#charging speed comparison

[techpedo]

Oppo Reno 7/F21pro display, design review

New Post has been published on https://www.techpedo.com/oppo-reno-7-f21pro-design-display-review/

Oppo Reno 7/F21pro display, design review

Introduction

a list that is not all-inclusive of the devices in the Oppo Reno7. The Reno 7 proper is the one we have for you today and has the blandest of names.

There are no other names, and the lack of 5G in the term implies that there is no next-generation connectivity, which is true. Despite its lite moniker, the Reno 7 Lite supports 5G, but aside from that, it has a lot in common with this 4G-only phone’s genetic makeup. The Essentials is the same device as the Reno 7 and is offered in India under the F21pro brand name, thus the conclusions drawn here should also be applicable to that device. Just be careful not to confuse it with the F21pro 5G, which is the Reno 7 Lite’s other name. If we were able to resolve the issue, that’s excellent; if not, Oppo can easily take the fall.

Oppo Reno 7/F21pro. Image credit : gsmarena.com

Although the Reno 7’s spec doesn’t sound particularly thrilling, it is nonetheless reasonably nicely furnished. You get a 90Hz OLED panel, 8GB RAM, and at least 128GB of storage, and although though it doesn’t support 4K video recording, the snapdragon 680 should still be strong enough.

A dedicated “microscope” camera with a ring light may make up for the absence of an ultra-wide unit, which is still arguably more significant in terms of the camera experience. The 64MP primary camera is standard fare, and the 32MP selfie camera is a favourite.

Although the ColorOS unduly stood at 12, our team likes that the Reno 7 runs on Android 12. Most other non-flagship Oppo/Realme’s we’ve seen this year were still running on Android 11. The 6.43-inch display and 6nm chipset sound like a good match for the 4,500mAh battery, and the 33W fast charging should result in rather quick top-ups, though setting speed records is out of the question.

Oppo Reno 7 Specs

Body: dimensions are 159.9×73.2×7.5mm, weight is 175 grammes, and IPX4 water resistance is provided. The front is protected by Gorilla Glass 5.

Display: 6.43″ AMOLED, 90Hz, 430 typ., 600 typ., 800 typ., 1080x2400px, 20:9 aspect ratio, 409 ppi.

Chipset: Octa-core (4×2.4GHz kryo 265 Gold & 4×1.9GHz kryo 265 Silver) Qualcomm SM6225 snapdragon 680 4G (6nm); Adreno 610

Memory: UFS2.2; microSDXC; 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM.

OS/Software: ColorOS 12.1, Android 12.

REAR camera : 64MP, f/1.7, 26mm, 1/2.0″, 0.7mm, PDAF for wide (main); 2MP, f/3.3, for macro (microscope); and 2MP, f/2.4 for depth.

Front camera : 24mm (wide), 1/2.74″, f/2.4, 32MP, and 0.8mm.

Video recording : Gyro-EIS, 1080p At 30 fps, on both the front and rear cameras.

Batter: 4,500mAh; 33W Reverse Charging; Fast Charging.

Misc: optical fingerprint sensor, 3.5mm Jack, and RGB ring light surrounding the camera (notifications, charging progress).

Unboxing of Oppo Reno 7

Unboxing of Oppo Reno 7/21pro Image credit : FoneArena.com

Our Reno 7 review unit arrive in a phone-only state – sometimes we get a suitcase full of accessories, sometimes it’s like this. But the retail box of Reno 7s do ship with a 33W adapter to match the phones specs, as well as the cable Ringo with it. A protective case also included in the box.

Design

The Reno 7 that we are reviewing takes us back a few years and is similar to the Find X2 pro. While the shapes and colours are off, the find reference is still there on the Reno in this sunset orange colorway, which also features a faux leather back and a frame that looks like gold.

Design of Oppo Reno 7/21 pro. Image credit : gsmarena.com

Glass-fiber leather Oppo calls it, and they’ve tested a 200,000 unit in a lab for denim friction resistance. scuffs up jeans? Although a strange metric, the rear panel is nice to hold and won’t attract fingerprints.

Image credit : gsmarena.com

Although we haven’t really seen the Cosmic Black version, it appears to have that glitter effect when exposed to intense light, and we enjoy that.

Reno 7 is IPX4 rated, whether it’s Cosmic or Sunset. The 4 indicates it should be okay in case of a water splash, so maybe don’t leave it on the table while you’re kneading that pizza dough. The X indicates it has no rating for dust resistance.

Beautiful design and color. Image credit : gsmarena.com

The design of the camera island is quite distinctive, with the two-tone colour scheme emphasising the usable cameras. While using the keyboard, at least, it doesn’t wobble despite being rather a sizable bump.

The ring light surrounding the microscope camera on the Reno 7 is a special feature that is somewhat of an outcome of the camera configuration. When photographing up close, it will not only illuminate your subject, but it can also serve as a notification light and a charge status indicator.

Although the frame of the Reno 7 may remind us of the Find, it actually looks completely different. One drawback is that it’s made of plastic, yet handling it doesn’t seem cheap despite this. More importantly, even though the Reno may be thin as a whole, it is flat, providing sufficient of surface area for gripping, making it simple to pick up the handset from a table.

frame. Image credit : gsmarena.com

Oppo quotes 7.54mm for the sunset edition and 7.49mm for the cosmic version as the device’s thickness. The Reno 7 has a respectably small footprint (159.9×73.2mm) and isn’t overly heavy (175 grammes). It is really pleasant to hold due to its size, form, and materials, something not all mid-range can say about their products.

notification panel Image credit : gsmarena.com

The volume buttons (two discrete ones as opposed to rockers) are on the left, while the power button is on the right, according to Oppo, who claims the left-right separation invite controls placement too-ups. All three click responses were quite favourable.

The best application of the card slot is seen on Reno 7’s left side, where two nano SIM slots and a micro SD card can be inserted simultaneously.

Power button, volume rocker, and nano SIM card slot Image credit : gsmarena.com

Unexpectedly, the phone features an audio jack or 3.5mm jack at the bottom. It is accompanied by the standard speakers, USB-C port, and microphone.

A microphone is also located at the top of the phone.

Bottom of the phone SpeakersSpeakers, Type -C And 3.5mm Jack, Opposite direction Mic. Image credit : gsmarena.com

If you’ll pardon the comparison, the 6.43-inch OLED display on the front of the Reno 7 is encircled by a black frame of mid-grade quality. It’s not insignificant per such, and the chin is thicker than the rest of it, but the quantity of the bezels isn’t in any way unsettling.

and bezels of Oppo Reno 7/F21 pro. Image credit : gsmarena.com

The selfie camera is visible through a cutout in the display’s upper left corner, while the earpiece is hidden behind a grille. The gorilla glass 5 that protects the panel itself should be rather durable on its own, but Oppo is also developing a screen for added peace of mind.

Selfie camera. Image credit : gsmarena.com

The optical under-display fingerprint sensor on the Reno 7 is positioned fairly low on the device. The less-than-ideal posture is less of an issue due to the broader chin and reasonable overall dimensions, and after a brief period of getting to know one another, utilising it becomes second nature.

fingerprint sensor. Image credit : gsmarena.

Overall, the Reno 7 is user-friendly and easy on the eyes. Size and weight are also on the low end of the spectrum, which we see as an advantage in a world of excessively large phones, and the sunset orange colorway both deters fingerprints and looks good in the process.

Display

The Oppo Reno 7 has a 6.43-inch OLED display, which is the same size and technology as the majority of the Reno 7 series (the Reno 7 pro 5G stands out with a 6.55-inch panel). The screen features a 20:9 aspect ratio and a 1080×2400 pixel resolution for a 409ppi pixel density.

The refresh rate of the 6.43-inch Reno models varies; for instance, the Reno 7 genuine goes up to 90Hz whereas the Reno Lite is limited to 60Hz. Oppo also makes a peculiar distinction between a touch sampling rate of 120Hz for 5 fingers and 180Hz for 2 fingers.

display Image credit : gsmarena.com

The 6.43-inch Reno 7s are all comparable in terms of brightness, ranging from 430 nits in normal conditions to 600 nits in ambient lighting. Oppo’s claims are not unfounded because the Vanilla Reno 7 achieved 439 nits when the slider was operated manually and 624 nits when the boost was automatically triggered. For whatever reason, the Reno 7 Lite and Reno 7 5G are still slightly brighter than the Xiaomi and Samsung mid-range, which can push 150 to 200 nits more in auto brightness mode.

There are two colour reproduction settings available, neither of which is very accurate. While Natural is more subdued and sRGB-focused, Vivid mode provides provide vivid colours and a wide colour range, targeting the DCI-P3 colour space. We obtained an average dE2000 of about 5 for each mode for the corresponding test pattern, and the grayscale range between the two modes was rendered identically blue. The average numbers only slightly improved when the warm colours temperature preset was chosen, but the grayscale still couldn’t get very accurate, only shifting towards red/pink.

Despite the odd HDR checker app reporting HDR10, Oppo wasn’t mentioned as supporting HDR on the Reno 7/F21pro spec pages, and we received no HDR streams from any of the well-known platforms like YouTube, Netflix, or Amazon Prime Videos. Because Widevine L1 is certified, FullHD streams are available to you.

FullHD streaming support. Image credit : gsmarena.com

The Reno 7’s High refresh rate implementation is the same as the Reno 7 5G’s, and it’s very simple (not that we’d expect anything different). The objects are locked at 60Hz in the standard setting, which has two modes: high. The High setting will give you 90Hz in all compatible apps and throughout the user interface, but it will drop to 60Hz in video playback apps, games, the camera viewfinder, and Google Maps after a short period of inactivity.

Battery life

The Reno 7 has a 4,500mAh battery, which is a fairly respectable amount given the chipset/display combination and has the same capacity as the rest of the family. Indeed, this outfit provided us with outstanding endurance.

We used the Wi-Fi connection for around 17 hours total. Although our testing software had to run the test with the display operating at 60Hz because the phone wouldn’t support 90Hz, the result is still respectable. The video playback time of 21:28 hours (also at 60 Hz) is excellent, and the 33 hours of phone calls are also excellent.

When standby performance is taken into account, the Oppo Reno 7 achieves a good overall endurance rating of 127h.

Image credit : gsmarena.com

Charging speed

As we’ve already mentioned, the Reno 7 review unit didn’t come with a full retail box, but it did come with a 33W charger that matches the one that comes with the phone.

Charging speed. Image credit : gsmarena.com

With that one, we set the time for a full charge to take place from zero to one hour and ten minutes, and the battery was halfway full at that point. Although more expensive versions from both brands can charge more quickly, these are exactly the same results we saw with the Reno 7 Lite and the Realme 9 pro.

Speaker

The Reno 7 has a single, powerful speaker that emerges through a three-slot grille at the bottom of the phone.

speaker’s. Image credit : gsmarena.com

For loudness, the phone received the same Average score as the Reno 7 5G and the Reno 7 Lite. The 5G version and the vanilla Reno 7 have very similar tones. clear vocals, well-defined treble, but still lacking low-end rumble. The lite stays a little louder and leans a little more toward the mid-tones.

Software

The Reno 7 proper stands out from the rest of the Reno 7 family in a positive way. It debuted with Android 12, unlike the others, however that distinction is mainly made up for by a constant layer of ColorOS on top. However, the new core OS version does include several new core functionality that are not included in builds based on Android 11.

Image credit : gsmarena.com

Key among the new privacy features in Android 12. Your central resource for learning which rights have been given to which apps and when they have been utilised is the privacy dashboard. Another new privacy-focused option you get for apps that request that permission is precise or approximative locations. In the quick toggles section, you can add toggles for universally restricting camera and microphone access. When either of the twins is actively being used, a status bar icon appears.

privacy. Image credit : gsmarena.com

The Oppo Reno 7 has unique features, and there are a few other models in the lineup (they incorporated slightly different middle to model) that have brighter backlighting. Another application for the ring light that surrounds the microscope camera is as a status indicator for notifications, calls, and active charging. The majority of us don’t, however, so we might not be aware of all the features.

