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recentanimenews · 4 years ago

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INTERVIEW: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime and So I'm a Spider, So What? Lead Voice Actors

In coordination with the current season of So I’m a Spider, So What?, Crunchyroll News was given the opportunity to officially translate interviews with the staff and cast of the series. You can read the original Japanese interview between Aoi Yuki and Miho Okasaki right here.

The interview was conducted by Daisuke Iwakura.

So I'm a Spider, So What? x That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Crossover Interview! "Me" (a.k.a. Kumoko) Aoi Yuki and "Rimuru Tempest" Miho Okasaki.

It's a dream crossover between two anime airing in January: So I'm a Spider, So What? and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime! The interview was held on December 19th, 2020 as part of the Isekai Miracle Crossover broadcast featuring Aoi Yuki, who plays "Me" (a.k.a. Kumoko), and Miho Okasaki, who plays Rimuru Tempest.

These two characters were reincarnated as monsters, and while they have their similarities, they have their differences, too. We spoke to Yuki-san and Okasaki-san about what they have in common, where they're distinct, and what makes each of the shows so interesting.

A shared concern ... being reincarnated means having a lot of dialogue?!

—I've heard this is the first time either of you have encountered each other's projects. For starters, could you give a brief description of the show? Yuki-san, if you could go first.

Yuki: Kumoko is a girl who was unfortunate enough to find herself reincarnated as a spider after her classroom was blown up. And the type of spider she was reincarnated as happens to be the weakest monster in that world. She's initially pretty pessimistic about what's happened, but her naturally positive and free-wheeling personality allow her to tackle the situation with gusto. She's got a lot of strengths like being quick-witted and staying calm under stress, but I think her biggest appeal is that she's very self-centered, in a good way. The way she's able to focus on what she needs to do, and what she needs to pursue to become happy makes a good match for having been turned into a monster, and really ties into her determination to survive.

Okasaki: Before the interview, they showed me the first episode of So I'm a Spider, So What? and while I did think Kumoko's optimism was charming, I was amazed by how many lines Yuki-san had!

Yuki: It's pretty brutal, right?! It gives the impression that being reincarnated means having a lot of dialogue. (Laughs)

Okasaki: I know what you mean! Rimuru is the same way, he has a lot of monologues.

Yuki: Chalk it up to "things that happened when you're reincarnated." I've reincarnated a few times before ... by which I mean my characters have, of course. (Laughs) But the amount of lines Kumoko has is incomparable to all the rest.

Okasaki: The way she talks to herself so amusingly is really entertaining, and it really speaks to Yuki-san's strengths as an actress. I was amazed.

Yuki: Thank you so much!

—Now, Okasaki-san, if you could tell us about Rimuru.

Okasaki: After reincarnating as a slime, Rimuru ran into a character named Shizu-san, and as a result gained an alternate human form. And while I think being able to change shapes is kind of cheating (Laughs), both are really cute, and I really enjoy making each form sound distinct during the recording. In terms of personality, he's got a really big heart. He encounters characters that oppose him, but he considers their circumstances and ends up making them into allies. His humanity really attracts others to him. It's that kind of personality where you can understand how he ended up as a leader.

Yuki: I was shown Episode 25 of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. Even in that one episode, you could tell how beloved he is in a way that makes you kind of jealous. Kumoko would love to join Tempest (the Jura Tempest Federation)!

Okasaki: We'd be glad to have you! Our country is very accepting of monsters.

Yuki: Meanwhile, I'm stuck in a cave having to kill other monsters! (Laughs) The problem is none of them will listen to reason, so I just have to eat them.

Okasaki: (Laughs)

Yuki: I also like how easy-going Rimuru is. Even when everyone is desperate and fighting, he never loses his cool, which really impresses on you how big of a deal he is. It's the kind of composure that comes from being really strong.

Okasaki: That's true, being able to take a step back and look at things analytically is one of Rimuru's strengths.

—I'd like to discuss the similarities and differences between the two characters. First, since Kumoko and Rimuru have both reincarnated, let's talk about the differences between who they originally were.

Okasaki: Rimuru was originally a 37-year-old office worker.

Yuki: Kumoko was a high schooler, so that's about a 20 year age difference.

Okasaki: Since he's an older guy, Rimuru gets really, really excited whenever cute girls show up.

Yuki: I remember him riding on top of someone's boobs. (Laughs)

Okasaki: That did happen. He often uses his slime form as a means to get to sit in girls' laps. When we were recording that scene, the audio director had to explain the male point of view in that situation. His direction was along the lines of, "You need to sound happier about it." (Laughs)

—Do you try to be conscious about him being a 37-year-old man when portraying Rimuru, Okasaki-san?

Okasaki: I do. I really think his perspective on things tends to be on the mature side. He doesn't feel desperate to survive like Kumoko, and when confronted with an enemy, his reaction is to think, "Well, I'll give it a shot," instead of, "I'm gonna win!" He reincarnated, ended up with a variety of skills, and before long he became a ruler, but he lived 37 years of his life and developed an outlook that keeps him from feeling desperate, and I try to capture that maturity when I perform as him.

Yuki: When you're 37 years old, you're an adult who's dealt with things like taking care of bills and paying into your pension, and you'll have experienced both the sweet and bitter parts of life, letting you see how it all balances out. You're able to approach life in a way where the overarching thought is, "Well, that's just how it is." Compared to that, Kumoko hasn't even started paying taxes yet, and hasn't really developed an outlook to approach life with. As a result, she tackles things with a gusto that makes you wonder if she's going to burn out, which really shows how youthful she is. But I also think the world she's reincarnated into is one where that kind of ferocity is necessary for survival.

—There's also the fact that currently, Rimuru is surrounded by friends, while Kumoko is all by herself.

Yuki: There's a part in Episode 25 where Rimuru's friends are having him dress up in different outfits, almost like a doll, and I thought that was wonderful. Kumoko has been on her own this entire time, in a cave, and is only able to fantasize about getting to wear clothing.

Okasaki: For as much of a social butterfly as he is, Rimuru actually never had a girlfriend in his past life.

Yuki: Maybe he never seemed like boyfriend material? The kind of person who finds the object of their affection asking for romantic advice.

Okasaki: Oh! I kind of feel bad for him, now ... maybe he lacked that extra spice that's necessary.

Yuki: He's nice, and seems smart, and gives really good relationship advice.

Okasaki: And ended up as a bachelor for 37 years as a result ... But when I think about it that way, the world he was reincarnated to might be suited to Rimuru. It's a world where you get judged for the amount of power you have, so by being both powerful and lovable, he and the world have a mutual appreciation for each other. Rimuru's past life didn't end up being very personally productive, so his reincarnation doesn't seem so bad now that he gets to be surrounded by friends and enjoy life.

—Since Kumoko is by herself, it sounds like you end up doing a lot of recording by yourself, too.

Yuki: It's so lonely! The second set of key visuals show four different versions of Kumoko, but they're all played by me.

Okasaki: I didn't know that!

Yuki: I'm still alone, but at least there's a little bit more back-and-forth now. (Laughs)

Okasaki: That seems like it'd be a lot of lines ...

Yuki: It feels like things have gotten even more hectic with the four of her.

—Another interesting point of comparison is how the characters both have encounters with dragons.

Yuki: The Earth Dragon I run into is bad news. Unlike Veldora, it's not interested in talking at all.

Okasaki: I guess communication is off the table. It's also pretty scary looking! (Looking at the art in the teaser visuals.)

Yuki: And it's really strong! And it's definitely going to threaten Kumoko again. The thought of becoming friends didn't occur to me.

Okasaki: I'm not so sure that'd work, even for Rimuru.

Yuki: Rimuru-san's strong too, though, so he'd be able to deal with it.

—In comparison, Veldora is almost like Rimuru's partner.

Okasaki: That's right. He might look so scary that Rimuru fainted when he first saw him, but he's actually pretty charming when you talk to him. And a tsundere!

Yuki: That's great!

Okasaki: When Rimuru approaches him about being friends, Veldora says, "Well, I guess I can consider it!" But in the end, they become friends anyway.

Yuki: That's so nice. This might be a little weird, but I always find the fantasy races in stories like this to be charming. That goes for the humanoid ones of course, but even the monstrous ones can really pull on my heartstrings. When I was talking to a friend who feels the same way, they mentioned that Veldora-san is super cute.

Okasaki: That's interesting! Veldora is definitely a popular character.

Yuki: Everyone who finds dragons cute mentioned him, so I've looked at some character art before. Rimuru was in slime form too, so it was like, "This is some good fantasy race content."

Their circumstances may be different, but these reincarnations would definitely get along!

—We've discussed the things they have in common, and their differences, and now I'd like to ask: Do you think these two characters would get along?

Yuki: I don't think they'd have any trouble in that regard since they'd be able to communicate and understand each other.

Okasaki: The fact that they've both reincarnated is something they'd be able to bond over, and I think Rimuru would be thrilled to encounter another former human who reincarnated as a monster.

Yuki: Kumoko is friendly as long as she's not hungry ... then again, I think she'd realize she's outmatched. And since she doesn't pick fights she can't win, I'm sure they'd get along fine. I apologize if she accidentally eats anyone from Tempest, though!

Okasaki: That would not be okay! (Laughs) Rimuru really cares about his friends, so please try and show some restraint. There's plenty of actual food to eat, instead!

Yuki: As long as there's food.

Okasaki: That's a relief ... but after talking it over, it'd be interesting to see Rimuru and Kumoko actually interact.

Yuki: It'd make a great short anime!

Okasaki: Good idea! They've crossed over before, so I'd love it if they adapted that story! ["Monster x Reincarnation Fair" was an original short story by So I'm a Spider, So What? author Okina Baba-sensei.]

—Since you're both here, do you have any questions for each other?

Okasaki: Hearing Yuki-san's performance, she's doing a great job of establishing Kumoko-san's character, but at the same time, you can imagine a normal human high school student with the same performance. How did you manage that?

Yuki: To be honest, I already knew going to the audition that I'd be talking a lot with this role, and I realized if I went too hard, the performance would fall apart. (Laughs) For example, talking in a really high voice for an extended period of time wouldn't be possible, right? The end result is what comes from eliminating stuff like that. And since she's a character who can go from really low energy to being super excited pretty quickly, I tried to use a neutral voice that would let me do both.

Okasaki: That's really interesting! You knew you would be talking a lot beforehand, right?

Yuki: You should always be careful with any project that has "reincarnation" in the premise, because you'll end up talking a lot.

Okasaki: Hahaha, you're right! I'll have to remember that. (Laughs)

—Do you have any questions, Yuki-san?

Yuki: Rimuru-san has no gender as a slime. Was there anything special that you did considering that?

Okasaki: I thought he would sound gender-neutral, so I tried to craft a voice that would give that impression. That being said, I'm a woman with a feminine voice, so what worked best was leaning into a boyish direction. I would record the voice I came up with and listen to it, searching for a voice that suits the genderless Rimuru. My own voice isn't particularly exuberant either (laughs), and since I've a relatively huskier tone, I was eventually able to nail it pretty easily. That helps make it come out naturally.

—Thank you both so much. Before we go, what do you think is the main appeal of your projects?

Okasaki: In Season 1, Rimuru was reincarnated as a slime, got a humanoid form, made friends, created a nice country, and it ended on a peaceful note. But in Season 2, he's going to be encountering a lot of opposition and forced to make some major decisions. Things have been smooth sailing so far, but now he's going to have to think about what he can do for his friends. I've been portraying a new, more heroic side of him, which I think will be a lot of fun to see.

Yuki: Kumoko's story has an element of "survival of the fittest," and there's a kind of exhilaration you get from seeing that unfold. She faces a strong enemy, grows from the experience, and then encounters something even stronger, continuing to evolve. That cycle is really interesting to watch, and her positivity can make you happy just from seeing it unfold, so it might be a good idea to end a long day with watching So I'm a Spider, So What?

By: Guest Author

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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yourwannabekpopidol · 3 years ago

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Project 15

Apprenticeship Program Name: Radio Campbuzz Project Name: RJ for Rangdhonu and script writer for shows Program Date: Fall 2017 – Fall 2018 Program Description: I joined this program when Kashfia Ma’am was the advisor for the program. She assigned me to a RJ position for a weekly show called, “Rangdhonu”. And I had to write the script for the show as well. What I had to do was be a host for the show and the show is about pop culture and entertainment. So we had to talk about any new update on Hollywood and Bollywood. Program Justification: What the show provided was to let the students know about any pop culture and to let them enjoy some entertainment before going back to class. There were other shows but this show made me realize how fun it is to be a RJ. Due to this show, I was even awarded the best RJ in Radio Campbuzz of Spring 2018. Program Name: Rangdhonu. Program Time: Every Wednesday from 12 pm to 1 pm.

Picture 1: This is me before the show of Rangdhonu at the station.

Picture 2: This is the poster that declared that Nabeela apu and I were the host of the show, Rangdhonu, on social media.

Picture 3: This was the award and the certificate of me winning the best RJ.

Script for the 5th Rangdhonu show: Written by: Wangkhem Thonglen

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Sonam Kapoor ties the knot! Celebrity marriages are always the talk of the town, especially when it is the much-awaited wedding of one of Bollywood's most beloved stars, Sonam Kapoor. In an event of grand celebrations, Sonam Kapoor has finally tied the knot last Tuesday, May 8, with her long-time boyfriend Anand Ahuja. For those who don't know, Anand Ahuja is a businessman who has founded his own fashion brand named Bhane. His Delhi-based business has made him quite successful despite his young age, and fans know him well for always being addressed fondly in Sonam's online posts. The couple is active on social media, and has never failed to win hearts through their messages of adoration and love. Radio Cambuzz wishes the couple a happy conjugal life!

SaRa May 12 marked the grand opening of SaRa's first showroom in Mirpur. The fashion house made a huge statement with endorsements from stars like Sara Zaker, Oyshee, Shahtaj, Pritom, Xefer, Azim, Doyel and many others. They were present during the opening, along with the owner S.M Khaled.

RABINDRA FESTIVALS AROUND THE COUNTRY The celebration of 157th birth anniversary of Tagore in Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka. Artistes performed in a programme by Jayita Rabindra Sangeet Shomillon Porishod in Mymensingh. Artistes did a cultural show in Rabindra Mela, Channel i premises, Dhaka. Artistes from Bangladesh and India performed in Rabindra Festival in Shelaidah Kuthibari, Kushtia. Also Sirajganj.

30 years of BAMBA - More than just bands After a break of almost four years, Bangladesh Musical Bands Association, better known as BAMBA, recently arranged a mega concert, 'BAMBA Live Chapter 1', in Dhaka. The turnout was huge, with the spacious hall room of the International Convention Centre, Bashundhara, filled to the brim with fans eager to get a glimpse of their favorite bands and listen to their all-time hits. 11 of the 27 bands under the umbrella of BAMBA, including Warfaze, Miles, Shunno, Aurthohin, Nemesis, Vikings, Feedback, Dalchhut, Maq O' Dhaka, Pentagon and Arbovirus performed at the concert. Star Showbiz recently invited BAMBA to participate at a roundtable discussion at The Daily Star Centre. Hamin Ahmed, President of BAMBA; Sheikh Monirul Alam Tipu, General Secretary; Fuad Naser Babu, Vice President; Maqsoodul Haque (Mac), Executive Committee Member; Mohammad Ali Shumon, Treasurer; and Doza Alan, CEO, SkyTracker Limited, took part in the roundtable discussion. It was facilitated by Star Showbiz Editor Rafi Hossain. The discussion focused on BAMBA's current activities and the way forward in the face of the challenges confronting our music industry.

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Zoe Saldana on the Hollywood Walk of Fame After smashing success as the alien warrior Gamora in the Guardians of the Galaxy films and more recently, Avengers: Infinity War, Zoe Saldana is on a path to eternal stardom, literally. She joins the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin and her co-actor Chris Pratt, by receiving her very own star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Zoe Saldana took to Instagram to express her gratitude, saying she is blessed and honored to be a part of the history of Hollywood. “May this open more doors for Latinx and all other under-represented community!” she further stated. Zoe Saldana has also appeared in James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar and the recent Star Trek trilogy. Being a constant presence in blockbuster sci-fi and fantasy films, Zoe Saldana is expected to become a top name in this specific genre quite soon. 2018 71st Cannes Film Festival From Tuesday May 8th til Saturday May 19th. Australian actress Cate Blanchett has been named as the President of the Jury. Asghar Farhadi's psychological thriller Everybody Knows, starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and Ricardo Darín, opened the festival and competes in the Main Competition section The Han Solo spinoff Solo: A Star Wars Story touched down Tuesday at the Cannes Film Festival, bringing its cast and a full-sized Chewbacca to the French Riviera extravaganza. Director Ron Howard, wearing a hat that read “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” introduced his cast before the film’s international premiere at Cannes. Sonam Kapoor wows at the red carpet of Cannes Film Festival 2018. Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai Bachchan once again stole the show as she walked the prestigious red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, this time in a stunning ultra-violet, blue and red gown that reflected the metamorphosis of a butterfly. History was made at this year's 71st Cannes Film Festival on Saturday as 82 women, representing the limited number of women filmmakers selected over its more than seven-decade history, made a symbolic walk up the red carpet. The stars, filmmakers and other professionals ascended the steps of the Palais des Festivals at the Cannes Film Festival, protesting for the solidarity of the women in the industry who are struggling for a voice, equal pay, as well as a safer work place. The five female members of this year's Cannes jury-- Cate Blanchett, Kristen Stewart, Ava DuVernay, Lea Seydoux and Burundian singer Khadja Nin, along with Jane Fonda, Salma Hayek and Marion Cotillard were among the group of women.

Link 3 Mim Mantasha Superstar in the making Winning the country's biggest pageant is not an ordinary feat. Mim Mantasha has won not just a crown, but also the hearts of millions. Awaiting a new journey, the Lux Channel i Superstar 2018 winner shares her story with The Daily Star. A final year student of Fine Arts at Jahangirnagar University, Mim has always been a creative and curious soul. She was an avid follower of the contest for a long time. This year, she finally took the decision to compete. Taking part in the competition was certainly not a cakewalk. “We went through vigorous training sessions. We did yoga in the mornings,” explains Mim. Before the task rounds, the contestants went through fifteen days of training for ramp walk, acting, dancing, and many other skills. The photo shoots, acting, and improvisation rounds were Mim's favourite tasks in the competition. “I was nervous but in a scene, I got to convince people through my acting that my child was lost. I enjoyed it,” Mim smiles, adding that the competition was an overall memorable experience. Although she is highly enthusiastic about working in the media, she wants to take more preparations before doing so. She is now Lux Bangladesh's brand ambassador and has also won the opportunity to work on television and feature film projects of Impress Telefilm. Before hitting the silver screen, Mim wants to explore the world of television. Being a painter at heart, Mim also wants to continue painting and have her own exhibition in the future. Further to this, she intends to work for children who need special care. “I am in a fortunate position and it is our duty to take care of those in need.” says Mim. With great intentions, we hope Mim Mantasha excels at every step of her future endevours.

