorite are The Dirty Dozen and the first twenty minutes of Rocky four."

(We can talk Tetris?) "Hmmph. Tetris is baby game." (Tetris Attack keeps it hood!) "Why does everybody think I love this Tetris? It is just stacking!"

"[To Strongbad] Tiny Heavy." (What is it?) "Do you get the nightmares?" (I get the jibblie nightmares. [Describes silly nightmare, shivers].) "I am talking about the visions of endless suffering. Dead doctors everywhere. Spy can not be found. (No, but that sounds like the Jibblies.) "I do not like these 'jibblies.'"

"Strong and bad. How is boxing career?" (These. Are. My. HANDS!) "I was boxer, once. In school. We have to either box or learn to herd goats." Silence, looking concerned. "I am not good with goats..." (Too much information, man.) "At first, I do not like punching other boys... But then I learn to love it." Punches his palm menacingly.

(Find any rare drops lately?) "I do not understand." (When you get a kill, you get a present?) "When I get kill, I get honor of team." Smile drops. "Sometimes... I also get nightmares. A man does not go home to his wife and children." (So, no loot?) "Oh! You mean hat! Yes, I love hats! Sometimes, I get these. They are the best."

(Hey, Heavy. You know any hot Russian spies?) "I hate spies." (But you gotta have the inside line on some deadly minxes.) "You want hot spy?" (Am I not wrestle man?) "I have friend who gets you a hot spy. (Get em on the two-way, man!) "His name is Pyro." (Tycho, to Strongbad: The spy is hot because it is on fire.) (Oh...)

"[To Tycho] What do you do with life?" (Me?) "Yes. What is possible with tiny, frail body?" (I occupy myself with simulations... of various kinds.) "What is these?" (Struggles to explain.) (Strongbad: He lives in his parent's basement.)

(So, is there a Mrs. Weapons Guy?) "No. Sasha is my only love." (Sasha kills people, I presume?) "No." (Oh?) "WE kill people."

"[To Strongbad] Maybe you and I box?" (I can't risk my beautiful face, it's the franchise.) "We spar. For fun." (I don't think so.)

"Strong and bad. You wrestle? With mask?" (No, I'm a wrestle man, not those hack wrestle-LERS.) "Not like Iron Sheik?" (No, Iron Stake is a LER.) Heavy nods. "Hmm. This is too bad."

(So how long you been with those Team Fortress fellas?) "I do not understand." (The game's been on Steam for like 3 years. I imagine there was some audition process?) "Ohhh! Yes, I understand! I kill many men VERY quickly." (Excuse me?) "I kill record number of soldiers, and I am commissioned to join RED team."

(Mr. Weapons. I am in the market for a new firearm. [Specifications].) "Hmm, for you I do not recommend minigun then. You know, there is this fast baby man that annoys me greatly with shotgun." (Oh! Oh! What are the available options? I'll spring for leather!) "Da, this is good for you. I suggest Force-A-Nature." (I'll tell them [shop owner] Heavy Weapons Guy sent me.) "It is no need. I know guy."

"I will make hat from you, little bunny." No reply from anyone. A reference for the player to the Max hat in TF2.

"You look familiar, bunny." (How closely do you follow the Manhattan Crime Blotter?) Also a reference to the hat, Tycho then takes over conversation.

(If I need someone snuffed out, what's your going rate?) "Five hundred thousand U.S. dollars." (Steep.) "Cash." (You can do it discreetly?) "Sasha... not so discreet." (That's fine.)

(How did you guys hear of the inventory?) "My engineering friend brought me one night."

(This reminds me of the time Artie Flopshark rigged an entire poker tournament to pay off his loan shark.) "I know of this. This is respectable profession in motherland." Conversation is stolen by Tycho.

(This reminds me of [story]!) "I am reminded of time Engineer kill my entire team." (Damn Heavy, that's... heavy. Sorry to hear that.) "I search entire base for him. He tries to kill me with turret and mini turret, but I crush his toys like they are made of paper." (Sounds like crappy toys.) "Then I find him. Hiding by teleporter. I take his gun away from him. He tries to hit me with wrench! Hahohoh! So I take wrench away from him. I take his wrench and shove it down his throat, all the way down to the handle." (Christ!) Heavy laughs. "Then I rip off all his fingers one by one!" He talks while laughing. "Lets see you build toys now!" He breaks out in laughter. "There's blood- everywhere! And- he's crying!" More laughter. "I think he cries out for mother, but- but-" Crumples over laughing. "The wrench is stuck in his throat! And it sounds like-" Makes choking motions and noises then laughs. "Is this not the funniest thing??" (Horrified looks) (Head shakes slowly.) (That's some bleeped up bleep, man!)

(How about you, Heavy weapons? I'm guessing you're a vodka guy?) "Peach Bellini. But bubbles can give me headache."

(Mr. Weapons, how do you like your line of work?) "It is good. There are many benefits." (Oh! Like a free pass to snuff out bad guys or a waffle bar?) "Both. And full dental."

(I wonder if this dump is haunted.) (I hope so! Roughing up who can't die is fun!) "...I do not like ghosts..." (It's okay, Mr. Weapons. I have [extensive experience]. I can handle a few ghosts.) "...You will take care of ghosts for me?" (You bet cha!) Heavy nods at him. "I like you, tiny rabbit."

[Story including a union] "I am union. RED local six fifteen." (You guys unionized?) "Eh. It was necessity for group medical."

"Tycho. This sweater, is special equipment?" (No, standard issue.) "You have no class specific head gear?" (Got a motorcycle helmet that protects from 100% of UV rays.) "This sounds beneficial."

(Why do you keep calling me 'Tiny Heavy'?) "You are Heavy. Tiny. No? You are RED team. You have killing gloves of boxing. You earn these for being great killer! You should try out for RED team." (Hmm. Guess I could join your team of ruthless killers and lame hat wearers and watch you get grenaded by 8 year olds.) "You will take many bullets before dying I think."

(Hey, Heavy. I just finished [Russian fantasy book]. Ever read it?) "No." (Oh. What's your favorite book?) "I prefer war." (Ah, War and Peace. Tasteful.) "No. Just war." (Art of War?) "Nyet." Silence. "I like 'Tsar Hunger' by Leonid Andreyev. You know this?" (...No.) "Is classic."

"You have hands like young girl." (I keep them shits moist.) "...So you are more of sneaky, stabbing type?" (In an extreme circumstance, I guess.) Heavy looks at him suspiciously. "I keep my eyes on you." (No, no no- I wasn't implying that-) Heavy looking at him angierly. (Shit.)

(Ever listen to music while you work?) "Yes! I just buy new walkman." (What gets you in the killing mood? Icelandic death metal?) "I just get Huey Lewis tape. Keeps spirits up on battle field."

"[To Tycho] You have woman?" (Not with me) "She is pretty?" (Yeah, cute, glasses, red hair.) "She has the red hair??" (No, Heavy! She is not on the other team! Don't have to kill her!) "No. But I love the red hair!" (Well, you can't have her, either.) Re-used image of Heavy looking at him angrily. (Well, maybe we can work something out.)

(Hey, Heavyman. You think you can 'take care' of the King of Town for me?) "I can assassinate king, yes. It is expensive, though." (By take care of I meant sneak in and shave off half his mustache.) "I am not best at sneaking." (Confront him in a dark alley then?) "This is better. That way blood wash away in rain."

(You have any interest in moonlighting?) "WHAT? I am not moonlighter!" (Just a little work on the side with Sam and me beating up goons!) "Oh. I can not do this." (C'mon it's fun and free!) "No, I am sure it is." (Then what's the problem?) "I have non compete." (Ah, yeah. Lawyers.)

(All these aces reminds me of [weird dream]. You have any weird dreams, Mr. Weapons?) "I sometimes dream that I am killed. There is blood everywhere. (Tycho gives him a weird look) But then I wake up and I realize this is ridiculous! Nobody can kill Heavy weapons guy! (Riiiight...)

"[To his chips] This is good Solider. This one is good Doktor. You are demolition man."

"Saaaandvich, sandvich, I love you sandvich!" (Would you like someone to order you some food?)

"Blue man." (Tycho.) "Tycho. What college do you go to? You are educated, no?" (Actually, no.) "No?" (I studied at Gygax Polyhedral if you catch my drift.) "I do not. This is good school?" (Uh. The best.) "I went to Soviet College of Mines, Farms, and Science. I have PhD in Russian literature." (Do you.. use that in your work?) "More than you think."

"Tiny Heavy, who is your favorite to kill in war?" (Those discount three-pack green helmets.) "To kill spy is glorious thing! How about you, Max? You are killing type." (My favorite enemy? Like asking me to choose between my children!) Heavy laughs. "You crack me up, little bunny!"

(Hey, Hefty Bag, you ever play video games?) "Just one." (Oh yeah?) "It is called-" (Tycho: WoW?) "Nyet. That is not popular. It is called 'Where's an Egg'." (Strongbad: I love Where's an Egg!) "Where's an Egg is as big as Tetris in homeland."

(Concerning your firearm, whay caliber we talking?) "Big." (What, we talking 300 Weatherby Mag here?) "Bigger." (50 cal, whereabouts?) "Bigger than 50 caliber. They are hand made custom tool cartridges with classified diameter." (Why's that?) "So enemy canmot use ammunition. But Sasha can chew through theirs." (Diabolical!) "I think so." Nods.

(Alright, big pretend killer man. Tell me the most awesome story you have with plenty of senseless violence!) Heavy thinks. "When I was boy, I was at camp, being trained in many ways of combat." (Assassination camp for kids! This is gonna be good!) "There was sparrow sitting on fence. Snow falls quietly around me. Without notice, another boy jumps from behind tree and kills sparrow with throwing knife. The boy runs away." (And then??) "I pick up sparrow, and hear his last breath before digging him tiny grave..." (Tycho crying) (Max silent) (That's not even a little bit funny, man.) Heavy shakes his head solemnly. "No..." Sits back. "It's not."