Brigthing light. Image credit : gsmarena.com

The UI’s exterior resembles that of the other colorOS 12 smartphones. We already had an app drawer, but you can also choose a single-tiered, everything-on-the-homescreen style. Standard notification shading is used, and the quick toggles by default have an Oppo green accent colour (there is also an auto-brightness switch in there). In that you have side-scrollable vertical cards, the recent applications menu is a standard approach. To make navigation easier, Oppo’s vibrant icons are used in the main settings panel.

Image credit : gsmarena.com

performance and benchmarks

The Snapdragon 680 chipset, a modest mid-range SoC that prioritises durability over performance, powers the Reno 7. It has an octa-core CPU in a 4+4 configuration with cores from the Cortex-A73 and Cortex-A53 architecture (4×2.4GHz + 4×1.9GHz). Oppo is very generous with memory, and the Reno 7 has 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage. The GPU is an Adreno 610.

performance. Image credit : gsmarena.com

All competing chipset have more potent cores in their performance clusters, even if it’s only two of them, thus the Reno 7 quickly reveals its lack of ambition in the performance sector by scoring notably poorly in the single-core test in Geekbench.

Under multi-core loads, there is a more even distribution; the multi-core score is 1653 while the single-core score is 380. The Reno 7 places similarly poorly on AnTuTu with a score of 289250, but it does edge out the Galaxy A23 in this area.

The Adreno 610 is a perfect fit for that understated CPU, and the graphics benchmarks show a similar distribution of power; the Reno 7 doesn’t pose a danger to any significant rival.

In addition to their efficient energy usage, lower-end chipsets also offer stable performance. The Reno 7 doesn’t have a lot of power, but it consistently produces good results. For the most part, at least. After 50 minutes of a full-power CPU throttling test, we noticed a slight hiccup, but it was not particularly concerning.

Camera

There are units in the Reno 7’s fairly unique camera system. The primary camera is an ordinary 64MP device with nothing unusual about it. Even though the 2MP depth sensor is practically nonexistent, it is still a pretty common option. The third camera—which is actually a “microscope”—is when things start to get a little interesting. This makes the total number of cameras on this phone three at the time, and those are all of them; there is no ultra-wide, which we now take for granted at pretty much any price point.

Image credit : gsmarena.com

Returning to the last point, many Reno 7 versions actually do not have an ultra-wide camera, so the basic models’ specifications shouldn’t come as much of a shock. Even so, the Reno 7 could have been significantly more versatile with an inexpensive 8MP camera, but we’re not accountants. It’s important to note that the Reno 7 Lite lacks an ultra-wide camera as well.

Additionally, it lacks a microscope, whereas the Reno 7 (also known as the F21 Pro, since we were there) does. The GalacyCore GC02M1 sensor, which is a tiny 2MP 1/5 device with 1.75mm pixels and is mounted behind an f/3.3 lens, is not overly spec’d. Only a few mm separate the subject from the camera housing, and focus is fixed.

The main camera is brought across. It has a 26mm equivalent lens with an f/1.7 aperture and a 64MP OmniVision OV64B sensor (1/2.0 optical format, 0.7MP pixels). According to what we can tell, the main camera is found on at least five of the Reno 7 and probably many more mid-range smartphones.

Another well-liked piece of equipment is available for selfies: a 32MP Sony IMX 709 sensor (1/2.74″, 0.8mm, Quad-Bayer). It is coupled with a fixed-focus, f/2.4 aperture lens.

The camera app is unchanged since the switch to Android 12 and is identical to what we saw on the Reno 7 5G and Reno 7 Lite. Simple to use; the microscope mode may be reached through the More sub-menu, while the primary camera modes are displayed in a standard carousel configuration. On the viewfinder, there are two zoom toggles: one for the primary 1x mode and one for the 2x zoom, which is still sourced from the primary camera.

On top of the viewfinder are the standard HDR and AI mide controls. You can choose from shutter speeds as slow as 32s and ISO settings as high as 6400 in the pro mode, which also offers a histogram. Grid lines, geotagging, and a toggle for the shutter sound are all available in the settings menu.

camera UI. Image credit : gsmarena.com

Daylight image quality

The Reno 7s’s main camera—which is also its lone camera—takes good daylight images that are suitable for the class. The 16MP photos are created very organically and have a tonne of detail. However, there is an abnormally high amount of grain in them; it is not unpleasant, but it is noticeable. Although the dynamic range isn’t very great, it’s adequate enough to not be a problem. The colors, on the other hand, are very appealing; they’re neither garish nor boring. Additionally, we had a reliable white balance, which prevented any weird colour cast.

main camera 1x zoom. Image credit : gsmarena.com

Although there isn’t a dedicated camera for the 2x zoom button in the viewfinder, the main camera still achieves some impressive results. Even at the pixel level, the images are extremely detailed and appear to be coming from a stand-alone 16MP tele. They’re not perfect, and you might occasionally see soft photos or details rendered in a jagged manner, but overall they deliver excellent zoom performance for a phone without a zoom camera.

Daylight main camera 2x zoom Image credit : gsmarena.com

As opposed to upscaling 16MP photos to 64MP like some other budget phones do, the 64MP option does seem to be arriving at the full resolution by demosaicking. With these well-lit daylight scenarios, you can capture more detail than in 16MP, but the images are typically much noisier.

Daylight main camera 64MP 1x zoom. Image credit : gsmarena.com

Lowlight photo quality

The Reno 7 isn’t operating at peak efficiency in dim light. The dynamic range is somewhat limited, with particularly poor highlights and excessively black shadows. Although there is a lot of noise, the detail can be considered to be acceptable in areas with sufficient light for the phone to function. When images are generally underexposed and the highlights are blown to white, colours still retain their saturation well, but there are fewer of them.

Low-light photos main camera 1x. Image credit : gsmarena.com

The dramatic difference introduced by night mode makes the tonal development much more endearing. Highlights are rendered much more accurately, and where there was once a blob of white, there is now detail. Though it’s not as pronounced, the shadows also receive a slight nudge. One drawback of night mode is that detail becomes a little softer.

Low-light photos main camera 1x Night mode. Image credit : gsmarena.com

Low-light photographs are merely just usable at a 2x zoom. Use of Night Mode and examination above the level of the screen’s capability is advised.

Low-light photos, main camera 2x zoom

Low-light photos, main camera 2x zoom

Microscope camera

The Reno 7’s microscopic camera is incredible. Since you must be a very precise distance from your subject in order to have it in focus, millimetres, the shooting procedure requires some getting used to. Additionally, because the depth of field is so narrow at this focus distance, even the smallest motions will have an impact on how crisp your pictures are.

microscope camera Image credit : gsmarena.com

Due to the phone’s ability to shoot 1,200×1,200px square images, the 2MP nominal resolution is really reduced to 1.44MP. The native magnification, which is labelled 15x in the viewfinder, is one of two. Although there aren’t many pixels, it has decent per-pixel detail and lets you take pictures of things a regular camera wouldn’t be able to. It’s nice as a novelty and might even be kind of useful, for instance, if you need to check the supply setup for your display.

microscope camera 15x. Image credit : gsmarena.com

Things begin to appear too soft as a result of the upscaling introduced by the 30x magnification.

Microscope camera 30x. Image credit : gsmarena.com

Portrait mode

Despite the occasional error, like the clipped ear in the first instance, subject identification in portrait mode is generally reliable. The third picture’s ambiguous depiction of the hair is nothing important, and it is typically corrected by taking additional pictures. It might be natural to tone down the blur level a bit, but this is a minor quibble.

selfie camera

Selfies taken with the Reno 7 are ok; they are stored at the nominal 32MP resolution, but they lack the detail to demonstrate this. We surmise that they were originally 8MP binned photographs that were then upscaled to 32MP and sharpened vigorously. However, they would undoubtedly produce superbly sharp 8MP or 12MP images. The majority of the time, colours are true, if not overly exuberant.

video recording

The maximum resolution and frame rate for video recording on the Reno 7 is 1080p at 30 frames per second. Although 1080p files are enormous when using h.264 and a bit rate of 20 mbps, which is already rather high for this mode, it does not have stabilisation in this top option and also allows you to encode your film using the h.265 standard for lesser file size.

Pro And Cons

Pros

design that stands out in the sunset orange colouring and is also quite light and small.

Even though the phone is not tested for submersion, having an IPX4 rating is excellent.

good value for the money, long-lasting battery.

enough RAM and storage capabilities.

A few minor pleasures include a dedicated micro SD card slot, a 3.5mm audio jack, and NFC.

At a 2x zoom in daytime, the results are surprisingly impressive. The microscope camera was wonderful and enjoyable.

Cons

The chipset is weak and cannot support 5G.

Camera performance in dim lighting is unimpressive.

No recording in 4K or 1080p60.

And no ultra-wide lens camera.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The CFPB is genuinely making America better, and they're going HARD

On June 20, I'm keynoting the LOCUS AWARDS in OAKLAND.

Let's take a sec here and notice something genuinely great happening in the US government: the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau's stunning, unbroken streak of major, muscular victories over the forces of corporate corruption, with the backing of the Supreme Court (yes, that Supreme Court), and which is only speeding up!

A little background. The CFPB was created in 2010. It was Elizabeth Warren's brainchild, an institution that was supposed to regulate finance from the perspective of the American public, not the American finance sector. Rather than fighting to "stabilize" the financial sector (the mission that led to Obama taking his advisor Timothy Geithner's advice to permit the foreclosure crisis to continue in order to "foam the runways" for the banks), the Bureau would fight to defend us from bankers.

The CFPB got off to a rocky start, with challenges to the unique system of long-term leadership appointments meant to depoliticize the office, as well as the sudden resignation of its inaugural boss, who broke his promise to see his term through in order to launch an unsuccessful bid for political office.

But after the 2020 election, the Bureau came into its own, when Biden poached Rohit Chopra from the FTC and put him in charge. Chopra went on a tear, taking on landlords who violated the covid eviction moratorium:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/20/euthanize-rentier-enablers/#cfpb

Then banning payday lenders' scummiest tactics:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/29/planned-obsolescence/#academic-fraud

Then striking at one of fintech's most predatory grifts, the "earned wage access" hustle:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/01/usury/#tech-exceptionalism

Then closing the loophole that let credit reporting bureaus (like Equifax, who doxed every single American in a spectacular 2019 breach) avoid regulation by creating data brokerage divisions and claiming they weren't part of the regulated activity of credit reporting:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/16/the-second-best-time-is-now/#the-point-of-a-system-is-what-it-does

Chopra went on to promise to ban data-brokers altogether:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/13/goulash/#material-misstatement

Then he banned comparison shopping sites where you go to find the best bank accounts and credit cards from accepting bribes and putting more expensive options at the top of the list. Instead, he's requiring banks to send the CFPB regular, accurate lists of all their charges, and standing up a federal operated comparison shopping site that gives only accurate and honest rankings. Finally, he's made an interoperability rule requiring banks to let you transfer to another institution with one click, just like you change phone carriers. That means you can search an honest site to find the best deal on your banking, and then, with a single click, transfer your accounts, your account history, your payees, and all your other banking data to that new bank:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/21/let-my-dollars-go/#personal-financial-data-rights

Somewhere in there, big business got scared. They cooked up a legal theory declaring the CFPB's funding mechanism to be unconstitutional and got the case fast-tracked to the Supreme Court, in a bid to put Chopra and the CFPB permanently out of business. Instead, the Supremes – these Supremes! – upheld the CFPB's funding mechanism in a 7-2 ruling:

https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/05/supreme-court-lets-cfpb-funding-stand/

That ruling was a starter pistol for Chopra and the Bureau. Maybe it seemed like they were taking big swings before, but it turns out all that was just a warmup. Last week on The American Prospect, Robert Kuttner rounded up all the stuff the Bureau is kicking off:

https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2024-06-07-window-on-corporate-deceptions/

First: regulating Buy Now, Pay Later companies (think: Klarna) as credit-card companies, with all the requirements for disclosure and interest rate caps dictated by the Truth In Lending Act:

https://www.skadden.com/insights/publications/2024/06/cfpb-applies-credit-card-rules

Next: creating a registry of habitual corporate criminals. This rogues gallery will make it harder for other agencies – like the DOJ – and state Attorneys General to offer bullshit "delayed prosecution agreements" to companies that compulsively rip us off:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-creates-registry-to-detect-corporate-repeat-offenders/

Then there's the rule against "fine print deception" – which is when the fine print in a contract lies to you about your rights, like when a mortgage lender forces you waive a right you can't actually waive, or car lenders that make you waive your bankruptcy rights, which, again, you can't waive:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-warns-against-deception-in-contract-fine-print/

As Kuttner writes, the common thread running through all these orders is that they ban deceptive practices – they make it illegal for companies to steal from us by lying to us. Especially in these dying days of class action suits – rapidly becoming obsolete thanks to "mandatory arbitration waivers" that make you sign away your right to join a class action – agencies like the CFPB are our only hope of punishing companies that lie to us to steal from us.

