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monsterpie · 7 months ago

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My thoughts on the Pride comics:

(Below the cut is my opinions on both the Toradeen AND Spellentine comics)

Toradeen comic:

Overall, it was a cute comic. They somehow made Toralei and Clawdeen cute together, props to them. That said... it's a random-ass pairing. There is no way those two would have ever dated each other in g1. They didn't like each other and they didn't even spend time together alone if they could help it. It was very clearly a ship made because they thought dog x cat would be good. I think if it were a comic about, say, Ghoulia and Kjersti instead, it would've been better and more realistic.

The two new characters, Bridgett and Jackie, were very cute. It is VERY hard to believe that they're Monster High students, though. I thought they were college age or young adults. In my mind, they seemed around 25 years old. Regardless, they were quite endearing. I thought the lesson they taught Toradeen about respecting your partner's boundaries and understanding their needs was a very important lesson for people to learn, whether they be kids or adults reading the comic.

The comic was pretty well-paced. It did a good job with the amount of pages it was given and didn't drag things out or rush through too much. The art style was cute. There were small additions made to the world that I enjoyed, like the existence of the fire-salamanders and how they seem to be popular to catch and use to cook things like marshmallows. Overall, it was pretty solid and a relatively enjoyable read once I ignored the fact that, again, it is an INCREDIBLY random ship.

Spellentine comic:

I... honestly don't have a lot of nice stuff to say about this comic. 😬

I think Spelldon really didn't have much personality at all. I think that it is also a disservice to have Spelldon's first introduction outside of an obscure diary mention be a comic that isn't about him. I think they didn't do a good job of establishing Spelldon's personality or character or motivations or... well, anything really. If they had, for instance, leaned more into Spelldon being clumsy like when he accidentally tripped and bumped his head, or if they made him a little more judgmental like when he said Valentine's fake Southern accent was bad, maybe that would've at least made him more memorable.

I also think they made Valentine... off. I'm aware that his personality in WDGFIL was largely a farce, but his personality in the comic didn't feel like him at all, neither the suave and cool self from the movie nor the accepting and calm self from the SDCC diary. He was... well, emotional and whiny. Annoying, frankly. His entire SDCC diary was about accepting things and growing as a person, and although he seemed to have SOME of that in the comic, he was also ready to stop feeling love at the drop of a hat - something which is especially confusing when we remember that Mrs. Goblin from the diary specifically mentioned that free and true love was so important for emotional vampires, and also something that doesn't feel like a decision he would make given the fact that he's supposed to, y'know, have come to terms with and accepted the fact that things won't always go his way. Teenagers are dramatic, I understand that, but in his SDCC diary he had come to terms with the fact that Draculaura and her friends might never come to trust and forgive him, but that he still wanted to prove himself to them if it was possible. In the comic, Draculaura turns his invitation to fang out down in the kindest possible way and he reacts like...that. It didn't feel like him at all.

The comic itself felt badly-paced and rushed. It felt like they had too much that they wanted to do and not enough pages to do it, resulting in feeling rushed. Valentine's decision to give up on love forever, Spelldon's first official appearance giving him almost zero time to establish himself, a potion-making quest, a lesson about... whatever they were trying to teach (acceptance? again? I guess?)... it was just too much. Maybe a full-length comic could've tackled it better, but I think this short one couldn't do it. They should've cut out some parts (my vote is to cut the not-wanting-to-love part out and instead have Spelldon and Valentine just need to make a potion for class or whatever). Another problem with the comic was that it was largely ruled by Valentine, rather than both boys equally. Spelldon made almost zero impression because Valentine was so loud, both in personality and in amount of words spoken, leaving Spelldon to kind of flounder behind.

The relationship itself was... fine. There really wasn't much any substance whatsoever. Person A takes care of Person B. It just didn't feel like it had much going for it. Their personalities seemed to mesh alright as friends, but as boyfriends... I don't know, to me it just doesn't work. It's not like Jackie and Bridgett where they're differing personalities that still work in the end, it just feels like... guy-who-will-inevitably-be-overlooked and his boyfriend, the guy with giant neon signs pointing him out.