(So, what do you do for fun?) "Clean Sasha. Use Sasha... Clean Sasha again." (Proper maintience is crucial.) "I also collect old coins." (A fellow numismatist!) "Which I melt down to make custom bullets." (Of course.)

"I am hungry for sandvich." (Then order a sandvich, man.) "Oh, I can not have sandvich! I become unstoppable killing machine!" (Yeah, maybe order a water.) "Is best."

"You wear blue sweater." (All the time.) "What are you?" (Haven't we went over this?) "You are not Scout. Maybe very tricky blue Spy? Maybe... new class?" (I can use a keyboard to sabotage your entire team, steal your intelligence, and have your sister delivered to my doorstep in one afternoon. Yes, I'm a new class.) Heavy, shocked, "This is true??"

(Hey, Heavyman, what's your living situ-aysh?) "I live in RED barraks. Is nice. There is foos table." (How about taking a room in the house of Strong?) "There is vacancy?" (First you'll have to dump the current person in your room.) "This is enemy?" (He won't put up much of a fight.)

Hope you enjoyed, spent most of the day copying all these down. The non-Heavy lines are paraphrased for shortness. Heavy's are full, how they are in game.

[danfanciesphil]

Give Me A Try (New Chapter)

Gay Instagram Model/Bartender Phan AU Part 4

(Part One)

(Part Two)

(Part Three)

(Read on Ao3)

At 10am on Wednesday morning, Dan wakes on AmazingPhil’s sofa. A whirring noise causes him to stir, dragging him out of an unconscious bliss of ignorance to his surroundings.  As he props himself up on his elbows, Dan looks around his immediate vicinity, confused. The rush of realisation is quick to strike him, and his arms jellify; he flops back down onto the cushions with a ‘thwump’.

Eyes wide, Dan pulls the colourful, zig-zag patterned blanket over his bare chest. Last night, removing his shirt had seemed logical. Now, he’s painfully aware of the exposed chest and abdomen on show. He’s seen plenty of photos of Phil topless. The comparison between their muscle definition is laughable.

Dan rolls onto his side, scanning the floor for his shirt. He spots it at once, and lunges, pulling it towards him. As soon as he brings it to his nose, the stench of beer, vodka and sweat overwhelms him. He frowns in revulsion, wondering what to do.

Is it worse to confront Phil fucking Lester first thing in the morning while shirtless, or stinking of a hell-shift? Before Dan can decide, Phil strolls into the room, holding two mugs in his hands.

Phil is also shirtless, Dan notes, to his dismay. At least he’s wearing tracksuit bottoms. 

“You’re awake!” Phil says, smiling at him. He walks over, placing one of the mugs down onto the coffee table. Dan stares at it; it’s Hello Kitty shaped. “Sorry if the coffee machine woke you up. I can’t function in the mornings without caffeine.”

“Oh, n-no, that’s…” Dan swallows, gazing up into Phil’s eyes. He’s wearing his glasses, and his hair is a bird’s nest. There are the faint etchings of paling pink cover creases across one of his cheeks. “Fine,” Dan breathes. 

“I made you a cup,” Phil points out, gesturing to the Hello Kitty mug. “I don’t know how you like it, so I just made it the same as mine, soy milk and two sugars. I hope that’s okay.”

Dan nods, and tries a smile. He doesn’t have sugar in his coffee normally, but he’s hardly going to complain. He should drink it, he thinks, it will probably clear the exhausted fog from his mind.

Phil has moved to sit in the armchair to the right of the sofa. He sips his coffee, legs spread wide as he slumps down into it. He’s gazing intently at his phone. Dan seizes the opportunity, lunging for the Hello Kitty mug while Phil isn’t looking, so that he won’t see the flash of exposed skin peeking out from beneath the quilt.

Dan swallows down a vaguely disgusting gulp. Then another.

“Um, thank you for letting me stay here,” Dan says once he’s sat up a little, the blanket pulled up beneath his armpits. “I must’ve been really tired.”

Phil puts his phone down, smiling over the rim of his cup. “Hey, it’s no problem at all. I just hope it wasn’t too uncomfy on the sofa.”

Dan wants to laugh at that. The sofa is an enormous, deep purple, corner-style affair, with seemingly hundreds of plump, unnecessary cushions, and quite possibly the softest springs Dan has ever encountered. It’s so big that Dan, at six foot, can stretch out fully with room to spare.

He directs his smirk into Hello Kitty’s hollow head. “Not at all,” he says politely.

“So, what can I get you?” Phil asks brightly, sitting up in his chair. “Breakfast? Clean clothes? A shower?”

Dan has to admit, the lure of being clean is tempting. Not to mention the chance to sneak a peek at more of Phil’s flat.

“A shower would be amazing,” Dan says, wincing a little; he hates feeling like a burden.

“They do call me AmazingPhil for a reason.”

Dan laughs. “I thought you nicknamed yourself that because you wanted to be first in the alphabet for everything.”

The comment slips out before Dan can think it through. It’s an instinctual reflex, to reel off his AmazingPhil knowledge to anyone that will listen to him ramble on about the guy. In hindsight, Phil himself is probably not the person to ramble to.

A silence hangs in the air for a minute, during which time Dan tries to persuade any entity listening to allow the enormous sofa to swallow him up whole. Then, Phil laughs, a little awkwardly.

“Yeah, but I’m still amazing,” he says, and Dan relaxes, a little. “The shower’s down the hall, I’ll show you.”

Phil drains his coffee and jumps to his feet. He looks at Dan expectantly, and Dan realises he’s going to have to emerge, shirtless, from beneath the blanket, in order to follow him. Cringing already, Dan opts for a slow reveal, looking steadfastly away from Phil, cheeks burning. He stands, arms crossed over his chest, and waits for Phil to lead the way.

As Dan follows him through the flat, Phil chatters about something Dan can barely listen to, insecurity overwhelming him completely. He stops outside a door and pushes it open, then turns to Dan.

“Just use anything in there,” Phil tells him. “Towels, shampoo, shower gel. Maybe not the toothbrush?” Phil laughs. “But then again I’ll probably never know if you did.”

He winks, sending Dan’s stomach crashing to the floor, and then leaves Dan to it. Unsurprisingly, Phil’s shower is one of those alien spacecraft types, with a touch screen panel to operate it, different pressure settings, and a built in radio. Dan accidentally turns the radio on as he’s attempting to figure it out, and Phil’s Spotify playlist ‘Shower Time’ comes on. The first song is ‘My Heart Will Go On’. Dan laughs at this, manages to switch it off, and eventually gets the shower to a relatively normal temperature.

Phil’s shampoo is melon flavoured, and his body wash is something called ‘s’mores ‘n’ mores’. Dan’s not used to smelling so sweet, but he appreciates the pleasant, syrupy aromas as he massages the various substances into his skin and hair. As he’s scrubbing himself, his mind wanders, and the thought drifts into his brain that he’s currently standing in the same spot Phil does every morning. Every day, Phil Lester steps into this very shower cubicle, naked as Dan stands now, and rubs the same gels across his body.

Dan quickly loses concentration, and slips, yelping as he struggles not to fall on his bare ass. He manages to stay upright by clinging onto the faucet. As he regains his balance, there’s a knock on the door.

“Uh, are you okay, Dan?”

Flushing, Dan pokes his head out of the cubicle. “Y-yeah, I’m fine! Sorry, I slipped.”

There’s an unmistakable chuckle. “Okay. I thought I’d throw your clothes in the wash if you want? You can borrow something of mine in the meantime.”

Dan chews his lip, deliberating. While he really doesn’t want to go through the whole debacle of borrowing more clothes from Phil, it’s a mildly horrifying thought to step out of the shower and pull on his smelly, damp work shirt.

He resolves that this will be the very last time. “That’d be great actually, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” Phil says cheerily, and then, somehow, the bathroom door is opening.

Dan squeaks, ducking back into the cubicle. The glass is opaque with steam, but Dan can’t help feeling ridiculously exposed nonetheless. He can hear Phil walking across the tiled bathroom floor, humming away as if it’s perfectly normal.

“I’ll just grab them,” Phil is saying. Dan just presses himself against the one wall that isn’t glass, watching Phil’s blurry outline move through the room towards the sink where Dan’s clothes are. “I’ve left you a t-shirt and some jogging bottoms on the side.”

“Thanks,” Dan says meekly, heart hammering.

Just before he leaves, Phil seems to pause. “It smells really good in here.”

“Yeah,” Dan says. The thunder of the shower against the floor is deafening. “You’ve got good taste in shampoo.”

There’s another pause, and then Phil is moving closer to the glass. Dan wants to hide, to curl up away from him; Phil almost definitely can’t see any defining features of Dan’s body, but still, it’s mortifying to think that Phil Lester, the literal model, might be able to see any of his unshapely, naked form. A hand, or what looks like a hand, reaches out towards the glass.

Rivulets of water trickling over his stricken face, Dan watches as Phil’s finger trails through the condensation, drawing a smiley face.

“There’s more coffee when you’re done,” Phil says softly, and then he’s gone, closing the door behind him.

*

Dressed in Phil’s clothes, sitting on Phil’s sofa, drinking Phil’s coffee. Perhaps he never woke up, Dan can’t help but think.

“...but that’s my mum for you, she’s obsessed with RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Phil finishes. Dan’s only half-listening, distracted as he is by the way the Sunnydale High t-shirt Phil gave him clings to his damp skin.

He’s seen Phil wearing this t-shirt in various photos in the past. It’s always looked slightly too small for him, the sleeves straining around his thick arm muscles, the hem riding just a smidge too high on his abdomen. It hangs loose over Dan’s concave stomach, and his poor excuse for a chest. His arms thread like noodles through the same sleeves.

“She really tried to get you to audition?”

