#headshots in my area queens

[nyphotony]

ExecHeadshots

[blizzardstarx]

My insane Wings of Fire AU Species Masterlist, of an AU that I made in a rp four years ago! (with very bad traditional drawings i did that long ago) @castiels-destiny

The roleplay information is here, plus fun facts! I recommend reading this.

Starting off with the Continent: Pontalo! I kinda just… replaced two As in Pantala with Os (listen… it was four years ago)

I just made a terrible ass map just now but it looks like a dragon curled up, the head is facing downwards towards Pyrrhia and Pantala

There are 7 main tribes that live there, the FireWings (orange), SunWings(bright yellow), MoonWings (purple), LightWings (sandy yellow thats getting overtaken by red), LightningWings (cyan), HydroWings (dark blue), BloodWings (red), who wiped out the ShapeWings and stole their land. Also, they all eat meat, or in the case of BloodWings, blood.

Also, they can all breathe fire except for HydroWings, ShapeWings (venom), and LightWings, I kinda forgot to mention that before

They can have both Kings and Queens which rule equally, unlike in the original series which has predominantly Queens.

You can make ocs of them! tag (id love to see) and credit me if you do, please! :)

Edit: Headshots of all of them with updated designs! (the ShapeWing isnt accurate)

The head is where the Kingdom of Fire resides, the FireWings live there.

FireWings have fire-proof scales, backs on fire, and intense fire breath. The rare attribute is blue fire. They are aligned to the Fire Tribe and are carnivores. Their colors typically range from red, orange, or yellow (fiery) and have fiery eyes.

Their descendants are the MudWings and SkyWings in the original series.

Updated FireWing Base

The second drawing is their Queen (i forgot her name) with her sick daughter i think

Near the wings of the dragon continent, the top part resides the LightWings. (full information here) They are lightweight dragons with feathered wings instead of leathery, bat wings, like a bird. They also have feathery scales on their backs. They are aligned to the Light Tribe and have light powers, and are seen as mostly healers and good-willed. However, they have been nearly wiped out by the BloodWings, and most of the rest of them have fled the continent. They are omnivores.

They can range from white, light yellow, light blue, yellow, and other pastel colors, which are uncommon, and have yellow or blue eyes. Their feathers on their backs and behind their legs can be all kinds of colors, though.

Updated LightWing Base

The LightningWings (full and updated info here) live in the bottom part of the wing, in the Kingdom of Lightning. They have long nose horns like a lightning rod, and manipulate/summon electricity/lightning. They can charge their power in lightning storms and areas with lots of electricity. They have large backspikes too, and are carnivores.

They are a variety of colors, blue, dark blue, grayish blue, dark/grayish purplish blue, etc. Think storm clouds. Their spikes are white with yellow highlights though. They can have blue or yellow eyes.

Their descendants are also the SkyWings.

I actually have recent drawings of LightningWings and ShapeWings, in 2022 or 2023. This is Switch and Storm! They were mates.

Fun fact Storm died in front of Switch’s eyes LMFAOOO

Updated LightningWing base:

ShapeWings (full information here) used to live in the area the Bloodwings now reside, the part of the body connected to the arm and wing. They are shapeshifters and can change forms on whatever they’ve seen, and can also camouflage and change their scale colors, like their descendants, the RainWings. They come in a variety of colors, eye colors, and spots, and are omnivores. They eat a variety of fruits but can eat meat. They are Light Tribe aligned.

Their queen, Paradox, escaped the Great ShapeWing Genocide and was the last surviving member of their species, and she vows to one day rebuild her kingdom, and hated the BloodWings for what they’ve done. However, a young BloodWing dragon, Vampire Bat or, just Bat, came to her school, and she saw that not all of them were bad.

They have now repopulated in wherever the place Paradox went to (we never named what the land was that the roleplay took place in), and will not return to Pontalo.

They are the common ancestor of the Leaf and RainWings.

Updated ShapeWing design:

SunWings are kinda related to LightWings. They have frills like frilled-neck lizards that can absorb sunlight and charge their power. They live in the Kingdom of Sun. They have a very spiky tail, like a sun. They are Light/Fire Tribe aligned. They vary from golden yellow, yellow, orange, etc. They are carnivores.

SandWings are descendants of them, also ShapeWings are related as they absorb energy from the sun too, like their descendants, RainWings and LeafWings.

I don’t have any good drawings of them.

MoonWings (full information here, the following is a summary) are the opposite of SunWings, and they have scales that can light up, like SeaWing scales. They are nocturnal, and very much ancestors of NightWings. They also have star-like dots/scales in their wings that make them look like the night sky, like NightWings. They are in the Moon Kingdom and are Shadow Tribe aligned. However, they are not necessarily evil. They range from any dark color, black, greenish/purpleish/blueish black, etc. They can have any eye color and are carnivorous.

Also they get powers when under full moons like the NightWings, one full moon either prophecy or mind-reading, two for both, three for enhanced

SeaWings are sort of descended from them as well, and they’re distantly related to the HydroWings.

Updated MoonWing Base

BloodWings (full information here + SwordWings info) are settler dragons from another land and conquered the ShapeWings and LightWings. They are like vampires, they can turn into bats, they suck blood, have sharp, long fangs, large ears, and burn in the sun. They have a lot of spikes, a spike on their chest area (which i didnt draw, whoops), and shredder spikes on their forelegs. They range from violent dark red shades and have red eyes. They can hear very well, use dark powers, and can also fight hand-to-hand combat, because of their spikes. They are Shadow Tribe aligned.

Updated BloodWing base:

The second drawing is of Bat, drawn in 2021

Subspecies:

SwordWings (one of my favorites <3 they dont live on Pontalo though)

SwordWings were BloodWings that defected and vowed to stop their evil crimes, and eventually evolved into a seperate species. However, they almost got wiped out by the BloodWings when finally discovered, and the two remaining members known are the King’s children, Knight and Dauntless, brother and sister. They have armor and use weapons, but they still have BloodWing qualities. They grew out of using dark magic (some can sometimes use it) and instead rely on swords or their claws/spikes. Their colors are faded dark red, and have evolved out of their red eyes. They are carnivores and they don’t depend on blood anymore. They are Light Tribe aligned.

The two live in the land Paradox is (i dont have a name for it. we never named it anything lol)

The drawings are Knight. Second one drawn in 2023 I think

And lastly my beloved HydroWings!

Here is the full description

They are literally just SeaWings with bigger webbed spines running down from their head to their tail, on their legs, belly, and webbed spines that form like a fish tail, and water powers. HydroWings speak a more ancient version of Aquatic, and also have more bioluminescent scales than regular SeaWings. They have the patterns in their wings royal SeaWings got from them. They live underwater, can go deep underwater, and have gills, but can also live outside of water like SeaWings. However, they can’t stay on land for too long. They eat fish, whales, etc and are Water Tribe aligned.

They range from purple (rare), blue, green, and dark or light (rare) variants of those too. They have green, purple (rare), or blue eyes too.

Any other colors I didnt mention, just think of them as SeaWings, they can have the colors SeaWings have.

Most of them have fled Pontalo or are in hiding because of the threat of the BloodWings, and a lot have been killed.

Their names are usually after shark or dolphin species! Although Paradox’s mate Torrent does not follow this naming pattern, lol.

Updated HydroWing Base

Old drawing (actually one of the old, old drawings I like but I forgot a few things) and 2023 drawings (I was trying out something with the wings in the first one):

King Tiger Shark, the og HydroWing that I first came up with and the current King!

His back story is sort of in the full HydroWing description, but I forgot to include he was the youngest HydroWing King ever at 5.

And Queen Dolphin, daughter of Queen Paradox, and Hydro-ShapeWing hybrid.

She found the hidden HydroWing palace Atlantis and found out she was a HydroWing and not just a weird SeaWing/ShapeWing hybrid.

[the-baddest-of-batches]

Chapter Twenty-Four: Changing of the Guard

4 BBY Naboo

"The situation is handled, sir." I duck my unhelmeted head to the Moff who waits with the others behind a line of security officers and troopers who have helped to secure the premises here on Naboo. Leia is back with her parents, and safe aboard the Venator in orbit along with several other guests. The assailants who were apprehended will be questioned later and the bodies are being dealt with. I'm sure someone will have plenty of questions for the Zann Consortium. Particularly, why they got involved.

I suspect this was some sort of bounty, or a ploy to get their hands on a bargaining chip. It wouldn't be the first time they'd pulled a stunt like this. I still remember Fondor.

The Moff sighs as he approaches me. His arms are crossed over his chest, a sign he was nervous. He likely still is. An attack of this size when we were expecting mere rebels has shaken many. Those who remain here are among the highest order, though, smoothing over the details.

"Kian," he calls out, his voice stiff to keep out the fear. "You did well securing the princess."

I shrug. "I did what I had to."

One of the black armored troopers wanders toward me. Removing his helmet, I find myself face to face with Headshot again.

"Kian's good at being a leader, even if he won't say it," Headshot comments. "Permission to brag about you, sir?"

I glare at him. "Just say what you're going to say and get back to work."

Headshot puts a hand on my shoulder. "I wanted to say," he looks at the Moff, "you picked a good man."

I avoid his stare and look at the Moff. Headshot pulls back and frowns. "And an anti social one at that."

I'm glad to see you too. I've been thinking about it since we met in the ballroom, but I know if I say it to Headshot's face, though, it'll just reopen the wound. I turn to the Moff and try not to notice Headshots lingering stare before he wanders back to work.

"Sir, how's the situation here?" I keep my voice stoic.

"It's handled," the Moff says firmly. "But–" he glances to his right. I follow his gaze and notice the blue skinned Admiral from the party is watching me from amid the crowd of ranking officers. He turns his head, speaking in words I cannot hear. I recognize the sharp hawk-faced Moff however: Tarkin.

After their secret exchange, they both break from position and stride toward me and Moff Sharn. Sharn stiffens as Tarkin's eyes lock on us both and do not leave. The man is a predator. I've seen him a few times. Enough to know I'd rather not join the gladiator match that is politics with him.

It's not Tarkin that speaks, however. The admiral beside him, whose race I have to say I'm unfamiliar with, he broaches the conversation first. "Have you presented my proposition yet, Moff?"

Tarkin raises a single eyebrow, and that is all the question he needs to provide.

"No." Moff Sharn looks at me. "Kian, we must speak somewhere private."

"Sir, this building is on lockdown. We are still—"

"We can speak in the Queen's private throne room," the Admiral cuts in. "It is vacant, and well within the safe areas."

"Yessir." I keep my head up.

The Admiral nods to Moff Sharn, dismissing him. "We shall handle this."

The Admiral breaks away, followed by Tarkin, and Sharn nods for me to follow. I obey, only because I don't know what sort of trouble I've gotten myself into now.

I don't think I defied any direct orders.

The two escort me into a small ante-chamber for a smaller, more private throne room. I close the door behind myself and stick my helmet on my hip. My hand lingers by my blaster, should further threat appear.

Moff Tarkin sighs with an expression that one can only describe as disappointment. "I always expect Sharn to have spoken up, and he never does. Thrawn, please handle this."

"Sharn always preferred waiting. It's his weakness."

"Sirs?" I look between them. "What does this have to do with me?"

"Officer Kian, or shall I say, Lieutenant," the blue skinned man, Admiral Thrawn, turns with hands folded firmly behind his back. He paces quietly, yet deliberately across the room so that he is able to look down at me. "I proposed to Moff Sharn a promotion. Yours."

"Mine?"

"Yes, trooper. You see, I've had the chance to inspect your documents. The Admiral Rent you worked under in your early days highly recommends your skills, and after tonight, it's clear his recommendation was right."

"Sir, I work in training rookies. I simply—"

"Listen to him." Tarkin instructs.

I nod firmly.

"I have proposed an operation I shall for now, refrain from naming. But it stems from an agency you are familiar with, the ISB. You are up as one of the candidates."

"I don't work on teams."

"I have read your records."

I look down at my boots. "Sir, I'm quite content where I am."

"Don't lie," Moff Tarkin scoffs. "You're a clone. You and your brothers were made for one purpose, and one purpose alone."

"What did you think you would do when the war ended?" Thrawn asked. "What were your...aspirations, Lieutenant?"

Aspirations? I had some, once. I don't really remember them. They're more of a fleeting dream from a past I've left behind. I don't need aspirations.

"Sir, I live to fight and die for the peace of the universe," I mutter.

"Then why do you waste away training soldiers?"

"Because—" I have no other answer. I can only look in Thrawn's deep red eyes and know that his question is purely rhetorical.

I'm afraid to lose someone else.

Thrawn nods. "Think about it, Lieutenant. I shall have the analyst I've selected for the team reach out. I'm sure you've had an exhausting night." He breaks his gaze and exits the room.

Tarkin alone remains. The Moff's aura is like that of a nexu, ready to pounce. He'd eat me alive, and the universe too if someone bigger than him weren't holding the leash. His gaze bores into me. "Don't waste your talents. You are a good man, and a better soldier." Tarkin raises his chin and looks down on me, "And without your leadership tonight, someone well may well have died."

My jaw clenches.

Tarkin turns. "Think on that, soldier."

#

4 BBY Aboard the Malevolent

The door slides open. Moff Sharn instructed me to meet someone in the debriefing room, but it's been almost an hour. I look up anyway, trying to keep the boredom out of my eyes as a young woman enters. She's like a spitting female image of Thrawn, except I think her skin might be a darker blue. Her eyes have the same piercing red.

I stand up straighter.

"Forgive me," her eyes are on her datapad. "Several of the files I'm supposed to be presenting you with were not submitted in a timely manner," she looks up.

"Are you the Lieutenant?"

"Yes ma'am. I take it you're Myren? The Moff said you're here on behalf of the Admiral."

She bobs her head firmly. "Correct.."

"So you're the second round of convincing?" I cross my arms over my chest.

Myren merely casts the information on her datapad to the holo table. "I've sent you several dossiers, Lieutenant. These will be the pool of candidates for your team. They are the best of the best."

"Are they now?"

"I hand picked them myself. My dossier is among them, if you are so inclined as to doubt."

"I see."

Myren looks up. Faces clutter up the holographic display. "Many of these men and women come highly recommended already, but I sifted through their data to see who could be compatible with someone like...you."

I can't tell if she's complimenting me, or pointing out the obvious insult. I just stare at the data. "I see a few familiar faces."