There's a lot of bad stuff going on in the world right now, and much of it – including an active genocide – is coming from the Biden White House.

But there are people in the Biden Administration who care about the American people and who are effective and committed fighters who have our back. What's more, they're winning. That doesn't make all the bad news go away, but sometimes it feels good to take a moment and take the W.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/10/getting-things-done/#deliverism

[giuseppe-yuki]

Since franco is quite unhinged and not PR trained, I feel like his girlfriend would be equally as unhinged and unpredictable like an orange cat constantly doing stupid things like climbing on stupid things and doing funny stuff around the paddock and becoming a fan favourite duo of unpredictable and hilarious behaviour - especially in the fan zone

FRANCO’S POOR PR MANAGER!!!!!

picture credits from pinterest :)

franco colapinto x orange cat shapeshifter!reader

“franco,” the disheveled looking woman snaps, a look of pure annoyance on her face. “tell your fucking cat to get down from those spare tires right now!

rolling his eyes, franco stops his laughter from looking at you prancing on tires and beckons you over.

leaping off the tower of rubber tires, you scamper over to his side, butting your head playfully against his leg. you couldn’t understand why you couldn’t have a little fun in the paddock though. it was media day, and those were soooo boring. his pr manager was a total killjoy. and besides, the fans loved you, so wouldn’t that be good for your boyfriend’s public image?

as if proving your point, the fans gathered around the fanzone squeal as you pad next to franco and his disgruntled pr manager.

while he stops momentarily to sign a few pieces of merch, you claw your way up his shoulder. the man getting his merch signed laughs, pointing his camera at your purring figure perched on franco.

“yeah, sorry, she does that sometimes,” you boyfriend remarks, recapping the pen and handing it back to the fan.

you grin at him, flashing your sharp cat canines at the camera. suddenly, an epic thought crosses your mind. what if you did a backflip off of franco’s shoulder and landed on the ground perfectly? that would be kind of cool.

gathering your wits, you leap off of your boyfriend and do two flips in the air before landing gently on your four paws. the fans in the fanzone erupt into cheers.

“ha!” your boyfriend laughs, pointing at you proudly leaping in circles on the ground. “simone biles who? make way for next big olympic gymnast!”

seeing the commotion, franco’s pr manager speeds over. “franco!” she hisses, dragging him away from the crowd. “you can not be saying that! we don’t want a bad public image from you slandering simone biles!”

“slandering???” franco says, in shock. “i was not slandering. i was merely making a comparison between her and my extraordinarily talented cat!”

you meow loudly, as if backing him up.

franco’s pr manager just pinches her nose and groans.

it’s not even ten minutes before you accidentally get yourself into trouble again.

a young fan sits on the sidewalk, talking animatedly to his mother, leaving his lunch open and inviting. hey, if he didn't want it, you’d gladly take it. you were pretty much starving after spending a good part of the day doing media duties with franco.

charging towards the open container, you take a huge bite of the contents, which turns out to be lasagna.

the boy turns around, eyes wide at seeing not only the orange cat eating his food, but also at franco colapinto jogging towards him.

“i-i-is this your cat?” he stutters out, blinking quickly at the sight in front of him, disbelieving.

“er, yes,” franco responds. scooting by the kid, he bends down and grabs you by the scruff of your neck, trying his best to separate you from the container of lasagna that you were trying your best to shove into your mouth at an ungodly speed.

the boy, seeing your actions, laughs. “she’s just like garfield!”

your boyfriend only successfully removes you from the container after you’ve devoured the entire piece of lasagna. “sorry buddy,” he says to the kid sheepishly, with your tomato-sauce covered body dangling from one hand. “i’ll give you a piece of merch to make up for the lasagna.”

still manhandling you with one hand, he uncaps a sharpie with his teeth and scribbles his signature on his own williams-branded jacket. he shrugs it off with a bit of difficulty before dumping it in the kid’s arms. the small fan ecstatically beams at franco, and thanks him profusely.

when your boyfriend squeezes by the crowd of people that were gathered to see the scene play out, he finds his pr manager standing with her arms crossed with a rather disappointed look on her face.

“did you even think before doing whatever that was?” she questions franco, simultaneously glaring at you.

when you give her a hiss of annoyance at reprimanding your boyfriend, she just about snaps.

“yeah, you’re done,” she say irritatedly. “franco, take yourself and your cat back into your driver’s room. you're grounded. both of you are prohibited from coming out for the next hour.”

you giggle inside. that’s a win for you, honestly. an hour with just yourself and franco? sounds like a great time to get into a little more mischief!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hello, again with ideas for your new event. Hope nobody made you uncomfortable. I want interaction between Ramshackle ghosts and Baul (for somebody who don't know:it's Sebeks' grandpa) or Zigvolt siblings

Or interaction Mrs. Zigvolt with Mrs.Spade about "oh what good young mans are growing, just little rowdy, don't you think so? "

Dylla (Mrs. Spade) has been getting a lot of interactions, so I decided to give Baur and the Ramshackle Ghosts some time in the limelight :>

Family means Nobody is Left Behind or Forgotten.

"Behold, grandfather—the majesty that is Diasomnia’s lounge…!” Sebek presented the room with all the flair and bravado of a ringmaster in the final show-stopping act of the circus.

The stoney walls lined with tapestries were tall, creating a massive chamber where sounds echoed into the night. Wooden tables with candelabras littered the room, circled by leather furniture. To one side, a lonely fireplace. A set of matching staircases led to an upper floor where a grand throne with dragon wings awaited, lit an ominous violet.

“You may seat here… or there.. or here… if you so wish!!” Sebek cried, pointing. “On cold days, we light the fireplace to ensure that Diasomnia is well-heated! And right up there is where the young master sits while we gaze up and salute his noble visage!!”

Baur let out a growly hmph—something Sebek had come to learn as a sign of begrudging acceptance. “It still pales in comparison to Castle Blackscale and Castle Wildrose’s throne rooms, but it I suppose it is adequate,” he sniffed.

“I am pleased to hear that we have your seal of approval, sir!!” The first year’s smile was toothy, showing all of his pearly whites.

Baur’s chest warmed. He fought to keep his mouth straight—but the corner of it betrayed him, lifting.

But it didn’t last.

Over Sebek’s shoulder, the air seemed to shift, as if an image rippling in a pond. A pale face slowly materialized. Bulging eyes, bulbous nose, shockingly blue mouth cavity and dangling tongue.

Adrenaline shot through his veins, synapses firing on all cylinders.

“GET DOWN!!” Baur commanded at the top of his lungs.

“What—!!”

Sebek had only cocked his head halfway back when grandfather tackled him. With his full weight crashing into Sebek’s at full speed, the two hurtled onto the floor, tumbling behind a leather sofa. Placing a hand on his grandson’s head, Baur forced his head close to the ground. His eyes darted around the room, quickly surveying their surroundings.

Where did it go…?!

“G-Grandfather, what is going on?!” Sebek demanded. Pinned down flat on his stomach, he appeared less like a knight and more like a startled puppy. “Please, if you’ve sensed enemies nearby, allow me to prove my mettle by lending my assistance!”

“I saw it behind you!! It can appear and disappear, slipping into the shadows,” Baur snapped—not at Sebek, but out of habit. “You mustn’t let your guard down, or it could be the last of…”

“Um, ‘scuse me…” a voice offered. It came from beneath Baur’s boots.

A white head in a top hat poked out from between the warrior’s feet. When his eyes met it, the ghost gave a sheepish grin. “Is now a bad time to do jumpscares?”

“You charged at that other guy like a magift player in the tie-breaking round,” cackled a voice from within the walls. A long, withered face protruded from a portrait of Malleus. “I thought you were going to snap his neck!”

“Even ghosts start feelin’ a little bad sometimes,” sighed a third. Round, full-bodied, and fazing through an armchair.

Sebek blinked. “Oh, it’s just the Ramshackle Ghosts.”

“The what?!” Flabbergasted, Baur careened, releasing Sebek from his grip.

The first year stood, brushing off his uniform. “The Ramshackle Ghosts?” he repeated. “They are the spirits that haunt a defunct dormitory. The ghosts roam the campus on occasion, seeking scares to keep their boredom at bay. They are a normal fixture of Night Raven College.”

“I-I see…” Baur fumbled, but managed to clear his throat. An attempt to save face, to look confident. “W-Well! I certainly hope you are thankful that I took the necessary precautions to ensure your safety! Doubtless you would have been able to handle this threat by your lonesome!!”

“Hm?” Ghost A made a face. “… I dunno about you boys, but it looked to me like you were scared of us laying a hand on the kid.”

“Same here,” B said.

“Ditto.”

"N-Nonsense!! What utter nonsense you spout…!” Baur insisted, his volume rapidly climbing, cheeks flaming. “Y-You have NO IDEA what my true intentions may be, but it is most certainly NOT to protect this… this grandson of mine!!”

“Grandfather…”

The ghosts interrupted, each of them cackling loudly.

“Awww, he’s shy!”

“He looks scary, but he’s actually a super good guy deep down. Looks can be deceiving.”

“It’s okay,” Ghost B reassured Baur. “We’ve been around for a while. We know you care without you having to say it.”

“AS I SAID…!”

“… GRANDFATHER!!!” Sebek’s voice crashed like thunder upon the earth. He straightened, his mouth stretched wife as he saluted Baur. “SIR!! I’m most thankful to be under your watchful eye!!”

“Huh?!” The Ramshackle Ghosts glanced at one another.

“I was not sharp enough to sense an enemy sneaking up on me from behind. Hnnngh…! It is frustrating, but I completely confess it was the result of my own inadequacy! Please, grandfather…! I implore you, teach this Sebek your ways!!”

He bowed deeply, his back frighteningly parallel with the ground.

Baur and the ghosts gawked at him.

“Hey, uh… kid? You alright th—”

C’s question was cut off by a rumbling chuckle. Baur folded his arms and straightened himself. He was the drill sergeant, and Sebek, his soldier awaiting molding.

“SO BE IT THEN!!” Baur declared, puffing his chest outward. “I will teach you my ways, since you show such potential.”

Sebek’s eyes sparkled. His cheeks were the delicate pink of rosebuds. “Yes…! I promise I won’t disappoint you, sir!”

“… Is it just me, or is this family a little weird?” A asked the other two ghosts.