Phil laughs, his signature tongue-poke laugh. “Yeah, I’m not sure she really gets the concept of the show… but she loves it anyway.”

“It’s cute that she’s supportive,” Dan says. Phil laughs, nodding.

“She means well.” Phil sighs, draining the last of his coffee. “Another cup?”

Dan nods, though he knows he should refuse. Phil stands from the sofa, and for some reason Dan stands too, following Phil towards the kitchen at one end of the spacious, open plan room.  As they walk, Dan takes the opportunity to peer around at his surroundings. Phil’s flat is gorgeous, with lots of wide spaces and natural light, though it’s sparsely decorated. There are still boxes of stuff laying around, as he has only been here for a couple of months. Inside them, Dan spots a variety of colourful decorations, some of which he recognises from Phil’s old place; he used to film Instagram stories in his last flat a lot, so Dan can easily pick out the Tetris lamp Phil used to have on his mantelpiece, and the framed Studio Ghibli posters he had mounted on his bedroom walls.

As Phil pours them more coffee, Dan leans against the breakfast bar, watching him. It’s only as Phil places a second mug before him that Dan remembers something.

He steps backwards before he can stop himself, cheeks flaming. At first, Phil seems surprised, but his expression quickly melts into a smirk. He leans casually against the breakfast bar, sipping coffee with an amused expression.

“Everything ok?”

Fighting the urge to splutter and embarrass himself further, Dan just shrugs his shoulders. “Thought I recognised this spot,” he mutters.

A couple of weeks ago, Phil had posted a particularly risqué photo. Dan remembers it well, for obvious reasons, as Phil had been completely naked. He’d covered the more intimate parts of his body with artfully arranged bed sheets, but it had been a memorable image nonetheless. In the photo, Phil had been sprawled out on a breakfast bar, his chest covered with berries and other fruits, as well as an array of croissants, cornflakes, and other breakfast foods. The caption, if Dan remembers correctly, had been: ‘I’ll even make you breakfast after…’.

In the hours after receiving that notification, Dan had found himself rather… occupied.

“I promise I’ve cleaned it since,” Phil says knowingly, a glimmer in his eye. 

Dan just avoids his gaze, cheeks burning. 

“Who took the photo?” Dan reaches for his coffee with shaky fingers, careful not to touch the surface of the marble top lest he combust on the spot.

Phil is quiet for a moment, taking another sip. “Charlie.”

Dan forces himself not to grimace at the news. “Oh.”

“We often take each other’s photos if we hang out,” Phil says, shrugging. “We have to post things about three times a day, more or less. So, we hang out, and snap each other doing some random stuff. It’s just easier to have someone else do it for you, especially if they know your angles.”

Dan nods, pretending to understand. In reality, he doesn’t quite see how having Charlie there to take photos as they ‘hang out’ equates to Phil posing stark naked on a countertop covered in delicious food. Maybe he’s missing something, but to him, that seems a little different to simply ‘hanging out’.

“Y’know, I should… probably get going soon,” Dan says, feeling very awkward all of a sudden.

The image of Phil, reclining on this very surface, has suddenly become tainted somehow. He kind of wishes he’d never asked who took the photo.

Bizarrely, Phil’s face drops into one of sincere disappointment at Dan’s news. “Really? But your clothes aren’t dry yet.”

“Right,” Dan says, fidgeting. “Um…”

He’s not sure what to do. He feels he’s overstayed his welcome already, but he doesn’t want to run off in Phil’s clothes again.

“Do you have work later?”

“No,” Dan admits. “It’s my day off, actually.”

“So stay!” Phil beams. “I mean… you don’t have to,” he laughs, seeming awkward. “I don’t want to keep you prisoner. But I have Mario Kart, and DVD’s,  and nothing to do all day… we can order pizza and hang out? At least until your clothes are ready.” Phil twirls the cup in his hands. “Y’know, if you want.”

There’s a tug in Dan’s chest, and he almost groans. Life is tempting him, cruelly. He looks around himself, trying to decide. The bare walls and unpacked items suddenly seem a little sad. He wonders if, since moving down to the coast from Manchester, Phil has had the chance to make any friends.

“Sure,” Dan blurts, his heart pushing the words from his mouth before his brain can regulate them. “But uh… I will wreck you at Mario Kart. Just a warning.”

“Oh, really?” Phil smirks, leaning towards Dan across the breakfast bar. His bicep muscles flex, subtly, throwing the image of him sprawled, naked and seductive, right here, back into Dan’s exhausted brain. “Well, I guess we’ll have to see about that.”

*

Dan ends up staying all day. He stresses that he doesn’t want to impose on Phil, but if anything Phil seems keen for Dan to remain right where he is, so he does. They order Dominos, they drink copious amounts of Ribena, and Dan, as promised, destroys Phil over and over again at Mario Kart.

At six in the evening, Phil finally admits defeat. “Okay, okay, I submit! I throw my flag down at your feet, Dan. You are the King of Mario Kart.”

“Damn straight.”

“I hope not.”

Dan looks at Phil, blushing faintly. “What?”

“Wouldn’t be great to work at a gay bar if you’re weren’t gay, I imagine,” Phil explains, winking. He stands from the pile of cushions they’d placed on the floor next to his sofa, gathering the pizza boxes.

“Oh.” Dan nods to himself. “Right, yeah, I guess that’d be pretty sucky.”

Phil shoots him a dazzling smile, then takes all the boxes to the kitchen. “So how’d you get so good at Mario Kart?”

Dan opens his mouth, about to explain that it’s simply a matter of holing oneself up in one’s room and playing the game for hours at a time, without breaks, until one’s eyes are bleeding, and one’s butt has lost all feeling.

Before he can get these words out however, the buzzer sounds. Phil’s face instantly drops, and he throws a vaguely worried frown towards it.

He looks over at Dan, apologetic. “Hang on.”

Dan just smiles, sipping Ribena. He watches Phil cross the room to the door, where the buzzer is.

“Hello?” Phil says into it.

“It’s me, let me up.”

The voice is indistinct, and Dan can’t quite hear properly. Phil, on the other hand, seems to recognise it at once. He sighs, turning to glance over his shoulder briefly, at Dan.

After a moment, he presses a button, albeit reluctantly. He turns back to Dan, grimacing. “It’s Charlie,” he says. “Sorry. He has a tendency to drop by unannounced.”

“Oh,” Dan says, his heart sinking. He glances down at himself, cheeks growing warm. “Should I… change?”

Phil’s brow creases. “Why would you need to-”

There’s a knock at the door, interrupting Phil’s sentence. Phil goes to open it, and Dan tries to brace himself for yet another awkward, probably unpleasant conversation with Charlie Hickory.

“Ugh, it’s fucking pouring out there,” are Charlie’s first words as he pushes past Phil into the flat. “Seventy euros this hair wax cost me in Milan, and it’s ruined by a splash of-”

He stops short, halfway through unwinding the scarf from around his neck. His eyes are fixed on Dan, who has remained, rigid and unmoving, on the floor beside Phil’s sofa, mug in hand.

“Hi,” Dan offers.

“The fuck is he doing here?” Charlie mutters, whipping off his scarf and throwing it onto the couch.

“Charlie, for God’s sake, could you at least pretend to be nice?” Phil asks in an unusually cross voice. 

Charlie rolls his eyes. He flops down onto the sofa, lengthways, and kicks off his shoes. They land beside Dan, nearly knocking into his shoulder. 

“Fine,” Charlie says. “Dan, is it? Hi. What are you doing in Phil’s flat?” Charlie’s eyes narrow, and he sits up, squinting at Dan. “And in his fucking clothes.”

Charlie’s head whips round to face Phil, who is stood, awkwardly, in the middle of the room.

“Did you fuck him?”

“Charlie, for Christ’s sake-”

“No,” Dan says, quickly. “No, he didn’t- we didn’t-” he pauses, trying to gather himself. “I just stayed here. On the sofa. And Phil washed my work clothes. So I’m borrowing his for a bit.”

Charlie settles back down into the sofa cushions. “Figures. Any excuse to whip his top off for a randomer.”

“I was just heading off, actually,” Dan says, deciding he’s had enough. 

“You don’t have to,” Phil pipes up, meekly, though from his awkward stance, it’s clear he thinks it’s probably for the best as well. 

“No, really,” Dan insists. “I need to go home at some point, luxurious as this little one night holiday from reality has been.” 

Phil nods sadly, sending Dan a small smile. Dan stands, wobbling slightly; it’s been a while since he moved from this spot. He makes his way over to Phil, very aware that he’s being watched closely. He hands his half-empty mug back to Phil, returning the smile. 

“Thanks for all the coffee and pizza,” Dan says. “And for letting me stay on your sofa.”

“Anytime,” Phil says, making Charlie mutter something under his breath. “It was really fun. Even though you wiped the floor with me at Mario Kart.”

“Hah, yeah… well, if you ever fancy your luck at a rematch.”

“Might have to hold you to that.”

“So,” Dan says, shifting from foot to foot. Phil just stares at him, obviously not getting why Dan isn’t already moving towards the door. “Um… my clothes?”

“Oh!” Phil exclaims, practically jumping on the spot. “Sorry, I totally forgot. I’ll be right back.”

Dan wants to grab hold of him, to wrap his arms around Phil’s waist and beg him not to leave the room, to leave him alone with the man he possibly would least want to be alone with on the planet, but he doesn’t get a chance. Not that he would ever deem himself worthy of locking his arms around Phil Lester.

Slowly, Dan swivels back towards Charlie, who is regarding him with one eye open, an arm behind his head. Dan scrambles for something to say, but as usual, Charlie gets there first.

“He’s out of your league, you know.”

“Oh, um, I’m not trying to…”

“Not trying to… worm your way into his life? Parade around in front of him in his clothes and make him lust over your non-existent little ass?”

Dan shuts his mouth, already fuming.