"There are also bounty hunters, criminals on good behavior, I trust you'll pick the ones whom you find fit."

"Wait, I haven't agreed to anything yet."

Myren nods. "I know. I simply want you to read up on these people. This will be your team if you so choose."

"And if I don't choose?"

"Then someone else will step up." Myren sets down the datapad. "But I've read your files too, Lieutenant. If you ask me, you're more than qualified and refusing to acknowledge it will not keep you safe."

I look down at my hands. Everywhere I go, death follows. Maybe that's my fault. Maybe it's a hazard of the job.

But if I stand idly by, death will go on following. Do not make sacrifices in vain. Do not leave another generation of children to pick up our burdens.

Nyo sacrificed himself for me. Mer'en taught me what it was like to be strong in the face of death. And Aftermath told me that when all else fails, take your anger out on something and make the universe a far less dangerous place.

Among the faces before me there is not even one that looks like mine. But these people have families, and brothers, and sisters. They have hopes and dreams, and I cannot in my right mind lead them into death.

"Give me...a little more time," I say.

Myren nods and her expression softens into a look I would've hated once. But Myren doesn't pity me, she sympathizes. She understands, and I dare say, she's angry that I don't.

Myren picks up her datapad with a small pursed frown and turns. "Take as much time as you need."

#

4 BBY The Director's Office

"Welcome." The director, a man I've never met before, waits as I and several others are ushered into his office. It is something of a debriefing room at the moment.

Myren's face catches my eye as she stands by, waiting on us. She's in a white ISB uniform, but I know from the paperwork I had to sign, she's one of ours.

I myself offer the Director only a casual salute. Call it habit. I can't really bring myself to muster respect where none is yet owed. I look at the others, though. This is the first time they've all been in the same room together. I know who I selected at the end of the year, but the paperwork took months.

Sometimes I still can't believe this is the decision I made. We don't look like we fit together at all.

We have Zur, the Zabrak bounty hunter, a former prisoner, who was suggested for his particular skill sets in martial arts. Dross, a man I assume will become shortly insufferable, is academy trained and highly recommended. R3, that trusty old unit I haven't seen in years, he was an obvious choice. And Jay, a last minute stand in. I did not initially ask for him, but the man I requested was found dead.

Some allowances had to be made.

This is my team now. This is Winterfang.

"Captain Kian," the Director calls out. He spreads his hands across his desk. "Thank you for coming, and agreeing to our little operation. And to you all," One by one, the Director looks at each face. "From this day forward, you shall all be operatives of Winterfang. You shall not speak this name unless authorized. We are a secret arm of the Empire, and you were all made aware when you were read in."

"Yessir," the whole group choruses the firm response.

I nod.

"This is your Captain, Kian," the director gestures to me. "Myren here will serve as your main analyst. You shall be provided whatever you need, with discretion."

I glance at Myren.

She glances back. I think she smiles.

The director goes on. "You will be allowed to recruit, the details of which Myren will handle as this is an operation we plan to expand in time, but for now, we must move quickly into business. Your first mission has already been arranged, and should you survive, you shall be firmly instated as true Winterfang operatives."

I scan the room. Every face here is hardened with a past. We've all left something behind.

We were all once children. Children asked to fight a war we didn't understand. A war we couldn't comprehend. And now we stand here men and women. We've seen horrors. Faced death. We have nothing left to lose. For that, we will fight the war here and now. So that no child must ever lose what we lost.

I grip my helmet firm at my side. I am proud, and I know they would be too. This is only a step. A never-ending march. But we do it together, as a team.

We were children and they sent us to die. But we survived. 

The End

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[miloscat]

[Review] Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (PS4)

A rather grisly adventure.

After I first enjoyed War in the North with my spouse, we were anticipating what WB would do with the licence next. Sadly this next-gen effort didn’t support co-op so she lost interest; I picked it up later and am finally getting to it now, now that my next-next-gen console can play the previous next-gen games at maximum settings (although my foolish eyes couldn’t detect a difference between the “favour resolution” and “favour quality” settings). By waiting I did get a cheap package with all DLC included, so that’s cool.

Shadow of Mordor is seemingly an effort to make The Lord of the Rings more dark and gritty. You see the family of protagonist Talion brutally murdered in the first five minutes and so he teams up with the ghost of Celebrimbor in a quest of bloody, gory, graphically violent vengeance. This game generated some conversation at the time about the depiction of orcs as an inherently evil race and thus a “safe” target for indiscriminate murder; I think that by focusing on them, rendering them with more life than ever before, with hopes and fears, and steeping the protagonists in darkness in order to fight them, these issues rear their heads. In other words, the more grounded and realistic the take, the more murky the moral relativism becomes. To some extent this is exactly what they were going for, but the bottom line is I find the incessant stabbing and on-screen throat-cutting off-putting. But I digress.

So much for the tone. The gameplay is very derivative of Assassin’s Creed, and I’ve read that the combat also takes cues from the Batman Arkham games. Put it together with a dynamic enemy hierarchy and some magic powers and you’ve got an engaging game that plays quite well. I found the clambering around, trying to take out orcs by stealth addictive. When you do get discovered and a real rumble ensues, I was less enamoured of the timing-based counters and found myself swiftly overwhelmed in these awkward scraps. This is kind of the point though, it’s not meant to be easy. I did like slowing time to rapidly headshot a bunch of dudes, finding it an effective way to get out of trouble. You also get the ability later to brainwash orcs to back you up or instigate infighting, not to mention the mechanics around taming beasts or unleashing wild creatures that add variety. The skill tree lets you pick up abilities (some enjoyably overpowered) based on your preferred style.

I suppose the Nemesis system must be mentioned, the supposed landmark feature that tracks enemy captains, giving them unique personalities and quirks and having you re-encounter them as they react to you and advance through the ranks. It’s maybe a little over-engineered but gives you plenty of chances for extra risk and reward, as well as generated events on top of the emergent situations. It makes the open world feel that much more alive and responsive. And speaking of the structure, I liked that the two hub areas weren’t too big. I came to learn the layout and landmarks, and ended up doing everything without sinking too much time or the game overstaying its welcome by dragging things out.

Now, the setting. It’s somewhere in between The Hobbit and LotR, as Sauron has been evicted from Dol Guldur and is gathering strength. Orcs have retaken Mordor (more lush in these times than what we see in the films), wiping out the last of Gondor’s meagre garrison on the Black Gate and enslaving the other inhabitants. This chaotic situation is the backdrop for Talion’s search for some edgy OCs, evil men who are ruling in the dark lord’s absence. Along the way you meet Gondorian deserters and settlers, a feisty dwarf, and a proud but beleaguered human tribe. Oh, and Gollum, who has a relationship with Talion and Celebrimbor very much like his interactions with Sam and Frodo respectively. Besides this, the tribe is led by a queen under the spell of Saruman exactly like Théoden. There’s some good stuff here, and plenty of cool lore obviously written by Tolkien nerds (love filling in that logbook!), but also these “low-hanging fruit” familiarities, part of the “prequel problem”.

The DLC included in the package I got constituted some nice bonuses. Skins let me play as the warrior woman Lithariel through most of the game, extra captain types are mixed in, and some overpowered runes gave me a headstart. Also included are two mini-campaigns, each set in one of the existing open world zones: one that expands on the beast-taming mechanic with fun and silly results, and one that shows Celebrimbor’s initial clash with Sauron in the Second Age that focuses on the brainwashing powers. This one I had more trouble with due to the elf’s tweaked moveset needing some time to get used to, but both are decent follow-ups and continuations of the gameplay on this engine. There’s even challenge gauntlet things if you just can’t get enough, but I had in fact had enough. Except now I’m going to play the sequel...!

[pyrrhiccomedy]

Hello ☺️, I’ve heard from your lovely lady companion Emily that you’re a very seasoned DM! I was wondering if you had any advice for beginners to DMing when it comes to things like improvising and making sure your first session has an impact on the players as their introduction to the world. Any advice at all would be a lifesaver! Thank you ☺️✌🏻

holy shit, a question about DMing. you have freed me, stranger. I can stop blogging about Troy (2004). 

First of all, I’m really excited to hear that you’re going to be DMing for the first time! DMing is understandably intimidating, but it’s also incredibly creatively fulfilling, and it’s something you’ll still be learning how to do better after 25 years. 

Okay, so let’s talk about session 1.

Your first session has a lot of lifting to do. You want to make an emotional impact, you want your players to learn about the world, you want to convey tone and genre, and you want your PCs to have a chance to band together and form quick connections.

I really can’t say enough good things about session 1 being about An Escape, because an escape scenario immediately poses a whole bunch of really valuable questions.

What is a crime in this world?

Who are your natural adversaries?

Why should you trust & rely upon your new party members?

What is violence like in this game? This says a lot about your game’s tone.

What will the next few sessions be about?

Literally, in 3 of the last 4 campaigns I’ve run, session one was An Escape. I’ll walk you through the set-ups for 2 of them (the third is a one-on-one campaign, so maybe not as useful to you).

In Vampire: the Masquerade, the party (all vampires) woke up staked to the ground in the basement of an abandoned school, captives of the fanatical inquisitorial group, the Society of Leopold. None of them had met each other before, all of them were confused, angry, scared, and low on blood.

What is a crime in this world?

Just being a vampire is a crime. You can be brutally attacked, captured, and murdered for being what you are. Your only recourse is to fight for your life.

Who are your natural adversaries?

Vampire hunters. They are not as strong or as fast as you, but they have dirty tricks up their sleeves and fanatical conviction on their side, and they do not see you as human.

Why should you trust & rely upon your new party members?

Without them, you will not escape your predicament. You know you can trust them because you have a common enemy. Each of them will have a chance to solve a problem with a unique skill that you do not possess, driving home that you can solve dangerous problems together that you could not overcome on your own. 

What is violence like in this game? This says a lot about your game’s tone.

Fast, flashy, bloody, and dark. Descriptions of injuries are savage; heads get torn off, chests get ripped open, shadows pinwheel wildly as the sole hanging light in the ceiling gets knocked around amidst the violence. But there’s a slick cool to all of it. You are in real danger, but you are also capable of dealing out grievous and acrobatic harm.

What will the next few sessions be about?

Upon your escape, the Prince of the city charged you all with seeking out the leaders of the hunters. Best not to disappoint him.

In my Call of Cthulhu campaign, the characters were all prisoners on a bus to the gulag, in Russia in 1938.

What is a crime in this world?

Literally anything, if you have displeased the wrong people. One of you received a letter you shouldn’t have seen. Another one wrote seditious poetry. Another was rude to a secret police officer during an investigation. Another literally has no idea why he’s here. There is a cold, kafkaesque indifference to the notion of fairness in this world. You have been disenfranchised and shipped off to do hard labor for almost nothing at all. Do not bother to look for reason in the machinations of the state.

Who are your natural adversaries?

The NKVD. They are all-powerful, all-seeing, and brutal. They could kill every last one of you right here in the snow, and so long as they filed the correct paperwork afterwards, there will be no follow up investigation. They have the key to the vehicles, they have warm clothes, they have all of the guns, they have the radio that is your only way of contacting the outside world. You don’t even have coats that will keep out the freezing wind. If you want what you need to escape this place, you will have to take it from them.

Why should you trust & rely upon your new party members?

You will be shot, if you try to escape alone. The tundra is vast and the NKVD are always watching. Your only hope is to cause confusion and hope that your numbers count for more than your jailers’ guns. And once you’re out, into Siberia? conditions are so hostile you have no choice but to band together for survival.

What is violence like in this game? This says a lot about your game’s tone.

Almost instantly fatal. You are shown fellow prisoners (NPCs) get headshot by the NKVD captain and drop to the ground, dead. Another NPC has a broken leg, and cannot participate in combat at all. If you get hurt, that’s it. There are no health potions or magic spells that will mitigate the effects of bullets and the biting wind.

What will the next few sessions be about?

As you escaped, you saw strange apparitions across the snow, which caused the radio to malfunction. You are fleeing in your stolen truck from the NKVD, but where are you going? Where can you go, except towards the mystery?

Escapes are great, too, because as a DM, your list of things you need to prepare is pretty concrete. You need:

- Mooks

- A boss for the mooks

- a map of the immediate area, so your players know what avenues of potential escape they have

- a couple of NPC fellow prisoners for them to talk to & for you to kill along the way (alternately, this can be a great way to link the party up with future quest-givers straight from the jump).

- A list of possible resources to aid in their escape that they might be able to get their hands on (a fire axe? a radio? a car?)

- A couple of ideas for spanners to throw in the works (if things are too easy/going too quickly, maybe this NPC fellow prisoner turns on them, hoping to curry favor with the NKVD; maybe one of the hunters has a flamethrower to force the vampires to double back; maybe it starts to snow with white-out conditions, maybe something is being filmed right outside and the vampires can’t bust through the steel doors without potentially breaking the Masquerade).

Another great thing about escapes is that they’re geographically isolated. So you don’t need to have The Entire Starting Zone figured out from session 1: you just need to know about this one truck stop in Siberia, or this abandoned school in Queens. When they gain access to the wider world, the session ends, and you should have an idea of where they want to go next.

And if any of their captors survive, you may have an act 1 villain on your hands. Don’t get too attached to the idea that any of them WILL survive; but if they do, and the party bears them a grudge, find them a place in the story, flesh them out as an adversary. Your Big Bad means nothing to them yet, but Captain Volkov, the NKVD captain who pursued them across the ice like a relentless automaton, scares them.

Another thing I like about escapes is that they feel very natural. There is no quest giver; they have an obvious goal they can all agree on, and the obstacles to achieving it are built into the situation. It’s a solid framework for an adventure that you can pack a lot of worldbuilding detail into along the way.

Good luck!

[high-tidethunder]

so long lives this, and this gives life to thee

inspired by this post!

Act I: SCENE I: Holly. The main stage at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. Enter QUỲNH, wearing a long red velvet gown, her hair draped over her shoulders and braided with gold and strings of pearls. She is backlit by string lights on the stage that surround her like a halo.

QUỲNH:

This is a story of two men,

A thief and a knight,

Whose lives are inexorably entwined,

Wherever, and whenever they meet.

This is the story of a years-long fight,

The lost hope of one,

Amidst the search for the other.

This is the story of the power of a young girl,

And her empathy.

This is the story of a family,

And the ties that bind it, which will never break.