Also, small gripe: I really wish Spelldon hadn't called Valentine's fake accent dumb lmfao. Valentine said he liked the accent, and I think if he had explained that it made him feel comfortable and confident around others, and also explained that he just *liked* doing it regardless, that would've been a sweet characterization moment that I could've truly believed.

A personal gripe and overall criticism: I still, even now all these years later, think it was an absolutely horrific idea to make Valentine gay. Like, catastrophically bad. The guy preyed on a bunch of innocent ghouls and stole their ability to love for centuries (for some, if not all of them, that probably meant their entire lives), but, oh, it's okay guys! He's gay! He was just doing it because he was gay! Sometimes men hurt every women in their loves because their true soulmate is gay! This isn't about his ability to change - he CAN change and he DID change. This is about the optics of it: the (at the time of the SDCC diary) ONLY "confirmed" (in loose quotes because that was bullshit back then too) gay character in the children's media Monster High was one of, and I can NOT stress this enough, the WORST VILLAINS THAT MONSTER HIGH HAD EVER HAD. Just another evil gay trope. Again, yes, he did change and get better... but how many people have read his SDCC diary? How many people even know it exists? Probably not many casual fans, probably not anybody who was a kid when the movie came out and is now seeing this comic on shelves a few years later. He should've just been straight. In my mind, he is. That way, at least, I don't have to worry about yet another evil gay in kids media.

Anyway, things I liked about the comic: Spelldon's design was really nice, I enjoyed seeing Whisp again even if it was very brief, I thought Valentine apologizing to Draculaura and attempting to befriend her was very sweet, as was her apologizing to him at the end of the comic while still maintaining her boundaries and not trying to change her schedule too much for him, and I thought it was funny that Spelldon and Valentine were going around and stealing shit for a useless potion lmfao.

#monster high #mh #monsterhigh #mine

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soup-of-the-daisies · 1 year ago

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Prongsfoot Week

Day 7: Write/Draw/anything for this ship.

sweeter than candy (on a stick)

Warnings: around 4k words, is NSFW (blowjobs).

Can be read on AO3 here.

James’ lips are stained red, shiny with sugar and spit—and Sirius can’t stop staring.

It’s a wonderfully sunny though bloody cold Sunday afternoon in November and they’re doing homework in the dorms—Peter and Remus have taken to ‘Weekend Walks’ around the lake, which really means that they talk about everything and nothing while Wormy sneakily tries to get Moony to give him homework answers. It’s a solid, well-choreographed dance — Pete’s far too clever to be hard working, and Moony does have a tendency to preach about the topics that will be discussed next week — that, quite honestly, neither Sirius nor James wish to witness. And besides, for them weekends are usually reserved for the planning of assorted mischief and general tomfoolery to be executed on school days.

Usually, yes, because the Defense essay really couldn’t wait today: though Sirius was planning on doing it at breakfast tomorrow, James has taken pity on their ever-nervous Defense professor Michael Burgary and made the decision to make it easier for the bumbling buffoon. It might have something to do with the running bet all the seventh years have going on how long the bloke will last — Sirius has two Galleons on March twentieth, whilst James bet five that Burgary will make it to the end — but, of course, James will never admit that.

“Can’t bear the thought of him having to order us to write a better one, really,” he said earlier today, grave and pitying and therefore successfully convincing Sirius to do what he wants to do, as is usually the case. “Let’s just ensure we get a good grade, and then he won’t have to talk to us as much. Poor bloke’s already so uncomfortable.”

Sirius would probably be a bit jealous of James seemingly having taken a liking to the twat if Burgary didn’t sweat so much, didn’t constantly look five seconds away from bursting into tears, and also wasn’t a practitioner of the lost art of the comb-over. He hopes he won’t have a receding hairline before turning seventy: both his grandfathers still have a full head of hair, even if grandfather Pollux’ locks were thinning the last time Sirius saw him.

Afternoon sunlight filters in through the small windows of their dorm, highlighting the auburn sheen in James’ messy black hair and the warm undertone of his brown skin. He’s sitting oddly, like he usually sits—one leg resting on the floor with the foot under his arse, and the other propped up; his crotch is in full view. The way he’s leaning over his essay is an absolutely outrageous display of subtle flexibility, and his left hand is holding the quill almost clumsily. It’s as if it’s too small for his veiny, quidditch-calloused hands.