“Look, Dan,” Charlie sighs, smirking as his eyes close. “Phil’s the kind of guy who just… can’t say no to a puppy-dog face, y’know? A heart of gold and all that. He’ll crawl down into the gutters to help someone he feels sorry for. But that’s why he needs me, to stop him from lowering himself too far into the muck.”

“How noble of you,” Dan says, voice grating. “Must be hard for you to reach into the gutter for Phil’s hand. Wouldn’t want you to mess up your seventy euro quiff.”

Charlie’s eyes narrow, and he opens his mouth to retort, but at that moment, Phil wanders back in, a pile of clothes in his hands. Fury still coursing through his veins, Dan stalks over to Phil and takes the load from him, too angry to stay here a minute longer. He grabs his shoes and jacket, his quick movements obviously startling Phil, who just watches with wide eyes.

“I’ll bring your clothes back to the bar, Phil,” Dan says through gritted teeth. “Come get them whenever. See you.” 

He yanks open Phil’s door and steps out into the hall, not bothering to put on his shoes and jacket. He slams it shut behind him, marching to the elevator. It’s not until the doors slide shut behind him, sealing him away from the scene, that Dan allows himself to breathe.

*

To: Phil From: Dan hey. im really sorry for storming out tht was so rude. i had a great time and thanks sm for having me. if u decide to talk to me ever again, i’ll be at the bar. x

Dan hits send before he can think his way out of it, then strips off Phil’s clothes, and crawls into bed. It’s only eight-thirty, but Dan has had enough of today already. There’s something about Charlie. The guy knows exactly how to piss him off.

He reaches for his charger, about to plug his phone in, when it buzzes in his hand. He takes a deep breath before looking, not sure he’s going to like the response.

To: Dan From: Phil hey dw about it!! im sorry if i did something to upset u. or if anyone else did something… xx

Dan sighs, head flopping back against the pillows. Charlie was right about one thing; Phil truly does have a heart of gold, it would seem. Just then, another text pops through.

To: Dan From: Phil i had a really great time too! i’ll totally be coming in to the bar soon :) maybe tomorrow? xx

A slice of panic swoops through Dan’s chest; he sits upright.

To: Phil From: Dan oh, maybe not tomorrow… theres an event on every fourth thursday x

To: Dan From: Phil im intrigued… what sort of event? more bingo? xx

To: Phil From: Dan it’s a charity auction x

To: Dan From: Phil what’s up for auction? xx

To: Phil From: Dan it’s a ‘servant’ auction. so people sign up, then others bid for them lol x

To: Dan From: Phil Sounds fun! I’ll be there xx

Oh, God. Dan chews his lip, trying to picture this. On one hand, Phil is probably open minded enough to enjoy this stupid charity event and all the ridiculousness that goes along with it. On the other, he’ll have to watch Dan auctioning off the scantily clad idiots that sign themselves up for it.

To: Phil From: Dan haha… ok. just prepare urself. its a lot. x

To: Dan From: Phil i have a question though. xx

To: Phil From: Dan yes? x

To: Dan From: Phil where do i sign up? ;) xx

(Part Five!) 

[sweet-soul-sister]

Song Rewind - 365 Days Music Challenge

well, it’s day 150. so i figured i could make a post which includes all links to the first 100 days. the next 100 will come as soon as i find some time. please also check out @tailalindsay who is the creator of this wonderful challenge. and this is the masterpost

have fun browsing! :]

also under the cut because the list is quite long

Day 1: A song that reminds you of your first car    - Angels by Robbie Williams

Day 2: A song that reminds you of summer    - Kite by Kate Bush

Day 3: A song you listened to as a kid, that you thought made you cool. Real Cool    - Schrei nach Liebe by Die Ärzte

Day 4: A song you like from a movie soundtrack    - The Devil and the Huntsman by Daniel Pemberton

Day 5: A song that you quote to people    - Meisenmann by Helge Schneider

Day 6: A song from an Artist you discovered from a TV show    - Rhythm inside by Loïc Nottet

Day 7: A song that wrenches your heart out from sadness    - Requiem for the Brigadier General by Akira Senju

Day 8: Your least favorite song from your favorite band    - Line & Sinker by Billy Talent

Day 9: A song that if someone said they liked it, you would like them a little bit more    - Tetris Techno Remix by DaCaV5

Day 10: A song from a band that you think should be more popular    - Portuguese Knife Fight by Cage the Elephant

Day 11: A song you indulge in shameless self pity to    - The Kingdom Soundtrack: Finale / End of the Road by Danny Elfman

Day 12: A song you play when your getting ready to get your confidence up    - Boss / Fire / Ko Ko Bop / Dramarama Remix (feat. Cherry Bomb) by Miggy Smallz

Day 13: A song that reminds you of a past love    - Morning Sun by Robbie Williams

Day 14: A song you like that’s instrumental only    - Harmonics of Life by Money Mark

Day 15: A song your parents played on road trips when you were young    - Leopard Skin Pill-Box Hat by Bob Dylan

Day 16: A song you have seen performed live    - Randale by Kraftklub

Day 17: A song you remember dancing in public to    - Barada by Russkaja

Day 18: A song you would consider part of the “soundtrack” of your life    - Nanana (Nanana nanana) by My Chemical Romance

Day 19: A song that you love from a band that has since broken up    - Crazy by 4minute

Day 20: A song you know most or part of the choreography to    - Blood, Sweat & Tears by BTS

Day 21: A song from a band or artist (member(s) alive) would love to see perform in person    - Augenbling by Seeed

Day 22: A song from a band or artists (member(s) decease )you would have loved to have seen    - Concert for Bangladesh by Leon Russell

Day 23: Song from a band or artist that you have met in person    - Down Down Down by ITCHY

Day 24: The last new song that you heard that you really liked    - Fake Love by BTS

Day 25: Worst song you have ever seen performed live    - Wonderwall by Oasis

Day 26: One of the top songs that was released the year you were born    - ... Baby one more time by Britney Spears

Day 27: A song you like to blast on your car stereo when it comes on    - Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

Day 28: A song you change the words to when you sing it    - I need you / 500k Mashup by myself (not actually existing song)

Day 29: A song that describes a friendship    - You’re my best friend by Queen

Day 30: A song from a band/artist that you are planning to see in the next 6 months    - Outro: Tear by BTS

Day 31: Your class song (or what you want your class song to be)    - He’s a Pirate by Klaus Badelt

Day 32: A song that plays to your inner hopeless-romantic    - A Lovely Night by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling

Day 33: A song that you can’t even think of without it getting stuck in your head    - Bedroom Warfare by ONE OK ROCK

Day 34: A song that you try to get stuck in your head to replace the one that’s currently stuck there    - Zero for Conduct by BASTARZ

Day 35: Your favorite cover song    - Somebody to love by Queen and George Michael

Day 36: Your least favorite cover song    - Wonderwall by The Mike Flower Pops

Day 37: An essential karaoke song    - Dancing Queen by ABBA

Day 38: A song that you sing really well    - Perfekt by Die Ärzte

Day 39: A song that you wish you could sing really well    - Bermuda Triangle by Zico feat. Crush and Dean

Day 40: Your favorite song from the 50’s    - Blue Suede Shoes by Elvis Presley

Day 41: Your favorite song from the 60’s    - House of the Rising Sun by The Animals

Day 42: Your favorite song from the 70’s    - Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

Day 43: Your favorite song from the 80’s    - Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi

Day 44: Your favorite song from the 90’s    - Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) by Backstreet Boys

Day 45: Your favorite song from the 00’s    - Stan by Eminem

Day 46: Your favorite song of this year    - Morgen by Fynn Kliemann

Day 47: The oldest song you own    - Smyphony No. 7 by Ludwig van Beethoven

Day 48: A song that you wish you could’ve written    - What it’s like by Everlast

Day 49: Your favorite TV show theme song    - Daredevil - Main Title by John Paesano

Day 50: A song that you’ve listened to for years & have just recently begun to appreciate    - Love me do by The Beatles

Day 51: A song that you realized you’ve been mishearing the lyrics for years    - T.N.T. by AC/DC

Day 52: A song that you’ve been listening to for years & you still don’t know what the heck they’re saying    - Gimme tha Power by Molotov

Day 53: The song that you’re most proud of knowing all the words to    - Tetris Techno Remix by DaCaV5

Day 54: The song that got you hooked on your favorite band/artist    - 3xxxv5 by ONE OK ROCK

Day 55: A song you’ve listened to so many times that you just can’t listen to it anymore    - Monsta by Culcha Candela

Day 56: A song that is insanely simple/repetitive, but that you consider awesome anyway    - Unbreakable by H3ctic

Day 57: Your favorite song from your favorite genre    - Song Rewind

Day 58: Your therapist in a song    - Calm after the Storm by The Common Linnets

Day 59: A song whose lyrics you take advice from    - Think by Aretha Franklin

Day 60: Your favorite movie-moment song    - Epilogue by Justin Hurwitz

Day 61: A song that you like to sing in the shower    - Penny Lane by The Beatles

Day 62: Your favorite song by a singer turned actor    - Lose Yourself by Eminem

Day 63: Your favorite duet    - Owls by Cocoon

Day 64: Your favorite song featured in a musical    - Audition (The fools who dream) by Emma Stone

Day 65: Your favorite song by a actor turned singer    - Baby by Astro

Day 66: A song you like to clean the house to    - Mansae by Seventeen

Day 67: Your least favorite song by a singer turned actor    - The Kill by Thirty Seconds To Mars

Day 68: A song you have requested to be played on the radio    - Nanana (Nanana nanana) by My Chemical Romance

Day 69: Your least favorite song by an actor turned singer    - I feel everything by Cara Delevigne

Day 70: A song that you wish someone would cover    - Ddu-du ddu-du by Blackpink

Day 71: A song that gives you a headache    - Rom by Dschingis Khan

Day 72: A song that you love that you first heard on a mixed CD made for you    - Quark by Die Ärzte