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Avengers Infinity War Review The plot itself is pretty simple. There are six stones that possess mystic powers and he/she who possesses all the stones is by default the most powerful being in the universe. Our Marvel superheroes must forget their own conflicts and join forces against Thanos to restore the fate of the universe and its inhabitants. Of course, watch the movie to know how things pan out. Avengers: Infinity War is the movie of movies, and let me tell you why. Most, if not all, the characters of the MCU are present in this film and bring their own flavour into the mix. Thor is mourning the loss of his home and hammer, Stark feels he needs to take a break from saving the world, Captain America is still out to bring justice the right way, and Hulk has no control over himself. I don't know what formula the Russo brothers have applied in their direction but I watched in awe how all the characters blended to deliver multiple storylines within a movie. Yes, I have also compared this movie to a mega three-hour episode of your daily soap opera. Avengers: Infinity War is the comprehensive Marvel movie; it is the beginning of an end. It lifts you, it hits you, and leaves you with a cliffhanger extraordinaire. See it to believe it and it'll still be unbelievable. By next weekend, Infinity War will top $1.78 billion and could sit around $1.8 billion, ensuring Marvel's year-to-date tally exceeds $3.1 billion by next Sunday.

Deadpool 2 Marketing Right off the bat, you see how Deadpool has scratched out the 20th Century Fox logo and put “TBD,” which is a sly allusion to the ongoing Disney/Fox (and Comcast?) merger drama. The content of the letter is exactly what you might expect from the Merc with a Mouth. Pop culture references, silly puns, bad language, and Ryan Reynolds bashing. Then, at the bottom, instead of the #ThanosDemandsYourSilence, we get #WadeWilsonDemandsYourSisterSorryStupidAutoCorrectSilence. See, you guys, it’s funny! And not at all trying too hard. Kidding aside, the marketing for “Deadpool 2” has been pretty top notch, but perhaps not as great as the first film. Recently, the film premiered a music video for the soundtrack featuring Celine Dion singing an over-the-top ballad while a high-heel-wearing Deadpool does an interpretive dance around the diva. It’s ridiculous and fun. And also, the most recent trailer seems to have struck a chord with fans, who are coming down off their ‘Infinity War’ high.

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Top 10 Hollywood Box Office Weekend 1. Avengers: Infinity War - $62,078,047 (Total Grossing – $548,090,150) 2. Life of the Party - $17,886,075 (New) 3. Breaking In - $17,630,285 (New) 4. Overboard - $9,864,415 5. A Quiet Place - $6,455,396 (Total Grossing - $169,608,030) 6. I Feel Pretty - $3,805,437 7. Rampage - $3,462,442 (Total Grossing - $89,827,105) 8. Tully - $2,248,945 9. Black Panther - $2,077,207 (Total Grossing - $696,331,818) 10. RBG - $1,188,186

Billboard’s top 10 Hits 1. This Is America – Childish Gambino (New) 2. Nice For What – Drake (Last Week: 1) 3. God’s Plan – Drake 4. Psycho – Post Malone Featuring Ty Dolla $ign (Last Week: 2) 5. Meant To Be – Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line 6. The Middle – Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey 7. Look Alive – BlocBoy JB Featuring Drake 8. Never Be The Same – Camila Cabello 9. Perfect – Ed Sheeran (Last Week: 12) 10. No Tears Left To Cry – Ariana Grande Learning and reflections: This program made me realize the inner potential I had to be so extrovert and be a good host. I learned what to do or say after getting stuck during a live session. I have improved my speaking skills and the flow of a RJ host on how to talk and say because they have a different tone when it comes to a live session. I have taken all these skills from this program and I even got selected and did a short commercial video for Spice FM Radio. I also learned how to write a script for a radio show.

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sweetjekyll · 4 years ago

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Writerly contemplation tag!

tagged by the lovely @j-pping; thank you for the tag!

this might end up being long so I’ll add a read more cut ☺️

2020

what was the most challenging part of writing this year?

I guess the most challenging part of writing this year was tuning out the real world. I’ve always used reading and writing as a form of coping and escapism from all the things that were troubling me. Unfortunately there were times when simply reading and writing weren’t helping me and I took so many breaks, postponed so many WIPs I was excited about... I ended up beating myself down for not being able to keep up with an expectation I had for myself and my writing. Considering 2020 was hell for everyone, I came to terms with myself that it cannot be always my fault, I can’t blame myself for not being able to do things I set my mind to do, sometimes there are obstacles that take time for you to cross.

I’m just going to quickly mention stressful anons and hopefully get a point across for all fan fictions writers. WE ARE NOT ROBOTS. WE ARE HUMAN. All of us write for many personal reasons, mine are that I just love writing things which I wish to read! Simple as that. What I wish for some rude people to understand is that the least you could do for us creators is be thankful and be kind to us, give feedback and constructive criticism, share our work. I don’t understand why you are scared of the reblog button. When I go through my notes and take a look at some blogs, they are empty. No one is paying us to contribute creatively to the fandom, you are enjoying our content for free while we put hard work and our free time into it, so why should we “hurry up”, “update faster” and “write more/this/that”? Please, remember that we are people too, and the toxicity some people spread on anonymous asks is just incredibly baffling and hurtful to me. If you, as a reader, believe that my request is nonsense and my words are too harsh, then perhaps you should reconsider how you’re viewing content creators before disagreeing without a valid reason.

what was the most enjoyable/rewarding part of writing this year?

The happiness that came from writing something which I enjoyed reading as well! I have been a writer for years on another platform until I had to take a long hiatus because of writer’s block and depression. For how cheesy this may sound, the most enjoyable and rewarding part of writing is in fact writing something that makes me happy even if I’m torturing my characters and traumatizing them. There is truly no point for me to write things that I don’t feel I am enjoying. As I have said other times before on the blog, I would much rather post something that makes me happy, than post something just to get notes from silent readers.

what piece has left the most impact on you and why?

Given the fact that I have not written a lot because of my constant mental health breaks (yes 2020 had me on rollercoaster mental breakdowns more often than usual), I have to say that Damaged is what really kept me entertained with myself and perhaps sane. It has been way too long since I’ve taken on something so creative as building an entire universe from just a dream, but it’s what reminded me why I love writing so much, it reignited my passion. With this story I really wanted to challenge myself to write something unique, something I’ve never done before with any other work... And I admit it’s quite difficult; the easiest part was taking inspiration from EXO’s lore, but the hardest was incorporating it in a universe and storyline completely different to the original concept. It’s something I’m set on finishing as a complete multi-chapter story no matter how long it takes.

what have you learned about yourself through the process of writing in the past year?

To be completely honest, I learned that I can push myself out of my comfort zone when writing, because every piece is a fictional world of its own, every character can be more than a copy and paste personality. What do I truly learn about myself if I don’t explore things I have not thought about before? I learned that I should not be afraid to write of things that I don’t know or fully understand, specifically about things that I didn’t post but tried for just for fun. It is a good way of finding out whether a certain subjects interests me or doesn’t. I love doing lots of research and gather information for the stories I’m writing, you get to learn about stuff you usually would never think about.

how has your writing changed in the past year? how have you grown?

Well, I don’t really have anything to compare my writing to except my older fan fictions for movies and tv shows. I guess I have changed quite a lot since 2018; my writing style has become more fluid, at least I think it has. I’m also able to write longer chapters without feeling as if I am dragging it out for the sake of the word count, yet now I have to literally stop myself from just writing too much! It pleases me, to be honest. I remember struggling to sometimes put ideas into words and balance narrative, dialogue and descriptions.

2021

ignoring your wips for a second, if you had all the time and energy in the world to write your magnum opus piece, what would it be about? why is that the dream story you’d write, all other things controlled for?

This can go back to Damaged, honestly! It’s something that I haven’t finished writing and it will be a long story. It’s the fan fiction which has gotten me out of a 2-year-long writer’s block with such strength, I feel truly attached to it. As I mentioned in one of my first answers for 2020, this is the WIP I want to focus on the most and be proud of it.

how do you want to grow in your writing this year?

I mentioned this is my first 2021 post after I took a short break, but one of my resolutions for this year is to work on self acceptance when it comes to my projects. (I’ll copy and paste what I wrote there so I don’t repeat myself with other words) One of my resolutions for 2021 is to write more, to not be afraid of beginning something and even if I end up setting the story aside, at least I will have gotten it out on (digital) paper. I punish myself way too much when I’m not able to finish something, and that is truly one of the worst things a content creators can go through, in my opinion. I have many drafted works that may or may never be published and I wish to appreciate them more instead of dwelling on the fact of what they could have been.

what’s one thing you’d wish to see in the fan-writing community this year?

I wish for more love and recognition of the amazing and talented writers that share their content with everyone on tumblr. We are a community, or at least we are supposed to be. I would absolutely love to see more readers actively interacting with writers, share ideas, share art inspired by what you read! As readers, you can contribute as well by sharing moodboards, song recommendations and/or playlists! You are more than welcome to join us in the community as writers too!

As for myself, I have mentioned this towards last year but I still want to compile a list of all the writers I am currently following and read their works. I haven’t been in a good mindset to do that for a long time and I wish to get to know them. I’m a pretty shy person who struggles to start up a conversation, so I hope I get to make some friends on tumblr this year!

name one new thing you want to try doing in your writing this year.

I would like to make a list of aus and experiment with them for either one shots or some short series! I have so many creative ideas and thoughts but I always forget to take a note or maybe I’m doing something else and I end up getting caught up in a stream of consciousness, until I lose the initial spark. Also mentioned plenty of times, I would love to write for other groups, like nct, but for now I’ll focus on exo.

✨✨✨

anyway, that was it for my writerly contemplation tag!

I’m tagging a few fellow writers, but feel free to ignore for any reason! sorry if I forgot someone but feel free to do this even if I didn’t tag you!! @pororodks @velvetsehun @yeoldontknow @yeagerluvr @soos-goddess @shaalk @mooneylooney1 @dewbebe

#tag games #writerly contemplation #happy new year btw!!!

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let-it-raines · 5 years ago

Note

I LOVED your boarding school teacher fic! That's so funny that the entire school is so into gossip!!!! Can we get more please? I don't know what but more!!!

Original prompt: Two boarding school teachers finally, FINALLY get together. Everyone around them is way too invested and knows way too much.

Hi, nonnie 👋 This has been sitting in my inbox for months now, but since @idristardis requested a follow-up to What Would We Do Without Internet? as her gift for my fic giveaway, I can finally answer your request! @idristardis I believe I got most, if not all of your requests into this story, and I hope you enjoy ❤️ It picks up in Emma’s POV directly after the non-epilogue-ish part of the original!

AO3: Part One | Part Two

-/-

“How long have you been together?”

“Was it this weekend?”

“Or was it before but we’re just now finding out?”

“Do you love him?”

“Does he love you?”

All of Emma’s day has been filled with those five questions or, at least, a variation of them. Some of her students are more creative with their wording and their questioning, and some of them simply want to talk to her about the fact that they know that she slept with Killian this weekend. How they all know that is a mystery to her. They shouldn’t. It should be a private matter between she and Killian and absolutely no one else.

Especially not one hundred sixteen-and-seventeen-year-old students.

She woke up this morning with the guy she really likes in bed with her and with this stupid smile on her face that she knew would carry her throughout a long Monday, and then she walked into her first period World History class and was bombarded by questions about her dating life.

Decidedly not a good start to her morning when she did not and still does not want to be part of Storybrooke Academy’s never-ending gossip mill. It’s all fun and games until it’s her life being talked about and picked apart by the student body.

(The faculty are definitely talking about her behind her back.)

They’ve got to get internet in the dorms in this place so that the kids have something to focus on other than who’s dating whom and whether or not the headmaster is actually dying from some kind of contagious disease or not.

(Emma sure as hell hopes not on that second part since she had a performance review last week and had to sit in the headmaster’s office for an hour.)

“Ms. Swan,” Jackie whines, “aren’t you going to answer any of our questions?”

Emma shakes out of her thoughts and blinks, taking in the thirty students who are currently sitting in front of her waiting for her to start teaching her fifth period American history lessons.

“Um, no,” she mumbles, “I’m not. I don’t know what you’ve all heard or think, and I really don’t care. I won’t be talking about my personal life or any rumors about it to you all. Now, you have a project due next week. Let’s talk about that.”

When the bell rings and her class is dismissed, each of them walking out the door upset with her as if she owes them details about her personal life, Emma buries her face on her desk and wonders if there’s any way to call out sick for the rest of the day…or the year. The year would be nice.

If the pay here wasn’t so good, Emma would pack her bags and go teach somewhere where she didn’t have to have her entire life displayed for a couple hundred people.

There’s a knock at her classroom door, and when Emma looks up, she sees Killian standing there with his shoulder against the archway. He’s already got his coat on, a fitted blue peacoat that she’s always loved on him, and has a knitted beanie tugged down over his ears so that only the slightest bit of black hair peeks out. She smiles to herself knowing that he’s got a little red mark beneath his ear from her. It shouldn’t bring her so much joy, but it does.

(Her thighs are red with beard burn, and even though she’s a bit sore when she walks, that brings her joy too.)

“Hey, Swan.”

“Hey.”

He cocks his head to the side and raises a brow. “You have time to get lunch?”

“I do,” she sighs, “but I don’t think I can handle the cafeteria or the teacher’s lounge right now. It’s been – ”

“Absolutely insane?” Killian laughs. “Have you been getting the questions?”

She’s not sure if she’s relieved or not that Killian is getting the same questions as she is, but it definitely makes her feel something. Maybe she’s experiencing whiplash. That would explain a lot with how the past few days have been.

“So many questions. I don’t even know where to begin with them.”

“I feel the same way.” He walks into the classroom and holds his hand out for her to take it, and she imagines in his head he’s thinking about always being a gentleman or some other Killian quip that she’s grown used to in the three years of knowing him. She takes his hand, and he pulls her up until she’s standing beside him. “Why don’t we go get our lunches out of the lounge? I have a place for us to eat in privacy.”

“Is it one of our apartments? Because apparently those aren’t private.”

“No, love, it’s actually not.”

It ends up being an old classroom on the fourth floor of the fine arts building, a place neither of them have any business being unless they’re watching one of the semi-annual performances the drama club puts on during each semester, but the ease with which Killian guides her through the hallways makes her think that he’s here a little more often than that. Once they’re in the room, she can see why. It’s perched at just the right spot where if she looks to her left, she can see most of campus and the white snow that’s currently blanketing it, and if she looks to her right, the small town of Storybrooke and the ocean are just on the horizon. Killian’s always had a thing with the sea. Maybe that’s how he discovered this place.

Or maybe this is where he’s taking all of the teachers he’s sleeping with.

She has no idea if it’s only her, and for the first time in a long time, she actually wants someone that’s hers and who she doesn’t have to share. What kind of craziness is any of this? Why did she kiss him? That was such a bad idea looking back. It could have gone horribly wrong, and she doesn’t know if –

“Emma,” Killian interrupts as a table scrapes across the old hardwood until it’s in the middle of the room. He’s got their food, leftover Chinese they both must have taken from her place this morning, already spread out in the middle. “You okay, there?”

“I’m fine,” she lies, quickly closing her eyes and centering herself so that she doesn’t freak out. She won’t freak out. Nope. It’s not going to happen. This is good. This is…fine. “How did you discover this place?”

He doesn’t answer at first, too busy grabbing her a chair and holding it out for her until she sits down, but once he’s settled and taking off his coat so that he’s left in a dress shirt and a vest, he looks up at her with this broad grin that makes her flashback to this weekend once more.

“I was helping move some furniture that the school didn’t want to throw away but had nowhere to keep, and this is where the entire maintenance crew decided to bring it. I don’t know, it’s kind of a fascinating place, and it allows me to have a space to breathe without having to walk across campus to my apartment. You’re the first person I ever brought up here. The view is amazing, right?”

Well, that answers her question about this being the place where he takes all of the women he’s sleeping with. At least, it kind of does.

“Yeah,” Emma agrees, “it is.”

Killian smiles at her again. It feels like he’s trying to encourage her to keep talking, to say something else, but she’s at a loss for words. The two of them have been bantering (flirting) back and forth at each other for years, only stopped talking this weekend when they literally couldn’t anymore, and now she has nothing to say because the only thing in her mind are her own questions about how the hell this is going to work as well as her students’ questions.

“How long have you been together?”

“Was it just this weekend?”

“Or was it before but we’re just now finding out?”

“Do you love him?”

“Does he love you?”

Her life would be far less dramatic if she’d stayed in Bar Harbor and worked at a regular high school where instead of caring about her personal life, her students were freaked out by running into her at the grocery store. She’s only ten years older than a lot of them, and while a decade doesn’t seem like too long, it’s an eternity to her. The fact that her students don’t seem to think so worries her.

“You want to tell me what’s going on in that head of yours?”

Emma jumps, and she knows that she isn’t able to cover herself when Killian starts laughing even as he bites down on an eggroll. “I’m kind of freaked out by the entire school knowing that we slept together. I want to know how they know too. This was supposed to be private and something we kept quiet while we figured it out and now – ”

“Everything is out in the open, and every move we make is going to be scrutinized by every person here?”

“Exactly. No one has a life or entertainment at night and ugh,” she groans, spearing a piece of chicken with her fork. “I just…I love these kids. I really do, but I’m not comfortable having my relationship that I’m not even sure is a relationship be the center of all this attention.”

Killian reaches over the table and threads their fingers together and brings their knuckles to his lips so that she feels a scratchy kiss while her heart flutters. In the good way though. Not the way that would send her to the hospital.

She’s a mess today.

“It’ll die down, Swan,” he promises before kissing her wrist over her buttercup tattoo. “Next week or the week after that, some other thing will happen, and everyone will forget about us. And if you’d like this to be a relationship, I’m more than happy with that.”

“Yeah?”

He nods and places their hands down on the table. “Absolutely. I feel like I’ve already told you this, but I’ve fancied you for quite awhile, Swan. That’s not something that’s going to change even if a nosy student saw me go into your apartment and then not leave for most of the weekend except for the few trips we made up to my place.”

“How would they even know that? They’d have to be in our building and – oh. It was Henry Mills, wasn’t it? He must have been visiting his mom.”

“Apparently, he and several other students were in the building because it was Henry’s birthday, and his mum was cooking for all of his friends. Caroline Abbot saw me go to your apartment from down in the lobby, and they seemed to find entertainment in figuring out what we were doing.”