He’s also sucking on a lollipop, which makes matters significantly worse.

The pale plastic sticks out of the corner of his mouth and sometimes he just sucksat it, loud and lewd, before using his tongue to shove the damned sweet to the other side of his mouth; the hard candy will click against his teeth, and then James will purse his lips, covered in the sheen of artificially dyed sugar, and suck again. It is obviously the latter that Sirius can’t help but focus on instead of his painfully unfinished Defense essay.

The thing is, Sirius knows what burning feels like. He once fell off father’s old broom when he was ten and landed in the patch of firenettles mother grows for her own version of Pepperup; he once tripped over his own two feet and fell hands first into the crackling hearth. He knows how the heat won’t stop, knows how the blistering feels, knows how the sensitivity will remain for months even after the burn salve and the essence of dittany. Knows the sheer pain of it, that sharp tone of agony that lasts for days if left untreated.

And somehow, for some absolutely ludicrous reason, Sirius is certain that swallowing glowing embers burns less than witnessing James Potter suckle on a fucking sweet.

James drops his quill and fingers the plastic of the lollipop absentmindedly, takes the damned thing out of his mouth with another obscene sucking noise and puckering of his red, wet, shiny lips. Then he licks it, wraps his tongue around it, and slurps it back into his mouth.

Sirius is burning. He’s burning, and his balls aren’t blue but they’re red-fucking-hot, and if he doesn’t tear his gaze away in the next second he’ll go from ‘uncomfortable but manageable’-hard to ‘Morgana’s tits this is painful’-hard. All he can think of is that fucking lollipop as his weeping dick, James’ absurd mouth around it, swollen and soaked with spit and precum, and Sirius—

James, the oblivious prat, taps the lollipop against the very bottom lip Sirius has been wanting to bite for the better part of an hour, like torturing his best mate without knowing it is helping him think. Then he sucks the candy back in his mouth, wetly and terrible and hotter than a Merlin-damned ashwinder.

Sirius whimpers. Out loud. And instantly wants to die.

“Pads?” James asks, and Sirius scrambles to put on an oblivious expression. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” says Sirius, lying through his teeth. James has taken the lollipop out of his mouth, again, and is tapping the bulbous candy against his bottom lip, again. “Just stuck on a sentence, you know…”

“You’re never stuck on sentences,” James points out. He pops the lollipop back in his mouth, pushes his essay aside, and shuffles closer. “Let us see, then.”

Sirius fashions his mouth into a scowl and glances at his parchment. He’s only written half of the duelling method of his choosing, a creative offense strategy, while James is likely already on his conclusion considering how in the zone he was while Sirius stared at him and that fucking sweet. And though it could be a bit embarrassing — Sirius has never liked lagging behind James, always needs to meet him with every step — he’s far more preoccupied with hiding his stiffy than with the abysmal state of his essay.

James sucks absentmindedly on his lollipop as he reads the paragraph Sirius managed to write down. It’s loud, and though it should probably be a little bit gross it’s actually really hot, and Sirius has to squash down the urge to kiss him. Heat is coiling in his lower belly; he adjusts himself discreetly, suppressing the moan that follows the pressure of his hand.

“It’s fine,” James murmurs eventually. The lollipop slips back out and he shoots Sirius a little smile that kicks Sirius’ heart into a riotous pace. “There’s no need to make it perfect right now, anyway. You can always write the final version later.”

James never needs to write drafts, as almost every essay ends up perfect on the first try. Sirius, usually, doesn’t need to write drafts either, but he’s been a bit distracted.

And hot under the collar.

Just a little bit.

“Right,” he manages, “it’ll be fine.”

“It will,” James says brightly. He pats Sirius’ shoulder, then slides his hand to the back of Sirius’ neck and squeezes. “You’re brilliant, ‘Rius. I see many more O’s in your future.”

Sirius makes a disparaging little noise, contemplates whether or not he should ask James to stop holding his neck because the touch is killing him, wishes desperately he were alone so he can wank himself raw to fantasies of getting sucked off by James Potter. His dick throbs.

Sirius utters, a bit strangled: “You’re more brilliant.”

The smile brightens. Sirius feels a sudden, absurd need to lick James’ teeth.

“Funny,” says James, “I always say that about you.”