Day 73: A song someone has said reminds them of you    - A Hard Day’s Night by The Beatles

Day 74: A song from a band that you wish you could hang out with    - Shall we dance by Block B

Day 75: The song that you most recently downloaded    - Bling Bling by iKON

Day 76: Your favorite song beginning with the letter A    - Really good songs beginning with the letter A

Day 77: Part A - someone you wish would sing a duet with Part B    - Zico

Day 78: Part B - someone you wish would sing a duet with Part A    - Alligatoah

Day 79: A song that makes you think of the color blue    - Blue Side by J-Hope

Day 80: Your favorite band beginning with the letter A    - Really good bands / artists beginning with the letter A

Day 81: A song you like with Monday in the title    - I don’t like Mondays by Bon Jovi and Bob Geldof

Day 82: A song you would dedicate to the boy/girl you have a crush on    - What is Love? by Twice

Day 83: A song you would/have dance(d) with a parent to, at your wedding    - Very Nice by Seventeen

Day 84: A song that you like that’s in a language you don’t know    - Shoot Me by DAY6

Day 85: A song that you always put on a new mixed CD you make for everyone    - Owls by Cocoon

Day 86: A song that you like by a band you suspect is going to break up    - Nalina by Block B

Day 87: A song you play when someone breaks up with you    - Nanana (Nanana nanana) by My Chemical Romance

Day 88: A song that you like that’s from a different culture    - Il n’y a pas d’amour heureux by Youssou N’Dour

Day 89: A song that you love to work-out to    - Limitless / Monster / I Need U / Hero / Hate Remix by Miggy Smallz

Day 90: A song that describes your work angst    - Sklave by Kraftklub

Day 91: A song you like to sing to babies    - Der Mond ist aufgegangen by Johann Abraham Peter Schulz

Day 92: A song you play when you can’t sleep    - Far Away by H3ctic

Day 93: A song you play when you break someone’s heart    - Hypocritical Kiss by Jack White

Day 94: Your favorite song that features the use of a harmonica    - Harmonics of Life by Money Mark

Day 95: Your favorite song that starts with the letter “B”    - Really good songs beginning with the letter B

Day 96: A song that makes you think about stars and the universe    - Black Tears by Tyler Bates

Day 97: Your favorite classical song    - Symphony No. 7 (Allegretto) by Ludwig van Beethoven

Day 98: Your favorite song that you remember from a kid’s show    - Opening Theme from “Die Sendung mit der Maus” by Hans Posegga

Day 99: A song that you like in part, because the title is so good    - Waldspaziergang mit Folgen by Die Ärzte

Day 100: A song from the last CD mix you made someone    - While my guitar gently weeps by George Harrison and Eric Clapton

well, you made it. i’m proud of you :) and also thanks for reading through this list. it means a lot to me. if you noticed any errors or false links, feel free to message me :]

[actionfigurebullshit]

I Spent All Day Working On This - New Collaborations and Documentation

Hours of a Saturday spent trying to adhere to a nebulous and completely imagined aesthetic, for a scene for a video which probably won’t be on screen for more than two seconds... and it’s still not quite right! Maybe it was this illustration which made me decide I needed to blog about this new project of mine.

I spoke to an old acquaintance of mine about Jane’s death a couple weeks ago. I stated that I wasn’t sure I’d be making videos anymore in light of the fact so much of what I’ve done over the past several years, as far as video making goes, was supporting Jane’s projects, which unlike my own, were actually produced and finished.

This acquaintance has known about my film making interest since I was a teenager- maybe he didn’t like the idea of me giving it up, or maybe he simply saw an opportunity for his creative outlet and my own to cross paths. He has a band, and wanted me to select one of their songs to use in a music video. Ultimately, he chose this one for me, and I was unsure about it at first because the idea I dreamed up would have been outside of my scope of illustration and animation skills- think of the gruesomeness of Garbage Pail Kids, but animated, organs pulsating, twitching, spurting. Eventually, I started thinking about 8 bit viscera- NES games like Lifeforce where so many levels feature “organic” themes to it

What I ended up envisioning was the suggestion of a NES style video game, which explains the wildly inexplicable events that take place in the video. Imagine a Dr. Mario style playing field, except the “jar” is a stomach, and the “pills” are candy, now throw in some Arkanoid style brick breaking, side scrolling space shooting, and worlds that look like something from Sim City, Final Fantasy IV, and the Game Over screens from Tetris, depending on your height off the ground, and you get... this.

I want to treat this new collaboration like an audition, so I want to aim high, work hard, and stay positive. That being said, it can be very daunting. Like Action Figure Bullshit, I can’t help but think to myself “I can’t do this!” and “What the hell am I doing!? I’m heading straight for disaster!”. Those thoughts are distracting, but it’s nice to have somewhere to vent. In the AFB notebook, many pages had some variant of “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing!” written in the margins. Since I want to extend that positivity to my new notebook devoted to this project, I’ll have to dump the negativity somewhere else... why not here?

It seems strange for me to start writing about making a music video when this is supposed to be a blog for my action figure bullshit... project..., but there’s actually quite a bit of overlap, if not in content, then in execution. Like I said, I have a notebook for this project. By coincidence, it has a black cover, too. To be cute, I could say it’s black like VHS tape... I might go with that, too, especially since I have an unofficial, sort of subconscious color coding system with these ordinary 70 sheet spiral notebooks. Colors such as Green, Purple, and Blue are reserved for other productions, for instance... and if only I could find a School Bus Yellow-Orange notebook again...

So, it’s the same thing as with AFB. I have scenes in my head that go along with the imagery. Even if I feel like “it’s too much” to animate or similarly outside of my range of abilities and resources, I still write it out and draw it out. I find that video production- at least from my perspective of someone who does it as a hobby and uses old and/or shitty programs to do it, the journey through the project is likely more significant than the finished result, meaning that a big reason I feel like I can’t do something is because I can’t see the end point, but I can’t see the end point because it hasn’t been defined yet. How many times does an idea morph along the way, with each new day, each new page, each new second of video? I can’t see the end result because all the in between steps haven’t been put in place yet.

Or to put it another way, I try to replace “I can’t do this.” with “I can’t do this yet.”, which satisfies that need inside of me to be negative and put myself down, but also puts in a qualifier that makes this doubt both okay and filed away so I can continue to forge ahead. So far, I’ve head to hit any significant block. If there’s a challenge to an idea or scene, a solution is never too far away.

Did you see that word, CHALLENGE? It’s another one of those things you might read in a self help book- struggles should be seen as challenges to overcome, puzzles to solve, not obstacles to avoid, sign posts telling you to turn back.

So here’s what’s going on:

I have a song, which I’ll call “Track #4″. It’s about 150 seconds long (and I say this instead of 2 minutes, 30 seconds for a reason), with maybe an additional 30 seconds of footage to bookend the music. Those bookends are well defined and could be filmed today (they’re the only live action bits in the video so far). As for the main part with the music, over a third of that, 56 seconds, has virtually every single second illustrated and described in a loose storyboard kind of format. The rest is in my head, but still needs to be documented. I’m a big believer in the “write it out” idea- these notebooks have helped me take that to an admittedly eccentric level, but I have success with it, and fun, too! Isn’t that weird? That there would be, not only fun, but a feeling like the notebook is as much a part of the project as the video.

Once I’m done drawing out every scene for this fever dream, I’ll then move on to what I guess you could call “sprites” because so much of this, I want to look like something in the vein of Parodius, Dr. Mario, all those trippy-ass games which I have so much nostalgia for. Actually animating this is a scary idea, because I feel like it will be a failure on my part if I don’t get the 8 bit aesthetic down. It’s not a requirement, and “The Journey” through this project could lead me to an acceptable alternative-- I shouldn’t get ahead of myself, though. This is what can trip me up. I’m worrying about how to animate little candies and blood vessels and Moai heads when my focus should be on documenting what I imagine for the video, let the rest come later!

Still, sometimes creativity strikes in such a way, you can’t help but work on a part that’s further down the road, possibly down a road you’ll never travel- such as this screen, but that’s part of the bookend, which is so separated from the rest of the video, it’s almost like a different video, like a framing device, and one that’s a lot less complicated than the main course.

One final thing- and one which gives more reason to blog about this on the AFB blog- I might use AFB characters in one particular scene.

Picture the game over screen from TETRIS, specifically the “B-Type” game. Clear 25 lines on Level 9, Height 5, and you see various NES characters on a multi-tiered platform celebrating your victory. Now picture this as a building that’s not too far away from the “action” of the video, and these characters are looking on... when suddenly, an Arkanoid type capsule (similar, but legally distinct! Actually, it would look more like the paddle from Alleyway) appears and abducts some of the characters and takes them on a wild ride into this weird semi-organic machine with a terrible sweet tooth.

Those characters: Greta, Trent, and Douglas. I’d love to have a little nod to AFB, and I’d love to animate some “bridge lurch” if they come under attack from something. We’ll see.

If I keep blogging about this video, I’ll go into more details, such as why looking at the video in terms of a pile of seconds is extremely important.

[hyolosupport]

Hyoyeon @ KBS SuJu Shindong’s Podcast

translated by  @ch0sshi

- They talked about how snsd used to have a fixed concept for each member, instead of being more fluid with roles in the group. hyoyeon said that was better off during their rookie days bc it was easier to memorize things. but as time goes on, that becomes so solidified that it doesn't seem that great. like, all trainees learn to sing/dance/act. but when she's constantly set as the dancer of the group, it kind of made her think like, 'I can only dance. I must be bad at singing.' She said it has its pros and cons.

-  I guess they were told hyoyeon's specialties are dance and speaking Chinese.. hyo: these talents are kind of old. lol

-  Shindong said when they were trainees, hyoyeon and choi siwon went to china to study abroad.  Lee sooman always said that china would be like an important place for advancements(?) early on, so he made everyone study chinese.  They'd even have Chinese song singing contests, and if you won, youd get to go and study in China for 2~3 weeks.