“That’s creepy.”

“Aye, quite a bit. If the building wasn’t so open, I believe we would have gotten away with it with no interference.”

“You sound like a villain on Scooby Doo.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a woman reference Scooby Doo while out on a date.”

“Oh, is that what this is? A date?”

“Absolutely. We’re not going to get a lot of privacy, so I’m taking every opportunity to court you that I can get. If we only counted the quiet moments, I doubt we’d ever get one.”

“You’re so old-fashioned.”

Killian winks, bringing their joined hands to his lips again. “As I’ve said before, I’m always a gentleman.”

“If you say so,” Emma teases. She takes a bite of her chicken. “Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?”

“I’ve got dorm duty tonight and tomorrow. Wednesday?”

“I have dorm duty until Friday. This weekend?”

“It’s my weekend to be on call for chaperoning the trips into town. You could always come with me.”

“And have everyone stare and talk about us more? No thank you. I don’t…I think I’d prefer we don’t show any affection or – ” she waves her hand between them “ – whatever this is. I think it’ll help everything to die down a bit.”

Killian nods, lips tight, and Emma’s stomach twists. Is she disappointing him by not wanting to walk around campus with her fingers threaded through his or with his arm around her waist?

Is this going to be a thing between them that’s going to make it all burst into flames?

“Your heart’s desire, Swan. I promise that’s all I want you to have.”

“The same to you.”

-/-

To say that getting used to dating someone again is difficult is an understatement. Emma may have been the one to barge into Killian’s classroom and pretty much give him an ultimatum (even if that’s not at all what happened) for the two of them to stop dancing around each other and just go for it, but that’s not her, not usually. It was reckless and unthinking, and as calculated as Emma can be now, that isn’t how she used to be.

Sometimes it’s thrilling to still get to be like that and have the rush of adrenaline running down her spine when she does something like that.

Or when Killian looks at her.

God, his smile kills her. He’s got this this soft one, lips pressed together and eyes so incredibly blue, and she selfishly likes to think that the smile is reserved for her. But the soft smile can quickly transform into a wicked smirk that has Emma’s stomach fluttering and heat curling in between her thighs.

The smile, or smiles really, are what keep her sane as February chills into March, snow still fluttering around and the cold clinging to every inch of the ground and each particle of air. The questions from her students about her relationship stay steady for two weeks before slowly tapering off, but not a day goes by where there isn’t some question from a student or inquiry from a fellow staff member. Mary Margaret, bless her, is particularly excited about Emma’s recent relationship development, and she invites Emma and Killian over to her apartment for what is essentially a double date with Mary Margaret and David.

(Emma’s never been on a double date, and despite how much she loves the Nolans, there’s something so peppy about them that it makes her hesitate.)

They end up going.

It’s a great time.

The wine is good, the food even better somehow, and Emma is pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to slip into the role of someone who is happy and does things like dinners with other couples while her boyfriend’s hand rests on her inner thigh under the table.

Is twenty-eight too old to call someone her boyfriend? Partner sounds too serious. Significant other too boring. Lover too creepy sounding even if it’s true. So maybe boyfriend is the best word. Maybe that’s not important.

What is important, however, is that as she and Killian adjust to being together, it becomes easier by the day. They’ve been friends and colleagues for years, which made the stakes seem so much higher at first, but in reality, all it’s done is make this transition smoother than she ever thought possible.

(Smooth doesn’t mean she didn’t struggle. She definitely did, but her fears at the beginning were definitely overexaggerated.)

Emma already knows all about Killian’s work and knows how passionate he is about it even if she knows that high school math teacher was never his ultimate goal and is still not his goal. He likes classical music and reading a book a day and is an absolute and total know-it-all. She knows that he eats far too much fish, and he knows that she absolutely despises fish in all of its forms which is most definitely why he tries to kiss her every time he’s eating it.

The asshole.

Who she really, really likes.

She doesn’t need the gossip around the school to let her know that he feels the same way.

There are days when she wants to pull his hair out and days where she doesn’t want to stop kissing him or laughing with him, and when the school year ends and they’re allowed a month of vacation with no workshops or lesson planning, they get the opportunity to do all of that without any students around them.

None at all.

It’s glorious.

Killian finds them a small one-bedroom cottage to rent out in Boothbay that’s right on the beach and only a short drive away from town, and Emma almost cries in relief the moment she steps in the front door and all of the weights of the school year disappear from her shoulders. She loves what she does for work, but by the time summer inches closer, she needs a break. Getting to go off and live at the beach with her boyfriend for a month is the exact thing she needs even if she knows he’s about to eat a hell of a lot of fish.

“I think this place might be heaven,” she sighs as she walks into the living room and sees the large windows that look right out onto the sand and the cresting waves. She can hear the ocean, can smell the salt in the air, and somehow, it’s different than the ocean in Storybrooke. It’s warmer and more inviting and she can’t wait to dive in until her skin is tanned and wrinkled.

Killian steps up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist and rests his chin on her shoulder, scratchy scruff pressing into her neck. He’s warm and solid, and she leans back into him, content.

“I’m glad you like it, love. Thank you for agreeing to come away with me.”

Emma pats his hand over her stomach. “Thank you for finding a place for us to get away that didn’t make us go completely broke.”

Killian laughs, something deep and low, and for some reason it has her twisting her head and pressing her lips into his. He tastes like the mint of his gum that he was chewing on the drive down here, and it’s spicy on her tongue when his lips quickly part and his tongue runs along the seam of her lips. They haven’t had time to be truly alone and away from students and other faculty during their entire relationship, and it’s what has Emma turning her body and fumbling for the buttons on Killian’s shirt.

There’s a rush of air between them as clothes fall away and hands brush over warm skin, and Emma can scarcely breathe by the time they’re fumbling back toward the couch, falling onto unfamiliar cushions with throw pillows scattering across the room. They may have a month of this, a month of complete privacy and no one but each other, but they come together hurriedly and without much finesse. Killian’s thrusts are quick and harsh, and Emma’s nails hook into the skin of his back while her legs wrap around his ass.

The heat in her belly keeps building, the fire being stroked, and faster than Emma can think about how damn good this feels, she reaches that high. There’s only the beating of her heart, the slap of skin against skin, the feeling of Killian pulsing within her.

There’s only the feeling of Killian.

Of them.

“Well,” Killian pants when they’re both trying to catch their breath, “that certainly didn’t take long.”

Emma huffs. “Next time make me work for it, you know? I feel like I should at least have to take you out for dinner first.”

“A man does like to be courted.”

“You’re ridiculous.”“Aye, but you like me. You’ve said so yourself.”

“Shut up,” Emma chuckles before kissing him again.

-/-

Over the weeks, Killian’s skin gradually tans, and it somehow makes the dark patches of hair on his chest more prominent. She’s always loved the little tufts that sometimes show through his dress shirt or over the top of his sweaters, but there’s something undeniably attractive about seeing him walk around with tanned skin and lean, defined muscles and mostly no shirt on. She’s used to seeing him in sweaters and blazers and those awful school-mandated scarves, so having him constantly be walking around in low-slung sweatpants with no shirt or swim trunks with no shirt (emphasis on the no shirt part, obviously) has been a pretty good bonus of this month-long vacation they’re taking.

Emma’s sure that Killian feels the same way about her lack of clothes and sun-kissed skin as well, but none of that matters as she sits on the couch in the living room with a cup of coffee in her hands while she looks at the muscles of his back and the curve of his ass while he stands in front of the sliding doors that lead out to the ocean. The sun is illuminating him, and he almost doesn’t look real.

But he is.

And so is their relationship.

And so is the fact that Emma knows that she loves him. Her stomach nearly heaves at the thought, at knowing that she’s got feelings this deep for someone else again, and if she doesn’t tell him soon, she might implode.

Holding it in for a month has nearly killed her. She’s wanted to tell him, wanted to let him know that she feels about him the way that she knows he feels about her, but that little niggling fear of it all going to shit has held her back.

Emma’s a coward, and love freaks her out so that she can barely breathe.

Right now, she’s thinking breathing might be overrated.

“I love you.”

Killian’s shoulder’s tense, muscles visibly moving, and while Emma’s heart pounds, she watches his shoulders fall and his posture relax. He’s still looking out at the ocean. Maybe he didn’t hear her. Maybe that was all an illusion.

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

But then he’s turning around and smiling at her. It’s the soft smile, the one that’s just for her.

Mine, she thinks.

“Did you mean to say that out loud, or should I pretend I didn’t hear it?”

Stupid man. He’s ridiculous. Only he would actually ask her that.

But she loves him. And it’s not terrifying…unless he doesn’t say it back soon.

Please say it back soon.

“I meant to say it.”

His smile stays the same as he walks closer to her, taking her coffee out of her hands and placing it on the table in front of them. He leans into her and presses his lips to her neck, leaving warm, lazy kisses in all of the spots that send shivers down her spine.

“I love you, Emma Swan,” he whispers, teeth grazing her ear. She may melt. She doesn’t care how cheesy that sounds. It’s true. “You are magnificent.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.”

“Please, I’m fucking amazing.”

Emma’s laugh carries through the house and all the way up to the bedroom where they spend the rest of the day.

-/-

“Who is that?”

“Hmm?”

“Who is that?” Emma repeats, discreetly pointing toward the petite blonde woman sitting on the other side of the teacher’s lounge.

Killian looks up from his lesson plans he’s been studying all week, as if he hasn’t been teaching the same formulas and math drills and whatever else it is he teaches (math is not her thing) for the past nine years, and adjusts his glasses.

“Oh, that’s Tink Bell.”

“That is not a real name.”

“It’s what it said in the email sent to the arithmetic apartment about our new member of the faculty.”

“Oh, so she’s a teacher?”

“Aye, love.”

“Have you met her?”

“At our department meeting yesterday.” He leans over and presses his lips to her cheek, and it’s been weeks since they were at the beach but he still smells like salt. “I need to work on these lessons. Something isn’t clicking, and I want it to be perfect for when the school starts. Can I meet you at your apartment for lunch?”

“I’m eating lunch with Mary Margaret. You can come with us if you want.”

“I think I’ll let you girls catch up, but I’ll see you at dinner.”

“Sounds good, babe.”

-/-

As with the beginning of every new school year, the first day is pretty much pointless. All of the students are back together from spending the summer with their parents or on vacation and living in a world with internet access wherever they go. It’s an adjustment for them, especially since they feel the need to catch up on all of the latest news (gossip) while crammed together in classrooms instead of in their dorms at night, and Emma has almost zero control trying to go over the syllabus.

And, of course, the returning students want to know if she and Killian are still dating.

Yes, she tells them, trying not to smile.

And no, she won’t say anything more than that. Killian won’t either.

As the weeks go by and school fully gets into a steady rhythm, Emma is able to keep her students in check and actually work through her lesson plans. There’s the ever-present rumble of gossip and questions, and Emma can’t go a day without having a teenager ask her about her romantic relationships. But it’s fine and normal (at least for her), and as tired as Emma is some days, it’s good to be back.

It’s great to be back.

She loves this job and this place even with all of its quirks.

What she doesn’t love is how little time she and Killian are getting to spend with each other.

Their dorm nights never match up, so if Killian is the supervisor for his dorm on Monday through Wednesday, Emma is the supervisor Thursday through Saturday. They’ve tried to get it changed, but their headmaster has informed them that he won’t be changing their schedules simply because the two of them are dating.

Asshole.

Mary Margaret and David have matching schedules, and no one complained about that.

But it is what it is, and they deal with it. They mostly deal with it in trying to eat at least one meal together a day and making sure to text while in the dorms. Sometimes they have time to find their secret spot with a view of the campus, but those visits are few and far between. It’s different and not what they want, but Emma is happy. She’s happy, and she’ll do what she can to stay that way. Killian’s been her friend for years, and none of that is going to change.

She’d simply like to have a few more opportunities to make out with him.

That would be more than nice.

Emma sees him often walking across the courtyard with Tink Bell, the two of them chatting away.

Good. Killian deserves to have friends who he can geek out about math with. She likes that for him.

What she doesn’t like is when the rumors start.

It starts small. There’s a whisper of Killian and Tink eating dinner together in town. It’s nothing. Emma knows they were both in-town weekend chaperones that week, and they’re friends. Friends get dinner.

But then there’s the two of them eating lunch together on campus on the days that Emma has a different lunch break than Killian and the talk of both of them happening to run at the same time in the mornings. Killian runs at a ridiculous hour, usually when the sun hasn’t risen, and Emma can’t understand why anyone else would want to be up that early to run.

Never in a million years.

Tink Bell likes to get up early to go running.

The rumors may start small, a whisper here and there, but then they spread like a wild fire until Emma is wrapped in a blazing inferno.

And it’s ridiculous because Emma doesn’t listen to rumors at this school. She doesn’t. They’re inane and often untrue, and she has other, better things to do with her time. It’s also ridiculous because she knows that Killian loves her. Their schedules might not match up well, but when they do spend time together, it’s the same laughter filling the room every single time.

They’re fine. They’re good. They’re great.

But Neal.

She had loved Neal too, and Neal had said that he loved her.

But the revolving women coming in and out of his bed told her otherwise.

That’s not…she’s not…trusting again after being cheated on isn’t easy, and Emma hates herself for being this way. She does. Because Killian has been her friend for years, and he has never done anything to hurt her. Not on purpose. Her heart aching over him not knowing about her feelings for him was all on her. That wasn’t on him.

This isn’t either.

It doesn’t help her from thinking all of these insane thoughts.

It certainly doesn’t help keep her from blurting out all of her thoughts and feelings and years old scars of Neal to Killian in the middle of one of the rare moments of them spending time together. She wasn’t going to say anything. She really wasn’t, but apparently some of the students have been rude to Tink because they think she’s trying to get between Emma and Killian and they just can’t have that.

None of this is okay.

“What would possibly make you think that I’m like him?” Killian asks after Emma pretty much word vomits all of the feelings she’s been having for the past month.

“I don’t.”

“You obviously do or else we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“That is not fair.”

“Hell, Emma,” Killian huffs before threading his fingers into his hair and then running his hands down her face. She feels sick. “I don’t know what you want me to say. You’ve dumped a hell of a lot of information on me, and all I want to do is punch that absolute ass in the face. I want to hurt him for what he did to you, and I want to hurt him for making you not trust me.”

“You think that’s what this is about? That I don’t trust you?”

“Is that not what this is about?”

“Of course I trust you!”

“Then why are you pulling away from me? Why are you saying all of this and getting it into your head that these fucking ridiculous rumors are true?”

“Because everyone I’ve ever been with has left me,” she breathes out, her heart heavy and voice cracking. “No one has ever stayed. They’ve all left, and I don’t know what I’d do if you left me. I don’t…every single person in this place would know and would look at me strangely, and I’d be this shell of a person acting like I was okay when I’m not.”

“Emma,” Killian whispers. Her name is so quiet that it gets tugged away with the air. That’s impossible for so many reasons, and Emma has no idea when in the world Killian stepped so close to her. “I don’t intend to let you down.”

“I know.”

Because deep down, she does know.

His lips curve into a half-smile as he reaches forward and tucks her hair behind her ears. “Nothing is ever going to go on between me and Tink. Nothing has, and I know you know that. I know that you let the gossip get to you and that your mind ran wild with thoughts. You’re not crazy for thinking them. You’re human.”

“I feel like an idiot.”

“You’re not.”

Emma huffs and leans forward into Killian, collapsing into his arms and the undeniable warmth of him. She could stay here forever. Maybe she wants to. “I’m sorry. I just – do you want to forget this ever happened and order a ridiculously expensive takeout dinner?”

“I have ingredients for pasta. Why don’t I cook for you? I’ve missed you these past few days, and I’d love to hear about how your first round of exams went.”

She pulls back and looks up to Killian while still holding onto his back. “Only a fellow teacher would care enough to ask me about the first round of exams.”

“Darling, if I did the weather for the local television station, I’d still ask you about the first round of exams.”

“That’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.”

Killian tilts his head back with laughter before dipping his head forward and brushing his lips over her forehead. Her heart is fluttering in that good way again. “If you want, later we can change into our pajamas and talk over next month’s lesson plans.”

“You are talking dirty to me right now.”

“Good,” Killian mumbles, gently pressing his lips to hers. He’s soft and pliant, and she melts into him. “And if that really gets you in the mood, we can even catch up on our Netflix queue later while eating pop-tarts I have hidden away in the cupboard for you.”

“Have I ever told you that I loved you?”

“Aye, but I wouldn’t mind hearing it more often.”

She presses a kiss against his jaw. “I love you.”

“Damn right you do,” Killian teases before squeezing her ass and pulling back from her to walk backward into his kitchen. “And don’t you forget it.”

Ass.

He’s an such an asshole. Who she loves. Like, a stupid amount.

This entire month has had her all out of sorts, and she’s ready to be back on track.

That starts with sitting their students down and telling them that harassing Ms. Bell is never okay. It doesn’t matter that they were doing it out of wanting Emma and Killian to be together. It’s not appropriate or their business.

No, they’re not breaking up, they tell the students.

Yes, we’re still together.

Mr. Jones and Ms. Bell are just friends.

Ms. Bell and Ms. Swan are also friends.

Just because you hear something doesn’t make it true.

It’s weird and not something Emma ever wants to do again, but when it’s over, she’s relieved.

She feels better actually talking to Tink and getting to know her too.

-/-

“I’d like to live off campus one day.”

“Yeah?” Killian asks, tapping his foot against hers as they sit in their secret spot in the fine arts building and watch January snow fall past the windows, a few flakes sticking against the glass.

“I mean, yeah. If you live off campus, they put your housing here into your paycheck, and you get more privacy. Plus, bigger spaces. Can you imagine having a normal apartment or house like an actual adult and not being someone who’s pretty much living out high school again?”

“Why don’t…we could go look for a place, Swan, if you want.”

Emma arches a brow. “Are you asking me to move in with you?”

“I’m asking if you want to move in together.”

Emma almost chokes on her food, but she manages not to, only a slight cough to keep breathing. “Are you serious?”

“As I can be. We don’t have to, of course, but I do happen to know how much you enjoy sharing a bed with me.”

His brows move up and down his forehead, and Emma’s laugh rumbles through her. “We wouldn’t have to do dorm duty, so that’s sounding like a good idea.”

“Really? Not having to do dorm duty is what’s enticing you to move in with me?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

Killian’s laugh is on his lips when he kisses her.

-/-

They go house hunting in Storybrooke three weeks later.

The first house is a lovely three-story Victorian, but they’re teachers, not doctors, and they can’t afford it. Maybe one day.

The second is smaller than the dorms at the school, and Emma would rather live at the school with no privacy than in an apartment that’s the size of a toddler’s shoebox.