Sirius smiles back and James does his funny little nose-scrunching thing that he always does when he’s a little bit amused and a little bit happy. Then his hand travels upwards, up the back of Sirius’ head, and his fingers tangle with the hair Sirius has been considering growing out.

“You still look a bit flushed,” James muses. Sirius feels the pull at his roots, knows James is twisting locks around his longer fingers like he is wont to do. It usually reduces Sirius to a puddle; now, he wants James to yank. “You sure everything’s okay? Is something bothering you?”

Yes, Sirius thinks, gaze dropping to James’ shiny red mouth. Something is bothering me. You’re sucking on a lollipop I wish was my prick, and now I’m so horny it’s all I can think about.

“Nah,” says Sirius. “Just, erm—a bit warm. That’s all.”

“You can take off your shirt,” James says. He laps at the lollipop, sucks at its side for a bit. “You wear another underneath anyway. It’s not like you’ll be naked, if that’s your issue.”

“Right,” Sirius says. “Yeah.”

James smiles at him again and puts the lollipop back in his mouth. Then, to Sirius’ grief, he takes his hand out of Sirius’ hair.

Starts to fiddle with the buttons of Sirius’ shirt.

“Erm—”

“You’re hot,” James says, lisping past the lollipop between his teeth and utterly oblivious to the implication behind his own damn words. “But you weren’t about to take off your shirt, so I’m doing it for you.”

Sirius hems, high-pitched and choked. James’ fingers are warm, brushing briefly against the bare skin at the base of Sirius’ throat before travelling down and only touching cotton. The fiddling and gentle touches spark goosebumps and, to Sirius’ complete and utter horror, pebbling nipples and an increase in the throbbing of his dick.

Eventually, James reaches the last of the buttons and Sirius is almost relieved that it’s almost over. But then one of James’ knuckles presses briefly against Sirius’ crotch, and before Sirius can even try to lock his muscles in place, his hips jerk forward. James pauses for less than a second before he releases the final button and, without asking, slides the shirt off Sirius’ shoulders. His palms brush down Sirius’ bare arms and it takes every last inch of willpower for Sirius not to start whining.

“I see the problem,” James murmurs, voice low and smooth like molten chocolate. He’s smiling around the lollipop, closed-mouthed and small, an intrigued tilt to one corner.

“Do you?” Sirius whispers, shaking.

James’ smile widens, and in pops his singular dimple. If Sirius wasn’t so utterly baffled by the lack of shock and disgust coming from James he’d have genuinely entertained the notion of kissing it.

Then a large, veiny hand lands on Sirius’ crotch, fingers slipping under the fly and playing with the pull of the zipper. His entire body tenses, trembles, and his next breath is expelled choppily.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you want me to be doing, Sirius?” James asks, tilting his head in faux-curiosity. He’s stillsmiling, like this isn’t weird, like this doesn’t cross any unspoken boundaries for him. “Is it still too warm?”

Sirius is quite certain he’s gone bright red. He nods, unable to speak.

“Words, Sirius,” James murmurs.

They come out breathy. “Yes, it is.”

James’ eyes darken and the button of Sirius’ trousers pops open. The zipper is slid down, and James pauses, sugar-shiny lips pursed again, rubbing the waistband of Sirius’ trousers between his thumb and pointer finger.

“Take them off,” he says quietly, and Sirius does, scrambling to get the black wool down his arse and off his legs.

He kicks them at the last bit, throws them aside, and turns to stare at James. James, whose gaze has apparently been caught by the erection tenting Sirius’ briefs, pupils dilated and dark eyebrows pulled together. Sirius can’t find the words he probably should say; his mind is far too busy reeling, far too busy thinking of James’ mouth and the sudden turn of events and oh fuck, this is happening—

James looks up, takes the lollipop out of his mouth, and smiles.

“Here,” he says, and he reaches out to push the sweet against Sirius’ lips. “Take it.”

Sirius wraps his mouth around the lollipop, ever-obedient, because there’s truly nothing he wouldn’t do if James asks nicely. It’s cherry, sickly sweet and a bit tart, bit bubblegum-esque, artificial flavouring and colouring. He sucks at it almost desperately.

Then he promptly chokes because James’ hand is on Sirius’ crotch again, pressing down, and—

“Would you like me to suck you off?”