-They mentioned how hyo's blood type is AB. She said people usually think she's either type O or B, and they get surprised when she says she's AB.

-  Hyo kinda likes childish jokes, & she said fans call her kim choding, kim yeolsal/10-years-old. other nicknames like [snsd's] dancing queen.  One nickname that is a bit more familiar is kim choding. She said kim yeolsal makes it seem like she's really ten, lol.

-  Shindong asked what hyo's nickname was as a kid, she said she was really well-behaved. she said kids used to call her 'trainee'.  Asked hyoyeon how kids at school reacted since, time-wise, she debuted while she would've been in school. but she didn't really get to  experience that bc she went to study abroad when she was in middle school. so she came back to korea and took a qualification exam.

-  Hyoyeon said she's kinda homely..she's really neat, well-organized, and tidies up well.   Shindong: what about cooking? Hyo: I'm..gonna do that slowly. I'm gonna start with getting organized.  Said she's also good at taking care of others.

-  Hyoyeon said she started properly dancing after joining sm and learning. the first time she saw herself dancing was in sm's I AM movie.  She said whe watched thinking, 'so thats how I danced for my audition'. She hadn't learned to dance at the time of that audition.  When she was in like elementary school, she just enjoyed copying dances. She only officially started learning to dance after joining sm.  So that dance team hyoyeon was in and when she danced with min, it was all after she had joined sm.  She wasn't that into dancing, but an instructor saw her popping, and told her to learn it properly. so she just went there for like 2 years.  Even shindong said he assumed she was at that dance team first and then got cast in sm.

-  Something else surprising she said is that her dad wanted her to be in this line of work, so he sent a photo he took of hyoyeon around roses in a park to sm. said she was too timid atm to do something like that herself

-  All those dance competitions that hyoyeon got recognized participating in when she was younger..she went without telling sm.  Shindong said those things used to release on vhs bc the internet wasn't that huge..but later, those clips started getting shared online.  The other dj dude said he watched her dancing online.. Hyoyeon: I watched them online too

-  They named her schools and gave exactly how long she trained at sm.. Hyo: you guys are really detailed here. lol

- Hyoyeon said she really likes ddeokbokki, could eat it for all three meals of her day. and while she's promoting all the staff will probably have to eat nothing but ddeokbokki bc of her lol

-  Hyoyeon said she likes spicy foods. she said she only eats one brand of ddeokbokki, sinjeon. shindong said laboum is their cf model.  Hyo: they have a cf model?; Shindong: laboum is doing it.; Hyo: oh, congratulations.. lmao

- Hyoyeon said it's been a while since she weighed herself. she said she uses her jeans as a way of being conscious of her weight.  She said she even washes her jeans all at the same time since they can stretch/shrink.

- Hyoyeon wrote her height really accurately: 160.45 cm xD

- Hyoyeon's alcohol tolerance: it's gradually increasing.

-  Shindong said once Hyoyeon was walking up the street like, in the middle of the night..he said she must have been really drunk bc she didn't even recognize him. Said she was walking alone, Hyo said she's usually not alone...so she must have really been drunk.  He even called out to her, but she just kept walking past him lol. said she doesn't really like the taste of alcohol.  Shindong said that one time was the first and last time he saw her drunk. 

- Hyoyeon said when she drinks champagne, she loses her voice.

- A 'body secret' she has is her stomach fat..said there's a connection, since she's been drinking a little more.

-   Hyo's favorite song when she goes to karaoke: Jessica h.o's 인생은 즐거워/life is good

-  Hyo's hobby: playstation. she likes playing rayman. didn't really like gaming, usually only played things like tetris or mahjong, lol  She said she got into super mario, and then got introduced to to the playstation and said rayman was similar.  Said she could lose sleep to play it, and she always has to get the gold medal.

-  She said she recently went to a pc bang, and had fun. Overwatch gave her motion sickness. she said she's going to put that sticker  behind her ear to help with that next time she goes lol. she said she just played the game adults like....go-stop. lmao

-  Hyoyeon said she relieves stress by having a drink with (non-celeb) friends..she said she never had any interest in like meeting  friends/having a drink early on bc they were so busy anyway..but now it becomes like a time of healing.

- Hyo's role model: Rihanna. 

- Hyo's goal/dream: perfection, like, self-contentment

-  Asked what her goal for this promotion is. said there's a picture she has drawn out, so she hopes that transfers onto the stage.

-  Hyo's ideal type: Yoo Ah-In. for his looks/style, and like his voice.

-  Hyo's motto: no matter what you do, become an honest person who does your best. she said this is something her dad made  her and her little brother memorize since they were little.

-  She said she got in a lot of trouble by her dad when she dyed her hair and got her ears pierced...yet he got her into sm, lol

-  Words that supported hyo: think positive things.

-  'if i got 24 hours to myself without a manager'- i think she wrote it happens often, lol.

-  She said compared to the number of members, the amount of managers they have isn't that large. hyo said she's a bit impatient and doesn't really like waiting around once things end. she said it's not good to do, but sometimes she'll just leave first after they get done with things. she said it could be a good thing for managers, having one less person to take care of.

-  If hyoyeon got 100,000 won out of nowhere, she'd go and eat yukhoe/beef tartare with friends. said she really likes it.

-  If she didn't become a celebrity, hyo said either dancing in the US/japan, or study and become a fashion designer.

-  Said she used to have an interest in fashion design. but now, she said the more you think about it, the more you realize how difficult it is. She said there are those times where you think your style is the best and you know everything, but you really don't, lol.

-  After doing shows regarding fashion, she said she realized 'there's a reason why there are specialists [in these fields]'

-  Shindong asked if dance is naturally acquired..she said the groove/soul you have with dance is something you're kind of born with.  But she said it's something you can overcome with effort/hard work.

-  Hyo said Shindong to her is just an oppa she's known for a long time. shindong said that is true, bc they don't share any memorable moments.  Hyoyeon said there are some oppas that she's awkward with, even if she's known them for a while. but that's not the case with shindong. 

-  Asking her what like a special skill she has [like something to show on a variety show] hyoyeon's response: sorry. lol  If she goes on variety shows, bc there were so many members, there'd be fixed questions for each of them..and she usually just danced lol  Hyoyeon: whether it rained or snowed, i just danced. lmao

-  They played just the first 10s of 'wannabe', so it was just the instrumental/her voice didn't even come on.  hyoyeon: is this bc of copyrights or are you just teasing me? lol. they said it's to give people just a taste/they're going to play more

-  Asked when the album comes out for their anniversary..she said since it's their 10th anniversary, there should be a meaningful present..?  The other dj said he recently interviewed yoona, and she said an album comes out this year. hyo: did she say it? oh, she said it. lmao  the dj dude went on saying yoona said they'll be releasing something in the summer, hyoyeon seeming unaware that she said these things.. Shindong said she can just continue to act like she doesn't know anything..hyo: are they releasing something without me? xD  dudes: you're not really unaware are you? hyo: i've been getting my news through articles. lmao

-  Hyoyeon said seohyun has become a bit more chill and whatnot than before..got influenced by her unnies lol

-  Hyoyeon said she used to do track in school. she was good at long-distance running and even went out as her school representative  for schools in incheon. she was so unaware of things like having the proper shoes for running. so she took her lightest pair: ballet shoes.  In the qualifying round, she got 4th place. but at the finals, she was so nervous that she got an upset stomach and didn't do as great.

-  Said how she wants to get married early and have about 5 kids. said she really likes kids. in the past, she always said  her dream was to become a good wife, without really knowing wtf that was. lol  now, she said she just wants to keep working hard while she can lmao.

-  Asked if she still wants to have a lot of kids, and she said she thinks it would be good to have more. other dj: you should rethink that..xD  hyoyeon: i think i'm saying this bc i haven't had any kids yet dj: yeah, i'm currently doing that [has a kid]..

-  hyoyeon said now that the podcast is coming to an end, she's getting kind of scared bc it feels like she talked without much filter lol

-  shindong's scenario: you get an offer to become a cf model for yupki ddeokbokki..you can eat other brands, but just have to film their cf.  asked if she would do it. hyo: of course. other dj: what if you can only eat yupki ddeokbokki? hyo: then i'd order it [secretly]... xD

-  They asked hyo which sinjeon ddeokbokki location she usually orders from, and she said she pretty much knows where they all are  bc she'll order it when she's in like a broadcast station's waiting room and stuff. she'll order through apps, or go there herself.

[hoomannissani]

Hooman Nissani: How to Manage Large Commercial Development Projects

Managing a large commercial development project can seem like an intimidating endeavor. Although commercial development projects are complex, how they are managed will determine whether or not they are complicated. No matter the scope of the project at hand, there are several steps to take and factors to consider that will help determine the overall success of the project.

The first thing to remember when managing a large commercial development project is that it all comes down to people. There will be lots of paperwork and numbers to consider, but behind every piece of paper and measurement or calculation is a person. People skills are quite possibly the greatest talent required for successfully managing any development project. Without the right focus and mindset, a project can be doomed from the very beginning.

Having the Right Point Person Leading the Project Is the Most Important Decision

All large commercial development projects involve countless individuals, but a single point person is the most important of all. Whoever is driving the project must understand him or herself as a coordinator of people. Bringing utility companies, contractors, city planners, county officers, architects, and others to work together successfully requires wise delegation and negotiation. Managing resources, timing the project, and keeping it all on track is no easy feat.

Although there are many tools available to help aid in the management, no tool will adequately compensate for deficiencies in leadership. The personality of the point person will also determine which tools should be used for managing the project. People often make the mistake of trying to force certain management tools that do not align with the personality or approach of the lead manager. This can cause major headaches and roadblocks for everyone involved as the project progresses.