“Nope, it’s not just you.”

“This is definitely a weird family.”

[sleepy-aletheas]

I think we tend to pit Alhaitham and Kaveh as absolute opposites too often. It's always "one is loud, the other silent" or "one is warm and the other cold" or my favorite (i say sarcastically) "one is overemotional and the other is emotionally unavailable".

Am I gonna harp on the dehumanization of Alhaitham, because his rbf and title of genius makes it so easy to do? :) ...no, not this time, I swear. I stood on that defensive soap box a few too many times already. What I wanna point out how similar their personalities are through their communication/public perception way.

For one side comment before the comparison; their mirroring needs to have a common thing they can reflect off together, or they simply would never find the answers they need. Mindless reflections would just muddle their understanding of one another and themselves.

That being said...

I think all of us fell into the "let's make Alhaitham speak short and to the point" mindset. It's easier to think of him that way — he stands idly by, listening into conversations, and already contemplating the truth about what is going on. But I swear, when he opens his mouth, then he speaks, and not just factually. He wants others to come to their own conclusions, to find the truth of the matter on their own. He tosses some information here and there to lead people on the right path, and then steps back to observe. He is also someone who uses a lot of sarcasm and avoids direct answers for the most mundane things, obscuring his own truth along it. He doesn't mind going on and on to explain things, to take his time and be helpful when someone genuinely seeks answers. Is he blunt? In a sense, yes. Maybe clinical is the way I like to think of it. He often doesn't overstep boundaries (the only one who fully gets his opinion stated is Kaveh, but they're each other's exceptions anyway), so really, the "bluntness" is more of a disregard to "overfriendliness" that is seen as politeness towards strangers or the public at large.

Kaveh on the other hand is perceived as loud and passionate to its own downside, really. Can he be either of these things? Absolutely. He has the passion of a sun, the ambition of a tide. But it's usually perceived by people as overfriendliness and an emotionally charged thing, when he really is more, and I can't really find the right word for it so I'll go with, reserved. He is polite and tries to be as helpful to others as he can be, but he doesn't really divulge that much of himself. He focuses on others, but tries to keep the attention on them or the situation and not himself too much. He will toss in tidbits of himself here and there, but that doesn't mean he's suddenly spilling all his secrets — he keeps to himself, even if his outgoing personality makes it seem he doesn't. He can keep a cool head and be analytical (architect or not, he's still a scholar through and through), and his contemplation is more of a quiet moment that he doesn't mind vocalize to gain more input from the outside. His friendliness is seen as openness, when really he's just playing the social game, keeping his true self away from public eyes (Alhaitham is one of the few, if not the only one, who gets his full opinion, not sanitized, but candid, off the cuff that doesn't need to be "pleasant" and "for polite company").

Both of them use silence and vocalization in equal measure, just in different ways to divert attention from themselves. Alhaitham seemingly riddles people's attention span into a twist until they give up aften not being patient enough to decode it; Kaveh on the other hand speeds through pleasantries to get to the bottom of the problem so no one has, or can, focus on him specifically. Alhaitham doesn't see the point of the social game, and because he doesn't care about the public's opinion of him, he doesn't play along; Kaveh's reputation and work hinge on people's thoughts and knowledge of him, so he plays along, because people being kind to you (because they know you're kind) makes life easier. Two approaches, two ways of keeping their public perception away from their private one.

It's also why their conversations (or old married bickering, either wording works) are often so "explosive". One uses a direct approach to leave the vulnerability hidden, the other leads the attention away from vulnerability through convoluted misdirection; and both of them know this, and it's frustrating. And exhilarating. Because they're going down two paths that end up at the same destination; seemingly parallel lines that are actually intersecting lines.

They are two mirrors that reflect the same object, but one sees the object's shadow and the bright world around, the other sees the object clearly, but the world in shrouded in shadows. Who is who, doesn't really matter, because both of them can fit this.

[bones-of-a-rabbit]

the post-ruin Readerbot AU, where Readerbot wakes up from a nice lil nap to. Well. Ruin. And two new,, friends?

You were in a charging stasis during the events of Security Breach and were trapped there until the events of Ruin, completely unaware of what's happened. You remember the animatronics beginning to act oddly, and, of course, Moon, and maybe a weird security guard, but waking up to the 'Plex in shambles, the Glamrocks far beyond broken, and not a single human person in sight... That's a bit jarring, to say the least.

The very first thing you are greeted with upon powering on is, of course, a couple thousand error codes and 'emergency repair' alerts that have just been waiting for you to turn on to bombard you with a nice helping of sensory overload <3 The next? A mini musicman running at you full speed, not slowing down or swerving, hitting you directly in the shins and knocking you flat on your ass. Congrats! Your head has been re-broken. Welcome back to the pizza-plex, bitch. :)

You wander around the 'plex, too confused and shocked by the, y'know, everything, to even begin to think about what they should panic over first. You cross paths with Chica, who doesn't even acknowledge you, and Monty, who only growls as you pass by, then... You stop in your tracks. Technically, you've never been in the daycare, it was always off-limits. But a lot of your old protocols have expired... And you've always been curious...

You barely step into the ruined-daycare before nearly being knocked over by a familiar, and equally as unfamiliar, attendant.

Eclipse assumes you are there to help clean up the daycare! And he's so polite, and he reminds you a lot of Sun, with a little of Moon's mischievousness (this, admittedly, is much more harmless than Moon's had been, but the comparison is still there)...

Y- yeah of course you're there to help! Just lead the way!!

Eclipse seems extremely relieved to have someone to talk to- he must not be used to being on his own?- and, really, he ends up not... letting you do much. He doesn't want you to wear yourself out, and that's much to heavy to ask you to carry, and what if something fell or broke and you got damaged?? Management hasn't been answering any messages yet, who knows how long it would be until they could get you fixed properly!! :( (Mostly you just stand there and nod as he talks, or maybe holding something small and unimportant while he does the actual work. It's... endearing, but your inner staffbot is restless and sad at having nothing to do.)

Eventually, you come up with a compromise- you'll be his emotional support assistant while he works on fixing up the daycare, in the mean time, you'll fix the electrical issues and patch him up as you find more and more materials to do so. He seems pleased enough, and, you realize after a while, starts to really like being fixed up.

Then, one day, while scavenging around, you find a busted arcade cabinet. You go to take a look to see if it has anything worth repurposing, and the next thing you know you're waking up on the floor in front of cabinet as it smolders and melts. Well, there wasn't likely to be anything worth taking, anyway.

You realize later that you've picked up a sort of... virus. It's more like you picked up another passenger, a new voice to live inside your own head when before there had been just yours.

He's... strange. It takes him a little while to realize that you can hear him and respond to his voice, but when he does, he seems pleased. He's not exactly a chatterbox in the same way Eclipse is, but he has lots of questions and lots of ideas. The only issue is, well, to be honest, they aren't very good.

It surprises you, the first time he tells you to do something. "Push him over the edge," he demands as you stand behind Eclipse on top of one of the taller structures in the daycare. It wouldn't decommission him, but it would surely break at least one of his limbs. No, no, that was a bad idea, you thought to yourself. "But he's always been more loved than you, hasn't he? Don't you just want to see him suffer even just a fraction as much as you have over these years? Don't you want to break him to a dozen little, helpless pieces?"

Well, no, not really.

"Fine. Have it your way. One of these days, he's going to hurt you, just as he did before. And you're going to WISH you had listened to me."

When you finally got to the point of realizing this other voice WAS an entire other AI currently residing in the slim gaps yours left behind, one of the first things you did was ask him what he was called. It seemed only polite, after all.

"Eclipse."

Huh. That was going to get confusing.

[elchis-art-dump]

I love the baby seikret <333

+rant post

With MH Wilds finally out I wanted to rant about how I feel about it so far. For reference I just beat ray dau, which I feel is a good place to compare the full release to open beta 1 (I didn't play the others). The only other MH games I've play are World and Rise, but mostly World, so I'll be talking from that perspective and will be making a lot of comparisons to World.

Combat:

To preface this, I'm a hammer main and have been mostly playing hammer, so all of my more specific points may only apply there. I want to get my main issue so far out of the way, the game is really easy so far. I've averaged about 10 minutes a hunt on some of the harder monsters. My first ray dau hunt took about 9 minutes, while in the beta it took about 40 minutes + two faints. I know that I'm still early in the game, but the apex of a region being that easy kind of concerns me. The ratholos and diablos story quests in world, or even earlier monsters, felt far harder at the time. It's entirely possible that I've become more skilled over time, considering that it's been a few years since I did low rank World, but some monsters have felt way to easy. Now that that's done with, I think that the combat feels fantastic. Hammer over all combos better, the spinning bludgeon comboing from any attack really helps that. The dodge you get for charging is also fantastic (having evade extender with makes it even better), I honestly find it most helpful as a tool to close distances. Having only the walking speed while charging is kinda annoying, so having this dodge is a huge offensive boon despite it being a more defensive tool. I'm also in love with the wounding mechanic; it feels like what Iceborne was trying to do with tenderizing parts but better. It's no longer tied to having to use a somewhat risky option (although I miss wall bangs). I like how spontaneous it is and that their easily destroyed. These make it feel less like a free damage boost, rather it's far more deliberate since you need to actually target specific parts to break wounds. It's also a fun way to supplement the lower quest rewards since it gives you material.

Environment:

The game is absolutely beautiful and I'm in love with it. The environmental design is fantastic, each area feels super creative (big shout out to the oil basin). The weather changing the area itself is just awesome. I just cannot express how cool, beautiful, and creative the environments are. It seems to be taking a similar approach to World with the incredibly detailed areas, but unlike World everything feels as big as it should be. The open world aspect really makes everything bigger lol. I think the size makes everything feel more reasonable in a way. Unfortunately I don't feel like the areas are quite as memorable as world. Maybe I just haven't gone out of my way to explore them enough (we'll get to that later). I am very excited to get to explore the oil basin tho, absolutely wild area idea.

Two weapons + weapons skills:

I don't think I have much to say here other than that I really like this. No longer having my offenses being tied to my armor saves me from having to decide on if I value my defense or offense more (I still value skills more, but at least armor skills help keep me alive). Weapons skill in tandem with two weapons really incentives choosing weapons that synergize with each other and I just love that.

Performance:

I've seen people complain about performance issues, but so far it runs well on PS5 (idk about PC). I've had one hunt with performance issues, but it was multiplayer and I've only done two multiplayer hunts, soooooo idk what the issue was.

Railroading:

Definitely my biggest gripe with the game. I get that Wilds is far more narrative than other games, but I hate when games tell me I'm not allowed to do something. It just sucks that the game will force me into things immediately before and after a hunt. Considering that at worst it's annoying, this isn't a huge criticism.

Tracking:

Another small point, I just wish that you didn't immediately know where a monster is on the map. I like the scoutflies in world and gathering tracks since it made you explore. I just miss it, man...

Seikrets:

They're adorable and I love them <3333

[macsimagines]

Could I ask for Kisaki, Rindou, and Draken with partners that are insecure? Like they truly believe that their boyfriend/husband could do so much better than them

I've done this one already for Kisaki and Draken here but I can def do one for Rindou!! this is kind of like a part two to my EX! Ran Haitani headcanon set!! also idk why text colors are being weird i'll try to fix it later on

TW: YANDERE BEHAVIOR, MINORS DNI,

Yandere!Rindou Haitani

He loves you, adores you even. You're so soft and kind compared to his hard and mean. Rindou has always taken pride in being who he is. He's a Haitani brother, feared allover Tokyo and a ruler in charge of Roppongi.

But for you? Just you- He's Rin. Your loving boyfriend that is never too busy to spend time with you and never lacking in affection. He'll hold your hand gladly or throw a reassuring arm over your shoulder.