Sirius closes his eyes and wonders what absolutely incredibly good thing he did to deserve something like this—his wildest dreams coming true. Tilts his hips up, so that the pressure increases. Whines.

“Words, Sirius.”

“Yes,” he gasps around the goddamn lollipop, blinking sluggishly and daring to take a glance at James. “Yes, yes, please, I would like that very much, I—”

James deftly shoves the briefs down until they’re caught under Sirius’ balls, tilts his head again, and grips Sirius’ prick tightly. Moves his hand up, then down.

Sirius damn near chokes again. It’s a rough glide because of the callouses on James’ hand, dry because of the lack of lube, almost uncomfortable—but it’s the best thing he’s ever felt and his hips jerk up again. He falls back on his elbows, tilts his head to the ceiling, and moans.

James whispers something Sirius has no energy to translate. There’s a sudden wetness between James’ palm and Sirius’ prick; the next slide goes so much more smoothly, sound positively obscene. He feels the flat of James’ thumb rubbing at the head and Sirius whines, pants, collapses onto his back.

“Oh, Sirius,” James tuts, voice low. “We’ve barely started, love.”

Heat spreads through Sirius’ veins like warmed honey, slow and viscous. His head spins a little. “Hmm.”

“Then again,” James whispers, “how much time do we have, really? Moony and Wormy can barge in at any moment. Then they’ll see us, won’t they? Maybe it’s a good thing your control is already shot—”

“James,” Sirius breathes. James has ceased to move, index finger tapping absentmindedly at a spot just below the head, and Sirius can’t fucking— “James, c’mon…”

“Or,” James continues cheekily, “you’ll burst right as they open the door. See you come all over yourself, or in my mouth, and who knows what they’ll think?”

To his complete horror, the thought of their friends seeing him fall apart is agonisingly arousing. He can almost see the shock on their faces, the confusion, maybe the mild intrigue—Sirius’ next exhale comes out in bursts and he lifts his hips slightly, desperate for a little friction. He’s certain that the aftermath of it would be incredibly embarrassing, even if Sirius can handle the jesting, but at the moment…

Well, he might combust.

James makes an amused little noise in the back of his throat. “Oh, you like that, don’t you?”

He moves his hand again, lightly, slowly. Sirius keens, shivering, and briefly and dazedly muses about potentially kicking James’ thigh for being annoying. Decides against it in the end, because suddenly a gust of air floats over the head of his prick, hot and damp and delightful—

“Let’s see how long you can last,” James whispers, lips brushing over sensitive skin.

Before Sirius can so much jerk his hips he’s being swallowed down; not particularly smooth, with James’ mouth going lower in little bursts as he adapts. If Sirius focuses — something that takes an embarrassing amount of strain to do through the thick cloud of pleasure — he can feel the pressure of shallow swallowing and skin-covered teeth, the chilliness of cooling drool beginning to pool at the base of his cock.

James’ tongue tickles him, exploratory, teasing. Sirius stuffs his fist in his mouth, bites down on his knuckles until he’s sure that any more pressure will break his skin; the moan that rumbles out from deep inside his chest sounds muffled and muted.

Then the heat disappears.

Sirius bites back a whine, lifts his head and meets James’ eyes. He’s confused and a little bit dazed and very, very turned on and wondering, almost a bit angrily, why James has stopped.

The view that greets him almost makes up for the lack of physical stimulation. James is on his knees, toned arms easily holding him up—he’s hovering right above Sirius’ weeping prick and is grinning like the devious little shit that he is, sharp teeth and full, bruised lips, pupils dilated and irises alight with heat.

“You shouldn’t muffle all those pretty sounds, love,” he rasps, voice hoarse and low, and Sirius’ hips jerk. “I want to hear you.”

Sirius groans, reaches out to curl his hands around one of the feet of the bed behind him, and startles so badly when James’ hot mouth surrounds his dick again that he produces a pathetic, whiny hiccup. James hums and takes him deeper, far quicker than before, hollows his cheeks and swallows and only gags a tiny bit. Perhaps Sirius, one of another life who let his arrogance and misery guide him maybe, would’ve been offended by how little James seems to be struggling—or jealous, wondering if James did this before.