This is a story of a love, everlasting.

They might just need a push to get there.

~~~

Joe finishes belting his sword to his back and pushes his way out of the canvas costuming tent and onto the stage, where a crowd of families has already gathered. He smiles at them, waves, sits down at the table on the stage’s corner and pulls up the copy of yesterday’s newspaper that sits on it, studiously focusing on the photograph of Governor Whitmer that graces the front page.

Andy misses their cue by five minutes. Joe has to cough four times, stomp twice, and slam down the wooden tankard he’s been pretending to drink from before they tumble out of the costume tent, adjusting their silk doublet and the circlet twisted into their hair. He is going to kill Quỳnh.

“Yusuf! It has happened again!” they call, and he’s not entirely sure the frantic thread of their voice is an act. At least they remember their lines. “That scoundrel can’t keep getting away with this,” they growl, pacing the stage, pointedly ignoring the audience. They stop in front of his chair, folding their arms across their chest. “Another carriage has been raided, in the eastern wood. He made off with the whole load of silks and what gold the driver had.”

“And what do you wish from me? Years, this has been going on. He is like a shadow, melting away into the night, I cannot find him. I am lost,” Joe retorts, and stares forlornly into the empty mug in front of him. “That blackguard Nicolò di Genova is a thorn in my side that I cannot dig out.”

Andy straightens, then, and finally turns out to look at the audience. They notice the young girl in the first row and crouch down to look at her, smiling kindly when she ducks her head shyly. “Hello there, sweetheart,” they start, voice warm. “My name is Andromache, what’s yours?”

The girl looks up at her parents for a moment and waits for her mother to nod encouragingly before looking at Andy again. “I’m Aisha,” she says, barely loud enough for Joe to hear.

“Hello Aisha, I’m the queen of this realm, and I think that you,” they look up now, “all of you, might be able to help out my knight here. What do you think?”

Aisha’s eyes widen and she stares up at Andy. “Maybe,” she says, still quiet.

Not one to pressure audience participation, Andy stands and steps back, turning to look at Joe before addressing the crowd again. “I bet, if Sir Yusuf here shows you a picture of the man we are looking for, you would be able to tell us if you’ve seen him,” they say, giving Joe a sidelong glance.

He takes the charcoal sketch of Nicky he’d done the week before the festival started out of the pages of the newspaper and stands, walking to the edge of the stage. “This man,” he starts, jumping down in an area in front of the stage clear of any people and gesturing with the sketch, “is called Nicolò, and for many years he has evaded our capture while ambushing our trade routes.” Joe begins to walk up and down the length of the stage, holding the picture out all the while. “He has stolen many goods and deprived many tradesmen their hard-earned wages. We cannot let this stand, and I don’t believe any in our kingdom would think we should.” He stops, “There is a reward on his head, and should any of you be brave enough to join our scouting party, you will be well compensated.” They would get a $20 credit at a select few stalls. One per family. “Will anyone here join our cause?”

Aisha steps forward, a small step, accompanied by an encouraging smile from her mother. “I will,” she says, and the rest of the crowd breaks into a cheer of assent.

Joe grins and kneels down in front of her. “I think,” he starts, looking her in the eye, “that you would make a fantastic second-in-command,” he says, folding away the sketch of Nicky and tucking it between his chestplate and his shirt.

Right then, the stablehands bring out his and Andy’s horses and he stands, mounts the horse, and looks down at Aisha. “Would you like to ride with me, m’lady?” he asks, waiting as she looks to her parents for their agreement before nodding vigorously.

Her father lifts her into Joe’s waiting hands and he settles her in front of him on the horse before signaling to Andy that he’s ready to go when they are. They nod and lead their horse to the front of the crowd to address them, explaining that they and Joe would be leading the group through the fairgrounds in the search. They wait for everyone to situate themselves between the horses, then head out towards the costuming stalls. Joe waits for everyone to clear out before bringing up the rear, making sure to keep pace with Aisha’s parents.

~~~

About halfway through the “search”, Aisha asks to see the sketch again and Joe switches the reins to one hand, pulling the paper out and holding it in front of her. He notices now that he’d gotten Nicky’s nose wrong and he tells Aisha so with a fake-somber shake of his head. In truth, it is a little disappointing. Nicky had willingly sat for an hour for Joe to get the sketch done instead of just handing him a headshot like anyone else would have done. He’d wanted to get it right.

She pats his hand consolingly, stares at the picture for a moment, then asks, “What if he’s hungry?”

Joe is a little taken aback, but he can see her parents smiling next to them and would never try to discourage a child’s empathy, so he responds, “Well, then we would feed him. But, if he takes others’ wares, they’ll have nothing to sell, then they might go hungry.”

“Why couldn’t you feed them, too?”

“We could. We would. But it is difficult managing a kingdom, Aisha, we can’t know everyone who’s hungry all the time. We can only do our best to stop those who are taking advantage of other people, so that they have no reason to go hungry.”

“But when we find him, if he is hungry, you’ll feed him?”

Joe can’t help the smile that’s spreading across his face. “We will, sweetheart. Queen Andromache wants no one in this kingdom to suffer.”

~~~

When Andy finally leads them to the blacksmith’s stall, a little boy in the crowd is the first to spot Nicky where he’s half-hidden behind Booker, the smith, and the new girl, Nile, who are deep in a conversation about metalworking.

Joe hands Aisha back to her parents, then dismounts and draws his sword, handing the reins off to one of the stablehands and approaching the entrance to the shop. “Nicolò di Genova!” he calls, and Booker and Nile step out of the way as Nicky looks up from where he’d been pretending to browse the scabbards on one wall.

“And who are you?” Nicky spits out, shifting on his feet into a fighting stance.

“I,” Joe starts, and wastes no amount of grandeur as he looks out over the crowd amassed before them and continues his speech, “am Yusuf ibn Ibrahim ibn Mohammed al-Kaysani,” here he pauses and looks at Nile, standing next to him with genuine delight on her face, and winks at her, “called al-Tayyib,” he says, swiftly turning and bowing to her, taking her hand in his and pressing a gentle kiss to it. “And you,” he says, standing abruptly and swinging back around to confront Nicky, pointing his sword at him accusatorily, “Nicolò di Genova, are a thief.”

“And by whose authority do you make this claim?” Nicky asks, quirking an eyebrow. “I am but a traveling merchant, here with the sunrise and gone with its set,” he says with a saccharine smile. A taunt.

“Peddler of stolen wares,” Joe bites back, advancing as Nicky steps backward, eyes widening in apprehension in an expression that is almost comically exaggerated to anyone who knows him.

Joe remembers the countless lunch breaks that had been spent rehearsing after Nicky had come to him after their first week of shows together and asked for help making his performance more believable.

He can’t help but be a little proud of himself for the result.

“You have not answered me,” Nicky says, buying time as he makes his way further into the smithy and towards the rack of swords on the far wall. “By whose authority are you making this claim?”

“I am making this arrest under the authority of the Nomad Queen.”

At this, Nicky turns to look at Andy, sitting horseback behind the crowd, drawing their attention to them. They straighten their back, their delicate gold circlet glinting in the sun, and stare down their nose at Nicky.

Nicky takes this moment of distraction to lunge at the rack of swords, grab his blunted prop one they’d planted there that morning, and deftly pull it free. “It is not an arrest you will make without a fight,” he snarls, once again settling into a fighting stance.

“I did not imagine it would be,” Joe counters, coiling his own muscles like a spring.

It’s Nicky who attacks first this time, lunging at Joe as he swings his blade at him in a sweeping downward arc. Joe quickly checks that Nile and Booker have cleared the crowd to a safe distance away before allowing himself to fall back, his own sword raised over his head to protect himself from the blow. He forces Nicky’s sword to the side, inadvertently pushing the two of them chest to chest, and makes to draw the dagger at his hip before his arm is twisted back and Nicky ducks away from him. He growls and advances again, Nicky blocks his first blow but stumbles over a divot in the ground at the second one and falls, dropping his sword to fling out his hand and break his fall. Joe’s hand darts out to grab the fallen blade and he throws it in the direction of the smithy before standing over Nicky, settling the point of his sword under his chin.

“Do you yield?” he asks, panting slightly.

He’s suddenly acutely aware of the way Nicky’s Adam's apple bobs when he swallows.

For a moment, Nicky’s eyes darken into an emotion that isn’t there quite long enough for Joe to recognize it, before hardening into steel once more. “Never,” he spits, then reaches up and, in one swift motion, twists Joe’s sword out of his hand and rolls to his feet. And then, Joe finds himself with his own blade to his neck, staring down it to that same dark look in Nicky’s eyes.

He’s about to say something when Booker calls to Joe and hefts Nicky’s sword his way and they’re in the thick of the stage fight again until Nicky yields.

~~~

“Why did that little girl remind you to feed me?” Nicky asks when they’re back in the costuming tent, and Joe huffs a laugh.

“Aisha,” he responds, “She was very worried that the scoundrel we were looking for might have turned to crime because he was hungry.”

Nicky smiles at this, one of those barely-there smiles of his that Joe first read as a reluctance to tolerate his presence but now sees a kind of beauty in. “Good for her,” he says as he makes his way through the tent to his cubby, undoing the clasps of his leather jerkin as he goes.

Joe goes to his own cubby and sheds his heavy leather armor before tucking it away. He grabs his phone and wallet and is about to leave to grab them lunch when he hears Nicky let out a curse and call for him, and turns to see him tugging helplessly at the last clasp on his jerkin. “Need help with that?”

“Please? I think it caught on the undershirt and I don’t want to tear it if I don’t have to.”

“Yeah, okay, I’ll see what I can do,” Joe says, walking over.

He takes the stubborn clasp in his hands and Nicky lets his own hands fall to rest on the wooden chest behind him as Joe messes with the fabric of his shirt, trying to figure out where it’s caught.

“Sorry,” he says, still holding the fabric taut as he kneels to put his phone and wallet on the dirt floor at Nicky’s feet to free up his hand, “I think I see where it’s caught, but-” he looks up from the ground and cuts himself off when he realizes just exactly what position he’s gotten himself in.

Nicky looks down at the same moment Joe looks up at him and barely gets out a ‘what?’ before his eyes widen ever so slightly and he clamps his mouth shut, the tips of his ears turning pink. Joe clears his throat and Nicky’s jaw tightens and he tips his head back, staring steadfastly at the ceiling as Joe goes back to twisting the fabric of his shirt out of the clasp of his jerkin.

“All good!” Joe says when he finishes, forcing cheer into his voice and pulling down the shirt. He very nearly pats it smooth before he catches himself.

“Thanks,” Nicky says, almost clipped, and Joe hazards a look up at him as he blindly reaches out for his phone and wallet.

“Well, I’m not going to ask what you two were doing in here, but I will remind you that this is a tent and does not lock, and I am going to ask if either of you know where my wife is because I believe she owes me $50 now,” Andy says from behind them, and Joe whips around to look so fast that his neck hurts. They wave, phone in hand, then duck out of the tent.

“It’s not what it looks like!” he tries to call after them, raising himself up on one knee towards the tent entrance in some half-assed, desperate attempt to stop his reputation from being ruined.

A hand lands on his shoulder, then, and he feels Nicky’s hair brush at the side of his neck, a sensation that probably shouldn’t send a shiver through him but does anyways. “I think,” he says, voice low in Joe’s ear, “I would very much like it if it was.”

Joe stands so quickly he slams his head into Nicky’s chin, and the other man lets out what Joe assumes is a truly impressive string of curses in Italian, although his semester abroad in Rome didn’t quite teach him whatever it was Nicky had just said about a pig.

“Oh, shit, I’m so sorry, fuck, Nicky, are you okay?” he gets out in one breath, turning to see Nicky with a hand pressed to his mouth and a wild look in his eyes.

“That,” he says pointedly, tightly, muffled by his fingers, “was not the outcome I was hoping for,” he finishes, taking his hand away from his mouth and revealing his lips, smeared with blood.

Joe’s heart plummets and he jerks forward, grabbing for the box of tissues he knows is on top of the cubbies and tearing one out. He crumples it in one hand and holds it to Nicky’s bleeding lip before he realizes what he’s doing.

“Sorry,” he says again, not quite sure if he should keep holding the tissue to the cut.

Nicky makes the decision for him, bringing his own hand to take hold of the bloodied tissue and shaking his head. “I should be the one apologizing,” he says, eyes downcast. “I shouldn’t have said that, it was unprofessional and,” he stops, frustration flooding his features, as though the words he wants to say are evading him. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” he finally says and looks up at Joe. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Joe says, shaking his head. “It’s not a big deal-”

Nicky cuts him off at this, “I’ll just take this as a ‘no’ and leave you alone,” he says, and the tone in his voice twists Joe’s gut.

“Wait, Nicky, no. Don’t,” he protests, reaching out for Nicky’s wrist. “Take it as a ‘I don’t have any dinner plans tonight, and I did make a promise to feed you’?” he offers, hoping he sounds as sincere as he is.

The tension melts from Nicky’s face, the worried lines at the corners of his pursed lips turning up in a smile. “You’re a terrible cook,” he says, raising an eyebrow.

Joe laughs, and it feels like letting go. “I am,” he agrees. He’s perfected three dishes that aren’t sandwiches or cold cereal, and even with those, they’re half-burned half the time. “But I’m really good at picking good restaurants because of it,” he says, and Nicky snorts.

“I like the sound of that,” he says, and warmth blooms in Joe’s chest.

“6 sound good?” he asks, a time that should give them both an hour or so after their shift ends to get cleaned up. “I’ll pick you up.”

“Sounds great,” Nicky says, just as Joe hears his cue line for his next performance coming from the stage.

“Who knows where the night might go, huh?” he says, looking Nicky up and down and winking before turning and running for the stage.

[pathogenliliaceae]

Thoughts on Jill Valentine

Hello, friends! My responsibilities for my trading company job have abated in the interim, so I thought perhaps I would come back around to Jill, as promised. 

Thoughts on Jill Valentine:

I will begin this by saying that it is appropriate that she was asked alongside Mia because there is one outstanding issue that I have between the both of them: The need to be saved. Though I find Jill to be leagues more competent.

We’ll get to it in full a bit later. 

I will make no secrets that Jill has never been my most favourite of protagonists. Most of those issues stem from “3: Nemesis” and Five, though I am not adverse to including bits from One and Revelations. In one word, Jill is tolerable. Though, if given a choice (depending upon who my choices are) I will usually pick someone else.