Projects Become Less Complicated When Properly Phased Out

Once the decision is made of who will be leading the project and what tools he or she will be using, the different phases of the project will be the next focus. These phases often begin with a feasibility study. Determining the scope of the project; which includes analyzing hours of labor, projected fluctuations in the price of materials, environmental hazards, and other factors is an important step that should not be glazed over quickly.

When the study has clearly demonstrated to the right people that the project is feasible, the real planning begins. Planning answers all the questions of who and when. Depending on what all the commercial development project hopes to accomplish, the planning will take a different shape to fit accordingly. For example, will the project include residential, retail, or industrial space—or some combination of all three? Planning for each has its own unique components to consider.

Initial planning sets the tone for the remainder of the project. Without the proper detailed planning that considers every imaginable factor and risk, delays are sure to cause issues as decisions that should have been made early on need to be accounted for along the way. The ripple effect each decision has on the rest of the project is easier to see and deal with in the early planning than it is later on in the project. Going with the flow is a costly and ineffective strategy.

When you have the plans solidly in place, a method for determining if you are on track and on budget at each stage is critical for accountability. Managing a commercial development project means regular reporting to financiers, contractors, and local governments. A process for regular auditing will also help ensure that you are staying inline with any contracts signed along the way.

There Are Many Moving Parts in Managing Commercial Development Projects

Beyond recognizing and accounting for each phase of the project, large-scale commercial development can be compared to playing a game of Tetris. There are items coming down the line of varying sizes at different speeds. It is your job to make sure they all fit together.

Going into a large commercial development project with an understanding of what you can control versus what is out of your control is important to avoiding any surprises. Variables such as weather can catch managers off guard if not considered realistically. Plan to account for these variable disruptions to plan and guard against them as best you can. One way to do so is by garnering commitments early from every partner in the process. Building clauses into contracts, policies, and procedures will also help hedge against the unforeseen.

Communication Is Key

As with any endeavor in life, success is dependent on communication and how relationships are managed. Creating a plan to keep everyone well informed so that all partners can prepare and respond adequately is a balancing act in and of itself. Overburdening the wrong people with the wrong information may cause partners to ignore all your communication in general.

The many individuals who are part of the process may span several different ethnicities and cultures. These differences must come into consideration when drafting effective communication. Language barriers and varied interpretations make choosing words another important task.

It is also important to remember that developing quality relationships with contractors and other professionals should be a high priority. Your reputation and the ability to procure partners for future projects is at stake. Equity comes in more forms than just monetarily and you never know when a situation will require you to make a withdrawal.

Finally, when managing large commercial development projects, effective risk management is vital to the success of the project. Analyzing all the opportunities for technology to fail, for permits to be denied, approval of regulatory ordinances, and push back from local agencies are just a handful of the risks to be considered and mitigated in any project.

One of the most valuable steps to managing large commercial development projects is consulting with those who have already proven successful like Hooman Nissani. Hooman is a commercial developer in the Greater Los Angeles area, including places like Culver City and Long Beach. Use this online contact form to request more information on managing large commercial development projects.

Read more:

https://therealdeal.com/la/2016/06/16/hooman-nissani-buys-8-5-acres-in-playa-vista-for-83m-plans-massive-mixed-use-project/ https://therealdeal.com/la/2017/11/30/hooman-nissani-drops-24m-on-playa-vista-property-next-to-planned-site-of-his-massive-mixed-use-project/ https://www.autonews.com/awards/2012-40u40-hooman-nissani

[alibiflame36-blog]

Blue Man Group Sells its LES Studio for $5.4M

48 Clinton Street, Oct. 2017

The Blue Man Group finally divested from its longtime Lower East Side property. Their Clinton Street studio space traded hands this month for $5.4 million. It comes with an additional 4,653 square-feet of development rights, allowing for a new project of roughly 10,120 square-feet.

Buyer of record is Dr. Arani Bose, the co-founder of the medical device company Penumbra. He reportedly plans to redevelop for his foundation.

The building itself had been on the open market for more than a year at $7.2 million without takers. It’s also the first property in Manhattan “to be sold to a Qualified Opportunity Fund in an Opportunity Zone,” according to the New York Post.

The Tetris-like 48 Clinton Street typically keeps to itself, but a lot happened behind those doors. This was the last stop of the storied LoHo Studios, which got its start on Lafayette Street in 1983. The room – founded by brothers Edward and Victor Luke – became a popular destination, and acted host to artists Willie Nelson, Patti Smith, Joan Jett, Yo La Tengo, Art Garfunkel, and Joey Ramone. LoHo moved here in the late 1990s, where it would reside until Blue Man Productions purchased the facility in 2007 for $5 million. The blue-faced crew behind the off-Broadway show of same – purchased by Cirque du Soleil last year – used the space for rehearsals, recording sessions, producing commercial spots, and auditioning new Blue recruits.

Source: https://www.boweryboogie.com/2018/12/blue-man-group-sells-its-les-studio-for-5-4m/

[bmaxwell]

Top Games of 2018

For me 2018 was the year of Playstation VR. I never felt especially drawn to VR, assuming I’d give it a try one day years from now when the tech would be improved and more affordable. My buddy brought his headset over and I tried it out briefly but wasn’t blown away. My kids loved it though, so when opportunity presented itself, I traded in my Nintendo Switch* for my own PSVR bundle. 

Apart from that, 2018 wasn’t as strong a year for my kind of games as 2017 was. Most of the AAA blockbusters of year didn’t quite land for me or weren’t appealing enough to make me want to try them at full price. 

That said, I still had to put some games I genuinely enjoyed outside of my top 10. We’ll start off with a couple of categories I’d like to call out before getting into the ones that didn’t quite make the cut, followed by my ordered top 10.

Old Game of the Year:  SUPERHOT VR

2018 was the year of PSVR for me. SUPERHOT VR pulled off the triple header of making me feel like a total badass, making me feel like a clown, and reminding me of how wholly out of shape I am.

In the world of SUPERHOT time only moves when you move. The VR stages each take only a minute or two, and are played in batches of ~5. When you are killed, you start that batch over from the beginning. At first, I hated this. I don’t want to replay the same stuff again and again! But then I started getting familiar enough with these encounters to do them really fast, make no-look shots and the such. And it feels fucking awesome.

The game made me feel like a clown when, after finishing a stage where I was ducking behind a low wall for cover, I reached out to put my hand on the wall to help me stand up and promptly fell right on my ass. This happened more than once.

One time I was sweating profusely after a SUPERHOT VR session and my wife asked “You okay?’ the way you’d ask a child if they’re okay after picking up all of their toys. “Superhot is a workout!” was my response. She just looked at me with a smile that said “That’s stupid in an adorable way.” 

I amend my statement to “Superhot VR is a workout for people who don’t work out.”

Also very good old games: Persona 4, Transistor, American Truck Simulator, The Lion’s Song

Best Music: Donut County

Sometimes it’s nearly impossible to separate a game from its music. One feels incomplete without the other. So it is with Donut County.

Also some fine music: Moonlighter, Pit People, Tetris Effect

Honorable mention:  Return of the Obra Dinn

This game is such an impressive package. The visuals, the audio design, the entire concept is just cool and unique. I wish I was better at the game. There’s some combination of intelligence, patience, and focus that I lack for Obra Dinn. I have started over twice as of now. 

The game casts the player as a sort of insurance claims adjuster auditing a recently-discovered ship that had disappeared 5 years ago (in 1803). You are equipped with a magic pocket watch that lets you see and hear the last moment of each person’s life on the boat, you get to walk around a still scene like a diorama. You're tasked with figuring out each person’s name and how they died. It requires attention to detail, deductive reasoning, and a few minor suppositions along the way.

It is such a neat thing and it is so exhausting and difficult for me. If I could find a way to grapple with it in a satisfactory way, it would be very near the top of this list.

Honorable mention: Yoku’s Island Express

Developer Villa Gorilla threw together Metroidvania gameplay, a light and breezy tropical setting, and pinball of all things and gave us Yoku’s Island Express. It’s a charming, well-made little game. I wasn’t sure it would come together as well as it did. It sounds like a gimmick, but it’s a quality game full of personality. I had it mentally penciled in on my top 10 until very late in the year. 

Honorable mention: Dead Cells

Dead Cells is one of those games that appeals greatly to me on paper. The controls are tight, there are plenty of unlockables to work toward, and the game makes it easy to get into a good rhythm flowing from fight to fight. I put a lot of time into the game and, while I enjoy and admire it, Dead Cells never really hooked me the way I thought it would. I still had a great time with it, it just never quite reached my too-high expectations.

Honorable mention:  Florence

It’s hard for me to know how to rank a game like Florence. It took me about 30 minutes to complete from start to finish and there isn’t much cause to replay it. I try to judge a game by how well it does what it sets out to do, and by that metric Florence was a huge success.

This largely dialogue-free mobile game beautifully captures the feeling of finding romance and tells a touching story that doesn’t play out in the way I expected. The music is gorgeous, and the game makes good use of the phone’s touch interface.

In this day and age, a short mobile game that you have to pay for ($3!?! *gasp*) is a hard sell for a lot of people, which is a shame because Florence is a work of art that deserves to be played.

10. Gris

Seems like every year there’s one game that sneaks in right at the end of the year and complicates the top 10 list. This year that game was Gris. Gris may be the most artistically beautiful game I’ve ever played. The closest thing I can compare it to is Journey, though they aren’t similar enough to feel like one would make the other obsolete. Gris’ visuals are creative and inspired.  They frequently match the game’s melancholy tone, but they are also often vibrant, lush, and playful. It’s outstanding music walks hand in hand with the visuals, with mournful piano and strings.

Something impressed me about Gris is that it doesn’t feel like it’s trying too hard to be a video game, it is content with being a piece of art (something I wish I could say for 2017′s Hellblade, a near-miss for me that failed in this regard). There are no enemies to fight. No pits to fall in. And those elements gave me a freedom to explore with abandon. The game was never going to kill me or punish me for wandering off the track. The game’s puzzles never got complicated enough to fluster me, pulling me out of the experience. 