This Sirius—the one who catalogues the shades of gold and green and brown in James Potter’s irises, who marvels at the jagged curves of James Potter’s Adam’s apple, who wishes to brush the tips of his fingers over the raised veins and tendons strung across the back of James Potter’s hands… this Sirius does not give one flying fuck, actually, because James is taking him like a Merlin-damned champ and Sirius is simply melting into a puddle, becoming one with the rug, will have to be scrubbed out of the fibres by a particularly annoyed elf later today.

It’s to be expected, anyway. He’s been waiting, got pulled into James’ orbit a month into their first year and has stayed there ever since. Sirius admired from afar but closer than most, relished in the sound of laughter, the warmth of an arm slung over his shoulders, the feeling of a knee pressed against his own. And it wasn’t like this at first, never, just felt that urge to remain close and hold on and hiss at the threat of being ripped away, but then there were growth spurts and deepening voices and then one day James smiled crookedly, ran his long fingers through Sirius’ hair and pressed his thumb against the hinge of Sirius’ jaw, and—

The tip of James’ tongue twitches, rhythmically brushes against sensitive and thin skin. It takes a momentous amount of effort to suppress the ever-mounting need to jerk his hips up, to increase the friction or lessen it or keep it going or stop it entirely, and Sirius groans deep inside his throat, muscles already starting to tense. He could sigh, dispel some of the tension, try to relax—but he wants to whine and twitch and hold himself back just barely, keep himself on that delightfully agonising edge that he was so easily dragged towards.

Sirius is panting and his head is reeling. He can barely register the coarse braided fibres of the rug digging into his shoulder blades and pressing against the back of his head, or the end of his abandoned quill tickling his jaw; the feeling of James’mouth around him is better than he ever imagined, absolutely nothing like his own lube-slicked palm, and he can’t think of anything butJames’ mouth and the tightening of his balls and the coiled, ever-growing knot of an incoming orgasm in his belly. It’s amazing, this, the end-result — or better yet, beginning — of years of hopeful musings and months of looks and smiles and subtle talking that Sirius interpreted as casual, meaningless flirting but prayed was true and purposeful.

This can’t possibly be just for a laugh. And even if it was, Sirius won’t ever be able to truly think of it as such.

James makes another one of those absolutely obscene slurping noises, one thumb stroking the sharp jut of Sirius’ hip and the other stroking the base of Sirius’ cock. There’s another finger teasing Sirius’ perineum, like James is considering doing something morethan taking a dick into his mouth, and that thought – combined with one last, slightly out-of-practice swirl of the tongue – causes Sirius to tip over the edge.

His vision whitens out and his back arches as the wave of pure pleasure crests and washes over him; it feels endless, yet somehow far too short, and if he distantly registers some sort of keening groan that must come from his own throat. His fingers and legs tingle, feel like jelly, and Sirius inhales, exhales, and allows himself to jerk a little as his cock spurts.

A long time coming, he thinks through a haze of syrupy feeling, breath stuttering in his chest and limbs lax with that temporary exhaustion of an orgasm. He’s too limp to even snigger at his own pun, can barely lift his head to look as James swallows and licks him clean from any come that leaked. He’s been wanting this for years, and dammit if it isn’t worth the wait. Sirius wants to kiss James, wants to mould his own mouth to James’, get lost in the movement and the taste and the tiny huffing breaths that always accompany a good snog.

But James leans back upright, and as Sirius blinks at him blearily from the floor he wipes his mouth, stuffs Sirius’ prick back inside his underwear, and hands him the trousers. When Sirius simply stares, brain still full of cotton, he pats Sirius’ thigh and nods at the garment.

“Put them on,” he murmurs.

Sirius forces the blood back into his limbs, always listening—stumbles upright and steps into the trousers, yanks them up and over his arse and zips them up. He’s only just closed the button and sat down again when the door handle jiggles and twists.

As their friends appear in the doorway, James leans back over his essay whilst Sirius remains leaned back on his hands, twitchy, with the breath punched out of him. Peter breezes in with a skip in his step, jumps on his bed with a satisfied sigh; Remus remains standing in the doorway, head slightly tilted to the side and eyes a bit narrowed.