A bit of background on Miss Valentine: I am utterly convinced that Capcom has changed her birthdate. I remember quite vividly scoffing that they made her birthdate Valentine’s Day, but now that I look it up again it seems its in May. Well, that’s at least a half a point in her favour. It’s become less mind-numbingly stupid. She is French-Japanese-American, whose father was a professional thief. In addition, she received Delta Force training through the US Army. Unusually adept at lock-picking, she then (apparently) gains the moniker - the Master of Unlocking. She also, again apparently, is adept at bomb disposal, though I cannot remember an instance in which this is exhibited. Though I can remember many instances when this would have come in handy. Jill. 

Post-Delta Force and US Army tenancy, Wesker recruited Jill for STARS - described as an elite special forces operation for the RPD comprised of military veterans and weapons specialists (put a leaf in this for when I eventually get to Rebecca Chambers). Joining her in STARS are Forest, who she already had a friendship with prior to working together, and Chris. She is the only female officer on STARS Alpha Team, and works as a Breaking and Entering specialist. Forward onto the Mansion Incident.

Again, I’ve mentioned that if given a choice, I will usually not pick Jill to play as. However, that is not to say that I have not played Jill’s scenario in One. My primary complaint about Jill’s Scenario is as follows: It is fundamentally easier than Chris’. She’s got the lockpick set, so she doesn’t need to find Old Keys. She has more inventory space. In the space where she finds the zombie in the bathtub, she stomps his head mid-cutscene and does not have to fight him. She starts with the handgun and receives higher powered weapons whilst Chris has a higher chance of critical headshots. She can mix chemicals to weaken Plant 42 and cut the boss fight in half. Jill can skip certain puzzles in Arklay with Barry’s help, one under the guise of “saving” her from the falling ceiling where you retrieve the shotgun. No need to find the broken shotgun, and you have access to the shotgun as soon as you unlock the area which makes accessing the Armour Key much easier. I used to believe that this was a reflection of the character, but now I believe it is a bit of thinly veiled misogyny on Capcom’s part. ): 

About the opening to her scenario, after running amok in the forest and into the mansion - “There are only three STARS members left now. Captain Wesker, Barry, and myself. We don’t know where Chris is.” YOU’VE JUST HAD HIM AT THE DOOR! HOW HAVE YOU LOST HIM? Also, check your maths, Jill. That’s four STARS members. We have one negative point here in that she’s managed to lose her partner in the amount of time it takes to cross a threshold. Anyhow, like how it is when you play as Chris, the other is locked in the cell in the labs and must be released with the MO discs prior to the T-002 battle. Canonically, Jill escapes with Chris and Barry. Chris escapes with Jill and Rebecca. Rebecca does not make an appearance in Jill’s game, nor Barry in Chris’. Brad is there in the background, flying the helicopter he had damned them with at the beginning. It’s a bit of a flub.

Moving on to 3: Nemesis and the Remake and whatever happens in between the events of Arklay and the destruction of Raccoon City. Gathering from memos in Two and Three, shortly after the Arklay Incident, Chris and Jill take their concerns to Chief Irons, requesting the launch of an investigation into Umbrella and all the related shenanigans. Irons, being involved and heavily steeped in wrongdoing, denies this request. STARS all but disbands, as Chris leaves for Europe in August 1998, Barry moves his family to Canada and follows after Chris, Rebecca is doing fuck-all, and Irons has suspended Jill and ordered her confined to her flat. That leaves... Brad Vickers as STARS. The only member. In office. Everyone else is dead, suspended, or AWOL. I suppose one way to operate as a corrupt organisation is to keep the most inept person as your only functioning operative. I digress, this is about Jill and not the bucket of maladroitness that is Brian Irons.

Jill remains in Raccoon City under the pretense of attempting to locate NEST, with the intention of following behind Chris, Barry, and Rebecca(?) a bit later. I believe also she was intending to sort through the rumours of the development of Golgotha, but I cannot find accurate citation of that. Things that she manages to do whilst confined to her flat for a month behind the departure of the other STARS members: Not that at all. I have long wondered what it was that was actually keeping Jill in her flat, aside from orders from her no-longer boss, when she had intentions of leaving on 30 September. I don’t imagine that with what remains of STARS poking around, save for Brad, that Irons would put a definite date on the lifting of her suspension. “Yes, now you may leave to bring down the organisation that I am tangentially working for”. The Three Remake expands on this a bit, as it seems that perhaps Jill was not emotionally nor mentally suited for travel outside of the flat. In which case, I question whether steeping herself in all things Umbrella was perhaps exacerbating her condition. I do believe that there is a fundamentally large difference between Three: Remake Jill and 3: Nemesis Jill. First off, trousers. Enough said. I don’t do my personal investigations sitting in a pleather mini-skirt and a tube top with a rather practical jumper tied around my waist, and neither should you. I much rather imagine a suspension to be carried out in pyjamas, but again I am not the type of person to dress at home if I’m not needed to.

Secondly, Three: Remake Jill holds up much better against Nemesis without the help of Carlos (who is also rather incompetent and sexist), than her original counterpart. Her reactions to goings on are much more believable, and for much of the game she has absolutely no issue putting Carlos within appropriate boundaries. He tries to explain to her what a radio is, she snaps at him. He touches her, she tells him not to. You are a stranger, sir, please observe courtesy. Not to mention, a stranger who is working for the organisation we’ve just found out is responsible for the development of bioweapons and viral agents. At least bother to ask her name, first. A bit of a hint, Carlos: It isn’t “supercop”. If we are to continue on with this Jill further on in the series, I will support it. I would quite enjoy a long-standing female protagonist that has no issue scoffing at male protagonist foolishness and scolding their perspectives. Perhaps it is a good thing that she and Leon have never met in any official capacity.

Three: Remake Jill still falls prey to damsel-syndrome, as I’ll call it, upon being infected by Nemesis. Carlos comes in as the knight in shining armour, having become infatuated with her after knowing her for exactly four hours. I like to imagine that this New Jill could wake up from her comatose state, shout about her autonomy, and then go back to sleep. This is however, remedied by some sort of favour-trading as she does save Carlos in a quid-pro-quo a bit later. I do have concerns about how far Jill allowed Nikolai to get without shooting him down, but that’s unimportant in the long run. There is also a bit of inconsistency between games in how Jill and Carlos escape Raccoon City and what happened just prior, but those are unimportant to our examining of Jill.

All in all, New Jill is portrayed as a competent individual, which I think serves much better to support her character in instances such as the Fall of Umbrella chapter in The Umbrella Chronicles, which leads into the formation of the BSAA and her involvement with them.

Functionally, from 2003 until at least 2009, Chris and Jill mostly function as a singular unit. 2005- they work together to subdue T-ALOS. 2004- The Queen Zenobia, Queen Semiramis fiasco in which Jill carries Parker through a sinking ship as Chris slams doors in her face- as loving partners do. (I do want to mention in an aside that so many people find themselves in trouble whilst looking for Chris. It is the plot of NO FEWER than four games. One, Two, Code: Veronica, and Revelations. Maybe even a bit of Six. Call it four and a half). Revelations does delve into a bit of why I find Jill to be competent amongst the ranks of highly amateur BSAA agents. First off, she reads the manuals for things. She realises the importance of memos! Secondly, she is shown deducing and explaining quite a bit about the situation they find themselves in to Parker, who is often none-the-wiser. An argument could be made that Parker is a newly ported FBC emigre and therefore does not yet have the same expectation but I disagree having seen the... eptitude of other agents. She is rather instrumental in uncovering the whole FBC - Veltro - BSAA mess and quite honestly tends to hold her own in that installment. If only the dodge function worked better. Anyhow, back to her partnership with Chris- it canonically ends with the Lost in Nightmares campaign in Five. In which she quite literally bowls Wesker out of a window in defense of Chris and (sort of) the world. If there is any secret method of getting me to enjoy a character, it is self-sacrifice for the sake of another. There is something so beautiful about it. Except Ethan, nothing can redeem him. Jill functions best as a character when she is partnered with Chris. I cannot say that in any of these scenarios I have profound issues with her. Forward onto the events of Five and about where we will end this tangent.

Jill and Wesker, obviously, both survive the fall from the Spencer estate. Jill is kept for experimentation due to the existing muted strain of T in her body from the events of Three. The antibodies she possessed were used by Wesker in attempts to make Uroboros more accepting of human host bodies. During the time that she was “in his care” (poor choice of words, I know), he repeatedly injected her with Progenitor strains and took the resulting antibodies. As a result of the testing and antibody removal, Jill’s hair, skin, and eyes lightened in cryostasis (I am still trying to make sense of this bit). Once she had reached the extent of her usefulness, Wesker volunteered her for the P30 project, a Las Plagas extension that utilised chemical compounds for mind control. However, due to the high expulsion rate, the chemical had to be constantly injected, explaining the injector attached to her body.

This requires her, again, rescue at the hands of Chris and Sheva. Once the injector is removed, the other two move on after Wesker, and Jill promptly collapses into unconsciousness. She is found by BSAA Delta Team Captain Josh Stone, who escorts her to a helicopter and initiates a rendezvous with Chris and Sheva on the volcano.  I will stand up for Jill on this one- I do not at all believe that if Jill was on the helicopter, that Sheva should have been the one to wield the rocket launcher. That honour should have belonged to the two original STARS Alpha Team members alone. It’s simply poetic, and I am sorry for Sheva, but it would have been much more perfect. 

Currently, we’ve not seen anything from Jill since Five. The only mention to her current condition is that she is at the BSAA undergoing testing and rehabilitation for her time spent with Wesker. In her words: “...ever since getting back I've been locked up in this lab as they run tests on me day in and day out. It's every bit as boring as it sounds”. We leave Jill’s chronology with her being bored. Fitting. In short, I believe that Jill has quite a bit of potential in her competency, and I am actually quite interested to see what her reaction would be to the BSAA using bioweapons. We’ve not heard from her in twelve years, so one can only assume that she is still alive somewhere, being bored. If they are going to take her character in the same direction they appear to be going in the Three: Remake, I would not at all be adverse to seeing her again in a future standalone installment.  That being said, I have quite the backlog of characters to talk about! Please give me the benefit of the doubt when waiting on these. I’ve got work to do, tea to drink, games to play, and characters to analyse.

[meli-productions]

Pine and Needles

My contribution for Ineffable Husbands AU Week 2020 by @ineffablehusbandsweek

I am so excited to share it. Also on AO3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26563960

If it were a choice between taking a double-decker into the midst of London or accompanying his best friend into the tattoo parlor, Crowley would’ve put up with the annoying Americans. But his annoying American begged and pleaded until he gave up and promised to go with her to get her newest tattoo.

“It won’t even take long,” Anathema said, pulling Crowley through the crowds. “You’re not far from home and I brought headphones so you won’t even hear anything.”

Crowley gave a little huff, “Fine. Let’s get this over with. The sooner you get ink into your body, the sooner I can get the hell out.”

Anathema chuckled, “Considering the bad-boy aura you try to present, it’s funny that you get so freaked out about a little thing like a tattoo needle.”

“Oi, those things’re freaky,” said Crowley. “They buzz like they’re an insect trying to get into your skin.”

That just made Anathema’s laughter louder as they entered the little shop. 

At the counter stood a man that looked like he should be working  anywhere other than a tattoo parlor. He fixed the crooked pair of glasses higher on his nose as the pair approached the desk and shot them a shaky smile. 

“Erm, afternoon,” the man - the nametag declared him to be a Newt - said. “Welcome to Guardian’s Gate - are you both set up for an appointment?”

Anathema leaned against the counter, “Nope, just me handsome. Anathema Device. I’ve got the 1:45 with …” 

“Aziraphale,” said Newt, blushing. “Gotcha. He should be out in a minute to get you. You can have a seat and I’ll - I’ll let him know you’re hot - I mean, here. I - oh, okay, I’ll just go get him.”

Crowley laughed into his hand as the man slipped away, red-faced and fussing with his already disheveled hair, “‘Nathema, look what you did to the poor lizard.”

She shrugged and led him to the waiting area, “And what about it? He’s cute.”

“Doesn’t look like he belongs in a tattoo shop, that’s for sure,” he said, pushing his sunglasses to the apex of his nose. “But if he’s your type, I guess I won’t judge too hard.”

Anathema glared at him, “First of all, if you’d read the reviews of this place you’d have seen that no one that works here looks like they’d work at a tattoo parlor. Second - you’re always judging, you snake. But something tells me that I’m gonna have the last laugh today.”

“Oh? Did the tarot tell you something?”

She gave a non-committed hum and turned towards where Newt had just exited, tracking him like a hawk and handed her purse over to Crowley, “Here. The headphones are in there and I put a CD player with some Queen in there.”

Crowley grumbled something about being old-fashioned as he dug around the large bag for the device. He heard a voice clearing above his head and a soft voice that called out Anathema’s name, but summoned him as well.

Standing before them, like an angel descended, was a plump man with hands folded against his stomach. He was dressed in khaki pants and a white button up that was rolled up to his elbows which revealed two sleeves of tattoos that highlighted the soft, yet strong muscles there. Crowley’s mouth was agape as he followed the crisp white shirt up towards the bowtie and then to the halo of messy curls on the man’s head.

“Hello, dear, I’m Aziraphale. And you must be Anathema,” he said, reaching out a hand to shake the woman’s. “It’s a pleasure.”

Anathema, smug as a cat with cream, turned to Crowley before shaking Aziraphale’s hand, “Pleasure’s mine. This is my friend, Anthony Crowley, he’s just here to keep me company today.” 

Aziraphale turned his smile at the stunned man, hand outstretched and taking the limp extension that Crowley provided, “Hello, Anthony. You must be an exceptional friend to be here for her. Oh, what a lovely snake.”

He reached towards the little black sigil of a snake that curled near Crowley’s ear and gave it a little stroke that sent shivers down his body.

“Ngk, thanks.”

Smile never faltering, Aziraphale turned back to his client and waved her towards his room, talking specifics about her design as Crowley watched him go, eyes flickering from halo to back, to plush rear. 

Oh, fuck.

Crowley had been trying to focus on the Best of Queen CD that was playing in his ears and keeping him distracted from the low buzz of the tattoo gun nearby, but all he could think about was the absolute vision he’d seen earlier.