The game tells you very little in the way of story, leaving you to take from the imagery what you will. Because of that, it didn’t quite resonate with me the way Journey did. Gris isn’t a great video game, but it is a great experience that knows how to get out of its own way.

9. Tetris Effect

Tetris is one of the best pure, easy to learn but tough to master video games ever made. The Tetris Effect added trippy visuals and terrific music along with the ability to play the game in VR. I’ve heard plenty of people say “I’m not paying $40 for Tetris.” While I can understand that approach maybe if you’ve bought a lot of the many versions of Tetris to have come out over years, the price tag is justified by how much the additional effects add to the experience

Tetris Effect bills itself as a trippy experience where you can, like just chill out and think about how we’re all connected and just, like, we’re all together, right? Get into a zen place with some Tetris and some chill music and, like, maybe you play Tetris in a dark room where every time you complete a line, the windows open momentarily letting some light in. Or maybe it’s snowy Tetris where each line is accompanied by the sound of snow crunching under winter boots. The game has dolphins, and birds, and windmills and just, like....space....man.

The crazy thing is, that all works. Especially in VR. A game where I’m Tetrissing against a backdrop of hot air balloons and hearing a song about how all of life is connected could have easily come off as tryhardy, hammy, and insincere. But Tetris Effect was a hopeful bright spot in a year that saw a lot of darkness.

8. The Red Strings Club

This game’s themes of control and free will set in a dystopian future really resonated with me this year. The way you pour different drinks to put people in a specific mood during conversations is really inventive and just plain fun. Red Strings Club made me think about my world views and question them, which is rare for a game to pull off. It overstayed its welcome a little bit near the end, but it was still one of the most memorable experiences of the year.

7. Donut County

When I finished Donut County, I was initially a little disappointed. I played the game from start to finish in about 2 hours, and I wanted more. I think that’s a normal reaction, I also believe that there’s value in a game that does what it does well and finishes before it overstays its welcome (see also: Moonlighter). On its surface, Donut County is a game about swallowing things up into an ever-widening hole in the ground. Looking a little deeper, it’s about gentrification and how those with privilege have no regard for those without.

BK is an awful little shit, but he’s also an adorable and well-written little shit. The game’s dialogue is smartly written and conveys conversations sent via text in a believable way. The soundtrack is a toe-tapping joy, and once again this game does not overstay its welcome.

6. Moonlighter

A few years ago I played game called Recettear where you owned a shop dealing in fantasy RPG goods, and alternated between dungeon delving for stock and haggling over prices selling that stock in your shop. I never quite fell in love with that game, but I thought the concept showed a lot of potential. I’m surprised that we haven’t seen more of it. So when Moonlighter came along with its “get shit from the dungeons and sell it in your store” premise and and gorgeous pixel graphics, I was all in. When I heard the music, I knew this would be in my top 10 for the year. 2018′s game music pales in comparison to 2017 (as do most other years) but Moonlighter’s music was among the best of the year.

Everything about the town is peaceful and soothing, which is important in a game like this. Finding respite, and caring about home gives context to everything, and helps anchor me to the game. If the town is uninspired then there’s a voice in the back of my head while I’m fighting in the dungeons asking “Why do you care about any of this?” The dungeon runs have a lovely push your luck element where going deeper means more danger but also more wealth, and I am great/awful about convincing myself to push for one more floor.

The game isn’t without its faults, most glaringly the inventory system. You have to constantly move things around your backpack and throw stuff out, and there was no mouse support so a tedious task became mind-numbing. Which is a shame, because the game gives you good reason to be constantly shuffling things around your inventory. I also would have liked a few more options in the town for upgrades and new buildings, but the flip side of that coin is that Moonlighter took me about 20 hours to complete and never wore out its welcome. It left me wanting more, but I’m not sure that the gameplay loop would have held up for longer. It serves as a good reminder that not every game needs to be padded out to a 40+ hour experience.

5. Dragon Quest XI

My very first RPG experience was Dragon Warrior on the NES. The experience of walking out of the starting village and fighting a smiling blue slime with a cypress stick is big part of my gamer DNA. Dragon Quest has never forgotten its roots - to a fault, some would say. It’s a valid complaint, but not one that I share.

One of my favorite games ever was Dragon Quest VIII on the PS2. I hadn’t played a Dragon Warrior Quest game since IV on the NES, and DQ8 recaptured those crusty old RPG’s that made me fall in love with the genre. Dragon Quest XI feels like more of Dragon Quest VIII, and that is no bad thing.

Give me more turn-based combat set in a colorful world full of the best worst puns, goofy monsters, where I am a mute hero who must save the world from the great evil. It’s tired old Japanese RPG tropes all the way, and I am along for every mile of this ride.

4. Moss

Moss was not my first VR experience, but it was the game that really made me a believer in the medium. The game feels like being inside a diorama. You’re guiding your adorable little mouse heroine Quill on a journey to find her uncle. Much like with Astro Bot, making me fall in love with the character went a long way toward making me fall in love with the game.

The beauty of the forests broken up by moments in the library as the day turns to night and the candle burns lower and lower really made this feel like it was mine in a way that is rare for a game. I felt like a kid again for a few hours, something I never expected to feel again. The moment to moment gameplay is pretty by the book, and it isn’t impressive in screenshots or video. But that feeling of “Holy shit I’m inside this video game!” is something I won’t forget.

3 .Slay the Spire

Slay the Spire is another game that reminds me how futile and silly it is to take these things seriously. How do I compare a card game to an RPG to a racing game to a game about rolling debris up into a giant ball?

If this list were ordered by time spent playing, Slay the Spire would be number one as I am nearing 300 hours. It’s a deckbuilding rogue like with 3 different classes, each with their own unique set of cards. You move from room to room through a map doing combat, buying cards, resting at campsites, and engaging in little story events. Each run has the controlled chaos of doing your best with the choices you are given. Most runs follow an arc where I come up with a plan for how to my deck effective, I feel unbeatable for a short time, then it all falls apart and I can’t believe I lost.

Don’t let the visuals put you off (I don’t think they’re bad but they’re not my style). Don’t be scared off by the term “rogue like”. Play Slay the Spire. It is perfect at what it does.

2. Monster Hunter World

Like a lot of people, I’d never played a Monster Hunter game before and only knew of it as a weird, opaque Japanese game about fighting monsters. World was touted as a more welcoming game in the series, a Monster Hunter for the rest of us. And the fact that the game does a rotten job of onboarding new players to go along with the game’s awful implementation of (fun once you get it working) multiplayer were just enough to help me tip it down into my #2 slot.

Monster Hunter World scratched an itch I’ve had since I fell off PS2′s Demon Souls years ago after a dozen hours or so. It’s a game that made me work at it to appreciate the experience. The Barroth (the 5th monster you hunt) was the first monster to kill me, and it did so repeatedly. It was a point in the game that forced me to decide whether to work at improving or give up. I looked at the Barroth’s weaknesses in my journal, changed my gear accordingly, and loaded up on items before heading back out. This was the moment I fell in love with Monster Hunter World in a way that led to me putting over 100 hours into the game on my own, then more again with a friend playing on PC.

Monster Hunter World is a game where I got more powerful over time not just because of getting better gear, but because I feel myself getting more skilled at the game. Improving mastery is an incredibly satisfying feeling in any game,  and this one had me sitting at the end of the bed playing into the small hours of the morning, continuously doing One More Hunt when I knew I should have gone to bed hours ago.

1. Astro Bot Rescue Mission 

Monster Hunter World dropped early in 2018 and had me captivated for months. I loved it and, after looking at the 2018 release schedule, mentally penciled it in as my likely 2018 game of the year. That held true for most of the year, until the most unlikely hero of all came along: a corporate mascot in a character platformer. I mean, it’s a robot wearing a fucking PSVR helmet. 

The robot rescue portion of Sony’s tech demo-esque Playroom VR was the highlight of that experience, but by no means was the idea of an entire standalone game a slam dunk for me. Quite the opposite. In fact, I would have likely never given the game a second thought had the game not started receiving the kind of praise I couldn’t ignore. People were saying that it did for VR what Super Mario 64 did for 3d platformers. 

That elicited one of those “What?! Bullshit!....let me see that.” responses from me. As it turns out, that’s a pretty fair comparison.

Astro Bot isn’t just an excellent platformer that happens to be in VR; it feels more like a well-made character platformer elevated to greatness by way of VR. The world is vibrant and joyous, but it also does an incredible job of integrating the player into the game world. In Astro Bot the player’s perspective is behind the robot you are controlling. He is ever running forward and you are being pulled along with him. This isn’t terribly unusual, the player is the god controlling his tiny avatar and surveying the world before them. And it is so with Astro Bot, at least at first glance.

It doesn’t take long to realize that you are in the game world. You have a physical form. You cast a shadow. Your little Astro Bot buddy will occasionally look up at you and wave excitedly. I wanted to hate this. But couldn’t. He is goddamned adorable. The entire game is goddamned adorable.

The stages are colorful and inventive. And they involve the player in some pretty creative ways. Obstacles and enemies must be headbutted. Your controller will get different modifications from time to time, changing it into a water blaster, or an automatic gun (that feels like it is shooting tennis balls), or a hookshot. The game frequently rewards being inquisitive about its environment. Peeking down over an edge, or around a corner, or standing up from your seat to look around typically pays off with some coins, or a little robot to rescue. 

And the little robots are so ecstatic when you rescue them. They fly around the screen and land in the touch pad on your controller. They pop out and wave at you gleefully before disappearing until the end of the stage where all the bots you rescued do a little dance for you. Your Astro Bot does the Carlton Dance. I can’t not love this. I really did try.

*I love the Switch hardware. I really do. And the library of ports is getting more impressive every day. I just wish it had more exclusives I could get into.