The third is a nice loft apartment, but the bathroom not having a door bothers Killian too much.

“You have to afford a man a little privacy sometimes, Swan.”

The fourth, however, is perfect.

It’s a two-bedroom apartment five minutes from the beach, which Killian loves. The kitchen is pretty much all white with clean lines, which Emma loves even though she probably still won’t cook, and the closet and bathroom are big enough that they won’t get into fights over having enough space.

Hopefully.

“I love it,” Killian says, bringing their joined hands up so he can press his lips there. “What do you think?”

“It’s so much better than our apartments.”

“Aye,” Killian laughs, smiling down at her in the way that makes her heart pound and her lips stretch into the biggest smile.

-/-

They sign the papers for the apartment that day even if they can’t move in until June.

-/-

“Where the hell are we going?”

“Language, darling.”

“You literally use the word ‘fuck’ like it’s my name. I don’t think you can talk to me about language.”

“I’m British. We’re not as uptight about cursing as you Americans are.”

“You say that like you don’t live and work in America and aren’t dating an American.”

“Ah, well, we all make sacrifices.”

“Shut up,” Emma laughs, pushing into his shoulder as they keep walking through downtown Storybrooke in the opposite direction of the car that can take them back to the school. “Seriously, babe, where are we going. It’s February, and I’m wearing a dress. I’m freezing.”

Killian stops walking and shrugs off his coat to put over her shoulders. She’s got a jacket, but it’s not doing anything for her legs. She doesn’t think Killian’s coat is going to do anything but have him freeze to death too.

“Thank you,” she says anyways, tightly tugging it around her before wrapping her arm around his back and rubbing her hand up and down. “Now will you please tell me where we’re going? We had dinner, and we should go home and curl up under the blankets and have another glass of wine.”

“Five minutes, Swan. Give me five more minutes, and then I promise we can go home and get ready for bed like the elderly people we are.”

“Five minutes. No more. No less.”

By the time five minutes have passed, Emma’s toes and fingers are frozen, and the whipping of the wind near the sea isn’t helping warm her up. It’s doing the exact opposite, and she’s going to murder Killian on their first night living together.

That’s got to be some kind of record.

“You lied to me, Jones,” Emma mutters as her teeth clank together. “You’re a big, fat liar.”

“You were walking much slower than I thought you would.”

“These are tall heels.”

His brows wiggle while his lips curl into that damn devilish smirk. “Don’t I know it?”

Emma huffs, her breath coming out in white puffs in the night air, and she has to resist rolling her eyes. “So can we go home now?”

“Give me two minutes.”“I don’t trust you anymore.”

“I know.” His hand moves down her back until it’s caressing her arm, from elbow to wrist. Little bumps pop up over her skin, and they’re not from the cold. “Emma Swan, my love, I know you’re freezing and hate me and probably desperately want to go home and take your bra off.”

“I do.”

Killian chuckles and leans forward to brush his icy lips to her nose. “And we will do that as soon as possible if you could do me a favor and hand me the box in the right pocket of my jacket.”

Emma’s an actual idiot because she hands Killian the palm-sized red velvet box without realizing what she’s handing him. The asshole knows she didn’t figure it out too because as he kneels to the ground, he can’t stop snickering underneath his breath.

“Darling,” Killian starts at the same time as Emma’s heart wells up in her chest, “you are the kindest, wittiest, most caring, and most compassionate person I know. You may not believe those things about yourself, but I think they’re true. I’d like for you to give me a chance to prove that to you every day, and I’d like to do it as your husband. So, what do you say, Swan? Will you marry me?”

She almost makes a joke about only marrying him if he can get her out of the cold, but she figures now isn’t the time for jokes when the man who she loves and thinks all of those wonderful things about is asking her to marry him despite the fact that she is always a mess.

“Yes, Killian, of course I’ll marry you.”

His little, joyful laugh makes Emma chuckle as he slides the diamond ring onto her finger before she helps to pull him up to her height so that she can wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him. He tastes like the damn fish he had at dinner, but she doesn’t care.

She doesn’t care about anything except the two of them and the happiness that is spreading across her body and permanently inking itself into her skin.

“I love you,” she whispers between kisses, her teeth hitting his in her joy.

She can’t seem to stop smiling. Killian can’t either.

“I love you,” he repeats back. “More than anything. Do you think you’d like to go inside now?”

“I think I’m good staying here for just a few more moments.”

“Yeah,” Killian says before resoundingly kissing her again, “me too.”

-/-

They don’t leave her apartment the entire weekend.

But they do unfortunately have work, and as Killian walks her to her classroom Monday morning as he always does, Emma turns to ask him if she should take off the ring since they haven’t told anyone yet.

“Nah, keep it on. I think it’ll be okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Aye.”

He nods his head toward her classroom, and through the window Emma can see a large banner that reads “Congratulations Mr. Jones and Ms. Swan!”

“How the hell do they know everything?” Emma laughs, her cheeks flaming red. “Seriously.”

“Well, love, I think this one might be on me. Right after I proposed, I saw Caroline Abbot and a few of her friends walking by us. I believe they must have seen the entire thing and reported it back to the school.”

All Emma can do is laugh and be thankful that they are getting their own place now…even if the gossip seems to reach them there too.

It doesn’t matter because she’s happy.

And she loves this stupid school.

(But she’s thrilled to actually get her…their own place in June.)

-/-

Tagging people who enjoyed the first part: @shireness-says @resident-of-storybrooke @nikkiemms @tiganasummertree @jennjenn615 @lfh1226-linda @jonirobinson64 @kmomof4 @singersdd @spartanguard @jamif @twopulse @notoriouscs @mayquita @captswanis4vr @shardminds @stahlop @shady-swan-jones @hooksmoak @397bartonstreet @eleveneitherway @mariakov81 @snowbellewells @ultraluckycatnd @galaxyzxstark @captainsjedi @teamhook @stunningswan @karenfrommisthaven @a-faekindagirl @odonowest @xemmaloveskillianx @blowmiakisscolin @thejollyroger-writer @ekr032-blog-blog @superchocovian @onceuponaprincessworld @andiirivera

#what would we do without internet #cs fic #cs ff #captain swan ff #captain swan fic #captain swan fanfic #captain swan

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angryfiregardener · 4 years ago

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Career Outcomes of PGDM in Media and Communication

Let’s begin with a question that you’ve probably heard more than once in your lifetime, “Where do you see yourself five years down the line?” Each time this question arises, your mind and a search on google can bring about a plethora of options and ideas to make your career better and powerful. But all of these answers won’t make any sense if they don’t match your interests. Growing up, things gradually change. By the time you are a fully grown person who is ready to take all the responsibilities with passion in your eyes and mind, your vision and goal may or may not match with the ones you had when you were a child. So have you ever planned a maneuver to escape from such a dilemma? Or have you ever narrowed down your list of interests of what you want to become? By all these questions we don’t mean to make you anxious or worried because we have got you covered. If you haven’t figured out by now about what you want to invest your energy, time, and money in, we have got Career Counsellors in our institution who would proffer a virtual career guiding path, if you desire to build your career in the demanding media and communication industry.

Students and learners who are intrigued by the Media and Communication Industry appear to be at the right address since our institution offers a transformational PGDM course in Media and Communication. The PGDM in Media and Communication approved by AICTE is a far-reaching course in the field of Media Management and circumscribes training towards various sectors of the media industry including television, print, digital media, radio, films, live events, sports, out of home, and music. This program is designed like any other MBA in Media Management Program but it is structured in a way as to mold students to master managerial characters of media and communication with professionals as well as functional knowledge of all the regions involved in this field. The kingpin of this program is to make students learn and understand the refinement of the media & advertising industry and all its latest updates. The program investigates and teaches about every detail of each field and imparts knowledge on how deep correlation exists between content creation and associated media business.The PGDM course at DGMC centers on providing a notional understanding of general management principles and their practical application, crucial knowledge, and managerial skills in the media and communication industry. To understand the consumption of media in rural, as well as urban sectors and global media perspective and ways of management. DGMC’s analytics for PGDM states that equal importance should be given to Concepts, Applications, and Learnings. It focuses on clearing and covering the fundamental concepts of media and management. It assigns projects and assignments to students to enhance their skills in implementing in the areas of Media and Communications with the use of technology to make them employable ready. To cover additional aspects of life other than academics, students are trained with extra activities which include developing a sense of responsibility and sensitizing them towards being responsible citizens to serve society. At DGMC, the PGDM course in Media and Communication offers three main specializations, Branding and Advertising, Media and Entertainment, and Sports Management, each of which illuminates the minute detailing of their respective fields and industries. We consider keeping a holistic view for all the specializations to help polish our students to step out in the real world and go great guns in their careers and fields of interest.We aim to make our students capable of getting a job and retaining it as well. We make sure that knowledge is imparted not just for the sake of passing exams but to master and be conscious of the existence in the physical world. Let us now commence with the specializations and the career outcomes they produce. The first in the queue is Branding and Advertising.

Branding

A strong brand creates a positive association between consumers and a business, product, or service. Proper and high-toned branding is important because it helps the public remember a company and its products and feel good about using them. The elements used to create a brand can include name, logo, tagline, color, music or jingle, and the message or feelings that the company wishes to associate with itself. To pay attention and work on these tiny details concerning the branding of the product is exactly what is taught at this particular course of MBA in Branding.

Career outcomes in Branding.

This course guides you through the intricacies of branding of the company which will result in you mastering the knowledge of branding and becoming a Brand Strategist, Product Manager, Brand Manager, Brand Marketing Specialist, Brand Marketing Representative, Brand Marketing Manager, Brand Activation Manager, and many other options that you have dreamt of becoming with the help of this field.

Advertising

Advertising is related to conveying the brand message by telling a story. Generally, this involves presenting sympathetic characters that encounter a problem that can be fixed or solved with the product or service offered by the company. Good advertising includes a clear brand message and may also include a direct call to action. Because so many companies, political campaigns, and nonprofits currently use advertising, your ad must attempt to stand out from the crowd by being unique, powerful, and uncomplicated.

Career outcomes in Advertising

All of the above requires a team of Creative Assistant, Creative Director, Media Director, Media Planner, Media Researcher, Copywriter, Advertising Director, Account Coordinator, Account Executive, Advertising Manager, Art Director and so many other elements involved to make a successful advertisement. Pick your role and become anything you want at DGMC the media college in Mumbai offering MBA in Media and Communication.

Media and Entertainment

Next in line of specializations at DGMC, the top journalism college in Mumbai is MBA in Media and Entertainment. The Media and Entertainment industry, majorly, comprises film, television, print, and radio. These segments include movies, news, TV shows, newspapers, radio shows, magazines, and books. With the advent of the Internet and the growth of digital content, we can now access media and entertainment 24×7 through Smartphones, computers, tablets, custom mobile apps, etc.And for someone keen in this ever-evolving world of media and entertainment PGDM in Media and Entertainment is the right prospect to outgrow their existing talents and creative ideas in the matter of filmmaking, writing, shooting, directing, or producing. Through assignments and practical application of the themes taught helps gain experience on the field for the students.

Career outcomes in Media and Entertainment

Even to make a short ad it takes a huge team and workforce, now imagine making a whole movie. The major roles required to work behind making a movie successful are Director, Produce, Technical Writer, Film/Video Editor, Sound Engineer, Video Producer, Cameraman. These are the major roles we’re talking about, there are hundreds of other roles that are necessary and required to complete a movie. There are many famous companies like Alt Balaji, BBC Production, Sony Pix who proffer placements to our students which provides real-world exposure in this field.

Sports Management

The country recently witnessed the glory and glam of the most-awaited game, IPL and as much as we enjoy watching it, we must realize the work, efforts, and professionalism that goes behind holding the attention of crores of people. Have you ever wondered how the teams are managed or how to deal with sponsors, public relations, fraudulent cases? It is a very gripping and interesting course to learn and become an expert in this field. And how? With the help of PGDM Courses in Sports Management at DGMC in Mumbai.

Career outcomes in Sports Management

Here we make another claim. We claim that you’re curious about knowing the career opportunities in Sports Management, don’t worry we have answers to all your questions. Team Coordinator, Public Relations Manager, Marketing Coordinator, Fraud Manager, Athletic Development Specialist, Event Coordinator, Contract Administrator, Business Development Coordinator are a few of the professions under sports management which you can become with proper training at DGMC. So these were the courses DGMC offers and the career outcomes of pursuing these courses from top to bottom. We hope this helped in narrowing down your area of interest and saved you from the situation of dilemma you were stuck in.

#bestcollegeinmumbai

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thecostumevaultblog · 5 years ago

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I was tagged by the absolutely lovely @petegoestotown

Rules: answer 10 questions, tag 10 people and make another 10 questions.

⭐️My Questions⭐️

1. Favourite album?

Like, it changes every half a year. I get obsessed easily… Right now it’s Harry Styles’ Fine Line, but I’ve also been absolutely obsessed with Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors, and Green Day’s American Idiot. I’m very eclectic in my taste…and a bit ashamed of the fact, to be honest.

2. Who were you in a past life?

I like to think I was Elisabeth of Austria (Sissi). You know the type, glamorous, rich and miserable. But, knowing my luck, I probably was just a fisherman’s wife who died of malnourishment and bad medical care during the delivery of her fifth child or something like that.

3. Airdrumming or airguitar?

Definitely airdrumming. I’m traumatized with guitar playing… and that’s a way too long story for today.

4. Where would you travel in time if you could?

Realistically, back to 2012 and go through collage again. Those were fun times.

But for funsies sake, Spain in the 1550’s just because I love the women’s fashion and England in the 1880’s for pretty much the same reason.

Big gowns are literally the only reason anyone would persuade me to go back in time. I’m pretty sure that at whatever point I went back I would end up either being burned at the stake for heresy, hanged for witchcraft or sent to an asylum for “hysteria”. I’ve never been a lucky gal.

5. Do you play a sport? Which?

Satan, get away from me! I hate all and any sports and have made a life goal never to play one.

6. What weird food combinations do you enjoy?

I don’t have any… I think. I’m pretty vanilla with my food choices. The only thing I seem to love that all non-mediterraneans I’ve meet seem to think it’s disgusting is olives. But that’s not a food combination.

7. Do you think aliens exist?

Yes, probably. But I doubt they're even remotely similar to humans. They are probably bacteria or something like that.

8. Who’s your favourite stand up comedian?

I don’t really have a favourite, because I don’t watch much stand up comedy, but I loved the bits I saw Trevor Noah do.

9. What movie or book do you know the most quotes from?

Anything by Shakespeare. I am shit at remembering book quotes. But my memory is not so bad with film. So, also Lord of the Rings, Cyrano de Bergerac and anything from the Disney Animation Studio.

10. How old were you when you had your first celebrity crush and who was it?

I was about 9, and it was Orlando Bloom. I promise it was all very innocent and pure... I was really young. *So embarrassing*

my questions ~

1. what would you put into your own created salad?

Oh, I do this all the time. I love this salad: lentils, tuna fish, olives, sweet corn, cherry tomatoes, grated celery, grated beet, crab sticks and mozzarella. It’s amazing!

2. what would your call your garage band?

Loudly Whispers

3. which planet has the prettiest name in your opinion (in our solar system)?

Mercury. Don’t know why…

4. night mode or day mode on your phone?

Day mode! Night mode makes the screen look too green for me. It’s too much like the Matrix!

5. what was your fav childhood series?

It was an animated show called “Papyrus”. It was a French production, but it got translated to a bunch of different languages and I used to watch it in Catalan on TV. I just loved Ancient Egypt growing up…

6. what was the worst book you ever read voluntary?

50 Shades of Grey. Before you lose all respect for me… it wasn’t exactly voluntary… My aunt gave it to me as a present because “you said you like to read!” and I thought that it would be nice actually reading the book and be able to criticize it knowing the full extend of the thing.

7. if you could only ever eat fish or meat, what would you choose? (if youre a vegetarian:high five)

I couldn’t be a vegetarian… I would say fish.

8. if someone gave you a DVD with all the times people talked about you behind your back, would you watch it?

Oh dear! Oh dear! Don’t do this to me. I would throw it away only to get drunk thinking about what must be in there and proceed to fish it out and cry-watch it while intoxicated. And then be depressed and hating myself for watching it for a month.

9. pen or pencil?

Pen

10. whos your fav tumblr blogs? send them a nice message!

@tourdeforced, @tallulalusa, @thehowlingghost, @petegoestotown, @23-tiny-wishes, @kitty-rushes-in, @elleisforlovee, @vendelaberglin, @nails-n-glam, @weloveperioddrama, @lalilaloli, @pristina-nomine

I adore all of you and make me smile every-time you post! <3

my questions:

1. did a book or movie change your life or majorly shifted your views on a topic?

Not so much changed my life or my mind on anything… but I was really shaken after watching the James Baldwin documentary I Am Not Your Negro. Like, it showed me nothing new or nothing that I didn’t think already, but it phrased it in such a poetic and yet poignant way that it absolutely shook me to my core.

2. you’re allowed to dress in the style of one youth culture only for the rest of your life, which one do you choose?

The depressed Goth… I wanted so bad to be Goth, but my mum wouldn’t let me buy the pertinent clothing to achieve it.

3. what type of gifts do you love to receive?

I’m so picky with gifts… because my taste is so niche and I’m obsessive with the most obscure things that people sort of tend to miss the mark. Still, with that in mind, I love to receive films and books as gifts, because even if it’s not about whatever topic I’m currently fixated on, there’s always something of interest in them.

I hate being gifted knick-knacks, I want thinks that allow me to find something in them.

4. do you know your MBTI type?

MBTI? What is that? Well, I guess that definitely answers your question.

5. would you like to have dinner with a time Traveller from the future or with your favourite author?

Favourite author. I don’t want to be told how humanity ends.

6. would you run your country for a year?

Nop. Not a chance. I would be terrified of being unable to fix the things I think need to change. And I’m terrified of messing up.

7. which piece of art would you like to own?

Shit. Every single one of them?

If I had to choose one, though, it would be Velázquez’s Las Meninas. Such a shame it wouldn’t fit my apartment.

8. do you have pet peeves?

There’s people who don’t? I hate when people bend the page on a book to mark it. I hate when people invite themselves to my house. I hate when people leave things out of their proper place… and many, many more.

9. which fictional character is a lot like you?