His skin still burned where the slightly calloused thumb had swept over his teenage error. Twelve years later, it finally was worth fainting and almost puking all over the tattoo artist’s shoes. He’d already googled Aziraphale’s name and meaning - of course it was an angel - and all of his artwork, taking a moment to devour every crinkle of his eyes, the tight pull of shirt around his biceps, and the pretty, shining eyes on the one picture of his on the web.

A hard shove against his shoulder broke the spell that the screen had cast. He glanced up to see Anathema, smirk still in full-effect as she tilted her head towards the counter where Newt and Aziraphale were speaking.

“Come on, el amor de tu vida awaits.”

Crowley scoffed, but jumped to his feet, shoving the headphones and player into Anathema’s purse before giving it over. 

“Amor de mi vida mi culo ardiente,” said Crowley. “Whatever your cards said, it’s not true.”

Anathema laughed, “They haven’t been wrong before.”

The two joined the employees at the counter and Crowley stumbled forward when the bright smile turned towards him.

“Newt will help you check out,” he said, “And I do hope you come to see us again. Perhaps you could come for a tattoo next, Anthony.”

Crowley’s heart stuttered, though not exactly because of the man, “Erm, yeah, right. I’ll - I’ll see that I do…I’ll consider it.”

The smile faltered for a minute and Anathema muttered something under her breath before breaking the awkward silence, “What he means is that he hasn’t considered getting another one. Besides, Aziraphale, he should at least get a look at your work first, right?”

Aziraphale’s smile returned full-force, “Oh. Heavens, I didn’t mean to put any pressure on your decision. But I do hope you consider us for the job. It’d be wonderful to create a matching work to that snake.”

“Ahem,” said Crowley. “Of course. I’m sure you’d be able to come up with something amazing.”

The wriggle of delight was enough for Crowley to come up with more compliments to see it again, but Anathema bumped him again, pulling him away from his thoughts.

“Well, it was a pleasure meeting you both. Hope to see you again - soon,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes at Newt who ducked his head in embarrassment.

With pleasantries exchanged, Anathema maneuvered Crowley out of the door and, when they were away from the store she tilted her head back and laughed, loud enough to make her American - and Latina - heritage proud.

“Ay, nene, you should’ve seen your face,” she said. “You’re gonna be thinking about him all week.”

A childish pout that was too out of place on his middle-aged face curled on his lips, “No, I’m not. Honestly, ‘Nathema, you should’ve been more worried about your little lizard boy.”

“I was,” she said with a content smile. “I wrote my number on the receipt.”

Despite the denial he gave Anathema, Crowley did find himself thinking about the artist for the next following days. He lived not too far from the shop, and worked even closer, but tried not to think too much about the pretty, sparkling, kaleidoscope eyes or the smile that had been seared into his heart. 

But he’d still find himself falling into a rabbithole of images on social media, trying to find any pictures of Aziraphale among the pictures of his art. The only one he’d found, other than his headshot on the website, made his heart sink at the sight of the beautiful, elegant woman on one arm and the muscular, supermodel man on the other.

Regardless of which one was his date, he was obviously taken by one of the two - if not both.

Rejected, Crowley went back to sweeping the dirt out of the kitchen and nursed his hurting heart. 

Anathema’s call four days afterwards should’ve been a sign, but he didn’t think too much of it.

“What is it now, Anathema? Did the tattoo get infected? Or did you decide that you just need more ink in your skin?”

The woman hissed from the other end of the line, “Oooh, who spilled their soup all over you, querido? And no, it’s all fine. I just need a favor from you.”

Crowley scoffed, “At this point, you’re almost indebted to me.”

“We’ll put it on the tab and I’ll do a free reading for you.”

He rolled his eyes, “What do you need?”

“So, I kinda left my mother’s charm bracelet at the tattoo parlor the other day and I can’t swing by to get it anytime soon. Do you mind picking it up for me?”

Warning bells went off in his head as he pulled the phone away from his ear to frown at it. Anathema never took off that bracelet and she definitely wouldn’t have forgotten it considering the history it held. 

“Why don’t you get lizard boy to bring it to you on your next date?”

She huffed, “Because he hasn’t got a clue and asked me out yet. You wouldn't also be able to get him to realize that, too?”

“That’s two favors, Anathema,” he said. “But I’ll go. When are you coming back into town?”

“Next weekend. Just hold onto it for me until then. Oh! Take some of your petit fours, Aziraphale might’ve mentioned something about liking sweet things,” said Anathema. 

“Bye Anathema.”

“Bye dulzura.”

Despite shutting her down, Crowley packed up a little container of petit fours and fixed his hair before easing down the street. Jitters brought a little bounce up his leg that got worse as he spotted the sign of the shop. 

“You’re a big boy, Anthony,” he mumbled to himself. “Just go in there, harass the lizard, pick up the bracelet and get the hell out of there without making a fool of yourself. Yeah,” his shoulders squared, “you can do this.”

The little bell at the door brought Newt’s head up and he smiled, a large spread that made him look a little more lizard like, “Oh, hey - Anthony, right?”

Crowley nodded, “Tha’s right. My friend, Anathema - you remember, tall, real pretty, was hitting on you?” He stopped for a second to process the red face, “Yeah, well she forgot her bracelet here and sent me to pick it up.”

“R-right,” said Newt, rubbing the back of his neck. “Um, I think Aziraphale’s been holding it in his room. You can go right in, he’s not seeing anyone for another hour.”

Heart speeding up, Crowley turned to the open door along the wall. He swallowed against the knot at his throat, “Ah, okay. Oh, lizard - ”

“It’s Newt.”

“ - do us both a favor and call Anathema to ask her on a date. Otherwise I’ll never hear the end of it, yeah?”

Newt’s spluttering punctuated his steps towards Aziraphale’s door and he came to a dead stop when he saw the man lit up from behind by the really great lighting in the room. And before the little sound that crawled up his throat escaped he knocked on the door.

Aziraphale turned around, tiny reading glasses askew on his nose and he lit up when he noticed who was at the door, “Anthony, dearest, I’m so sorry I didn’t hear you. Come in, please. Anathema told me to expect you.”

Crowley came in on wobbly legs and sat in the chair that Aziraphale gestured him towards. It was only after he sat down that he noticed it was the tattooing chair and his face paled. 

“It’s nice to see you dear,” said Aziraphale, spinning around in his chair to fully face him. He slid the glasses off, “I noticed the bracelet almost right away but I felt it was wrong to call her if she’d given the number to dear Newton, not me.”

“Pfft, that boy doesn’t even know what to do with that number,” Crowley said. “I, erm, Anathema mentioned something about you liking sweets so I brought you some - some petit fours from the restaurant.”

If possible, Aziraphale brightened more as he took the container from Crowley, “Thank you, dear. I have been looking forward to this since Anathema said you ran a restaurant. Ah, I should get you her bracelet.”

He handed the bracelet over with one hand as his fingers popped the lid off and he plucked a pastry out.

“I really hope you like it, it’s one of my specialties,” Crowley said and, as he slipped the bracelet into his pocket, almost choking as he heard the delighted moan from the only other person in the room. Behind his glasses, his eyes widened and took in the closed eyes and stretched neck of the artist before him as he savored the pastry. Mouth suddenly dry, Crowley couldn’t tear his eyes away from Aziraphale as the man slowly came to and wiped the flakes off his mouth.

“Oh, Anthony,” he said in a tone that brought heat throughout Crowley’s body. “These are absolutely scrumptious. I should go to your restaurant.”

He’s trying to kill me. Maybe this is hell and I’m just being punished. Crowley thought as he tried to form words, “I’d love that, angel. You can even bring a friend - or a girlfriend - or a boyfriend.”

Aziraphale shot him a look, hazel eyes twinking, “None of that for me, dear. Just a lonely old man, but maybe you would keep me company. I’d love for you to be able to talk to me about your favorite dishes.”

A little part of Crowley’s brain did a little fist pump, “Swing by anytime, I’ll make time - and the special - just for you.”

“Oh,” said Aziraphale, giving a happy wiggle. “And we can talk about a new design for a tattoo while we’re at it - if you’re still interested, that is.”

Crowley’s heart plummeted, “R-right. Well, I should get back to the restaurant. Swing by when you have the chance and we’ll - we’ll chat. Tell Newt to give Anathema a call.”

“Of course, dear. I’ll see you soon.”

For the next few weeks, Crowley would stop by with something sweet for Aziraphale, threaten Newt to call Anathema and put him out of his misery, and then skedaddle before the artist could pin him down to talk about his hypothetical next tattoo.

That is, until he walked out of the kitchen and saw an angel sitting in a booth, smiling towards the kitchen doors as if expecting him.

“Ngk, angel. I wasn’t expecting you,” he said, brushing his hair back and trying to make it presentable. “Did you - did you enjoy your meal?”

“Oh, yes,” Aziraphale answered. “Just waiting for dessert and another glass of wine. Everything was delectable, darling. Please, sit, join me.”

“I don’t usually make a habit of sitting with the diners,” Crowley said, a smile teasing his lips. “But how can I refuse such great company? Wait here. I’ll get us a wine even better than whatever it was you were having.”

When he returned with the fanciest bottle of wine in the restaurant - one that he’d refused to even mention on the carte - he found Aziraphale humming around a bite of raspberry cheesecake and had to take a breath to steady himself before taking a seat.

“Good?”

Aziraphale’s eyelashes fluttered as he came back to, “Heavenly.”

Crowley muttered something along the lines of ‘not as heavenly as you’ before popping open the wine and pouring them both a generous amount, “Drink up. I’ve been waiting for the right type of connoisseur to open this one up.”

He noticed the blush that dipped down Aziraphale’s face and towards the buttoned up collar and wanted nothing more than to follow it further, instead he chose to lift his gaze back up to the sparkling eyes and toast.

“To angelic friends visiting out of nowhere.”

“To gorgeous serpents and their delicious food,” replied Aziraphale. After a sip, he gave a thoughtful hum before pulling a sketchbook up from beside him. “Come. I have a few sketches to show you. Ideas I’ve thought of for your next work.”

Oh. Crowley’s heart plummeted. That’s right. He only puts up with you because you’re a potential client.

Aziraphale showed him sketches of snakes wrapped around flowers, one with ebony wings, and then a solitary pair of wings, little sketches of his favorite flowers - gloxinias - and a few more of constellations. A little furrow formed between his eyebrows as he realized - 

“You have at least one for each of my favorite things,” he said, then raised his gaze to meet the now flustered artist. “You - you’ve been paying attention.”

“Honestly, my dear, did you think I wouldn’t?” asked Aziraphale, fingers twirling the ring on his pinky. “Everything about you is so fascinating - I just wanted to be able to spend some time with you and - oh, I’m an embarrassing old man. All you wanted was to get a tattoo and I went ahead and - ” 

“I don’t want a tattoo,” Crowley interrupted, his turn to blush when Aziraphale’s eyes turned to him. “I’m afraid of needles. This one,” he pointed to the snake, “was my first and last. Never again. I just - I didn’t want you to send me away.”

A soft hand landed over his and he followed it to Aziraphale’s soft smile, “Never, dear. I love spending time with you - wouldn’t mind spending more.”

Crowley returned the smile, “You just want me for my cooking.”

An affirmative hum escaped from Aziraphale, but the thumb rubbing over his hand said otherwise, “Perhaps. But maybe next time you cook for me it can be…a date?”

If possible, Crowley’s smile widened, “How’s your weekend looking?”

“Nothing I can’t reschedule.”

“Then it’s a date.”

“It’s a date.”

[just-like-playing-tag]

A totally self indulgent compilation of my favorite works on this blog of the year June 13, 2019 - June 13, 2020

I wanted to do this for the blog's first anniversary but then completely forgot about it lol.

The following lists are all in chronological order according to the date each post was first published.

Top 10 panel edits:

#1: Don and Gilda - Chapter 138: Demon serch (1)

Date: Jun 14th, 2019

Time: ~ 1:30 h

My very first redraw from my very first edit posted here, so it deserves an honorable mention. Back then I was young and inexperienced, I didn't even apply a gray filter (lmao I was so unskilled I even unintentionally scratched the picture, I hadn't realized until today). I'm actually very happy my first redraw was of Don, boy deserves all the love.

#2: Emma and Ray - Chapter 140: I’m Here!

Date: Jun 28th, 2019

Time: ~ 1 h

Back then this looked like so much work to me!!! And to this day, I think it turned out pretty well. I'm particularly proud of how the bow turned out. This is one I was really proud of right after having finished it; it gave me the confidence to try redrawing bigger areas. Also, the edit were I first applied the opacity of layer / opacity of brush for the gray filter that would have stuck with me.

#3: Krone's birthday edit

Date: Jul 15th, 2019

Time: 15 mins

I don't know I just really like how Krone's hair vanish to a more sketch-like style here– and consequently, how I managed to replicate such effect. I think Krone's beautiful.

#4: Emma, Norman and Ray - Chapter 153: Coward

Date: Oct 4th, 2019

Time: 4:07 h (and 67 layers lmao)

Probably the single panel redraw I'm the most proud of. That Norman panel was beautiful and very poignant at the end of a chapter I adored, so I believe it deserved all the time I've spent working on it. It's far from being perfect - the back of his head is too plain, and the difference between my brushes and the original brushes is pretty visible - but I still like it very much and am extremely attached to it. The horn looks kinda big but I honestly believe it to be more of an issue with the original than with what I had redrawn lol. Funny enough, the whole picture didn't make it to the final edit and had to be trimmed.

#5: Full Score Trio - Chapter 154: A Breakthrough

Date: Oct 11th, 2019

Time: 29 mins

I don't have a particular reason for this I just think Emma's hair turned out amazing. It took just half an hour and I didn't even use references like. Wow. @Redrawing skills where did you go please come back

#6: Mujika and Queen Legravalima - Chapter 158: The Reason I Was Born

Date: Nov 17th, 2019

Time: 2:09 h

Sis I love this so freaking much. The shift from redrawing almost exclusively people and clothes to redrawing this mess was so fun and refreshing. Even though it's a mess I think it turned out very clean and overall it looks beautiful? I remember after finishing this I felt so powerful, like now that I had redrawn this thing I would have been able to redraw anything I set my mind on lol.