All the love in the world can't stop the thoughts in your head though. He's so much more than you'll ever be. You've seen him in action and his strength and overwhelming capabilities compared to your...to your anything just made you feel so dull in comparison.

Rin is beautiful, he catches the eye of every woman you walk past on the street. Rin is strong, he can beat men without breaking a sweat. Rin is powerful, he has people that flock to him at his beck and call and you are nothing.

"I just... I just think I'm holding you back," you tell him, over the phone because you're too much of coward to say it to his face, "I want... I want what's best for you-!" "What the fuck are you talkin' about, you're what's best for me! Baby-please-!" "I can't! I'm not enough, I'm sorry Rin."

And you hang up the phone, block his number. Its better this way, you're sure by this time next week he'll have moved onto someone else, someone better that could keep up with someone as amazing as him.

But then something unexpected happens. His brother comes looking for you. Rin warned you about him once, said that after a bad breakup with his girlfriend he hadn't been the same.

"I thought they got back together though?" you had asked him confused after he had told you. He never answered you back, just got this weird look on his face before giving you a warning; "Try not to get too close. And try not to piss him off."

Yet here he was, at your doorstep staring you down like you were the scum of the earth. Apparently you hadn't heeded the warning.

"Havin' fun?" he asks, not even blinking while he towers over you, and your voice is caught in your throat, too scared to even make a sound at the older Haitani. "Cause I'm sure fuckin' not."

And suddenly he's grabbing you by the hair so tight you're scared he's going to rip it from your skull, but no, he's dragging you out the door and down the steps of your apartment ignoring your cries and screams for help.

Muttering something the whole way to his car. Something like "...You bitches and the games you like to play. Fuck with our heads, you and my girl always got make fuckin' problems for us-"

Then he's shoving you into the passenger seat making sure you can't get out. One moment you feel like you've found your voice again and then the next it leaves you because Ran has a gun pointed right at you only seconds later.

"Your gonna fix this you ungrateful bitch," he spits, eyes so full of hate it makes you want to curl in on yourself, "Put my baby brother back together and act like you like it. Like you fuckin' love it. Or I'll kill you my damn self and make you regret makin' a fool out of the Haitanis. Do you understand, Y/N?"

You're not sure if you say yes or if you even or in affirmation before he's pulling out of the parking lot and speeding dangeroulsy to some unknown destination.

And you are crying, silently shaking and sobbing because you're so scared of what he's going to do and he's still holding the gun right at your head, muttering to himself yet again.

"I'll make it right- I'll fix him and he'll be ok- fuckin' women making us loose our goddamn minds-,"

Finally you pull into a warehouse, abandoned by the looks of it and new found fear arises in you- Is this where Ran is going to kill you? But no.... This is where Rin is.

You see him first, his eyes are dark and he looks so tired from his usual self, and his expression is so empty, so emotionless that you're worried for a split second but then you see...the man. At least that's what he used to be.

His face is beaten in, and his body is contorted in such a mangled way you're sure his limbs had been broken, and Rin is on top of him. Pummeling away at the already red and mangled face.

You can't help the small gasp that leaves you and you probably would've ran out there screaming had Ran not been holding you by the neck.

But your scream was enough to alert the younger Haitani, and he turns to look at you with eyes wild like an animals. "Y-Y/N?" he whispers standing on shaking legs, "B-baby is that you?"

It didn't matter how hard you tried you couldn't make out a single sound, too shocked by the scenes unfolding around you. Thankfully, Ran wasn't short on words....

"Ya, I brought Y/N here 'cause she has somethin' to say," Ran shoves you forward, making sure that the gun at his side is always within your view. A silent reminder of what he made you promise...

Rin doesn't let you get any words our before he's embracing you with bloodied hands, smearing another persons bodily fluid all over you... "Oh baby, please tell me you're back, please? Its been hell, I can't do this without you, I'm loosin' my fuckin' mind."

Its like your brain suddenly catches up with you. You have to say yes or else... "I-I'm back," you nod, hugging him back with shaking hands, "I'm... I'm sorry Rin."

And suddenly he's sobbing, pulling you away only so he could hold your face in his bloody hands to look into your eyes, "How could you do this to me, I love you so much,"

Ran once again, speaks. "You need to keep her in line," he tells his younger brother, much to your dismay, "Like I keep my girl. Don't worry. I'll teach you."

You could never leave Rin Haitani. Shame on you for even trying.

[ruruumin]

my fairy

₊˚ ᗢ jung joon-hyung! scaramouche x kim bok-joo!reader.

⤷ inspired by weightlifting fairy kim bok-joo, 1.6k wc.

it felt like destiny brought the two of you together. that fateful day you slammed into him while he was riding his bike, completely knocking him off balance as you apologized profusely. you bowed in front of him several times until you realized he started to huff under his breath, a roll in his eyes had you quickly reeling your head. you stood up straight, noting that he wasn’t taller than you in comparison. slightly shorter than most boys you’ve seen. what sport did he play? based on that uniform, he looked like he went to the same school as you. 

he angrily cusses you out, asking for you to watch where you’re going. he said: “you must be deaf and blind not to see me on the road.” your friends stared at him in shock as you immediately glared at him in response, calling him out on his attitude before he jumped back onto his bike, speeding off in a hurry. you curse at him, calling him an entitled brat despite knowing well he won’t hear you. 

before you can leave the scene, you notice a fallen handkerchief. with the lace trimming and soft purple color, you think it’d be too girly to be his. and yet you tuck it into your pocket with a sigh. 

the next day was awful. in the morning, you find out that you lost your lucky t-shirt. you’ve always kept it since you were an elementary school kid. it would always give you good luck before your tournaments. and now it’s suddenly missing. you searched in your closet frantically, pulling out every article of clothing you could to no avail. it was gone. 

during lunch, a few ribbon dancers came to your table, snickering about how much you ate that day. you couldn’t help yourself. the morning was stressful enough, and it just so happened that they were serving your favorite meal today. you wanted a little bit of comfort during your time of distress. your friends nudge you with their elbow, stopping you from flicking food onto their expensive, tight jackets. you dislike them. and wouldn’t be surprised if they were the ones who stole your t-shirt. they’ve always been up to something. 

the cherry on top was having to chase down the underwear thief you saw lurking around the girls’ dorm. to your surprise and horror, you saw the rude biker in front of you. with wide eyes, you scream, pointing at him before charging forward with the intent of tackling him. how dare he steal your t-shirt! and possibly some other women's underwear! you never thought of him as a disgusting pervert but the evidence felt so clear. the same build and hoodie was enough to tell you it was the same man. he withdrew a breath as he struggled to climb back the makeshift rope his roommate made. you drag him by his hoodie, eventually ripping it off of him as you called out into the darkness, hoping someone would help you. 

but he wasn’t the thief. you and he stood in front of the administrators in their office. your hands squeezing each other tightly as you nervously try to explain that what you saw earlier was not a dream. you swore this man stole your clothes. why else would he be out so late? the rude, navy-haired man stared you down while you only rolled your eyes, dismissing another rude comment. you demanded that he give you back your t-shirt, not believing his story whatsoever. he shook his head, asking you to give him an apology instead. you swore you felt steam escape from your ears at this. 

this was not the end of the underwear thief as you and your friends were putting away chairs from your school event, you noticed one of the staff member’s shirts lifting, revealing a lacy, red underwear. he smiled eerily at you before grabbing the plastic chair in your hands, trying to intimidate you. however, your friends screamed loud enough for the others to arrive on the scene, taking him away in a blaring police car. you sighed as you held onto your t-shirt, looking down at the fabric as you wondered if you owed that rude biker an apology.

luckily (or possibly unlucky) for you, you learned very quickly that he was part of the swim team. but the man had a royally bad attitude. you found out from a few other people that while he was attractive, he had a nasty personality to boot. you showed up at the school pool, hoping to find him lurking around with the other team members. you wanted to give him an apology for accusing him of stealing your shirt and return his handkerchief. you even went as far as to wash it for him. he calls out to you and you twist your body to face him, a cocky smirk is spread across his face. he slowly walks towards you, a towel hanging over his neck as he stares you down. 

“a short, attractive, dark-haired boy,” he says, “not the most detailed description of me but at least you got the attractive part right. you must be looking for me then.” you sigh under your breath. holding out his handkerchief with a bit of hesitance, telling him you washed it last night. 

he quickly snatches it out of your hand, scowling at you once more as he raises his voice, asking you why you washed it. when he took a step forward, you stepped back, accidentally slipping into the pool. he groans in annoyance, watching you struggle before diving in and shoving you onto the surface. how unromantic. when you brushed off his touch, you left immediately, feeling humiliated as his teammates burned holes into your back. he stared at the back of your figure, seeing you shiver as your athletic jacket dripped with water. he crosses his arms over the edge of the pool, wondering why you seemed familiar. 

three days after this encounter, you were sitting with your friends in the cafeteria when he suddenly interrupted your conversation by sitting next to you. he didn’t say a word and only ate his food, once in a while, he’d glance up at you. your friends raise an eyebrow at his behavior, subtly asking you if you know him. you continued to eat, shoving the rest of the curry in your mouth before opening your yakult. letting out a deep sigh, you notice that he placed his own next to yours. “do you not want yours?” you asked, nervously taking it. 

“people like you always eat the most, so why don’t you have it?” why did you even think he was nice? how rude. you crinkled your eyebrows for a moment. you scoffed. setting down the drink, you packed up your things and took your tray, leaving everyone at the table. 

what is wrong with this guy? he went from despising you to somehow following you around like a lost puppy. he’d make short snappy comments to you. whether it be about another person down the street wearing the most horrific outfit known to man. or about your choice of clothes when you sneak out of the dorms. as much as he’s kind of irritating, you slowly get used to his bratty nature. it felt nice having someone around who didn’t question your feelings. especially when it came to your realization that your team coach had to cut costs because of the lack of funding. you’ve felt a heavy weight on your heart ever since you saw your coach try in her office, trying to keep everything together for your friends.

he started to show up more often at your family’s chicken restaurant. he doesn’t like oily chicken and yet he’s seen ordering the same box meal every time. your father was beginning to think he liked you. what a farfetched idea though. you could never see yourself dating him in a million years! he was a short, sharp-tongue swimmer who didn’t care about anyone but himself. and yet you let this perception of him change you. 

it was late at night, just barely before curfew that the two of you were talking beside a small waterfall. he asked you about your commitment to weightlifting and the sport, giving you his 2 cents about the sport. you raised your eyebrow, surprised to know that he went out of his way to understand your sport. most of the other people there saw it as nothing but an eating challenge between members, and that was because you had to maintain your weight or gain weight. 

you start seeing him more often. maybe a little too much to the point you’ve had to hide underneath the table of the convenience store. the two of you were just going out for some instant ramen. when the two of you saw one of the counselors roaming around, grabbing a coffee from the front, he pulled you under the bar table. you were so close to him. you could feel his breath on the surface of your lips. you stayed in this position until his eyes shifted over to the window, seeing the counselor leave. when he moves up, he hits the back of his head on the table, a soft squeal coming out of him as you instinctively reach out, brushing his hair as he winces. what a cute sound, you tell yourself. he successfully escapes, holding out his hand as you take it, hitting your head on the way out.

truthfully, maybe your heart skipped a beat a little when you both had to run back to the dorms, the adrenaline rush that coursed through your veins made you look at him a little differently. 

[captainremmington-13]

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖆𝖚𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖔𝖋 𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖊𝖓

show!Luke Castellan x daughter of thanatos!reader

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own the image above or any of Rick Riordan’s characters/world-building except for Brio.

⚠️Warnings⚠️: swearing, mentions of scars, death, and pain, injury, kissing, overall angst

A/N: fun fact: the beginning part (which is a dream) is based off a dream i had the other day where i was chasing Luke thru the woods lmaooo

“This isn’t fair!” you yelled, your legs screaming in protest as you picked up your pace.