I don’t really know…mmm… I’ve been told Monica, from Friends. I’ve been told a lot I look like Leia… But I would say, Alma from The Phantom Thread if she used sass and self-depreciating humor to hide her vulnerability. Don’t really know what that says about me…

10. a quote you’d like to share:

“I will no longer mutilate and destroy myself in order to find a secret behind the ruins.” Herman Hesse

💖 MY QUESTIONS 💖

1. What’s your favourite thing to do alone?

2. What’s the thing you always carry in your purse?

3. A book or a film that stayed with you long after you finished it?

4. Have you ever gone to the movies and payed to watch a film you knew wasn’t worth it?

5. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

6. What’s the one food you can’t live without?

7. Period dramas. Yay or Nay

8. What thing in your daily routine would you pay not to have to do?

9. What was the one thing you had to cancel due to the Covid Crisis that made you want to throw a tantrum?

10. What language would you like to learn?

@petegoestotown this was FUN! Thanks! I’m currently very bored and this is the perfect entertainment! Lots of love and don’t stop tagging me!

Now, the part that makes me sort of uncomfortable… I tag the usual people @tourdeforced, @tallulalusa, @thehowlingghost, @23-tiny-wishes, @kitty-rushes-in, @elleisforlovee, @vendelaberglin, @nails-n-glam, @weloveperioddrama, @lalilaloli, @pristina-nomine, please feel free to ignore me if I’m tiresome. Also, everyone else who wants to participate!

#tag game

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kcaruth · 5 years ago

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Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Review

Before the dark times, before the mouse empire, LucasArts published several fun, memorable Star Wars video games, from Star Wars: Bounty Hunter to The Force Unleashed series. After Disney’s acquisition of LucasArts in 2012, the Mouse House stopped all internal developments at LucasArts and laid off most of its staff in 2013. Signaling its turn to the dark side, Disney awarded EA (voted worst company in America multiple times) a multi-year license to create Star Wars video games.

EA rebooted the Star Wars Battlefront series (2005′s Star Wars: Battlefront II has to be one of my most played video games) and released the new Star Wars Battlefront in November 2015. Critics acknowledged the game’s great graphics and visuals, but it quickly became apparent that the game lacked content. The hero and villain rosters were very limited, and the game only included content from the original trilogy, not the prequels.

Then came EA’s disastrous Star Wars Battlefront II, the repercussions of which shook the gaming world. Released in November 2017, Battlefront II had some promise. It was the first game since the Disney takeover to feature a single-player story mode that was canon to the film series. The game also contained content from the prequel, original, and sequel trilogies. Additionally, EA greatly expanded the hero and villain rosters. However, EA showed it true colors with the game’s loot boxes, which could award players significant gameplay advantages if they purchased them with real money. Essentially, the game turned into a pay to win system, thereby making players who did not purchase loot boxes feel so disadvantaged that Battlefront II virtually became pay to play.

Although Visceral Games, the studio behind the Dead Space series, was developing a single-player Star Wars game, even getting to the point in the development process where they could tease everyone with in-game footage, EA canceled the game and shut down the studio. Not counting the Lego Star Wars games and mobile games, EA’s Battlefront games were the only new Stars Wars video games on the market, an astonishing reality compared to the rate at which LucasArts used to produce games for the franchise.

Eventually, EA finally came to its senses and assigned a single-player action-adventure Star Wars game to Respawn Entertainment, the studio behind the Titanfall series. Former Santa Monica Studio employee Stig Asmussen served as game director, and heavy-hitting talent like writer Chris Avellone, perhaps best known for his work on Fallout: New Vegas, joined the project. Finally, Respawn released Jedi: Fallen Order in November 2019 to much critical acclaim.

Now, with that long-winded background introduction establishing the recent state of Star Wars video gaming out of the way, let’s get into the real reason why everyone is here. What did I think of Jedi: Fallen Order? I am usually well behind on newer video game releases, but our current state of affairs with the global pandemic has afforded me a bit more time to dust off my controller. Having just beaten Fallen Order earlier this week, I have plenty to say about the game. (I even made a pros and cons list! Can you tell I have also been spending my time watching the misadventures of Leslie Knope and company in Parks and Rec?)

At its core, Star Wars is about family, friendship, and good versus evil, so let’s start by talking about this game’s characters and plot. (Don’t worry; I won’t spoil anything from the story.) Fallen Order nails the spirit of Star Wars. Set five years after Revenge of the Sith, players control Cal Kestis, a Padawan forced to keep a low profile after the Jedi Purge. Cal lives on the planet Bracca, where he works as a scrapper salvaging ships from the Clone Wars. Kudos to the game here. I stopped a couple of times just to admire the visuals of Bracca. It was definitely a “wow moment” seeing TIE fighters shriek by overhead and watching a Separatist ship descend from the atmosphere. One day, Cal taps into the Force for the first time since Emperor Palpatine’s Order 66 to save a friend from certain death from a workplace accident. Unfortunately, an Imperial probe droid records the incident, alerting the Empire of a Jedi fugitive. Two Inquisitors quickly arrive on the scene to track down the Jedi. Introduced in the animated series Star Wars Rebels, the menacing Inquisitors are an evil organization of Force-sensitive beings, some of them former Jedi, who have been tortured and turned to the dark side by Darth Vader and the Empire or otherwise willingly joined the organization out of hunger for power. They are tasked with hunting down surviving Jedi in hiding and others exhibiting Force potential. Somehow, Cal has survived this long even though he still carries around his lightsaber with him everywhere! When the Inquisitors corner him, he literally just pulls it out of his pocket! How has no one ever noticed it before? Did none of the Imperial probe droids floating around the planet ever take a snapshot of the weapon? Plot holes aside, two new characters, Greez and Cere, rescue Cal from certain doom at the hands of the Second and Ninth Sisters and ferry him off world.

Cere is a former Jedi who held the role of Seeker in the Order. A Seeker located infants with Force abilities who could be taken to Coruscant and trained in the Jedi arts (think the good version of the Inquisitors). Greez is a starship pilot with a bad gambling habit, a green thumb, and an insatiable appetite. Cal finds a small droid named BD-1, who reveals a message from Jedi Master Eno Cordova, detailing the existence of a hidden Jedi Holocron containing a list of Force-sensitive children across the galaxy. In the wrong hands, this list could lead to the children’s demise. Cal and Cere want to use the list to rebuild the Jedi Order. Thus begins the race between the Empire and our crew of ragtag misfits to secure the Holocron.

Overall, the story is good, great even for recent Star Wars standards. It fits the Star Wars cannon very well, and I loved the nods to the Clone Wars, mentions of obscure characters, and the foreshadowing of future events. Some moments elicit chuckles from the appropriate Star Wars humor, while others go to some truly dark places. The way the game tackles Order 66 earns it extremely high marks from me. The developers need to be applauded for bringing in new and relatively unknown planets that we have not really had the chance to explore before. There is no Hoth, Jakuu, or the like to be seen here, thankfully. Star Wars is a big galaxy; it is about time we saw different parts of it. We have spent more than enough time on Tatooine. The planets we do visit feel alive. Each one has a different color palette, climate, weather pattern (although the developers may have been a little heavy-handed on the fog in a few of the locations), and, of course, flora and fauna.

Cal fights everything from annoying rat creatures to ram-like slugs, from giant venus fly traps to trampoline spring-plants. Players can even collect plant specimens on different planets and plant them in Greez’s terrarium, which was a nice little way to take a piece of each planet with you on your journey. Oh, and the spiders. Cal has to kill tons and tons of spiders. Again, this is Star Wars! There is a whole galaxy at your disposal full of creatures that look like whatever your imagination can dream up, and the best we get is different species of spiders? That is probably nitpicking, but it felt like it was worth pointing out.

When it comes to the Empire, however, the variety is fantastic. Of course, the run-of-the-mill standard stormtroopers are here, but there are also variations like shock baton-wielding scout troopers, flame troopers, and the dangerous Purge troopers, essentially the special forces of the Inquisitors. The chatter between the troopers is great. Before they spot him, Cal can overhear them talking about their notorious accuracy, the planet’s hostile wildlife, or even mundane topics like food rations. Once Cal starts fighting them, they often taunt him, full of confidence in their abilities, but then they come to the realization that they are facing off against a Jedi. The confidence in their voices gradually turns to panicked fear as Cal slices through their numbers. By the time Cal gets to the last trooper standing, that trooper will regularly plead for his life or confess how scared he is. Every once in a while, the Empire will even throw AT-ST walkers at Cal, which are a fun enough challenge, though the strategy to defeat them becomes clear within a minute or two, and players are never forced to change up their tactics. I do love that after Cal destroys the walker, the trooper will crawl out of the wreckage and start shooting at him. Nice touch!

With all that said, the story is not perfect. In fact, once or twice it just feels dumb. For example, Cal goes on this grand mission seeking out an important leader in hiding, and when he finally encounters him, they exchange maybe one full sentence before the leader gifts Cal a rebreather so that he can swim underwater. You are telling me I conquered various obstacles and enemies, traversing across multiple planets all to get...a rebreather? This whole section could have been cut out and streamlined so that the storyline goes directly to the main setpiece of this planet I am talking about. Have one of Cal’s crewmates give him a rebreather and send him on his way instead. Regardless, at least the back and forth traversal gives players another chance to board the ship, ascend from the planet, and blast off into hyperspace. Seeing that never got old.

Respawn and its writers did a great job with these characters, including one of the Inquisitors (the other one is just kind of...meh). I enjoyed getting to know my crew, but I wish they had a little more to do in the game. In reality, they just stay on the ship 95 percent of the time while you are out running around on your mission (not that I entirely blame them...it is a cool ship). The conversations between these characters were usually good, but sometimes Cal would not mention huge, seemingly significant events or people he ran into to his crew! For a cinematic franchise like Star Wars, this game could have used a couple more cutscenes. The game often feeds the plot or a character’s mindset to players by making them idly stand near a crewmate and tapping R3 a handful of times to get them to cough up a couple of lines of dialogue.

As is to be expected from a Star Wars product, the game’s music is terrific. Gordy Haab and Stephen Barton composed the score and recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Bach Choir of London. Mongolian folk metal band The Hu also wrote and recorded a song that is featured during a couple of prominent portions of the game. The song lyrics were written in Mongolian and then translated into a fictional Star Wars alien language. The music compliments and elevates the game’s setpieces, with one standout part reminding me of Thor: Ragnarok. A couple of times, the game goes full John Williams to really make some moments hit home, and boy does it work! Hats off to Respawn for putting in this much effort in regards to the music for the game.

Getting into the gameplay, Fallen Order is an amalgamation of several other games. Dark Souls, Zelda, Uncharted, Metroid, Castlevania, Sekiro, heck even Sonic...they are all here in some form or fashion. Unfortunately for Fallen Order, it does not elevate the features it borrows from those games. The biggest reason? The bugs. Oh my goodness the bugs. How can a blockbuster release like this have so many bugs? Maybe it had something to do with EA or Disney wanting to push the final product out before the release of The Rise of Skywalker the next month, but the amount of bugs in this game are simply unacceptable. While none of them led to a complete game crash, I definitely caught myself grumbling, “I hate this game,” with my frustration levels constantly reaching the scorching temperature of Mustafarian lava, especially considering Fallen Order’s inexcusably long load times. Seriously, the load times after dying are so long that I had enough time to run to the bathroom, heat something up in the microwave, or make a cup of tea (to help relax me from this rage-inducing game) before the game finished loading. How can I lift off from a planet and travel through hyperspace faster than the game can respawn me after dying? It is not just dying, by the way. The game developers think they cleverly hid load times behind elevator rides, but that did not work either! At least throw in some elevator music or comm chatter if you are going to make me stand there for so long!

One time, I fell through the level to my death while walking on what was 100 percent solid ground. Speaking of solid ground, or should I say the lack thereof, enemies continued to fight me while clearly hovering in thin air when they should obviously be plummeting to their death. Woe is me if I tried to reach them, though, because my Jedi character must not have that ability, leading to, that is right, more death falls for me as the enemy looked on from his invisible sliver of ground above. If I was lucky enough to have an enemy remain in my relative vicinity and not stand off a ledge, that enemy had a chance of pinning and glitching Cal against a wall, leaving me trapped until I died from the beating. The enemy who kills Cal glows gold until players shave off a piece of that enemies health, which is great, but that means players cannot see that enemy flash red when he uses an unblockable attack. How could Respawn not notice this error when it is such an important component of the combat? For all the aggressive enemies with magical glitching powers, there were also those that would have a change of heart mid-combat and go pacifistic on me. I found this especially common in the later game and on one planet in particular with ranged enemies. They would fire at me, I would block their shot back at them and injure them, and then they would just stand there staring at me. It was really bizarre and made me uneasy turning my back on them to explore the area. I also experienced my health and Force bars completely disappearing from the screen. The first couple of times it happened, I thought it was intentional and meant that Cal could not die for that sequence of the game. Wrong! So much for thinking I was momentarily invincible with unlimited Force powers. This bug was especially crippling during big boss fights, as you can imagine. Respawn throws in some quick time events once in a while where players have to press the correct button in a very short amount of time. For the most part, I did not mind these, but one exception got my blood boiling. Cal is fighting a giant creature and ends up free falling. The game requires Cal to land in a very, very precise spot and pull of a quick time event. I cannot count the number of times I fell to my death during this part because of how finicky the game was being. Cal conveniently stumbles across every single icy or muddy slide in the galaxy during his travels, a way for the game developers to disguise a way to get players from point A to point B quickly, but these slides are also quite particular with when players jump and where they land. Another good portion of my deaths came from Cal not making a jump on one of these slides when he clearly had the distance or him seemingly landing and making the jump only for him to glitch and then fall backwards into a never-ending dark chasm. The game developers may have thought players would enjoy these slides, but I came to dread them.

The worst game bugs by far, however, dealt with frame rates and level textures. Not contained to one section or even one planet, unfortunately, garbage frame rates wreak more havoc across the galaxy than the treacherous Empire. I am telling you the frame rate is absolutely abysmal in this game. I can forgive a drop in frame rate if it happens a couple of times, but it is like it is a built-in gameplay feature of Fallen Order. It was maddening! How can Respawn expect me to properly block or dodge if the game cannot even keep up with my movements or camera adjustments? Texture pop ins and clipping were also recurring issues. One time, I noticed a soldier’s helmet load in late. Another time, a Wookie’s fur took a while to fill up the character model. (By the way, the Wookies in this game look horrendous.) Sometimes, it would get so bad that the game would just pause completely so that it could load in the content of the area. I honestly thought the game had crashed and was about to reboot the console before everything stuttered back into place and Cal got moving again.

I have done a lot of ranting about the game’s flaws the last few paragraphs, so let me get back to some things I did like. The combat works well. I cannot begin to tell you how satisfying and occasionally outright hilarious it is to Force push a trooper off a ledge, especially when he is standing there trying to intimidate you. I had so much fun simply blocking stormtroopers’ laser bolts right back at them. Best of all, I started taking every opportunity I had to pull enemies toward me, especially ones perched up on higher vantage points, and stab them straight through with my lightsaber. The lightsaber boss fights were a highlight of the game. Players feel the weight of every strike and every struggle when the blades cross.

In addition to Cal’s lightsaber, he also has his Force powers at his disposal. He starts out with Force slow and gradually adds other abilities, such as push and pull, as the game progresses. Players may question how Cal, a Jedi, can struggle with a squadron of stormtroopers or the local wildlife, or they may ask why he does not start with all of his Force abilities, but it all makes sense when you consider that Cal has to rebuild his connection to the Force. He has not used it since he was a child, after all. It makes sense that this amateur padawan who did not complete his training runs into a tough time in combat. When Cal does unlock new Force abilities, the game cleverly flashes back to show Cal’s master teaching him that ability during his training before Order 66.

Players can further bolster their Force, survival, and lightsaber abilities through a skill tree. Skill points accumulated from defeating enemies grant players access to increased health, stronger stim potency, increased lightsaber damage, and mass push, to name a few skills. Even later on in the game when most of your Force abilities have been unlocked and Cal has found a couple of fun new gadgets, the game still feels balanced. Cal never feels overpowered like Starkiller in The Force Unleashed games. Even when they are maxed out, his Force push and pull do not appear to have much of an effect on bosses. At most, they will briefly stagger them, whereas when they do it to Cal, he will comically tumble over like Palpatine when Yoda Force pushed him across his desk in Revenge of the Sith.

I will argue that a couple of Force abilities become outdated later in the game. At one point, I forgot I even had Force slow because I had not used it in a while. I only remembered it while I was trying to solve a small puzzle to escape from an area and had exhausted all other options. Can you blame me for always wanting to Force push enemies off a cliff instead of slowing them down?

I appreciate that the game developers allow players to adjust the difficulty at any time. I started out at a higher difficulty and found myself dying before I even left the first world, Bracca. However, I persisted. That is, until I faced off against Oggdo Bogdo and his trash hitboxes. Players can stumble upon Oggdo Bogdo very early in the game. Oggdo Bogdo, a carnivorous amphibian creature, is a boss variation of the more common lookalikes of him. There is a similar optional alpha creature boss encounter on most planets Cal visits. No matter how hard I tried or how many different strategies I employed, Oggdo Bogdo proved to be too tough for me, and after waiting through countless death loads and having to run back over to Oggdo Bogdo’s location time and time again, I decided to lower the game’s difficulty, allowing me to finally slay this ugly creature.

Like Sekiro’s sculptor’s idols or the bonfires in Dark Souls, Fallen Order relies on meditation circles as its save points. Cal can rest to full health and restore his Force meter as well as restock health stims. Meditation circles also allow players to access the skill tree and spend skill points. These meditation circles implement a good risk versus reward system. If players choose to rest at a meditation circles, all of the enemies he or she has defeated since the last rest will respawn. I regularly found myself weighing the pros and cons of my situation, questioning if I should heal and get more stims or push on so that I did not put more enemies in my path.

While I am on the subject of these meditation circle save points, I have to point out that Fallen Order does not have fast travel. Instead, it encourages players to backtrack and explore previously inaccessible areas that they can now open with their newly unlocked abilities. This was fine for a while, but I quickly grew tired of it when I noticed how much of the backtracking had me slowly climbing, traversing across narrow walkways that Cal has to carefully balance on, or shimmying over narrow cliff edges. This is padding by exploration. While the vine and rope swinging was fun, especially with Force pull, I stopped enjoying climbing up a conveniently placed arrangement of vines and the like by the halfway point of the game, if not earlier. I will admit that I believe Fallen Order contains just the right amount of playtime, but this stuff had it teetering on the too long side. This is compounded by one important world that players have to visit multiple times that feels too big. The developers’ creativity and excitement got a little out of hand here. Just pull up the map of that world to see how unwieldy it is. When I completed the story on a planet like this, I felt exhausted rather than triumphant. Why can’t I hail my crew to come pick me up in the ship where I am rather than having to run across the entire planet again to get back to the landing pad, fighting the same enemies I already cleared out a couple of hours ago? The game developers do provide a few shortcuts that players can open, but the amount of time they end up saving is negligible in some cases.