#7: Emma - Chapter 161: Never Be Alone

Date: Dec 13th, 2019

Time: 57 mins

Again no particular reason except this is a very cute Emma and I think the redraw turned out pretty well. There's this big lock on the left that doesn't make a lot of sense but overall I really like it. Cute Emma is cute, and I love her determination.

#8: Emma - Chapter 166: Going Back Home

Date: Mar 9th, 2020

Time: 3:45 h

I'M SO FREAKING PROUD OF THAT RIFFLE I have not the slightlest idea why this took so damn long BUT I'M SO PROUD OF IT

#9: Norman's birthday edit

Date: Mar 21st, 2020

Time: 1:04 h

This is cool! I didn't know I could manage to draw this, but I did it! The feathers were particularly hard to clean but I think they turned out fine.

#10: Full Score Trio - Chapter 174: A New World (part 1)

Date: Apr 6th, 2020

Time: 2:11 h

I just think they're very pretty? I can't understand if I like Ray's face a lot, or not at all, but I think overall there was a lot to redraw and it turned out pretty cute! Sorry Gillian.

(Also insert pretty much every panel from the chapter 177 Isabella edit– I've spent so many hours on basically every panel there's no way I could choose only one).

Top 5 edits as whole:

#1: Emma and Ray - Chapter 140: I’m Here!

Date: Jun 29th, 2019

Complessive time: 2:57+ h

The very first edit I'm actually proud of; I'm really attached to it. It's the first edit I had put all of my effort into, and I remember feeling anxious people would have left it without notes. It kinda feels weird to think about it now, because I really don't care about notes anymore; yet, it somehow makes me happy to think that past-me wasn't let down. Thank you @neverlandstrio for your support, you may not remember but it really meant a lot to me back then! And it still makes me smile. You're the best!!!!!!

#2: Mujika and Queen Legravalima - Chapter 158: The Reason I Was Born

Date: Nov 20th, 2019

Complessive time: 7:12+ hours

This whole edit was an hella wild ride. It's midnight before a school day, when I think: "Mh, it's been a while since I last made an edit, why not make one about Musica and the queen from the last chapter?" And seven hours after this was born. I'm particularly proud of the queen's redraws on the 3rd, 7th and 9th picture (ofc), the areas which have been redrawn are pretty huge yet I think the difference with the original is almost impossible to notice?? @Redrawing skills where did you go please come back (part 2)

#3: Emma - Chapter 174: A New World (part 1)

Date: Apr 12th, 2020

Complessive time: 6:53+ h

I think the panels that were selected work very well together, especially considering the close-up / full body alternation. I love Emma, and I've always been kinda sad noticing that edits that focus one her take the less notes... She deserves all the love. Also, fun fact: for the last but one panel, I had redrawn Emma's whole left ear before remembering she doesn't have one, so I had to redraw the panel from the start. Besides from the error with the ear, the reason why this (and all the others after) took so long is because official panel take way longer to clean.

#4: Isabella and her children - Chapter 177: Mother

Date: May 22nd, 2020

Complessive time: 13:41+ h (ahah.)

Lmao tbh I can't understand how this has so few notes it's like. Technically speaking, probably the best edit I've ever done. I don't even like Isabella that much, I haven't got the slightlest idea why I decided to spend so many hours on this. Anyway, I find the composition (full body on the left / headshots on the right) really good looking in this as well! And I think the redraws turned out fine, especially Isabella's.

#5: The Promised Neverland manga ending countdown→ 1/7 chapters: chapter 1 - Grace Field House

Date: Jun 9th, 2020

Complessive time: 1:59+ h

I don't know how I came up with that idea for the composition but I find it really beautiful??? I think it does a pretty good job conveying the sudden, terrific shift of atmosphere from the first chapter, and I think that sharp bridge is very nice. I'm very, very proud of this.

Honorable mention #1: Full Score Trio - Chapter 154: A Breakthrough

Date: Oct 13th, 2019

Complessive time: 3:44+ h (+ 1:13 h of working on a panel that ultimately didn't make it to the final edit)

A very good chapter, and the edit turned out surprisingly amazing??? All the redraws look great and make it almost impossible to distinguish them from the original; honestly I feel like I'll never be able to redraw so neatly again lol.

Honorable mention #2: Don and Gilda (+ Norman) - Chapter 160: Shackles

Date: Dec 11th, 2019

Complessive time: 3:14+ h

That one is really one of my favorite scenes; I'm telling you peoples, Gilda and Don are a blessing to the earth. I think I've never mentioned it, but Gilda's hair is a nightmare to redraw??? More specifically, it takes me h o u r s to fill the texture without making it look too weird, it's the worst.

Honorable mention #3: Norman and Ray - Chapter 179: Compensation

Date: Jun 6th, 2020

Complessive time: 4:16+ h

I was so glad to finally be able to make a Norman / Ray edit, and it turned out it was just in time before the series' finale. I like how it turned out and I'm pretty satisfied with the redraws (even though my sister helped me with the lineart of some panels - it was exams time and I really couldn't afford to spend more time on it), too bad we didn't have more chapters that focused on the boys. Ray sweetie one day I'll fix your ear it's just today's not that day.

Btw, I justed realized I have never done an Emma / Norman centered edit? I'll have to make one eventually. I remember considering focusing on them alone for the chapter 154 one, but then I thought "even if the manga is gonna ignore Ray, I will chose to do not" lol.

Top 5 long posts:

#1: Reconstruction of how the Grace Field children were settled in the three bedrooms

Date: Aug 28th, 2019

I just had really a lot of fun doing it. I love putting all the little things to their own place, it's so calming to do and that's why I love making this kind of things. Also, loved how @temporoom contributed to the post! It was so nice of them to add what they had noticed to come up with more exact conclusions, that's one of the things I love the most about the internet.

#2: A study of how many times the characters of The Promised Neverland call each other through the first season of the anime

Date: Sep 10th, 2019

I REALLY LOVE IT! I mean it *was* kinda stressing to note everything, but it was very also very satisfying to see everything methodically divided and organized! And it's not just that– it's also the fact that it looks good. That's one post I have fun rereading because it's actually pretty! Also, even though it can be very stressing to learn to use new programs and sites, it's always very satisfying to look at the final result. Again, I really adore compiling these tiny little details! I would love to make more posts of that kind if i had the time.

#3: The Promised Neverland musicals headcanons

Date: Oct 27th, 2019

I mean it's literally. Putting my two favorite fandoms together how could I not love it. This is another one I really enjoy rereading, I find all the musical / character associations so fitting! I really want to make a second part, I hope to find some time to do it.

#4: Considerations on the reward / eventual series' finales (and Emma's sacrifice)

Date: May 7th, 2020

It's always nice to put down all your thoughts regarding a particular matter. It can take a lot of time (at least for me it does because... I need time to think about things), but it's so satisfying to see all of them there once you're done. Bonus points when, like in this case, it was something asked by someone else because “Wow! Somebody wants to hear my opinion on this subject! I'm flattered (◍•ᴗ•◍)”

#5: Some other considerations on the series' finale and Emma sacrificing herself

Date: Jun 13th, 2020

Pretty much the same as above. It's like some kind of clarity when the post is done and signed. Another fun fact, I had to censore the post a lot; the first version was extremely sharp and harsh, but I believe it's right to express your opinions calmly and politely.

Bonus: A thread of what the tpn characters would wear at the Oscars

Date: Feb 9th, 2020

Imagining all the children in those pretty dresses makes me so incredibly happy (╥﹏╥) I go back to look at that post a lot. I really love red carpets, I love looking at pretty dresses!!!!!

Lmao it's so funny how the post of mine I like the most are also the ones with the less notes

Anyway this was just a personal report! You don't have to read it all (or any of it actually). But it was indeed fun making it! Here's to many more months in the fandom!!!

[alovevigilante]

I have been on the hunt, for at least 20 years now, and I’ve finally acquired one of my biggest prize catches ever. I, am a headshot hunter, and I have found a rare, unique, and very scarce find…. A Yuspa.

A Yuspa is a very rare bird. She is found in mostly the realms of the Hollywood area I would guess, I don’t know, as I am only a head shot hunter and not a stalker, and she is not usually recognized for her complete awesomeness in plain sight. She is, yes, pulchritudinous, elegant, bewitching, beguiling, alluring, delightfully appealing, very very very (3 for emphasis) pretty, and extremely pleasant to look at, but the entirety of her grandeur is hidden, because she says, “No! No public eye for me so much!” with her eyes, so only a few people know. Her bird type tends to be on the shy side or I dunno. Who knows? It’s hard to tell from a head shot. But this is the only picture I could find of her online when I googled, “the king of queens”, so is this very rare head shot. Where is this elusive bird hiding now? Only a few know for sure…

There are others of her kind as well all over the world… The Fran Walsh and the Philippa Boyens, are two other rare, extremely gifted and intelligent and exquisitely ravishing birds much like the Yuspa, that hide on the shadows, and don’t necessarily want to be seen in the public eye. They are mostly found in the woods or not, in New Zealand.

These rare types of birds tend to enjoy the comforts of their inside quarters, mostly near a computer, creating their beautiful music, in their cases their contribution to the world with their situational comedies or their collective epic screenwriting prowess. But when you can capture these beauties in real life, it’s a real treat, cause their physical beauty matches their internal creativity. All are stunning, and lovely to witness. All of these birds, are foxy, except birds.

So, because of their rarity in public, I will not add these head shots to my wall in my trophy room, since I am not that kind of a hunter. I won’t deprive the world of their outside beauty that they rarely grace is with. Besides, I don’t kill my prey, I celebrate them, by writing about them. It’s amazing that these gorgeous birds don’t reveal themselves in public more often, but sometimes it takes a crazy collector like myself, to bring them out in the open. 🥸😉☺️💌

P.S. Op! There she is! See?! What’d I tell ya?! Well hellooooo Gorgeous….. (I’m not hitting on you…)

[parf-fan]

Hello, I am alive, PARF-fan content is not necessarily resuming at this point because capitalism exists and abelism exists and I don’t get enough sleep these days even without spending time actively updating this blog.

BUT!

As anyone who subscribes to Mount Hope’s newsletter or follows them on the magical Book of Faces undoubtedly already knows, the Faire is a go for September and October, albeit under very strict perimeters.  There will be no streetwork, and thus no Blackfryars, and but a skeleton crew of Bacchanalians.  Out-of-house acts are likewise reduced.  I’m frankly too tired to rephrase everything right about now, so I’m going to just drop the image from the Faire’s facebook page here.  I’ve pasted the text from the email below it, if that’s more your speed. (I think the contents are the same, but I haven’t done a side-by-side comparison.)

Greetings!

I am excited beyond words that we are soon able open to celebrate the 40th season of the glorious Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire.  It certainly isn't how we had hoped to commemorate this momentous milestone, but, in a way, this year's Faire experience will harken back to "the olden days" when crowds were smaller and intimacy was the order of the day.

We will operate this Fall significantly different than what we have become accustomed to as we adapt to the new landscape created by COVID-19.

Our maximum daily attendance will be set at 25% of capacity as we swing wide the castle gates. Smaller audiences will ensure safe and socially distanced seating at stages and eating areas as well as shorter queuing lines at Faire gates, kitchens and merchant booths.

Advance, date specific tickets will be required in keeping with the strict attendance limitations as directed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

In addition to the reduction of audience size, we will be taking extraordinary efforts to ensure a safe and comfortable Faire day, including CDC approved sanitizer stations at every food booth, merchant booth, and stage area, as well as requirements of face coverings for staff, performers (not performing), vendors and guests throughout their stay, and reminders of social distancing throughout the Faire grounds.

As we are only open weekends, increased sanitation and cleaning using CDC approved cleaning equipment and sanitizers will take place after each Faire day as well as during the week. Every member of our staff will be screened before they begin each Faire day and we will encourage guests to self-monitor their health before joining us at the Faire.

All health and safety information will be published to our website and updated as new policies or procedures are mandated. We will follow the lead of our other great PA amusement and theme parks (including HersheyPark, Dorney Park, Sesame Place and many others) as we carefully monitor Dept of Health policies to assure a safe experience.     As we continue working towards welcoming Her Majesty, our overriding concern is providing a safe Shire for all staff, performers and patrons to put aside life's everyday concerns, even if for but a few short hours.

Since the beginning of this crisis, our choices have been rooted in the health, safety and well-being of hundreds of actors, performers, merchants and staff, as well as the many thousands of patrons who visit to experience the fantasy of the Faire.

With new policies and precautions in place and, with the cooperation of all, we can look forward to sharing a very special 40th Anniversary season together.

Until our paths shall cross again, stay thee safe and fare most well!

Scott Bowser, Proprietor

As far as I understand it, the Faire is taking just about every single precaution short of actually not running this year.  It’ll come down to whether or not they actually enforce the whole hey-patrons-wear-a-mask-and-wear-it-right thing.

But my chief purpose here is to share what, as is their wont, the Faire hath not posted upon their Facebook: the cast list!

At this point, characters have not been announced anywhere; and though a visit to the Faire’s website will yield costumed headshots, those are definitely not going to be the characters – at least not all of them, not unless the plot involves all of time having collapsed even more than usual.

-----------------------------------------------

Bacchanalian Cast 2020

Leigh Ann Hamelin

Jonathan Handley

Mary Huff

Dana Micciché

Joe Penn

Jules Schrader

Adam Shepley

Katelyn Shreiner

Alex Stompoly

Jeff Wolfthal

-----------------------------------------------

My observations:

A small enough cast that the living quarters might actually be spread out enough to be safe for them, THANK GOD.

Looking like there’s likely no in-house combat (only two actors have been on the combat track that I know of), which makes sense.  Also probably no in-house music groups (only two have been on music track that I know of), which also makes sense.  So pretty much improv only, then.  Wise decision, all things considered.

My Lady Dana Micciché hath been robbed of her accent mark on the Faire’s site, but is a Bacchanalian this year?  Hell yes?

I was about to say that the only casting I feel remotely confident will be the same is Mary Huff as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, but then it occurred to me that with so small a cast, the story might well call for not having a royal progress happening this time.  That’s what I would do if I were writing it in this situation.  Then it also occurred to me that having Mary Huff as Queen Elizabeth again would enable the writers to bring back a couple of insanely popular characters that likely would not logistically be able to return otherwise. (I’m referring, of course, to Jonathan Handley and Alex Stompoly as Sirs William Pickering and Henry Carey, respectively, because I stg some patrons of last year only recognize or acknowledge or care about those two.) So now I’m sure of nothing.