Luke laughed loudly, also increasing his speed. The dirt trail meant that with each step, he kicked up dust, effectively making your eyes water. 

“I thought you said you could catch me, angel,” he called out tauntingly. “What happened to all your confidence?”

“Fuck you!” you said with a fake angry tone. “You’re going too fast, you know you’re better at running than me, can you at least slow down a little?”

This just made Luke laugh harder, and he glanced over his shoulder to give you a grin. 

Gods, he made you feel so many things.

“What, you can’t handle the challenge and need me to make it easier for you so you can win?” he asked teasingly. 

“No, that’s not what I meant,” you huffed, trying to hide the fact that you were completely winded.

“Sure, whatever you say, baby,” Luke said, clearly not convinced. You rolled your eyes at his sarcasm, but couldn’t prevent yourself from smiling. You really did love playfully bantering with him.

Channeling all of your remaining energy, you charged towards your boyfriend. You leapt onto his back, making him yelp in surprise. 

“What in Hades?” he asked, bewildered. You just smiled, resting your chin on his shoulder as he hooked his arms under your thighs. “Has my lovely girlfriend been possessed by a gremlin or something?” 

You gasped dramatically. “How dare you assume such an awful thing, Castellan?” You slung your arms around his neck, enjoying the feeling of your bare skin on his. 

Luke turned his head to peck you on the cheek. “I know, I know, I’m the worst, aren’t I?”

You giggled, holding onto him tighter. “Yeah, you are.”

He set you down gently, and turned to face you. His cheeks were slightly flushed from being relentlessly chased by you through the woods, but other than that, he didn’t seem tired at all. Perks of being the son of the messenger god, apparently.

You sighed, looking up at him adoringly. “This isn’t fair,” you said once again.

Luke’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve been running for so long and you still look perfect. In comparison, I probably look about as good as Medusa with a bad case of bead-head.”

Luke scoffed. “That’s so far from true. You look as pretty as ever.”

Before you could protest, he wrapped one of his large hands around the back of your neck gently, connecting his lips with yours. You melted into the kiss, reaching up to grip his strong shoulders. Thankfully, you were deep enough in the woods that it was unlikely that any other campers would see your intimate moment. You never did anything quite this intense while in the presence of others, as you didn’t want to get lectured by Chiron and Mr. D.

You closed your eyes, losing yourself in the moment. You were completely at peace…

Until Luke let out a blood-curling scream.

When you opened your eyes, you saw him being dragged away by Ladon, the dragon’s claws creating gruesome wounds in his skin. 

“No!” you shrieked, immediately flying after him. But before you could get close enough, one of Ladon’s heads opened its mouth and released a gust of fire, setting your body ablaze. 

You plummeted to the ground, helpless as you watched your boyfriend be ripped to pieces by a monster.

You kept falling for what seemed like an eternity, bracing yourself for the bone-shattering impact that you knew was to come. 

When your body finally hit the ground, everything faded all at once.  

.

.

.

“She’s waking up! Someone get Brio or Will, quickly!”

“Keep your voice down, you’re gonna scare her! You know how dangerous startling her can be!“

“You keep your voice down, you’re the one shouting-“

“Everyone, shut up!”

You groaned quietly, the noises surrounding you immediately giving you a headache. As you slowly regained consciousness, a searing pain bloomed in your abdomen, making you cry out. Your eyes snapped open, and you saw Brio Olarei, a son of Apollo, standing over you with bandages in his hand.

“Hey,” he said softly. “I need to lift up your shirt to re-wrap your stomach. You got a pretty nasty cut, and your ribs were cracked.”

“Great,” you muttered. “What else?”

“Well,” Brio began slowly. “You’ve been out for almost four days.”

You blinked. “You’re fucking kidding.”

“No, I’m not,” Brio said, removing the old bandages from your torso. “Teleporting all the way from the west coast to the east drained you enormously.”

You suddenly felt a wave of nausea overtake you, realizing that your encounter with Ladon and the Hesperides hadn’t been a dream. 

You began to sob, not caring that you were in the presence of the others who worked in the infirmary.

You had failed your mission.

But even worse, you had failed Luke.

Brio did his best to calm you down, but nothing really worked. Tears kept spilling down your cheeks, and you didn’t even try to stop them. He applied a salve to your wounds that helped ease the pain, and re-wrapped them quickly. 

“I’ll do anything I can to help you with your recovery,” the healer said warmly. “You’ll need to stay in the infirmary for another few days to make sure your injuries don’t get worse.”

You avoided his gaze, not caring to respond to his words. Instead, you asked,

“Where’s my boyfriend?” 

Brio swallowed. “He’s fine. He was in rough shape when we found you two at the border, but he made a quicker recovery than expected. He got released from the infirmary last night, but he refused to leave. We had to have him forcibly removed because it’s really busy in here, and even then, he still insisted on waiting outside of the building-“

As if on cue, none other than Luke Castellan burst through the wooden doors of the building. Nobody really tried to stop him as he rushed over to you, kneeling at your beside. His pretty brown eyes swarmed with tears, and you could tell he hadn’t been sleeping at all.

But the most startling thing you observed was the angry red scar on the right side of his face. 

“Oh, Luke…” you whispered, reaching out to cup his cheek. Luke cringed slightly, but allowed you to touch him regardless. 

“I’m fine,” he said quickly. “It’ll heal up. But it won’t ever fully fade.”

“Oh, Luke, I am so sorry-“

“It’s not your fault, angel. What’s important is that we’re both okay.”

You took his hand, rubbing circles on his palm with your thumb. “For a moment, I was worried that you…you were dea-“

“I know,” he cut in. “I was worried sick about you too. Fuck, I even prayed to Apollo, begging him to aid you in your recovery.”

You sighed. You knew that if Luke went as far as praying to the gods, he really was concerned. 

“Brio said that I’ll be fine. I just…need more recovery time than you did. Not only did I sustain injuries from the fight, but the teleportation also did quite a number on my body.“

Luke ran a hand through your hair, caressing the top of your head. “I wish it hadn’t affected you so badly, but I’m eternally grateful that you did what you did. You saved our lives.” He stood up, to lean down and place a kiss on your forehead. “You’re my hero.”

You smiled weakly. “You’re more of a hero than I’ll ever be.” 

“Nonsense,” Luke said, shaking his head. “You were so brave, taking on Ladon like that while you were seriously injured.”

“I wouldn’t call it bravery,” you replied. “I’d call it determination to keep you safe.”

He sighed. “Either way, I’m just so relieved you’re gonna be okay.” He took a deep breath, looking down. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had lost you…”

You reached up to wipe a stray tear that began running down his cheek. “I have no doubt that you would tear the world apart. You probably would’ve marched down to the Underworld and demanded Hades to give me back, just like Orpheus.”

Luke laughed quietly. “I would’ve moved mountains to reunite with you, my angel.”

You hummed appreciatively, closing your eyes once more. You felt drained, despite only having been awake for a handful of minutes. 

Luke called Brio over, who handed you a bottle of water and a small pill. 

“This will help you sleep,” Brio explained, helping you sit up slowly. You whimpered as your ribs screamed in protest at the movement. Luke squeezed your hand reassuringly, promising that the searing pain would subside soon.

You swallowed the pill and took a few sips of water. The son of Apollo turned to look at Luke.

“If you want to stay at her bedside, that’s fine. Just don’t get in the way of any of the healers and-“

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Luke said impatiently. “I won’t cause any trouble, I swear.”

A son of Hermes promising he wouldn’t cause trouble would normally raise some red flags, but in a situation as serious as this, he clearly meant what he’d said.

Brio gave you one last look before walking away, and you swore you could see pity in his eyes. You despised pity, it made you feel weak and stupid, which you knew you weren’t. 

Luke pulled up a chair and sat next to your bed. He immediately laced his fingers with yours. “Is there anything I can get you, angel?” 

You thought for a moment. “Yeah. Can you get me my stuffed bat from Cabin 11?”

Luke smiled. “Of course. I’ll be right back.”

When he returned a couple minutes later, you were barely awake. The medicine had kicked in, and all you wanted was sleep.

Luke placed the stuffie in your arms, and draped the infirmary bed’s comforter over your body. “I’m not leaving your side until you’re fully healed.”

You frowned. “But you have duties as head counselor.”

“Fuck that,” Luke said dismissively. “You’re more important. Chris can take over for me.” 

You sighed. “Where are you gonna sleep?” 

“Right here.”

“Luke-“

“I’m not leaving,” he said firmly. “After what happened at the Garden, I swore to myself that I’d never let you out of my sight ever again.”

Knowing you couldn’t persuade him to change his mind, you nodded. Clutching your stuffed animal to your chest, you let your eyes fall shut. Luke still had a tight hold on your hand. It seemed like he believed if he let go of you, he’d lose you forever.

With your beloved by your side and the medicine in your bloodstream, you were able to drift off into a peaceful state of rest.

________________________________________________

After three long days, Brio finally deemed you recovered. Well, at least recovered enough to leave the infirmary and start sleeping in Cabin 11 again.

You were instructed to take it extremely easy. No sparring, no archery, nothing that was even remotely physically taxing. You were also told to apply a healing salve nightly on the long cut Ladon had given you. You didn’t even remember getting scratched by him, but you figured it had happened right as you teleported away. 

At least the poison hadn’t spread too far throughout your skin. Otherwise, you probably wouldn’t have survived.

The scar, which was still an angry shade of red, went from your left hip across your torso to the right side of your neck. It was ugly and quite gruesome, and every time you looked in a mirror, you almost burst into tears. 

You felt like you’d taken several steps backwards in your progression as a person. You felt depressed and angry, your hatred for the Olympians growing with every day that passed.  

And being so fragile frustrated you greatly. Not being able to participate in the daily camp activities or practice your fighting put you on edge. The pitiful glances the other campers constantly threw your way made it even worse. It became so hard for you to control your temper that at some point, you stopped leaving Cabin 11 except for meals and to shower. Whenever you were out and about, you had to refrain from snapping at every person who tried to talk to you. Even your closer friends, like Chris and Annabeth, seemed nervous around you, not wanting to get on your nerves.

Luke was the only one you let your guard down with. There were even times where you refused to speak to anyone else but him. 

You suspected that you were trauma-bonded to each other. Every time Luke wasn’t by your side, you felt terrified. You worried that he’d suddenly be ripped away from you, and you’d be powerless to stop it, just like the nightmare you’d had just before waking up in the infirmary.

If you thought Luke was protective of you before, you had no words to describe what he was now. 

At times, he felt like your personal bodyguard. If someone even looked at you funny, he’d place a hand on the hilt of his sword and glare at them until they practically ran away. He almost always had a strong arm wrapped around your waist or shoulders, guiding you to wherever you needed or wanted to go. He doted on you as if you were a princess, opening doors for you and taking over any chores you were assigned. 

“Let me handle it, angel,” he would say, giving you an affectionate pat on the head. 

But even though he was sweet and gentle with you, he became more withdrawn with everyone else. 

You always knew he had some anger issues, but had managed to keep them suppressed most of the time. However, ever since he’d been released from the infirmary, it didn’t seem like he cared about keeping them at bay.

Just like you, he was furious at all of the gods, especially Hermes.

He was still polite, but he had adopted a cold, less-than-friendly demeanor. He followed through with his duties as a camp counselor, but was much less patient with the other demigods. His voice always seemed to have a hint of bitterness in it. The scar that ran down the right side of his handsome face made him even more intimidating.

Sometimes, he seemed like a completely different person.

But with you, he was still Luke. Your Luke.