I was disappointed that there is no real endgame content. Sure, players can continue to explore or fight enemies for the heck of it, but the developers could have done so much more. After players unlock every ability in the skill tree, the skill points they collect after that become meaningless. I will confess that I chose to rush past enemies to get to my next destination rather than waste time or energy fighting them for the 50th time after I had filled out my skill tree. Why not unlock fast travel after players beat the story? How about adding in a fighting arena where players can test their maxed out skill set against waves of enemies? Heck, let the players unlock dark side Force abilites like Force lightning or Force choke after they complete the story so that whatever they do then is not canon. I would have continued to gather skill points for that!

Now I mentioned Cal’s droid companion BD-1 earlier, but BD-1 deserves a special shout-out. BD-1 is spunky and lovable. Not only does BD-1 shoot Cal stims to heal him, the droid also provides hints for puzzles, scans enemies to suggest tactics to take them down, plays recordings that push the story along, and helps Cal navigate the worlds by hacking locked doors or carrying him across zip lines. Additionally, BD-1 projects the holomap of each planet, which is vital to keeping track of where Cal is in relation to the ship or his destination. The holomap itself is decent. Color coding helps players see what is inaccessible and what is unlockable, but for the bigger worlds with multiple levels it can be quite a burden to scroll across. Not to knock BD-1, but I grew impatient waiting for the droid’s animation that it goes through every single time Cal finds a hidden chest. Cal opens up the chest, BD-1 jumps in and rumbles around, and then jumps back out with whatever was inside it, all while Cal repeats the same lines of dialogue, like “Woah, buddy!” or “Careful now.” or “What did you find in there?” There are 107 chests in the game. Let that sink in.

These chests are one of the rewards for exploration. They contain items that players can use to customize Cal, his lightsaber, BD-1, or the ship. While this is motivation enough at the beginning of the game, this customization serves no purpose beyond cosmetics. It comes down to which poncho or paint job players find more aesthetically pleasing. I love that the game developers let players change lightsaber colors, but I wish these different ponchos and lightsaber parts had some sort of effect on the gameplay, such as restoring more of Cal’s Force meter or refilling a small amount of health after defeating an enemy.

Force echoes serve as another reward for exploring. Cal uncovers lore from past events by reaching out through these Force echoes. They rounded out the worlds nicely and added to the feeling that they were lived in, real places in the galaxy. The final element of exploration is BD-1′s scans. While you are running around, BD-1 will occasionally crawl down off Cal’s back and scramble over to something the droid wants to scan. These unlock data entries on the planet, its flora and fauna, the Empire, or other characters. This is all fine and dandy, but the level of exploration the game developers expect players to do with all of the backtracking involved needs to reward me with more than just basic lore, especially when some of the entries feel like the writers did not even try when they wrote them. Is an entry on a storage crate telling me that the Empire stored materials in it really worth stopping to scan? I think not. Instead, the game developers could have really motivated me to explore more by throwing in a few interesting side quests or fun Easter eggs. Maybe players could stumble upon active Imperial transmissions and overhear characters like Tarkin or Thrawn. Maybe players could find an abandoned Imperial camp and watch Imperial or Rebel propaganda over a holofeed that was left on. They could have even hidden a squadron of battle droids that were forgotten from the Clone Wars. So many possibilities!

Jedi: Fallen Order is far from a perfect game and has so much unrealized potential, but I would not trade away my time with it. For every flaw, I can point to a positive, and vice versa. At the end of the day, I got to be a Jedi, and that is good enough for me.

#star wars #jedi fallen order #video games #blog #blog post #review

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artificialqueens · 6 years ago

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Cruising for a bruising, Part 1 (Branjie) - Q-Tip & TheDane

Author note: Hello everyone, and welcome to our first collab! This is the first part of a multi chapter story, that we hope all of you will enjoy! You can follow us at @ArtificialQtip and @TheArtificialDane as well as find both of us on AO3, hanging out in the Branjie tag! A million thanks to @VeronicaSanders for betaing, and whipping our shit into shape!

“Drag ain’t paying you enough?“

“.. What?”

“Cause we’re on the same contract right? And I’m getting coin for being here.”

—–

Brooke was rinsing his shirt out, wringing the thin fabric in his hands, making sure it was completely clean before he hung it up.

It was their fourth day on the Atlantis cruise, he and Vanjie booked alongside a whole parade of Drag Race girls to spend 3 weeks in the Caribbean entertaining, dancing and getting drunk on board the world’s premiere gay cruise experience. Brooke had been hesitant to accept at first glance when the email had ticked in from his manager - as current reigning Drag Race winner he was asked for more things than he had ever been able to imagine, not even Miss Continental giving him any idea of the number of obligations he had landed himself in - but Vanjie had seen the contract line of ‘free drinks available for the duration of your stay’ in his own papers, and Brooke had known they were going, whether he wanted to spend 10 days on a boat or not.

So far they had spent time by the pool, thrown dollars at A’keria who had performed a stunning Nicki Minaj medley, hosted a cupcake class, seen Detox destroy the dancefloor, gone to a Raja Drawja, experienced Cracker’s comedy (though Brooke thought of it more like surviving) and gone to a cocktail hour in full drag. During the cocktail hour, Vanjie and Brooke had made out in a dark corner behind the bar like naughty school girls the moment they had a chance to get away. Vanjie body was so fucking sensual and hot as she insisted Brooke carried her, and she loved doing it. Brooke’s hand had been on her ass, their lipsticks smearing while they dry humped, neither able to truly come because of their tucks, but it had been the best kind of torture, Brooke still finding specs of glitter on his hands days afterwards.

“Watcha doing?”

Brooke looked over his shoulder, Vanjie standing in the door to the bathroom they shared, leaning against it like a fucking movie star. Vanjie’s red shirt was unbuttoned all the way down to the bottom of his sternum and showing his chest, his hair impeccably styled, the little bandana loosely tied around his neck the same color as his shirt.

“Just washing up. I’ll be there in a sec.” Brooke rinsed his socks, quickly throwing them on the towel rack. “You can just leave without me babe.”

“Drag ain’t paying you enough?”

“.. What?” Brooke turned around.

“Cause we’re on the same contract right? And I’m getting coin for being here.”

Vanjie smiled, and Brooke felt his heart flutter. Vanjie was so ridiculously attractive and Brooke couldn’t believe how he had gotten so lucky with his first actual boyfriend, the word still sounding weird in his mind, but Vanjie was worth it. He was the first person Brooke had met that he had even considered putting over his career, what he had called the true love of his life for as long as he had been an adult, but Vanjie was giving it a race for it’s money, and Brooke couldn’t pretend not to love it.

“Since you starting this laundry shit on the side.”

Vanjie gestured, and Brooke blushed, looking around the bathroom. He had hung up his t-shirts, all three of them drip drying from the shower rod, except the one he was wearing, his third pair of shorts and his bathing suit in the sink, his one hoodie still unused in his backpack.

“… No?”

“Just checking.” Vajie laughed, grabbing the band of his shorts and pulling him away. “Now come on, those cocktails ain’t gonna drink themselves, and I’m not waitin’ on you bitch!”

Brooke hadn’t spared the boy clothes he’d brought on board with him a single thought when he had thrown it all into a backpack, but if there was one fact he had learned from everything that had gone wrong in his adult life it was this very simple sentence. If he didn’t think of something as a problem - it usually was. That, and the growing uneasiness in his stomach, was the exact reason he was sure he was spiraling, and spiraling hard at that.

Brooke had never paid much attention to his boy wardrobe. He had never thought of his outfits for Brock as an artistic expression, had never related to any of the other reasons he had heard of why people cared so fiercely about what they wore. It was like he had known in the back of his mind that he would need all that energy and effort for Brooke one day. He could spend hours shopping online, looking at gowns and sketching things out either to make himself or to pay someone to construct without any trouble. Brooke was a work of art, each detail on her body placed there with care, precision and attention. Brock on the other hand?

Brock was happy as long as his boy self was covered and comfortable. That body was no more than a machine, carrying him where he needed to go, a container for his brain so he could make his sack of bones do the things he needed them to, whether that was doing a Grand Jete, dropping into a full split, walking en pointe, lip syncing on his head or spending an entire day in heels.

Brooke was watching Vanjie rehearse, Kameron next to him. They passed a two liter bottle of gatorade between them, taking swigs by the turn. He had struck up an unlikely friendship with Kameron, though it seemed like no one was surprised but himself. Kameron was a fellow Nashville queen, and while they had known of each other and even worked together, they had never gotten to know if each other this trip. Brooke found that it was easy to talk to the other queen, Kameron’s calm personality and their shared interest of bettering their workout routines giving them near endless supplies for conversations that could last hours if no one dragged them away. At times, much to their annoyance, they were forced apart by their respective significant others, Cracker often pulling Kameron aside when he was bored and left on his own. Vanjie was no better.

He spent so much time in drag, uncomfortable but gorgeous. So when he was just Brock, he prefered materials that allowed him to breathe, and allowed him to feel relaxed. He liked his shirts so worn in that they turned paper thin, shorts so used the material felt like butter, shoes practically walked to shreds. Sure, he was aware that he didn’t always look the most put together, but they were his clothes, and he knew they did the job.

Vanjie was doing a number, a remix with his infamous catchphrases scattered over the track. It was one of their fans who had made the track, and it had appeared in Brooke’s DM’s on Twitter one fateful day. Vanjie had been so excited he had practically bounced off the walls of their room the first time he heard it. He had FaceTimed his drag mother Alexis before he had even managed to listen all the way through, just so that she could hear it too, the two of them launching into the creation of choreography to go with it straight away. That had turned into a long night for Brooke, who had laid on their shared bed, the track playing on repeat for hours on end as Vanjie got all of his creative juices flowing. For days after he was haunted by the throbbing bass and “get those cookies,” bouncing of the walls within his head.

The beat of Vanjie’s song was loud and fast, fitting with his erratic movements. His moves were forceful, powerful, at once elegant and a testament to the unlimited energy that coursed within him. He looked amazing, the only piece of drag on him so far the heels. And the attitude, of course. There was always a particular attitude shift when he became her, and Brooke loved it nearly as much as he loved watching the reverse take place.

“She’s good.”

Kameron handed him the bottle of gatorade.

“She’s the best.”

Kameron smiled, and Brooke couldn’t help but notice what Kameron was wearing - a smart button up and black denim shorts. An actual outfit instead of the pregame comfort clothes Brooke prefered. Kameron looked nice.

In contrast, Brooke was wearing his grey shirt, a hole under the armpit that he had meant to get fixed suddenly embarrassingly obvious so he kept his arm close to his side, not wanting Kameron to see it. He loved the shirt he was wearing. He had had it on the first time he kissed Vanjie, and it was special to him, and a few holes couldn’t change that, though maybe it should have.

Brooke wasn’t used to feeling uncomfortable as a guy, even though he didn’t consider himself some great catch. He was true to himself, and that had turned out to be enough for the most part. As he sat watching Vanjie prance around stage, he let a long, frustrated sigh escape him. He sat squarely between people who made an effort, and even though he was a reigning queen, he had never felt more like a bum.

Slipping into Brooke Lynn’s skin after a day of anxiety itching under his skin felt like a blessing.

The majority of their season 11 sisters were backstage, getting ready for their gig that night. Ariel sitting next to Brooke as she put the final touches on her lashes. Brooke looked in the mirror when she was done, batting her eyes playfully and framing her face with her hands. Ariel rolling her eyes at her antics.

“When you feel your oats so hard you forget there are other oats there,” she said in a sing-song voice, and Brooke laughed vividly, red lips opening in a wide grin. She slapped the vanity table in front of them, the bottle of tequila that was placed there shaking slightly.

She was a few drinks in already, and they’d been passing that bottle around the dressing room since they had begun getting ready half an hour ago. The bottle was decorated with four or so different colours of lipstick, mixing into a unappetizing brown as they’d dried, and Brooke briefly wondered if making out with all of her sisters would produce the same nauseating color on her lips.

When Silky walked by, phone in hand, the camera pointed towards herself, Brooke grabbed her own. Brooke had never been hugely into social media, ballet taking up too much of her time, but after Drag Race, she had almost been forced online by VH1s staff of young hip interns. The key to an active fanbase was interaction with viewers, being accessible, and Brooke had never been one to turn down advice on success. She had taken to it like a fish to water, using both Instagram and Twitter like it was her second job, and in many ways, it was. Vanjie would sometimes help her out with getting the hang of everything, her boyfriend never more than two steps away from her phone.

Brooke picked up her phone as her laughter grew quiet, shooting Ariel a questioning look. A nod was all Brooke got and all she needed to know that Ariel was onboard. She opened instagram and launched a live, focusing the camera on her. She looked fucking good, stunning honey-blonde wig, red lips and her favourite red hoodie, bare chest underneath because of the heat, but mostly because she didn’t want the struggle of getting into full drag yet if she could avoid it.

“Hi guys!” Brooked grinned, waving her fingers and watching the viewer count rose steadily. She felt a surge of pride, her fans truly the best.

“Hiii!” Ariel smiled brightly beside her, leaning into the frame. “No one is going to be watching this. Not when the Silky show is on.”

“I know.” Brooke laughed, eyes fluttering to the queen on the other side the small space. “So I’m checking in for the day, we’re still on a boat, still floating around the-”

“We floating around Paradise!” Silky’s voice was loud as she abruptly entered Brooke’s frame, her own phone still firmly in hand. Silky’s eyes shifted between her phone and Brooke’s, before settling on her own as she continued to speak. “So I got three dicks and-”

“You got three dicks?” Brooke roared with laughter, Ariel close to tears next to her.

“I got three dicks in my inbox!” Silky continued undisturbed, kicking the leg of Brooke’s chair as she passed by. “They ready for a taste of this ganache!”

“Better with three dicks in the inbox than six on the dancefloor!” Ariel chimed in, sticking her tongue out as she tried to apply the last of her eyeshadow without being shoved over by Silky who was loudly telling her story of a Grindr hookup. “Just saying.”

“You would know.” Brooke elbowed Ariel, the other queen cursing her out loudly when the tiniest flicker of eyeshadow fell on her cheek at the action.

Brooke loved shooting these behind the scenes moments with her sisters, as she so rarely got the opportunity to really spend time with them. Her post Drag Race schedule was often so busy she barely even felt like she saw her cats. Sometimes she even felt like she barely saw Vanjie. Not that she got away with it; Vanjie was a lot louder than the cats when she was unhappy about something. The cruise, although she hadn’t been onboard - all puns intended - at the beginning, had turned out to be a true blessing in disguise.

“Who’s talking about dick?!”

Brooke would know that voice anywhere. The loud sound coming from the vanity that Silky has recently vacated on the other side of the room, Vanjie whipping around to look at the others. She was nearly done with her makeup, her lips a dark purple finishing off her look. Vanjie tapped her lips, a smile on her face, and Brooke felt it like a siren song to which she couldn’t help but reply.

“No one.”

Brooke rose from her seat, quickly heading towards her boyfriend. Brooke grabbed the bottle of tequila on the way, adding an extra sway to her hips as Vanjie watched her make her approach.

“You a lying slut.” Vanjie rolled her eyes at her. Brooke raising her brows and taking a swig from the bottle, nose scrunching at the horrible taste, but hey, she was on a cruise. She had to be at least a little drunk at all times. It was sea love.

“Hi Papi.” Brooke laughed, leaning over Vanjie’s shoulder so she was included in the shot, and gave her a peck on the lips.

“Mmh.” Vanjie deepened the kiss, Brooke giving a playful lick to Vanjie’s upper lip, which made Vanjie slap her on the shoulder.

“No!” Vanjie looked in the mirror, her lipsticked ruined. “You bitch!”

Brooke spared a glance to her phone, the messages coming faster and faster. The fans loved whenever she included Vanjie on her stream.

“Sorry babe.” Brooke leaned her head against Vanjie.

“Girl, I just did this.” Vanjie was complaining, adorable grumps coming from her, but she was smiling so Brooke knew she hadn’t actually fucked up. Vanjie gestured to her own face, a patch of purple smeared above her cupids bow. “I can’t believe you doing me dirty with this fucked up light and ruining my look.”

Vanjie took her lipstick off, Brooke giving her another color she accepted right away.

“I think you look perfect.” Brooke ran a hand through Vanjie’s boy hair, a move she would never have dared if she hadn’t known that Vanjie would be covering it with a wig cap in a matter of minutes. Brooke had messed with Vanjie’s hair once, and the dressing down he had gotten from one very angry tiny Puerto Rican made sure he had never even considered attempting it again. “Doesn’t she look absolutely perfect?”

“Who you talking to?” Vanjie looked up, smacking her lips. “This Instagram live?”

“Yes.”

“Follow me! Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, real life, at the grocery store who gives a shit, it’s all at VanessaVanjie!”

Brooke cracked up, Vanjie of course taking the chance to promote herself. She was the best PR manager Brooke had ever met, Vanjie launching herself into stardom, her boyfriend breaking 1 million followers before Brooke had, even though she was the one who had won Drag Race.

“You heard the lady!” Brooke gave Vanjie another kiss at her temple, leaving Vanjie behind as she answered a few comments, saying hi to fans and giving shoutouts to whatever country they came from, telling everyone that both she and Vanjie would love to go if they could get a local booker to fly them out.

“You all like my lipstick? Thanks! It’s Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream in the shade Amsterdam - you could blow a man with this and still have perfect lips!” Brooke smiled. “And believe me…” she winked. “…I’ve done that bit of research myself.” The chat went insane, eggplant emojis and peaches getting thrown at her at an alarming rate, so Brooke launched onto the only comment that didn’t seem dangerously sexual.

“Yes it does match my hoodie!” Brooke smiled, pulling at the collar of her hoodie as she playfully poked out her tongue. “Thank you for noticing.”

Brooke was truly one of the luckier queens, her live streams usually free of drama and spectacle. Vanjie liked to tell her they were too pure and sweet, that she needs to ‘dirty’ it up. Lord knows Vanjie had tried her best to make it happen, making semi-clothed sneak appearances whenever she felt frisky, Brooke having to close her stream in a panic once or twice just to make sure her boyfriend’s dick didn’t end up online.

Brooke’s eye caught on a comment, her eyes narrowing as she read it. Thank god for her full-coverage foundation, as it almost hid her frown lines.

“Did I wear this hoodie on my last live?” She wondered out loud. Her eyes traveled the front of her body in a flash. She was wearing her favourite hoodie, the inside so soft and comfortable with how much she had worn it.

“And the one before that,” Silky breezed past her, lifting one hand to flick the zipper of Brooke’s hoodie. She turned to face the camera briefly, winking. Brooke huffed.