I had words I wanted to make about how I would arrange things in this situation, because I am theoretically a writer and like to play what-if sometimes, but no matter how I phrased things, it sounded like I was either trying to predict things or (worse) trying to unsubtlely drop hints directed at the writers and directors about what they should totally do.  Which, nope.

[nyphotony]

Booking Your Headshots 2024

[kpopnatalie]

The Last Of Us BTS x READER

Chapter 4: Guns 'n' Richard

Y/N's POV

There are fights everywhere, gosh these people are crazy. As Jungkook and I keep walking, I spot a man standing right in front of a gate. That's the man we are looking for.

I go towards him to speak. "I'm looking for Richard." I hold a stack of ration cards. "Did he come through this way?"

He looks at my hand and then he speaks. "Half hour ago. With some men. He went to the wharf." He then takes the ration cards out of my hand and Kookie and I continue our way forward.

As we continue our walk we end up in an open area with boxes everywhere. There, 3 men come out from the other side. "Let us through." I say. The one big man in the middle start to talk.

"If you know what's good for you little girl, you would turn around and leave." I laugh.

"I bet you would like that because you are too afraid of getting hurt by a young girl." I chuckle and then smirk. I could tell he got pissed.

"I said to turn around you little piece of shi-" I shoot him in the head. As soon as I did that, the two men start to take their guns out. Jungkook and I hide behind boxes.

"Gosh Y/N was that really necessary," Jungkook asks me. I got up and shot back at the men and sat back down.

"What? He got on my nerves."

"Kookie I'll cover you," I tell him. He nods and walks to a different box. I stand up and shoot one of the men in the head. Yes, headshot. I go back down. "One more Kookie!" I yelled at him. I got back up and I shot the other man, but I miss and graze his arm. I crouch back down. The man continues to shoot. Jungkook gets up and tries shooting the man. After two attempts he made it and got the guy. We stand up.

"Good job Kookie." And with that, we continue forward.

We finally make it to Richard's territory. We make our way through many warehouses. "Look, there are two men close by, we must be quiet while taking them out," I tell Jungkook.

"I can be quiet, trust me." I just look at him and shake my head. I carefully walk behind a man and stab him quickly while Jungkook quietly walks behind the other man and strangles him.

"Okay let's go we are so close," I say while Jungkook was looting off the guy.

As we walk, we notice we are on high ground. We hide behind a huge crate. "Look there, that's our man." I point at Richard who is talking to a guy. He then leaves to a room.

"There are a lot of men here," Jungkook informs me. I grab him by his arm.

"We got this, we don't have to fight all of them. We just need to get around them. We should distract them on one side and then we sneak around in the shadows. There are a lot of huge crates so we can hide and distract them with some noises." I tell Jungkook.

"Okay let's do that." We jump down and hide behind a crate. We throw metal pipes to distract them as we make our way through. 

We finally make it to the door. We open it and the room looks like a waiting area. I point to another door. "I believe he is in there," I tell Jungkook. He nods. I quickly open the door. There is Richard.

"Richard, we just want to talk," I say calmly.

"There ain't nothing to talk about." He then runs out through a door close to him.

"Jungkook, hurry after him," I yell. We run through the door which leads us to an alleyway. We run past the alleyway and some warehouses until we catch Richard at a dead end alleyway.

"Hello there Richard." I say.

"Y/N, Jungkook. No hard feelings right?" He says. I bend down to pick up a metal pipe.

"None at all." He then tries to run past me, but I swing the pipe at his legs. He falls face first on the concert ground.

"OWW! Y/N...WHY?" He yells.

"Tell us about our guns." I start.

"It's complicated...Okay." He says. Jungkook goes up to him and kicks him in the face. Then he straightens his arm on the ground and holds it.

"Where are our guns," I say while crouching down next to him.

"I sold them because I owed someone." Hell no. He did what?

"You owed us!" I yell back.

"Look give me a week and I'll get-" I cut him off.

"I would have done that, but you ran off on me. Who has our guns?" I say while standing up.

"I can't say." I guess Jungkook also got mad because he bent his arm backward and his elbow made a loud crack sound. Richard screams.

"The Butterflies... I owed them." I am so pissed off.

"Come on. Most of them are dead. So let's go together and get them back. What do you say?" He asks me.

"That is a stupid idea." And with that, I shoot him twice in the face.

"Now what?" Jungkook asks me. I sigh. Man, I hate how all of this went down.

"We get our stuff back," I say while pacing back and forth.

"How?" He asks again. I think long and hard with a plan.

"I don't know. We explain it to them." I look at Jungkook. "Let's capture a Butterfly," I said.

"You don't have to look too far." A woman comes out. She looks familiar.

 "Hey look, Queen Butterfly is here." Oh yeah, Amber is the leader of the Butterflies, she looks injured.

"I need my guns back, they were sold by someone who wasn't theirs to sell," I tell Amber.

"It doesn't work like that," Amber says causing me to scoff. "You have to earn it." I look at her.

"How many cards?" I say.

"I don't give a damn about ration cards. I need something smuggled out of the city. Do that and I'll return your guns and then more." I look at Jungkook.

"I want to see the guns," I say.

Then Jungkook added, "Especially since the military has been wiping you guys out clean." Amber stays quiet and then speaks.

"I'll show you the guns." She says, but soon we hear other voices.

"Search the area." Military men.

"So, are you coming or not?" Amber asks. I look at Jungkook and he nods.

"Yes, I want to see them," I say.

"Let's hurry and go." Then we ran.

Chapter 3 | Chapter 5

[ladynonsense]

A Royal Disgrace (TRR/PM Crossover) Part 9

Catch up on my masterlist

Pairings: Damien x Liam, Liam x Riley, Damien x m!Kai 

Rating: PG-13

Summary: About last night...

Words: 1900

Tag List: @hustacks @hopefulmoonobject @brightpinkpeppercorn @perriewinklenerdie @pixieferry @nazariobae @zaffrenotes @ritachacha @h3llostrang3r @choiceslife @blackcoffee85 @wannabemc2 @sleepwalkingelite @debramcg1106 @furiousherringoperatortoad @bobasheebaby @sawyeroakleyscowboyhat @jovialyouthmusic

“Good morning, sunshine.”

Damien’s eyes shot open, squinting into the bright morning sunlight streaming in through the window. He blinked several times, trying to get his bearings. Asleep on the couch, naked under his blanket, with his phone resting on his chest. And Riley standing over him, smirking.

“Um, hi. What time is it?” He noticed his balled up pajamas and underwear at his feet, and tried to stealthily cover it with his blanket.

“8:00. Late night? I didn’t even hear you come in.”

He yawned, stretching his arms over his head. Riley stared shamelessly at his chest as he flexed and relaxed. “Eyes are up here, Riles.”

She rolled her eyes. “You could’ve slept with your clothes on.”

“Well at least one of us fell asleep wearing my clothes.” He raised an eyebrow at her, walking around the apartment in one of his t-shirts. As he said it his eyes fixed on the lacy black panties that were peeking out underneath. She turned away from him to walk into the kitchen, swaying her hips a little more than was necessary. “Now whose eyes are wandering, Nazario?”

He grinned, shaking his head. Baggage aside, that old chemistry was still going strong. It was good to see her back to her usual annoying self, instead of the scared, withdrawn woman she’d been the last few times he’d seen her.

“Have you heard anything from Liam?”

Guilt and shame washed over him like a cold bucket of water. “Um, just that he’s OK. His security team is keeping him at the hotel and turning away visitors for now. Bastien gave me a phone number to reach him at if you want.”

She shook her head as she poured herself a bowl of cereal. “Nah, that’s OK. He doesn’t like us to communicate electronically until we know for sure who’s been conspiring against me. Better not to leave any traceable evidence of our relationship.”

“Right. Smart.” He shifted under the blanket, trying to sit up without making himself indecent. He realized his stomach was sticky and cringed. Definitely shouldn’t have fallen asleep without cleaning himself up first.

Riley settled into the chair across from him, digging into her cereal. “So what’s the plan for today?”

He scratched his head, trying to think of an elegant way out of this. Nothing came to mind. “Riley...I’m naked under here.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Completely?”

He cringed. “Completely.”

“But...why?”

“Ugh, can you just turn around or something, please?”

She rolled her eyes and noisily scraped the chair on the floor as she turned it to face the wall. “Pull yourself together, dude.”

“I’m trying.” He frowned as he grabbed his balled-up pajama pants and boxers. Desperate, he used the boxers to wipe the mess off of his stomach and then shoved them down between the couch cushions, then pulled on the pants. “OK. I’m decent.”

She turned the chair back around, scraping the floor just as loudly as before. “If you call that decent, I guess.”

He got up and headed for the bathroom, pausing to kiss Riley’s forehead on the way. “Don’t pretend you don’t love it.”

“Whatever, old man. Fix yourself up; you look like shit.”

“Why do people keep saying that to me?” He murmured to himself as he locked the bathroom door behind him. “...Oh.” He leaned over the sink, studying his face in the mirror. His eyes were red and tired, with dark circles under them aging him badly. He splashed cold water on his face, trying to freshen up, but ‘tired and damp’ was not really an improvement over ‘just tired.’ Sighing, he stripped and hopped into the shower.

He was just massaging the shampoo into his scalp when he heard pounding at the door. Groaning, he turned off the water. “What?”

“Kai won’t stop calling you,” Riley complained through the door. “Hurry up.”

--------------------------------------------

Kai was up bright and early, working at Damien’s office doing his favourite thing: pinning pictures up on the big wall.

The night before, he’d gone straight to the office after Damien called him from the ball. Damien had overheard the assassin refer to somebody as ‘Your Grace,’ the traditional address for a duke or duchess in Cordonia, so he’d compiled a list of all of them. Fifteen total duchies, most of them governed by a married couple, left him with twenty-six names. Narrowing it down to only those who had daughters in attendance at the ball brought it down to twelve.

He’d scoured Cordonian gossip websites for the best headshots he could find of all of them, and made full-page colour printouts of each of their faces at the 24-hour copy shop down the road. And now, after a two-hour power nap and a potentially deadly amount of coffee, he was tiling them carefully on the wall, along with images of the daughters in question. His rainbow-coloured yarn, on loan from Nadia, was itching to start making connections.

“You look chipper.”

He hadn’t heard Damien come in over the sound of the ‘Monday Motivation’ playlist he’d been blasting through the tinny computer speakers. “Hey, you! I thought you’d never show.”

Damien ran a hand through his still-damp hair, looking over the wall of photos. “It’s nine a.m., Kai. What’s all this?”

“I’m glad you asked, Detective!” Kai turned back to the wall with a flourish. “One of these rich fucks tried to kill your girl. Is it him?” He pointed dramatically to a photo of a very generic-looking middle-aged man. “Or is it...HER?” He pointed to a photo of a perfectly nice-looking woman. “Maybe this prick? OK honestly I do think it’s this prick.”

Damien stepped closer to read the label on the photo Kai was pointing to. “Duke Karlington. That’s Madeleine’s father. He’s been on my list since day one.”

Kai was practically bouncing with excitement and caffeine. “Of course, right? It makes perfect sense. He wants his daughter to be queen, but the king is like, ‘I don’t want to marry this blond demon!’ so this old Duke is like…”

“Yeah, Kai, I get it. I appreciate the very spot-on impressions, though.”

He bowed dramatically. “Thank you. But yeah. This guy totally did it, right?”

Damien nodded, still studying the wall. “Yeah...yeah, he totally did. But we’ll need proof. The NYPD and LAPD have basically given up on this, now that they’ve got their shooter and the person pulling the strings is almost certainly overseas. We’ll have to coordinate with Liam’s royal guard to nail this guy before this goes any further.”

“Liam,” Kai repeated. “Just your buddy Liam, your casual pal, ordinary dude Liam.”

“Oh, fuck off.” The slight grin on Damien’s face did not go unnoticed. “His Majesty, King Liam of Cordonia. Better?”

He couldn’t help himself. “Is that what you call him in bed?”

“Kai.” Damien flopped into his desk chair and buried his face in his hands, groaning. “You’re the only one who knows about that, you know.”

“Yeah, I figured. But you know you have to tell Riley, right?”

Damien looked pained, but nodded. “That’s a discussion for another time. We need to make sure they’re going after this guy. The king’s guard will have access to evidence that we don’t.”

“Right. So you’re going to see him.”

“Liam? No, I’m going to see Bastien Lykel.”

Kai hated himself for how relieved he was at that. “So what should I do?”

Damien threw an arm around his shoulders and gave him a quick squeeze, making him blush. “You should finish this beautiful wall of yours, and make sure we’re not missing something with these other potential suspects.”

He smiled at that, picking up his bag of yarn. “On it. Go get ‘im, boss.”

--------------------------------------------

Damien fidgeted nervously in the hotel elevator, unsure what to expect when he got to Liam’s floor. How many low-level guards would he have to sweet-talk to get to Bastien? He plastered on his most charming smile as the doors began to open.

To his surprise, the hallway was deserted. He walked slowly down the corridor, wondering if he was on the wrong floor. Rounding a corner, he finally spotted Bastien and one other guard standing outside of a set of double doors. Bastien looked his way immediately, enough venom in his gaze to stop him dead in his tracks.

“Mr. Lykel…” he began, trying to shake off the sudden nerves. “I’ve got some information…”

He was striding towards him already, holding out a hand to stop him from coming any closer. “Mr. Nazario. I must ask you to leave. The king is not available to you.”

“Right, I know, orange alert and all that. I’m here to see you actually, I brought my files…”

“Let me be clear,” Bastien went on, still staring daggers at him. “The king is not available to you, period. You will not try to contact him again.”

He was dumbstruck. What was happening? “He’s my client…”

“And I will personally ensure you’re paid what you are owed. But you will not hear from His Majesty again.”

Damien was torn between pleading for him to just listen, or telling him off for being an asshole. He settled for just staring blankly ahead, mouth hanging open like a numbskull.

To his surprise, that seemed to work. Bastien’s furious glare softened as he took his elbow and led him into a small sitting area. Without a word he passed him a phone with an audio file loaded up on the screen. Feeling a cold dread settle in his stomach, Damien hit play and held it to his ear.

Breathing, just heavy breathing. And then a familiar voice: “Do you remember how I felt inside you, Damien?”