And you hoped more than anything that he’d stay that way.

taglist: @orionspaperwork, @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy, @marvelescvpe, @lovingjasontoddmakemewanttocry, @louweasleymalfoy, @stars4birdie, @stargurl-battleship, @daughterofthemoons-stuff, @have-a-nice-day-k

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think in the comments!!!

The next chapter will take place months after the quest occurred…

Let me know in the comments if you want to be added to the taglist!

[moutheyes]

gelboys cinematography go brrr: episode 3

people seemed to enjoy my previous post on the exquisite cinematography in gelboys so I might as well go ahead and yap to my heart's content about it. here's what i noticed + loved in episode 3:

reversing chian's POV

@aikawa-kazuki has a great breakdown of the layering in the scene towards the beginning of the episode, which shows chian "stuck" between bua and fourmod. but when we got to the end of the episode, I lost my marbles over these shots:

because now, after spending the entire episode with chian, marinating in his headspace, we finally get to see his POV of that same scenario (now with added misery, having gone through it once already). and we get it threefold! 1) behind the shoulder shot, once again establishing those delicious layers; 2) the intimate straight-on reaction shot of his face as his expression falls; 3) most devastatingly, the camera then assumes his POV, showing the audience exactly what he sees: the possibility of fourmod, who is in the center of his vision but chian's not sure he wants to commit yet, and the unreachability of bua behind him, attention snagged elsewhere.

at the start of the episode, he goes to fourmod and plays it cool. at the end of the episode, he chooses to be alone...

chian's visual motif: an island in chaotic waters

... but chian actually is alone, a lot. @tinrange breaks down the implied context of chian's social life and his lack of human connection, and the knowledge that he's living alone, separated from his family, drives that home even more. in the scenes above, bua is always with moo, while fourmod has his gang of friends, and chian is by himself. but even when he's with his classmates, he cuts a lonely figure, and the cinematography highlights that, whether it's situating him alone in a cluttered—albeit empty—house (think back to the boisterous fullness of fourmod's house, for comparison) or with others but somehow still the odd man out. there was also a snippet of conversation that implied chian had already been accepted to a uni program, so while his classmates are studying or even just hanging out, he's left to his own devices, scrolling endlessly through social media or binging shows on 2.0x speed (fantastic detail btw).

that's why this subway shot was so effective, as it pans from the train emptying at the final stop back to chian, alone with his angst. the external space finally reflects his internal state.

framing digital fantasy vs. reality

jumping back to the very first scene to quickly talk about the transition here between the portrait mode recording of chian and bua doing their dance challenge and the following shot, which brings the viewer back into "real" space—the physical reality behind what we see on a screen, basically. the framing is the same, but the field of vision in landscape mode gains both width and depth. instead of chian and bua dancing next to each other on the same plane, he's now separated from bua and moo, diminished due to the camera's perspective and his seated position—as well as his emotional state.

panning + tilting across POVs

something I've really enjoyed about gelboys is the use of the slow, deliberate pan to shift POVs within a scene. usually panning and tilting are used to create suspense and/or reveal new information (ref. the train scene above), but here it's also used to extend the take, to let the viewer sit inside of a scene for longer while still providing a change of perspective or additional information. it's hard to illustrate effectively without gifs (and I currently lack the ad*be access to make them myself) but I'll try my best. here's a simple example:

this is a continuous shot that pans very slightly from left to right. at first the camera is centered on fourmod, with chian only partially framed—but still enough to let the viewer see his expressions clearly. after chian says he'll wait with fourmod until his phone is charged, we get the following information: fourmod's pleased little smile followed by chian turning away to avoid [fill in the blank—fourmod's earnestness? his own feelings?], and, as the camera moves to center his face, a complicated little smile.

this kind of transition happens a few times in each episode. the following scene was the most effective use of it, and was combined with a more definitive POV shift via cut:

the first two frames show the shift from chian's POV to fourmod's, as chian rejects fourmod's choice of sappy IG caption. the camera tilts down to focus on fourmod's expression as it goes from forced smile to crestfallen. this time, chian's face isn't kept in the frame; the viewer no longer knows what he's thinking as he decides to end the date and leave. the cut that happens there situates the camera firmly in fourmod's POV to close out the scene. (while chian is the POV character for this episode, fourmod is technically the protagonist of the entire series so this wasn't super jarring, and the initial tilt shot helped ease that visual transition anyway.)

the rollerblading scene also uses panning to briefly change POVs, and the way it does it is kinda clever, switching the moment fourmod takes a picture of chian, but all of my screenshots look dumb. my eternal devotion for a gifset of this scene...

don't forget about baa... he's there...

yeah. can't wait for sad boys club next week!! :')

[planet-of-the-machines]

[Transcribed from speech]

Hey there outpost 3! I've got a few questions for the Disassembly drones.

-/Robo-Jesus someone get her off of me!!!/-

So, N and V, regarding the sword blade wings; are they typically uniform size?

-/steel feathers in my face! Stop attacking me!/-

*Eagle screech*

Cuz our new Disassembly drone here has a set of wings that are pretty big, like some vast predatory bird! And I caught sight of some of her feathers splitting open-

-/NONONO NOT THE FACE!/-

-one sec, HEY! SHUT UP AND STOP AGITATING MY PATIENTS!

-/What are you-? No that's not yours/-

*crashing sounds*

*Sigh* as I was saying, her blade feathers split open, revealing small thrusters, so is that something standard issue, or is she some special variation of disassembly?

-/-son of a Subroutine! Give that back you Mettalic Magpie!!/-

*Caws of victory *

Oh, right, also do either of you know a Serial Designation F? Cuz that's the name on the band on her leg.

-/ OH COME ON SHE STOLE MY TABLET! I HAVE BLUEPRINTS ON THAT!/-

GOOD! I won't have to patch you up for a while then! Anyway, thanks for any light you can shed on this.

Cheif Medical officer of Outpost 15

Minerva

P.S. Brainstorm is fine. F was just flailing her wings in his face trying to steal his tablet.

P.P.S. don't worry about data leaks either. I traded some shiny scrap metal to get it back. She was trying to make a nest in the repair bay she's confined to.

Biscuits, J's going to kill me for saying this.

There are several... um, models of us Disassemblers, kinda like how there were hundreds of different dog breeds before the Flash. Or I guess a better comparison would be humanity and its various races and ethnicities. Me and my team are of the Alpha 2 model, Alpha meaning basically the "default" Murder Drone. The 2 is that we're the second, uh, generation of that default, as the Alpha 1 was phased out by the company in 2051.

Th-that's not to say we all look the same, heheh. If we get enough recorded kills, JCJenson lets us modify ourselves... so long as Mr. Sentinel approves of them. I've only gotten 29 confirmed Worker Drone kills since we were deployed, not quite enough for even the cheapest mod. J's gotten around 70, which she used to get her feet — usually the girls only get the "stilts," as maintenance calls them. And V's killed over 100, but—

-N

I haven't modded myself because I don't need any. Best of the team.

-V

Oh.

Okay then.

That brings us to the other models. IDK who's in charge of designing us, but they seem to have really liked animals, cause they've put quite a few features into them.

The Beta model, which F seems to be of, take after birds of prey. Larger wingspans, thrusters for extra speed in the air, and and three-pronged feet for grabbing on to railings, ledges, or... uh, people. I think G may be a derivative of the Beta 2, judging by her feet, but then there's her massive tail, and she's too small.

The Gamma model take after wolves, lions, and tigers. They have claws integrated into the fingers, more sensitive audio receptors — they can even run on all fours. Kinda wish I was one... although I probably would've killed— ANYWAYS!!!

The Delta Model is basically the Alpha, but amphibious — mostly taking after sharks. They can be told apart by the fins on their arms, legs, and back. That, and they have no wings.

The Epsilon model take after chameleons. ... I don't think I need to explain what they do. Mainly they're used for scouting or stealth ops.

Finally, there's the Zeta model... also know as the Shifter model. In all honesty, they're closer to Heavy Drones than they are to Disassembly Drones, except they... uh...

-N

They're like this loser's emo friend. Turn into a car or truck or jet fighter of some kind for higher mobility. Don't ask why corporate thought to turn them into vehicles instead of animals, even J has no clue about it.

Shifters are like stormtroopers (no, not those stormtroopers). The company uses them whenever brute force is necessary to get a job done. There aren't that many Zetas around, though one of them, Sentinel Major, somehow got high enough on the corporate ladder to become J's boss.

As for your other question... *sigh* N, J, and I were trained alongside another trio when we were first built and turned online. S, K, and D, if my new memory core's not lying. We really didn't get along, as our teacher pitted us against each other— still pit our teams against each other, and every other team built before and after us. It's all a competition, one where you otherwise never see your opponents. So no, we've never heard of Serial Designation F until your message, miss.

-V

You mean you've never even met any other teams in person? Robo-Jesus Christ...

-Boulder

There goes that potential interrogation down the garbage chute.

-Chase

Dude. Really?

Hot Rod

Let me get this straight. When you called me a shifter during prom, you were saying some of you guys have my powers!?

-Uzi

Yep. They're usually around the size of a Heavy Drone, though, so I imagine they'd call you an imp.

-V

BITE ME!!! >:(

-Uzi

Oh chill out. If there's anything special about you besides your... personality(?), they don't have two vehicles they can turn into, only one. Besides, you're fast enough to run circles around them and they'll just overheat to death trying to hit you.

-V

Hold on. You said they're used as stormtroopers. Why would Jenson need someone for that kind of role?

-Orion

I don't know the details, but apparently the company's not just fighting the WDF. J said a few things about rival companies... and something about the Red Army... but said V and I didn't need to know the specifics. And because we weren't really allowed to ask questions...

-N

[stelladess]

This post brought to you by....

Campfire Blaze.

Blaze the Igniting Spark has 752 atk at max trust (which I already have from Blaze classic, lucky me!) and 1.6 second attack interval.

She is NOT tanky without her talents. For comparison Amiya (who to be fair is the tankiest 5 star non Phalanx caster) is tankier. Thankfully both her talents boost her survivability, especially her second talent giving her barrier and not dying on death. Then she gets better and stuns enemies after a while. From what I have gathered health regen can still help her back up faster during this even though she cannot be directly healed. Medicmiya, bards, etc. Oh and btw she can also still regenerate sp during her downed state. Her survival talent is really really strong, her other talent is cool and situationally strong.

Her S1 is an afk skill which I am not very interested in.

S2! Blood Boiling Blaze! Her attack interval increases to 2.5 seconds, she gains +150% atk so 752+1128=1880 (which you might recall as a similar number to Nymph S3, which has a 1 second attack interval) she targets up to 3 enemies per attack and sets the tiles on fire at the cost of 5% of her HP. These flaming tiles will slow enemies movement speed by 50%, so not the slow debuff but a direct movement speed reduction meaning nothing resists it even immortal enemies. She also does an arts dot of 35% so 658 and 30% burn buildup so 564 per second. Her dps ends up at 752+658=1410 arts damage. Which is not all that impressive but the movement speed reduction is honestly a much much bigger deal. Skill got almost 50/50 uptime and downtime and really good range extension.

S3, she loses HP every second (ive seen it claimed it is 3% of atk and 3% of max hp, but either way it can kill her so be careful). It is an ammo type skill so it can be ended early. It only takes 30 seconds to charge as well so it gets back up quick. She gets 25 ammo, can get more ammo if burn burst is triggered... it lowers her attack interval to 0.3 seconds according to what I can find. Arts damage prefers faster attack speed compared to higher attack (phys is the other way around) generally due to how their damage formulas work so this is great. Also her attacks are 1.7 tile AoE now and her range gets weird but in a good way. Her attack goes up by +115% too though and if enemy is under burn burst she does an additional 80% damage as elemental damage. Additional! She does not convert her damage to elemental like Nymph does but adds extra on top of her arts damage. 115% of 752 is 865 (technically 864.8) so 752+865=1617 arts dph... at a 0.3 attack interval. This means arts dps of 5390 (1617/0.3).