Brooke rolled her eyes at the camera, hoping her attitude transferred efficiently through the lens. She read the comments, her fans discussing loudly. It was amazing, really, how a single comment about her clothes evolved into an entire audience asking about her closet. And she had just been in such a good mood, too. “Of course I own other clothes!”

“Then why don’t you wear them?” Ariel muttered, and it was pure luck that Brooke even heard it. Now if she was really lucky, none of her audience caught that particular dig, but it went without saying that her life was not destined to be that easy, and soon she was flooded with comments along the lines of “shadeee” and one user even begging for a wardrobe tour. Brooke’s mind flickered to the t-shirts still drying on the shower rod, what a wonderful youtube video that would be. Brooke stuck her tongue out at Ariel, the camera catching her from the side as she extended her neck.

“I change my clothes every single day, thank you very much.”

“Does it count if you only have three shirts to switch between?” Ariel was smiling, her entire face lit up in obvious delight.

“Oh you wanna start bitch?” Vanjie cut in, and Brooke felt a second of dread, before Vanjie continued speaking, “Don’t you dare come for my man. I’m the only one who’s allowed to talk about his terrible wardrobe, besides, he still looking like a snack so who the fuck cares if he wears the same thing.”

“Obviously you don’t!”

The room erupted in laughter, and Brooke joined it, but it wasn’t quite the rambunctious laughter that she wanted it to be, the claws of anxiety sinking into her.

Brooke knew she was a late bloomer, that she took extra time to pick up on things, that he was often the last to get on a trend. It usually didn’t bother her. She knew who she was, but as everyone laughed at her, Vanjie even joining in she couldn’t help but feel like maybe, just maybe, she actually had a problem. That she was somehow not worthy.

Brooke was staring into his closet. Looking at everything he owned.

He had lain awake all night, listening to the sounds of the ocean. Vanjie’s soft snores kept him from spiraling completely, the only reason he hadn’t flipped out on the man in his arms, Vanjie even more of a handful when drunk. Brooke had helped him out of his makeup and outfit before they collapsed into bed together, Vanjie loudly declaring himself queen of the world after she had premiered her new remix for the first time, everyone chanting “VAN-JIE VAN-JIE! VAAAN-JIE!” as she left the stage.

“Brock! Come on. Breakfast is waiting!”

“Just give me a second!”

Brooke sighed. His choice not getting any easier with a loud and demanding boyfriend growing bored on the bed, Vanjie getting dressed so fast Brooke wasn’t even sure he had ever been naked.

‘How did you get here Brock Hayhoe? You’re 33, and you have no idea how to dress yourself.”

Brooke had no idea what to put on, but he ended up slipping on his white shirt, at least somewhat confident in what he saw in the mirror when he turned back to Vanjie who had obviously been filming him, his boyfriend laying in bed.

“Put the black one on.”

“Why?”

“I want some photos of us on this boat, and if my fans see you in one more white shirt they’re gonna think I murdered you or some shit and you’re just copy pasted into my feed.”

Brooke laughed, the sound short and harsh to his own ears. A laugh of defense.

“Sure babe. No problem.”

Brooke made a beeline for Nina at breakfast, leaving Vanjie behind at the pancake station the moment they stepped into the cafeteria. He didn’t turn around, knowing that Vanjie would be looking confused, and he could not try to explain what was going on right now. He was hungry, but more desperate than anything else, and Nina was the beacon that he was going to steer his boat to.

“Nina, I need your help.” Brooke dumped down, startling Nina while A’keria barely even looked up from her bowl of breakfast.

“What happened to Good Morning honey?”

“I don’t have time.” Brooke almost grabbing the croissant out of Nina’s mouth to get his attention, A’keria snorting. Nina had been his friend for more than 10 years, and he trusted him more than most, if not all the people in his life.

“Unless it has something to do with sex, I don’t want to hear it.” Nina said resolutely, picking the dropped croissant back up and taking a large bite.

“I need new clothes.”

Nina choked, coughing around his mouthful of pastry.

“Excuse me?” he said as soon as he had cleared out his airway.

“Don’t give me that look.” Brooke crossed his arms, watching his friend.

“You kinda asking for the look, besides, where’s your man at? I haven’t had anyone yell at me yet and you’ve been here for an entire five minutes. Has Vanjie died?” A’keria took a sip of his coffee, watching the entire thing with amusement in his eyes.

“A’keria, you’re not helping.” Brooke turned to Nina. “Listen, I really need your help.”

“You, Brock Hayhoe, want new clothes?”

“Is it that out of character for me?” Brooke wrinkled his nose.

“Kinda is, babes.” Brooke looked over to A’keria, who was stirring around the sad remains of cereal in her bowl.

Brooke couldn’t believe it had taken him this long to realize just how desperate of a situation his boy self was in fashion-wise. Everyone else apparently already knew, and Brooke felt like an awkward teenager, once again forgotten when common sense had been handed out. He hadn’t even considered it be

“Oh, come on sweetheart.” A’keria fixed him with a knowing stare. “You’re not that stupid.” She put her bowl aside, leaning in, as if she was telling Brooke a secret. “Now I ain’t opposed to a man strutting his stuff if he got it, and honey, you do, but what you’re going for is anything but planned. You’re very pirate chic, very cruise appropriate.” Brooke nodded, listening along with his full attention. “But fashionable baby? Hell nah.”

Brooke knew A’keria was right, and he wanted to change it. Wanted to change it for Vanjie who obviously cared so much about it.

“I’ll help you Brooky Poo. Don’t you worry. Auntie Nina will be at your service as soon as she finishes her croissant.”

#rpdr fanfiction #branjie #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #q tip #thedane #cruising for a bruising #s11 #canon compliant

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loremastering · 5 years ago

Text

Never

Fandom: Lord of the Rings Online

Warnings: None

Chapters: 1/3

Summary:

Maedoron longs for someone he can never truly have...

~~~~~ It hadn’t been love at first sight. Maedoron never believed in such.

His realization just...happened one day.

They had met as kids the first time. Halordin (then called by his father name before he took the epesse Daerhovan) sulking at the edge of a fountain, while his amme watched over him with a keen eye nearby. He looked so lonely, staring at his reflection while tracing patterns on the water’s surface. There weren’t many elf children born in the latter days of their kind. Those who were considered young were already well into their fifth or seventh hundred century. Maedoron himself had just recently moved to The Golden Wood from Eryn Lasgalen to be tutored in scholarly arts by his aunt. But it was a painful parting as his twin brother, Maedhrohir, had to stay behind. It felt as though a part of himself had been torn from him. Perhaps the company of another his age could ease his own loneliness.

With his uncle in tow, he had approached the silver haired elfling with a shy greeting. Halordin had looked up, seemingly amazed at seeing another his age, and a little smile tweaked his lips. Maedoron would always remember that first smile. Though it was overshadowed by the memory of the child’s amme suddenly looming over him with a questioning eye. She had looked ready to swat the other elfling away from her own. Or maybe that was just what her face always looked like...

She softened when his uncle, whom apparently had met the woman before, introduced Maedoron, and made introductions herself. Maedoron felt less intimidated, but there was always something in her eyes that gave him pause. It looked like fear...

It was tentative at first, moreso on Halordin’s side. But the two established a fast friendship. Often talking to each other by the Big Fountain near the Great Mallorn, pestering the flet vendors for treats, or daring one another to climb to Lady Galadriel’s flet. Maedoron tried to get his new friend to come outside the hedge walls, but his amme would get that fearful gleam in her eyes again, and forbid the ventures. It wasn’t until later that Maedoron learned of the cruel deaths of Halordin’s ada and elder brother outside the forest some years before from his uncle.

“But the woods are safe, even outside the walls of the city.” Maedoron countered.

“They are indeed. But fear and past trauma can cloud the mind. Gaelwen is desperate to make sure her son doesn’t meet the same fate before his time.” His uncle had explained.

Maedoron could live with that. Halordin on the other hand...His friend would often stare wistfully over the hedge that marked the borders of Caras Galadhon and the rest of the Golden wood beyond. They even fought once over the subject, when Halordin grew terribly jealous that Maedoron was allowed outside. But the anger quickly faded and his apologies were given. Though Maedoron sensed that envy still quietly burned within him. Maedoron made it his mission to keep his friend entertained. Their restlessness led to often boisterous adventures. He had tried to sneak his friend out the gates, but the guards keen eyes always caught them. Gaelwen went so far as to even forbade the learning of plants and animals to her son, fearing it would incite him further to rebel, but the lack of learning had only incentivized Halordin.

The children grew into adolescence, and both Halordin and Maedoron feared the former would never be allowed outside the city. But eventually his amme did relent. As long as they were supervised. (Which was quite irksome, as they felt they were being treated like children still.) Maedoron had never seen Halordin so happy, so full of life. It was like his true self had been lying dormant all this time. Maedoron was glad for it, and was pleased to show him all of his favourite spots. The Circles of Meditation, the Quiet Garden, or Imlad Lalaith. Halordin was delighted, of course, but his heart seemed to be drawn to the more untamed places. Maedoron would go with him to the banks of the Anduin, or near Cerin Amroth. He would witness Halordin trying to talk to the wildlife, saddened when they wouldn't answer back.

Their growth continued rapidly in their adolescence, (as rapidly as elves could) and were approaching young adulthood. The want for supervision from his amme became less. Maedoron advanced in his studies of ancient ruins and relics. Halordin expressed interest in caring for the flora, and Orthir, the Scholar of the trees took him under his wing. Maedoron witnessed the interest his friend had in the land around them grow stronger. The wilder corners of the region were like a beacon to the young ellon, as if they were calling him. On some days Maedoron thought his friend looked more like he belonged in the wilderlands, than in the fair city he was born in. He found himself drawn to that...They saw each other less, but always made time for one another when they could.

On one such day, They took a walk along the banks of the Anduin, Halordin droning on and on about the types of plants he was studying and their unique features. Maedoron was just glad to be beside him after hours of pouring over tomes alone, and that his friend’s love for the natural world was growing. He sensed he always had loved it, but it came alive when Halordin was finally allowed outside. As they walked, Halordin, possessing none of the grace that was said to be ingrained within elves, tripped over a protruding root and fell face first into a muddy bank.

Maedoron bit his lip in a valiant effort to control his mirth. Halordin reminded him of some lost wild thing trying to process what happened. His efforts to contain his laughter failed as Halordin turned to look at him, face and hair covered in mud, his bright eyes a stark contrast against his new skin. Halordin swiped at Maedoron’s legs in retaliation, but he had anticipated the movement, and bounded nimbly out of the way. The tables turned as Maedoron’s footing found an equally muddy spot, giving a yelp as he too went down. Halordin laughed, more of a bark than a musical sound. “If amme could see me, I would be confined to our flet for eternity.”

Maedoron chuckled halfheartedly. He could see Gaelwen doing just that…”What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. We’ll find a spot to wash up.”

They discarded their clothes on a dryer, more grassier bank. Sticking to the shallow parts of the Great River where the current wasn’t as strong. Maedoron watched the dark, far shores of Mirkwood with longing. How was Maedhrohir doing? Did his brother miss him as much as Maedoron did? Perhaps it was time to pay a visit soon…

“You seem far away, Mellon.” Halordin’s voice did indeed sound distant. Eyes still trained on Mirkwood, Maedoron merely nodded. “I was thinking about paying an overdue visit to my brother. It has been so long, you know.”

“You will see him again soon, I am sure. The look in your eyes had me convinced you were about to swim over with nothing on but the skin of your back.” Halordin answered, flicking droplets of river water at him.

Maedoron flinched to escape the onslaught, laughing lightly at the mental image the words invoked. He turned his attention back to Halordin. “That would give him pause for su-” His breath hitched at the sight of the other’s figure. Halordin’s normally dark silver hair had turned almost black from the dampness, draped like a heavy curtain over one shoulder, glossy and soft. Rivulets of water dripped from the lean muscles of his chest and abdomen, his skin seemed to glisten in the sunlight, smooth and flawless. It was as if Maedoron had been struck dumb. What was wrong with him? He had seen him topless before. Maedoron’s mind threatened to short circuit as his gaze drifted further from Halordin’s navel, the murky water thankfully covering...other parts.

Maedororn forced a cough, climbing out before Halordin noticed his lingering gaze upon him. Feeling bashful of his exposed underparts, whereas he wasn't before, Maedoron quickly pulled on his breeches, expecting Halordin to follow out. Would he dare look….?

But his friend made no move, nor did he seemed intent on finishing his bath. Maedoron watched with rapt attention as Halordin waded to a cove where rocks and fallen logs had created a place where the water stood still, trying to touch the water striders that skimmed across the placid surface. But they always skittered away just in time. Some feeling Maedoron couldn’t name blossomed in his breast. Halordin’s curiosity was...rather adorable.

Halordin looked up from his study of the critters. “So soon? I thought you enjoyed the water.”

Maedoron smiled softly, waving a reassuring hand. “It was getting too cold for me. I’d rather relax here.”

Halordin shrugged, crouching lower to find other forms of life beneath the surface of the water. Maedoron couldn’t keep his gaze away from the play of muscles that stretched and bunched on his friend’s back as his arms roved for whatever it was he hoped to find.

Maedoron knew from an early age that he was attracted to other elven men. He portrayed no interest in the women around him (They never sought him out anyway), rather, he would watch the male warriors train, admiring their masculine beauty and the way their muscles flexed as they parried and thrust. He had no want for a spouse just yet, and he didn’t mind waiting for however long. So when had Halordin become special? Thinking back, Maedoron recalled how much he would have rather spent time with his friend than anyone else, but surely that’s because they were close in age. Was he drawn to the way Halordin didn’t seem to fit the mold of a typical elf? Was he even attracted to men? Maedoron had caught him on more than one occasion watching the warriors too. But was the awe in his eyes trained on their technique? Or their bodies? Maedoron let out a gusty sigh, drawing his knees up and resting his head upon his arms as he tried to pierce through the murk of his thoughts.

His ears pricked up as the sound of splashing heralded Halordin’s return to shore. Keeping his gaze down as his companion pulled on his clothes. A soft tap on his shoulder brought his russet coloured head back up, nose itching as Halordin’s long hair tickled it. “Ready to head back? I’m already late for a lesson with Orthir.” He chuckled.

Maedoron felt as if butterflies were fluttering within at the sight of Halordin looming so close over him. How had he never noticed how long his dark eyelashes were? How his lovely, bright, pale green eyes seemed to sparkle with the mirth and joy of a young elf, not yet burdened by the toils of this world. Clearing his throat, Maedoron nodded in compliance. “You really need to work on your time management.”

They set off on a trot to the Hill of Cerin Amroth, where Halordin’s mentor awaited him. Maedoron let himself fall back a bit, admiring the way Halordin’s mane swayed as he moved. When had it gotten so long? It was nearly reaching his waist.

Oh Maedoron, quash this attraction before it grows too complicated...

#lotro #happy ending!!!!!!!#i feel weird writing a thing for his skirmish soldier but sometimes these things happen

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etherian-affairs · 6 years ago

Text

Flagrant Breaches of Conduct

@crimson-r wanted these posted. Enjoy our OC ship nonsense because we’re garbage. These are based on/stories for crimsons art. Also this is a two for one.

Content warning for space lezbeanz partaking in some light spice.

Bed - Story for this piece.

ESS-1172's eyes shoot open at exactly 0400 ship time. No matter when she falls asleep she will wake up at that time or whatever her internal chronometer believes that time is. Surroundings are analysed immediately. She is aboard the Samos. She is in The Madame's bedchamber. She is in the Madame's bed.

There's a blanket over her. There's hair brushing against her skin. The Madame is with her, to her left, turned away and still. Hera is asleep. Not dozing, but properly asleep. They share the blanket.

ESS-1172's honed mind analyses their body positions. Noting the quickest ways to plunge her teeth or talons into the Madame. Noting how peaceful and calm the Madame's entire body appears. How uncharacteristically serene she is.

By 0401 ship time ESS-1172 is making note of a strange wiggly feeling in her chest. Unfamiliar emotions squirming in there. It's not unlike when she looks at a beautiful weapon or watches a city burn. Different somehow though. If it is unfamiliar it is likely irrelevant.

Instead ESS-1172 decides to focus on a different feeling. A lower one. The Madame is beautiful, unmarred. Her physique is perhaps a little unhoned but there is allure to those slight hints of comfort. The specialist props herself up, and leans in to softly blow on the upper curve is the Madame's ear.

With a flick of the ear and a murmur Hera is roused from slumber. Her head turning to catch 1172's gaze. Red eyes momentarily confused, then annoyed at being woken up.

"ESS-1172 what are-" the Madame doesn't finish that thought. The specialist doesn't care about what she has to say right now.

The annoyance in those red eyes becomes surprise when the specialist suddenly leans in and passionately kisses her. A murmur escaping when ESS-1172s reaches around her to grab her hip and roll her onto her back. The Madame's eyes close.

The specialist is filled with her own desire now. Like the anticipation for a kill but somehow better. Once the Madame is on her back 1172 shifts herself to press a knee between Madame's legs, spreading them so her curled knuckles can begin to tease Madame's sensitive core.

A moan escapes the Madame and vibrates through the specialists body, then suddenly a hand is around the back of ESS-1172s neck, holding her in their passionate interlock. It's not a strong grip by the specialists standards, but somehow it feels inescapable regardless.

When Madame's claws dig into 1172s arm, drawing blood, that wiggly feeling in the chest wells up again. The strange emotion just drives the specialist further. She wants more of those moans. She wants to see the Madame buck and curl.

Then she wants to watch the Madame sleeping peacefully again.

Wall - Story for this piece.

Madame Hera was starting to actually have some trouble focusing. While yes it has been days since she got a proper night of sleep she has been supplementing with the occasional doze. Normally that would be enough to let her keep going well enough for this long. No it really was the tedium of the current work was starting to take its toll.

Hera has been working with the government of a new world she has 'adopted' into the Horde non-stop for days. They were already united under the victor of a world war they had just fought a couple of their decades ago, and when the Madame arrived they seemed quite amenable to the Horde.

Then they revealed themselves to be so very boring.

That isn't to say the initial political maneuverings weren't quite enjoyable. First contact was, as it often is, quite an entertaining affair, and as talks of integration into the Horde have evolved the first hours and even days at the table were a wonderful duel of political interests!

Then she got past the initial stages of setting up the framework for negotiations and it all ground to a complete halt. Not even in an interesting way. Rather the bureaucracy involved in this species planetary government can only be described as insanity. It feels as if every sentence needs to be passed along a chain of people that stretches around the equator of the stupid little planet they call home.

It's all so exhaustingly boring.

Madame Hera's eyes look up from the file in hand as someone new enters the informal conference room she's sitting in. She had hoped going back to a more casual setting would help expedite things but that didn't seem to be panning out. At least she can do her work from a sofa now. The newcomer is ESS-1172, in her full armor but lacking her assortment of weaponry. The specialist hasn't been needed for any of this but Hera has noted her orbiting the talks a few times over the days. Never this close though. ESS-1172 finds a place in the back of the room, looking at some papers laying on a table.

Hera finds herself dreadfully curious about what the specialist is up to, if only because nothing else going on is very interesting.

Frustratingly ESS-1172 does not do much of note. She stands there, looks over the room. Picks up and reads, or pretends to read, some documents. Someone asks who she is and Hera hears her say she's a special military consultant. A surprisingly good lie from the killer. Though perhaps her breed are trained for such things.

It's as the Madame finally decides that ESS-1172 must just be here out of boredom and ceases her discreet observation that she feels the looming. She looks up too see the familiar blank helmet staring down at her. Was 1172 waiting for Hera to stop paying attention to approach?

"...Yes?" Hera asks blandly.

"There's a private communication for you Madame, you should take it outside." ESS-1172 replies quickly and curtly. Some of the other Horde personnel here glance around quizzically.

"Very well." Madame Hera stands, straightening out her dress. ESS-1172 is up to something and if Hera is lucky it's a bombing.

That's not true. A bombing would actually be bad considering that things are going positively, just slowly.

So Hera heads out, and ESS-1172 follows, into the corridors beyond that room. "ESS-1172 what is going on?" Her voice holds a tone of annoyance.

"You're unfocused. Tired." The Specialist says evenly. Then suddenly she grabs Hera by the arm and pulls the Madame into a side corridor! "You've been showing signs of it steadily over the past few days but these last hours have been bad."

Has ESS-1172 been observing her in detail? Can the specialist tell her mental state that easily? And she also has the audacity to grab her Madame?! "ESS-1172 unhand me." Hera hisses. Venom dripping.

"Of course, Madame." The specialist replies in her normal way as she suddenly pushes the Madame into… a closet? What is going on here? She does let Hera go after that moment though.

The Madame is furious. How dare this underling touch her without permission, manhandle her and pull her into some closet for no reason. She is about to reprimand the specialist when suddenly the door is shut behind them and the specialists helmet is pulled off with a hiss of seals opening.

"What is the meaning of this?" Hera demands. Now furious and marginally confused by ESS-1172s strange behavior. Her claws are flexing on instinct.

The lavender eyed demon takes a moment to floof her hair up before replying. "You're unfocused." She repeats. "Your emotional energy is low and your work may suffer for it. It also makes you more vulnerable to attack."

"That does not explain this unacceptable behavior." Hera's voice isn't raised but it holds a tone. Fury, superiority, like the wrath of God. This is in effect her yelling voice.

"I'm helping raise your endorphin levels." There's a glint of lavender teeth in the dark now. ESS-1172 Apparently completely unphased by Madame's anger. This is followed quickly by the specialist lowering herself down. Placing kisses and light bites on the exposed skin on Hera's side as hands grip the Madame's hips.

Oh.

"ESS-1172 we are in the middle of importaHH" teeth dig into her side, at the same time one of the other woman's talons cuts through the Madame's underthings. Emotions mix in the Madame now, her fury still there but swirling with excitement and desire. This is unexpected, incredibly disrespectful, a complete breach of conduct, and wildly exciting.

Suddenly Hera feels the specialists hands reach around to her backside and she's lifted up off the floor with ease. Her back pressed against the wall behind her. ESS-1172's powerful physique manipulating her as if she's nothing. Her legs are thrown over the specialists shoulders and met immediately with biting and nibbling on her inner thighs.

The Madame gasps. It's becoming increasingly clear just how pent up she has been, how much she needs this. As the larger woman's face nuzzles into Hera's core and her tongue teases across the Madame's sex it becomes clear how much Hera wants this.

"Do not tease. No time." Hera gets out. Her command obediently met as 1172's tongue snakes in properly. ESS-1172 loves to play, and often Hera is happy to indulge and let things drag on but there is in fact a political meeting happening in the other room.

The Madame manages to keep her noises relatively quiet at least.

When all is said and done Hera pants lightly from her seat on the floor, regaining her composure slowly. She does indeed feel reinvigorated.

Then she spots ESS-1172 pull a pair of black lace panties from a pouch on the belt of her armor. She hands it over to the Madame.

Hera almost laughs. "You came prepared."

"It would be a potential disadvantage to return to the talks without. You despise disadvantages." ESS-1172 is smirking. Pleased with herself.

Hera is rather pleased with her as well. Though there is still the matter of how this was all initiated to deal with.

"I'll punish you for your insolence later." The Madame finally notes before getting herself up. "You will communicate your intents clearly going forward." She adds.

"Of course, Madame."

#not safe for horde #my writing #shipping OCs #my OCs #t h e m #h e r a #mirak

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theonyxpath · 5 years ago

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This week is a real hodgepodge of notes, which is pretty much just like our meeting today. A bunch of folks are under the weather – but still must attend! – and the rest of us tried to hit all the news we had pretty rapidly. So, we went over a lot of things, but there was no main topic.

So that’s what you’re all getting today, too!

Hunter: The Vigil 2e art by Tilen Javornik

We received our OK from WW/Paradox today for the Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition Kickstarter! WOOT! Looks like February the 6th at the classic 2pm EST is when our Vigil starts!

A reminder, since we continue to get questions, primarily about V5 Chicago By Night, that we are mostly doing Kickstarters to enable us to do an extra-good quality book and overprint the copies so we can get that game book into stores.

Tell your local retailer! Ask them to order our books from their distributor.

Speaking of Chicago by Night, just a note here to let folks know that, yes, we are aware that our non-US fulfillment shipper made an error and mislabeled a bunch of reward packages as boardgames. James addressed the issue in an Update to backers, so if you find further problems, please let James know via the KS message creator system so he is aware and can work to fix it.

But beyond that, I’ve been told that the backer packages will all be out at latest this week, so that opens the stage for Chicago to appear in stores in February, including the PDF and PoD versions on DTRPG. Next, the Dystopia Rising: Evolution and Geist 2e KS reward packages will go out in February, and should appear in stores in the following months.

Dystopia Rising: Evolution art by Sam Denmark

Veering wildly in a different direction, just a bit of a teaser to let you know that Eddy, Ian, Danielle, and myself are working on a secret Trinity Continuum: Adventure! lead-in project! If you remember, we did an TC: Aberrant webcomic leading up to it’s KS, so we think we’ve found a fun way to do a similar but different lead-in for TC: Adventure!.

For our Storypath Nexus Community Content site, we’re getting tons of submissions, and just ran into a problem we hadn’t anticipated. The Nexus is the first our our community content sites to contain multiple different gamelines (right now it’s Scion and the Trinity Continuum, but soon will include DRE and They Came From Beneath the Sea!), with very different themes and motifs. We realized that we need to be sure our community content creators don’t use material intended for one line in another.

This is a big deal art-wise, as both our illustrations and design elements are very specifically created to create a feel for a particular line, and we need that “brand identity” maintained. So Mighty Matt is going to underline in the Nexus “rules” the importance of creators not pulling images from one line into another.

We talked about being ready to release the first of the Yugman’s Guides to Ghelpad for the Scarred Lands line as the first of six bi-monthly PDF releases. Once these are all released, we’ll combine them into a single book with PDF and PoD versions. We learned a lot from the last couple of years’ worth of monthly Exalted releases (which are now over, and being finished and combined) and are applying that knowledge to this.

Yugman’s Guide art by Aaron Riley

Also, leap-frogging with Yugman’s, will be the Vigil Watch series of PDFs detailing the wild and the weird places around the Scarred Lands. So every month for the next year, we got yer Scarred Lands right here!

We talked about another secret project, but I never mentioned that here.

Discussions are being had for our Twitch 2.0 plans – basically we’re looking at more ways to provide more and cooler content on our wildly successful Twitch channel. Matthew and Travis Legge are forging this new plan, even as you read this! And until that happens, please check out the sched of our current stuff down in the Media section below, now with keen new Graphic! version!

We also talked about They Came From Beneath the Sea! and the next game in the series, They Came From Beyond the Grave!. I think getting TCFBtS! actual plays into streaming is vital, so I’m pushing for more of that in Twitch 2.0. The Terrific Trio of the Onyx Pathcast actually did a deep-dive into They Came From Beneath the Sea! on last week’s Pathcast, so take a listen on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue to find out all the steps Matthew went through in creating the game!

It is surprisingly in-depth (I can vouch for that, having been there for most of the creation process), even when the gang veer off into Vampire vs Twilight heated discussions.

And last but not least important, we discussed continuing to raise the pay rates for our creators, and how to best make that happen as we enter 2020. Hard to believe we are almost through the first month of this year already! But there you go: time flies when you do what you love and are making:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Next on Kickstarter, we are looking at Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition for Chronicles of Darkness starting at 2pm EST on February 6th!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features an interview with famed writer and bon-vivant Leath Sheales! Check it out direct on Podbean, or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

A bulging schedule on Twitch this week with Vampire, Chronicles of Darkness, Pugmire, even more Vampire, Aberrant, Scarred Lands, Changeling: The Lost, Changeling: The Dreaming, Mage: The Awakening, and a special Eddy Webb Development Workshop video that will be of interest to fans and writers alike!

Or, in the new Graphics! version:

As ever, subscribe to our channel over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath

Our YouTube channel continues filling up with content, including the Onyx Path News! Do stay subscribed to youtube.com/user/theonyxpath to catch the news when it comes out live!

Occultists Anonymous get a little experimental this week with a how-to guide for building Mage: The Awakening legacies. Level Up Your Game – Making Mage Legacies: https://youtu.be/p7R6nmTzZ_g

The Primogen released a video previewing some of the upcoming content in Chicago Folios, which you can find right here: https://youtu.be/2JMV_VJrjwQ Do give him a subscribe!

Red Moon Roleplaying continue their actual play of V5 Cults of the Blood Gods, on their YouTube channel, Spotify, their website redmoonroleplaying.com and everywhere else good podcasts might be found! https://youtu.be/DeQfWH-EVD0

The Story Told Podcast have concluded the first act of their Exalted: Dragon-Blooded chronicle, the last episode of which can be found right here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/fall-of-jiara-23

The excellently-named Keeper of the Archive has assembled a triple bill for Trinity fans, as he has videos right here on the following: The Trinity Core: https://youtu.be/3-MkRv7z37s

ÆON: https://youtu.be/CMRBAEGnHfE

The Storypath System: https://youtu.be/RJgN6sGr0CQ

Do check them out and give them a like and his channel a subscribe!

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero AND Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we will be releasing the first of our bi-monthly PDF releases of Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad for the Scarred Lands on DTRPG! Collect them all!

Conventions!

More conventions will be listed for 2020 in the weeks to come-

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Duke Rollo fiction (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

RUST (Working Title) (Scarred Lands)

Under Alien Suns (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Redlines

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Second Draft

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Post-Approval Development

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Editing

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Post-Editing Development

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Indexing

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e – All KS art is in.

Ex3 Lunars – Art is in.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers – LeBlanc working on finals.

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed – Finals should be in end of month, lining up layout artist.

Cults of the Blood God (KS)

Mummy 2

City of the Towered Tombs – Recontracted.

Let the Streets Run Red

CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – Contracted.

Deviant

Legendlore (KS) – Starting to gather art needs for KS.

Technocracy Reloaded (KS) – KS finals coming in.

Scion Companion – Working on art notes for that with Meredith.

TC: Aeon Terra Firma – Getting that rolling out.

In Layout

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds – Travis doing the layout on this.

Pirates of Pugmire – With Aileen.

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad – First installment this week.

Scion Mythical Denizens – In proofing but need some full page art to come in.

Contagion Chronicle – Getting files together for Josh.

Vigil Watch – Going over layout proofs.

Proofing

Dark Eras 2 – Backer PDF out to backers, errata coming in.

Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Backer PDF out to backers, errata wrapping up.

VtR Spilled Blood – At WW.

Chicago Folio – Awaiting 2nd proof corrections.

Wraith20 Anthology – At WW.

At Press

V5: Chicago – Shipping to backers.

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – At fulfillment shippers.

Geist 2e Screen – Shipping to fulfillment shippers.

DR:E – At fulfillment shippers.

DRE Screen – Shipping to fulfillment shippers.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties

Memento Mori – Awaiting errata for input.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Today is the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. Ending evil of that magnitude, freeing those who lost so much and were so brutally abused and dehumanized, that is truly something to celebrate. The crimes against humanity committed there and at the other camps will echo through time as a warning that we must listen to; a warning to be aware that people, not supernatural monsters, can do acts of such terrible evil. Never forget.

#Onyx Path Publishing

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rpgmgames · 7 years ago

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April’s Featured Game: Folkloria

DEVELOPER(S): folkloriarpg ENGINE: RPGMaker MV GENRE: Adventure, RPG SUMMARY: Folkloria is a lighthearthed turn-based RPG set on a floating island inhabited by mythological creatures. You play as Weaver, a young and unassuming griffin determined to rescue his family from the clutches of Dr. Zeralidius, a shady businessperson from the world below the clouds who plans to modernize the peaceful island.

Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself! *Oi! I'm Domino, a wannabe artist. I've been drawing all my life, a passion I inherited from my father, but only recently I decided to publish my work online. Through the years I have tinkered with basically all iterations of RPG Maker, making silly short games with my friends before attempting to develop something full-fledged.

What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Domino: Folkloria is a very simple, cartoony turn-based RPG which spices things up with timed hits, counters and a variety of partners. The game takes place on a floating island inhabited by anthropomorphized mythological creatures. The protagonist of the story is Weaver, a child griffin determined to rescue his family from the clutches of Dr. Zeralidius, a shady businessperson from the civilized world who wants to forcefully modernize the island. Along the way he will meet new allies like Lauper, a thousand-year old phoenix who needs his help to drive Zeralidius out of the island, and Akinai, a kitsune merchant who will supply them with the best items she has to offer. I still haven't shown all the party members, but among them are a buff minotaur lady, a shy but frightening wendigo and a sculptor gorgon.

What inspired me to make a game was the indie scene in general. I have always dreamt of being a game developer since I was a kid, and when indie games first started becoming really popular I thought to myself "Hey, I could probably do that!". The folklore theme of the game was decided completely at random. When I first created the character of Weaver with my friends years ago, we wanted to make a traditional 2D platformer. We came up with a griffin character since being part lion and part bird he could fly, run fast and use its claws to attack. That decision alone basically shaped up the rest of the setting, and I started populating the game's world with different mythological creatures.

How long have you been working on your project? *Domino: The game in its actual state was started at the end of 2015, but the basic setting and characters (specifically Weaver, the protagonist and Zeralidius, the villain) were conceived as far back as 2012. I didn't pay much attention to it during the following years since I was working on another unrelated project with some friends, but after things fell out with them I decided to revisit the concept and flesh it out.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Domino: Of course! If it wasn't obvious enough, the game is heavily influenced by Nintendo RPGs, especially the Paper Mario series. I always loved the simplistic approach towards the RPG formula those games have, and I also adore turn based combat with timed button presses. I think it keeps the player engaged. Graphically, Mother 3 was a big inspiration. The art style of that game just resonates so well with me, with that colorful palette and the black outlines that make the sprites stand out so much.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *Domino: The biggest challenge was overcoming the limitations of the engine itself. I chose RPG Maker because it's very easy to pick up, as I'm mainly an artist and I don't know anything about coding. But as time passed, I noticed that even when using countless scripts I couldn't achieve the battle system I had in mind for my game, which required timed button presses and numerous character animations. So one day I decided to try making the battle system from scratch, using only common events and script calls, and it worked smoothly. In the end it felt extremely satisfying to see something like that work as intended, and by experimenting with script calls and variables I at least learned something about coding.

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Domino: Like I said before, the game was initially conceived as a 2D platformer. Then, when I picked up the project again years later, I envisioned it as a bare-bones boss rush RPG with Weaver as the sole playable character. As I started adding more features like partners and equipment, I felt those would be wasted in a boss-only game and I finally decided to include random enemies. Since then the game hasn't changed much, but to this day I always find myself revisiting minor stuff like the design of some NPCs (and I should seriously stop doing that!).

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don’t have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone? *Domino: I prefer to work alone, as I am very picky about how characters and gameplay aspects are handled, but I still enjoy receiving feedback. I have a very close friend who doesn't actively work on the game, but always tell me what I'm doing right or wrong, and I find his help invaluable. So far I'm doing well one-man-armying the project, I will have to find a composer sooner or later though, since making music is the only thing I can't realistically do by myself.

What is the best part of developing the game? *Domino: Animating the character sprites and seeing them interact in battles is incredibly satisfying to me. Being an artist at heart I'd say spriting in general is my favorite aspect of game development. Another thing I absolutely adore is worldbuilding, researching the mythical beasts from all around the world and trying to incorporate them in the game by giving them my own spin.

Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *Domino: I haven't played many RPG Maker games, but I did enjoy LISA the Painful and OneShot immensely. I was impressed by how far these two games in particular pushed the RPG Maker engine to its limit.

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *Domino: Self-inserting isn't something I like to do in games, so this is a hard question for me, but I think I can relate with Weaver, he mostly keeps to himself but he's always willing to help his friends and family.

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Domino: Yes, I regret not having started working on this project earlier and wasting too much time during the planning phase.

Once you finish your project, do you plan to explore the game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Domino: Absolutely! I would definitely love to expand the game's lore further through comics and other side projects.

What do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Domino: The sense of accomplishment of having completed and released a game! But deep down, the thing I'd love the most is having fans of my work and seeing my characters drawn by other artists.

Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *Domino: The whole marketing part scares me. I really don't know how to promote my game, so getting it noticed is going to be pretty tough for me.

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Domino: Oh man I am bad at this. I'd say... when starting, keep the scope of your game small. Make something that you, as a player, would enjoy playing. Don't try to follow trends and, most importantly, value every bit of constructive criticism, but remember that you can't always please everyone!

Question from last month’s featured dev @plueschkatzeart: How do you keep yourself motivated? *Domino: Sharing my progress on the blog for everyone to see is what keeps me motivated. Since I set myself the goal of posting at least once a week I've become more productive than ever. Of course, the positive response I receive from my followers also help. Another thing that encourages me to keep working on my game is seeing other developers succeed; that gives me hope and drives me to do my best!

We mods would like to thank Domino for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved!

Remember to check out Folkloria if you haven’t already! See you next month!

- Mods Gold & Platinum

#rpgmaker #pixel games #indie games #pixel art #rpg maker #rpg maker mv #gotm #game of the month #folkloria #folkloriarpg #interview #upcoming games #april #april 2018 #2018

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