The phone fell from his hand as the cold dread turned to hot panic. It bounced on the carpet before Bastien slowly retrieved it, not taking his eyes off of Damien.

“You said...the number...it was secure…”

“I was wrong. And now I’m running a skeleton crew while everyone who would have had access to the phone is suspended from duty until I can determine who compromised it.”

“How long is…”

“It’s all there, Mr. Nazario.”

“Why?”

Bastien frowned. “Blackmail, obviously.”

Damien sat down in a daze. His chest was tight and his stomach had turned, his face burning hot with shame. “This is my fault.”

“I told you he was never safe.”

“What do they want?”

“We don’t know yet.”

“I’ll guess: for him to honour his engagement to Madeleine.”

“I guess we’ll see.”

Numbly he handed over the folder in his hands. “It’s Duke Godfrey. I can’t prove it, but I’m almost certain.”

Bastien nodded, flipping through the folder’s contents. “I’ll look into it. Thank you.” He turned to leave.

“Wait,” Damien called after him, his voice shaking. “Could you...just...tell him I’m sorry? I never meant to fuck up his life. I just…” he trailed off, unsure what he could possibly say to make anything better. “I’m just sorry.”

Bastien nodded again, returning to his post in silence.

[ethercals]

[ MUSE 74 ] ●● is that ALEXA DEMIE? no, that’s just LETICIA RIVERA,  the 22 year old CISFEMALE who is a MODEL. some say they’re SENSITIVE & CHARISMATIC, but their family and friends will swear they’re CONCEITED & DECEPTIVE. when i think of them, i think of vogue magazines, excitement over a new photoshoot, pop music blaring, coconut scented candles. i wonder if HER family knows that SHE’S A SUGAR BABY. ●●

me, bringing another character? more on brand than you’d think

so, meet my sugar pie not so honey bunch, leticia! she usually goes by lettie around her friends, though those are few and far between.

she’s always been a bit of a drama queen. as a kid, being artistic and loud was always heavily encouraged in her household, and lettie leaned into it wholeheartedly. she was enrolled in dance classes from the time she was three, studying all styles of dance and always pushing her way to the front of the stage. she took singing lessons, and while she isn’t particularly gifted there, she still loves singing all the same. she painted, sculpted, drew in her spare time. 

whenever school musicals or plays came up, lettie was always the first to put her hand up for the lead roles, and she usually got them --- whether that was due to fear of her lack of sportsmanship if she lucked out on a role or actual talent remains to be seen.

she didn’t care if she was considered the best in all these areas, lettie just loved the arts. she loved the attention, and the feeling of joy she always found no matter what she was doing. she was always complimented for her smile back then, given it was a rarity for her not to be found smiling.

she coasted her way through school, but that fact had never bothered lettie. it was clear that she didn’t have a mind for books, but it was during high school that she realized a true passion of hers. modelling.

it started with always loving being the focus in photos, to then always asking her friends to take pictures of her, to asking her mom if she’d pay for headshots. she knew that she was pretty, and in front of the camera, she felt more powerful and confident than anywhere else in her life.

she waited until she was eighteen and done with school before she moved to new york city. she pounded the pavement, gave her headshots to anyone that would take them, and was pleasantly surprised when she got a phone call saying they wanted to book her for a job.

in the last four years, her career has blossomed. she’s been in several magazines, as well as a part of a few makeup and perfume ad campaigns. her biggest and proudest achievement was landing the cover in vogue late last year. since then, she’s had gig after gig and lately, lettie’s just found herself exhausted.

she’s tired of always working and never having time for herself, and so when her mother decided to remarry and settle down in ashcroft, lettie decided to use it as an excuse to take a break.

on a surface level, she’s living at home again to help settle her family into the change. realistically she, she wants an excuse to not have any real responsibilities for a while.

she loves her mom to death, but she’s not too fond of their family moving in with the callahans. there was always a childish part of her that thought her parents would get back together, and she hates the knowledge that her family will never be the same again.

the longer she’s been home, the more she dislikes the new half of her “family”. she thinks the callahans are far too uptight and enjoys winding them up. 

has such low morals, my god. i don’t even wanna talk about how many married people she’s slept with just for fun. she loves fun, loves partying and getting high, is always trying to be the centre of attention no matter what social gathering she’s in.

that kind of ties into her secret of being a sugar baby. it started as a money thing after she moved to new york so that she was financially secure, but lettie really loves it. she loves the gifts, the compliments, the attention. she loves the power she holds over her sugar daddies/mommies when she’s involved sexually with them. she’s never attached to anyone she’s involved with, and the same goes with her real relationships. she uses them for the attention and love, but when things start to get hard, she always breaks it off.

kinda chaotic, kinda a bitch, kinda sleeping with the callahan bro most likely bc she wants her parents back together and doesn’t mind getting the callahans out of the equation to do so. woops?

[spideytrxsh]

My trip to the happiest place on earth: Heroes and Villains Fan Fest

This is going to be really long I am sorry in advance, but I feel like so many celebrities have been letting us down lately so here are great stories about actors we should stan. 

I bolded every actors name so if you are interested in just that particular actor and how they behave with fans you can jump there!

Some things to know about this convention:

It was HVFF Chicago and Walker Stalker Con Chicago, all rolled into one. So most of the focus was on The Walking Dead cast, like Norman Reedus and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. 

I was pretty much only there for the cast of The Gifted and The Defenders. It got WILD on the Walking Dead side.

I also went to everything Riverdale because my friend that went with me loves that show. 

Day 1 actors: Emma Dumont, Sean Teale, Blair Redford, Hayley Lovitt, Élodie Yung

Day 2 actors: Emma Dumont, Sean Teale, Blair Redford, Hayley Lovitt, Élodie Yung, Mike Colter, Lili Reinhart, Madelaine Petsch. 

DAY 1

A lot of you know that Lorna Dane aka Polaris is my all time favorite superhero. So knowing that Emma Dumont was going to be there was v overwhelming. But I brought her some of her fave snacks and a necklace and raced over to her table. There were probably 8-10 people in front of me but the second I walked up she screamed and pointed at me (in full Lorna costume) and goes “YAS QUEEN ITS LORNA” and I got really really really excited about what was coming. She was also bothering Sean and kept sending him her own headshot.

She chatted with all of her fans and as I was getting closer she kept turning to me and chatting with me along with the others in line. When it was finally my turn she kept going on and on about how excited she was to see another Lorna (as she was in full costume) and was SO excited. We chatted for about 10 minutes about Polaris and why we both loved her so much and then she told me HELLA SEASON 2 SPOILERS THAT I PINKY PROMISED TO NEVER TELL SO I AM SORRY BUT WILL NOT SAY A WORD and then I gave her the present and she read the card first and started to cry she was so excited. She screamed when she opened all of her snacks. And then I gave her the necklace and she cried because she loved it so much which honestly amazed me. I was wearing mine too and so she took lots of pics of us in our necklaces. It was of Polaris, the north star, and she said it would always guide her. 

Then we took probably 100 pictures on both of our phones and they are all incredible. She kept hugging me and after about 20 minutes of holding up the line I left and I sat and cried for a good minute because wow she was the most kind person in the world. 

When I saw her later in the day for our photo ops she told the photographer that she was making a weird face so she wanted a second photo with me and then when she hugged me goodbye she told me to pick my fave which is honestly such a queen move. 

At the end of the day she posted a photo of the two of us captioned “I found Polaris” on her insta story and I cried. 

Once I got my shit together I went to Sean Teale, who plays Marcos. BOY OH BOY THIS MAN IS HANDSOME. He was so smooth and that is the only way I can describe him. While he was chatting with another fan I talked to his brother who was so funny and incredible. More about his brother later. So I greet Sean and he smiles and hugs me and loves that I am dressed as Lorna and jokes that if Emma sees me she’ll lose it so just be ready and I told him I was with her for 20ish minutes and he said yup that’s about right. So we chat and talk about season 2 and he kept ragging on his costars (mostly Blair). Then he stopped me mid-sentence and was like wow you have like “mutant colored eyes”. And I about fainted and he was like “omg I’m sorry I mean that as a compliment, it’s like you’re one of us” and I had to keep reassuring him that it was the best compliment he could have given me. Then we took our pic and he hugged me and he smells rly good and he kissed the top of my head and sent me on my merry way. 

Next was Blair Redford. I thought I was ready to meet one of the loves of my life. I was wrong. I have had the BIGGEST crush on him for forever. So walking up to his table was so intimidating. But this giant teddy bear was so warm and welcoming the nerves went away so fast. He told me I looked great as Lorna and again we chatted about The Gifted duh and we talked about his broken foot (which everyone had a different story for what happened. I think I am the only fan that knows the truth) and how he wants to be a writer for the show at some point. And then he stood up to take a pic (which he did not do for anyone else) and had me check it to make sure that I was happy with it before hugging me and I swear in that moment my crops were watered and my skin was cleared. 

Then I met Hayley Lovitt who plays Sage on The Gifted and The Wasp in Ant-Man. She kept telling me how nervous she was because it was her first con and didn’t really know how to act around fans. There weren’t too many people at her table and she was in the mood to talk so we stayed and had a grand time with her. We talked about loving milkshakes and the show and how hot Blair is and it was just a really positive experience. 

As we went to leave I saw that Élodie Yung’s line was empty which had not happened all day, so I seized the moment and ran in real quick. I got my money out to buy an autograph and she stopped her manager and was like no no I’ll just do it. So that was a queen move. And then we talked about Elektra and how she thinks they could bring her back again because hey why not. Her French accent is literally so mindblowing-ly beautiful I cannot get over it. I was just in awe of her the entire time we were talking. Then we got on the subject of how hot it was in the convention and I joked that I am really prone to fainting (which I am whoops) and she was like “No we can’t have that” so she had me sit with her and had her handler get me some water. So I sat with her and had my water and that is how my day one ended. Pretty wild. 

Day 2

I am going to tell this day in chronological order bc it is important.

I went back to Emma Dumont because of course I did and she literally yelled “GRACE OMG YOU’RE BACK HOW ARE YOU” while she was talking to other fans, and then explained to everyone in line that I dressed as Lorna and that we were best friends. So as I am waiting I am talking to her manager and Sean’s brother, who happens to be his manager. They were just really chill guys and you guys that is the BEST way to get perks when you are at these things. MAKE FRIENDS WITH MANAGERS. So it gets back to me and Emma is her regular chatty self. I told her how much I appreciated her posting the pic and that I am sad because she had all the best pics of us on her phone and she goes “Oh girl let me send them to you what’s your number?” and I told her and boom- my phone buzzes. Pics from an unknown number with an LA area code. Emma texted me off her own damn phone and now I have her number and I am waiting for the perfect moment to text her. I will keep you posted on that. We chat. She’s great. She tells me that I have to come back before the end of the day to say goodbye. 

I catch Sean Teale’s brother/manager and ask if it is cool if I just go up and say hi to Sean again without getting an autograph and he was like yeah of course. So I head back up and he goes “My favorite mutant eyes! How are you love?” and then KISSES MY CHEEK AND HUGS ME AND I LOST IT. I mean I was not ok at all. He asked me about my day and everything I did yesterday and he was just so genuine and I felt like he really cared about everything that I was saying. It was magical. 

Then I went to a panel with Élodie Yung and Mike Colter, aka Elektra and Luke Cage. We got to line up to ask questions and some how by some miracle I was first in line. Mike was on facetime with his daughter because she liked to see all of her dad’s fans and it was the cutest thing I have ever seen. When they sent the questions over to the line Mike said “is the first question coming from Daisy Johnson?” and I wanted to die I was so excited. I got to ask a question and they gave really great answers. I’ll post the video on my insta! They talked about a lot of really great Defenders stuff and it was really awesome. 

Then we went to Lili Reinhart and Madelaine Petsch’s booths. I am going to start this by telling everyone I have not seen one minute of Riverdale. My friend that was with me loves the show so I went with her. They seemed pretty nice, but they did not stand for photos and everything felt very rushed. I did really like one of Madelaine’s people, who recognized that I was Daisy and talked to me about his time working at Marvel Comics. That was fun. Nothing negative to say about the girls but everything felt very strict and not as fun. Could be management, could be the fact that everything is a gentle amount of chaos. Who knows. 

It was about time for us to leave so it was time to say one last goodbye to my friends from The Gifted. When we hopped back into Emma Dumont’s mile-long line, Sean Teale’s brother/manager saw us and gave me a look, so I went to talk to him while my friend held my spot in line. I told him that I had a comic I wanted Emma to sign and that we had to leave soon because we had about 5 hours of driving to do to get home. We chatted for about 10 minutes, then I rejoined my friend in line. We waited for about 20 minutes and only about 5 people had made it through. There was no way we were going to be able to see Emma again, so we cut our loses and jumped over to Sean’s line, which had almost no one in it. His brother/manager asked what I was doing and I told him I couldn’t wait but he was like��“but! you wanted that signed!!” And I was like yeah I just can’t wait and I am really bummed. 

So he goes “well here I’ll get it for you”. He walks over to Emma, who is about 5 feet away, stops her convo with a fan and goes “Hey can you sign this real quick for me?” and she kinda gave him a look because why does he need something signed? And then he pointed at me and she goes “OMG GRRRRACEEEEE ARE YOU LEAVING??” signs it, comes over and gives me a hug, tells me to be safe, and to keep in touch. I will be eternally grateful to this man. I gave him a hug and told him he is the best person on the planet because it is true. 

All this time I am in Sean’s line so it is my turn and we chat some and I showed him what I had Emma sign and he tells us to be safe, gives me a big hug and another head kiss and it was everything. 

We pop by Hayley’s table and give her a quick “hey” and a hug and she told us that she had just seen our posts on twitter about meeting her day one. She is the sweetest.

No one is in Blair’s line so I ask if it is okay to say goodbye. It is at this point that Sean’s brother and Emma’s manager come over to talk to Blair’s manager and she literally could not care less because she knows that I am in love with him so it is fine. I talked to Blair for about 25 minutes about script ideas and plot lines before I literally have to leave the convention so I give him a hug and it’s out the doors I go. 

IF YOU MANAGED TO READ ALL THAT WOW AND GOOD ON YOU BECAUSE THAT WAS SO MUCH. I HAD THE BEST TIME AND I HAVE SOME PHOTOS COMING SOON!