And what about the +80% extra elemental? 1617*0.8=1294 (1293.6)

Add that to every hit she does. 4313 elemental damage dps on top of her arts dps.

Ignoring her talent 1 which just does 350% extra elemental damage every time a burn burst is triggered. On skill that is 1617*3.5=5660 (5659.5) bonus damage on each burst which is already 7000 by default. Of course, she cannot trigger burn burst on her own.

I wanna write something on Yu himself, but since it is relevant here ill get into his S3 here. But before then a brief interlude. Did you know that Blaze studies physics to be better at fighting? Her arts are hard to apply directly to be useful for combat so she has to actually understand of heat interacts with various materials and the weight and heat conductivity of her chainsaw, etc, etc.

So Yu... this little man is pretty good. But I will only get into how his S3 benefits Blaze´s damage right now, just know that Yu is really good.

He has 715 atk, his S3 gives him +110% atk so 787 For a total of 1502. Firewall, shoot through it for burn damage (actually just stand on the opposite side to the enemy). The burn damage applies for any arts damage operator and it is... 10% of Yu´s attack. Which is 150.

NOT 10% of the damage dealt. 10% of Yu´s attack. So enemy res does not matter. Which is great since burn reduces res and you want it on enemies with decent res.

Keep in mind non boss enemies only got 1000 elemental health while bosses get 2000.

So on non boss enemies Blaze gets in 3 attacks per second (her attack speed is faster then 3 per second but not enough for a 4th one to land. But every 3 seconds she will have one second where she gets in 4 attacks instead of 3) 150/0.3=500 elemental damage buildup per second, technically 450 most seconds and 600 every 3 seconds. Now we are REALLY cooking. Sizzling some sandworm legs here (that is a thing they actually grill in Arknights, they mention it multiple times in multiple stories).

Basically, usually it will take her a bit over 2 seconds to proc burn burst when empowered by Yu... on every enemy in the radius of her decent sized AoE. Sometimes it takes a bit under 2 seconds.

1000/150 is 6.lots of 6s so it takes 7 hits to trigger burn burst leaving Blaze at 18 ammo but she regains 2 per burn burst so at 20 (assuming one enemy, she gains more for each enemy of course and I heard someone claim she can load more then max capacity)

2000/150 is 13 and loads of 3s, so 14 (we are not rounding down since well, if they got a sliver of elemental health left no burst) hits to bring down a boss elemental bar. Leaving her with 11-actually 13 left.

Again, assuming no other enemies in range.

🔥🔥🔥

I love how explosive her kit feels and her immortality talent letting her be played much more recklessly then other casters despite being fairly squishy, but she self heals on burning enemies so it feels very appropriate for Blaze to stay in the fight by fighting more.

[itneedsmoregays]

The Steff Pearce Series - Muffins

Ash let out a giant sigh of relief as she kicked the door shut behind her. She made her way toward the kitchen, a bulging grocery bag clenched tight in her hand.

It was no secret that her girlfriend had plenty of baking experience under her belt, thanks to working in her family’s café. Steff was always bringing home something sweet from work or preparing some pancakes from scratch for breakfast. By comparison, whenever Ash made pancakes or waffles for them, it was always with a pre-prepared mix she simply added water or milk to.

This time, however, Ash wanted to return the favour and make something for the skunk to come home to. Thus while Steff was at work for the day, she had seized the opportunity. The moment the porcupine had finished her regularly scheduled lunch with her mom, she had gone straight to the supermarket to buy some ingredients.

“She’s always baking sweet stuff for me.” She said aloud to herself, carefully unloading the flour, sugar, eggs and chocolate chips onto the kitchen table. “Can’t be too difficult.”

Ash was no baker by any means; cooking was much more her speed, chopping up whatever food she saw fit for the meal and tossing it into the pan to fry. The muffin tray, whisk and scales on the counter were practically alien to her. But that wasn’t going to stop her from putting in the effort to try.

The porcupine glanced down at the muffin recipe she had saved on her phone, taking in a determined breath. “For Steff."

---

Business had been running smoothly over at Brewtiful all day. Now fully trained, Meena was effortlessly brewing hot drinks with care for every order she received, all while Cassie watched her proudly from the cash register.

Just as she handed the finished tray over to Steff with her trunk, the phone on the wall started ringing. Making sure there were no waiting customers for the moment, Meena picked up the receiver and held it to her large ear.

“Hello, you’ve reached Brewtiful.”

The elephant held the receiver away from her ear as a frenzied voice sounded through from it. “Oh! Hey, Meena! Is Steff there?!”

“Oh, hi, Ash. Yeah, she’s waiting tables…”

“Great, that’s great!” The porcupine cut her off. “Could you, uh, do me a favour and veeery subtly ask her where she put the fire extinguisher?”

“Umm… okay?” Meena replied slowly before covering the mouthpiece. “Steff, can you come here?”

Finishing up with serving a customer over at a table in the window, the skunk walked back over to her friend with the empty tray in hand. “Is everything alright, Meena?”

“Uh, Ash is on the phone.” She replied, struggling to think how she could possibly ask this next question ‘subtly’. She quickly gave up. “She… wants to know where you put the fire extinguisher.”

“Oh, tell her it’s just under the…” Steff’s eyes quickly popped open as what she had just heard sunk in. “WAIT! WHY?!”

Jumping as high as she could, the skunk snatched the phone out of Meena’s grasp. “Ash, what is going on?!” She shrieked into the receiver.

“Oh, nothing! Everything’s totally fine here, angel!” Ash’s panicky voice shrieked back, the incessant beeping of a fire alarm accompanying it. “Oh, look at that, I found the fire extinguisher! Well I gotta go, I’ll see you after work, love you, bye!”

Before either her mom or Meena could ask what was wrong, Steff had flung her apron off and shot out the door at lightning speed, frantically flagging down the first taxi she saw.

The entire ride home, Ash didn’t answer any of her calls. By the time the taxi pulled up outside their apartment building, the skunk’s anxiety only heightened at the sight of smoke billowing from their window. Tossing a handful of dollar bills in the driver’s face, Steff jumped out of the vehicle door and ran straight into the apartment.

Terrifying thoughts flooded her head as she charged up the stairs, potential danger be damned. Had there been a fire? Had Ash made it out in time? Was she hurt? Or worse?

Practically kicking their door open, Steff was greeted with the piercing beep of their fire detector and a faceful of smoke as she bolted inside. Waving her hand in front of her face, the skunk finally made out the shape of her girlfriend stepping out of the kitchen, no signs of harm anywhere on her. In her oven-mitted hands was a tray of twelve burnt lumps.

“…Surpriiise.” Ash said lamely, a sheepish grin on her face.

---

Over an hour passed of the two girls wiping down the kitchen and fanning the rest of the smoke out, as well as Steff smothering the porcupine with relieved hugs and kisses. The pair of them now sat quietly at the kitchen table, staring at the tray of singed muffins in the centre.

“And you thought turning the oven up a couple of degrees would get them done quicker before I finished work?”

Ash fiddled with a quill hanging by her ear, letting out an awkward chuckle. “AAAnd make up for adding too much sugar. I never realised how much precision went into baking.”

“Well it’s…” Steff’s nose wrinkled at the faint burning smell still emanating from the tray. “…not as awful as when I tried to cook dinner.”

The two of them couldn’t help giggling at that particular memory; Steff’s attempt at spinach lasagne had certainly made for an interesting meal that evening.

“And like me with this baking stuff, you’ll get there with a little help.” Ash added.

“I’m just glad you’re okay.” The skunk said, laying her hand on top of her girlfriend’s. “And it may not have turned out exactly like you wanted, but it’s so sweet you wanted to prepare something for me.” Taking one of the blackened treats, she bit off a small chunk and forced herself to chew it.

“Mmm… I can taste your love in every bite.” Steff muttered, wincing with a smile. Snickering, the porcupine grabbed a burnt muffin from the tray and took a bigger bite.

“Yep. Sweet, charcoal-flavoured love.” She replied, her grinning face also scrunched up in disgust as she chewed. Unable to bear the taste any longer, the two of them quickly spat it back into the empty slots on the tray before leaning back into their chairs laughing.

“You want me to help you make a new batch?” The skunk asked.

Ash grinned. “Sure.”

[vulgrados-best]

Offscreen Post

Revenge is an Art

// TW Violence

It goes like this:

Miguel's alarm goes off at 6:00 AM sharp. Today's the day.

It goes like this:

Nick and Miguel meet up in the quarry, exactly where they hid the equipment the night before. They greet Dulce, the midnight watchman, guardian of their tools of revenge. With her job done she heads back home, but not before wishing the two of them luck.

It goes like this:

The 3 teams of this operation slowly pour into the quarry. The total headcount is 22 people, most are Rolycoly Racers, some are friends of Racers.

It goes like this:

From what Miguel heard, the head of the Battle team was decided by who had the most gym badges. Marty had all 8, seems the average of the group was 2-4 badges in comparison.

Miguel instructs Marty to have his team watch out for the riders' other Pokemon: "They can be pretty nasty."

The Disruption team is headed by Disruption Specialist, Rez. Miguel hopes xey are as efficient with xer pokemon as xey are with xer mouth. Man do xey talk a lot.

Miguel instructs Rez to make sure that the riders absolutely don't want to stick around: "Annoy, overstimulate, overwhelm."

The Paintball team is headed by Nicolas himself, turns out he is a damn good shot.

Miguel doesn't need to instruct Nick, after all, they constructed this plan together: "Good luck, I know you've got this covered."

It goes like this:

Miguel rides Celcity directly into the lair of the beast, the junkyard.

It goes like this:

They take the bait. At first they assume Miguel has come crawling back to them... but as the sounds of Pokeballs opening surrounds them they realize they've been betrayed.

It goes like this:

A cacophony of noise fills the junkyard soon after the fighting begins. Miguel smirks at them, earplugs hidden behind their helmet. The riders see red.

It goes like this:

Celcity and Miguel turn tail and run, chased by 3 of the riders. It seems Edwardo is smart enough to try to protect his kingdom. He'll be ousted soon enough.

It goes like this:

Lightscreen, Barrier, Reflect, Protect. Defensive moves form a wall between Miguel and the 3 who followed.

It goes like this:

A hail of paintballs splatter the riders from behind and from sniper points. Each shot is carefully aimed to not hit their Cyclizars. But the noise enough to startle Checkerboard, which is enough to startle Truth. Both Cyclizars run wild in their enclosure before darting through the opening behind them. Quickly the paintballers in the way cleared a path so the startled Cyclizars could bolt.

All the while Nick takes his place near Miguel, a safer place to be... or at least it was meant to be.

It goe s like THIS:

Crescendo shared the rage of his rider, Rafael. It's amazing what a pokemon can do when it's determined enough.

Miguel and Nick watch as Crescendo begins to push apart two light screens with sheer force of will.

IT GO e s 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 tHIs:

Crescendo tears through the walls stopping him and charges Nick.

Miguel doesn't even think, they urge Celcity into the side of Crescendo. Celcity bites down on Crescendo's tail before he can get up to speed, stopping the hybrid in his tracks.

ＩＴ ＧＯＥＳ ＬＩＫＥ ＴＨＩＳ:

Miguel leaps off the back of Celcity onto Rafael, sending them both tumbling to the ground. A crack rings out as Miguel manages to hit Rafael in the jaw.

It goes... like this...:

Miguel isn't quite sure as to how the rest of the fight went, one minute they were on top of Rafael the next they were being dragged off him by a Jenny.

Their knuckles hurt like hell and their nose and leg were bleeding all over again. But that didn't account for all of the blood on their shirt.

It goes. like this:

Miguel was in so much fucking trouble.