“Merlin, Pads, you look flushed,” says Peter. He snatches several textbooks and some stray bits of parchment from his bookbag, spreads the materials out over his crimson sheets. “The last time I’ve seen you this red was when we played some Quidditch last summer.”

“During the heatwave, you mean?” Sirius drags a hand through his hair and shrugs when Peter nods. He hopes it looks effortless and casual. “Er—yeah, I’m hot.”

“Your vanity never fails to amaze me,” Peter shoots back. He grins and fishes a quill from his bag. “It isn’t that warm in here, though.”

“I run at high temperatures.”

Remus steps into their dorm slowly, eyes on a quiet James before they linger on Sirius. His nostrils flare, and his eyebrows lift, and then he stalks towards his bed. His foot collides with Sirius’ as he goes.

The behaviour doesn’t make any sense from an outsider’s perspective. But it does here, for Moony, because — and there’s an excited twist in Sirius’ gut — he can smell it. Must be even if Peter didn’t, because Peter’s sense of smell is surprisingly human, even as a rat, but Remus is not fully human, and—

“Made any progress on the essay, lads?” Remus asks, a forced casualness to his tone. “Wormy’s been nagging me about the ideal subject matter—the lazy git.”

“Work smarter, not harder,” says Peter loftily. He’s still grinning. “Merlin forbid I start thinking, you know. It’d be over for you lot.”

“I’m almost finished,” James says quietly, clearing his throat when his voice breaks, and Sirius bites down on the insides of his cheeks to keep himself from smiling. “Padfoot is stuck on a sentence, though.”

Remus’ brown eyes flick between the two of them. “I can imagine.”

James sends their friend a grin. The combination of swollen, bruised lips and straight white teeth makes it particularly roguish—there’s an edge to it, hovering between smug and daring. His eyes are like chips of flint.

“Gave him my lollipop to cheer him up a bit,” James says cheerily. “He’ll manage, our Pads. There’s some O’s in his future. I can taste it.”

Peter rolls his eyes exaggeratedly with a muttered, “Merlin, don’t we know it”, but Remus’ only reaction is the slight tightening of his jaw. James tilts his head, still grinning, and holds eye-contact until Remus’ gaze flicks to his bag.

“That’s nice,” he says. “Hope it helped.”

“It will,” says Sirius. Remus looks at him, and so does James, and after sharing a conspiratorial look with the latter Sirius gives the former a fat wink. “I’ll return the favour when he needs it.”

It’s a delight to see James’ cheeks flush red from his peripheral.

Yeah, Sirius thinks, stomach constricting pleasantly. I’ll return the favour, absolutely.

#prongsfootweek2023 #prongsfoot #bambibelle #my writing #soopsiedaisies #prongsfoot fanfiction #sirius black #james potter

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astrofae · 1 year ago

Note

Currugated ask game: 🤕🌶️🚀🪞🔎🎳💺🛋️🧱🧰

🤕-Which boss is the hardest?

The Swansong is the bane of my existence. I've got over 700 hours in the game and I've... never actually beaten it. To be fair that's largely because I never really bothered doing mech stuff until recently (my achievement hunter brain craves Parasprite and Cosmic Intruder figurines) but hell, even the dungeon is hard. I can usually just blaze through all the dungeons, but even with endgame gear I die fairly often in the Dantalion!

🌶️-What do you think is your most unpopular Starbound opinion?

I don't care for Frackin Universe and similar overhaul mods. I just genuinely enjoy the vanilla experience! (Well, I call it Vanilla+ since I've got a ton of little QOL/bugfix/cosmetic mods. One of them literally just makes Snuggets glow)

I dabbled in Frackin once with friends, and it didn't interest me enough to start my own playthrough. It's certainly not a bad mod, just not my thing. I might do a heavily modded playthrough with Frackin and the whole nine yards someday, but I don't have any actual plans to do so.

🚀-Which ship design is the best?

They've all got their charm, but I quite like the Hylotl and Apex ships! I haven't actually gotten a fully upgraded ship with either of them, but I do like the futuristic designs. The Hylotl one is probably my favorite out of the two, though. The patchwork look of the Floran ship is also excellent.

🪞-Which starbound oc made you discover something about yourself, or inspired you to try something new?

I've been taking art seriously (as a hobby) for over six years now, but I never really bothered to draw people until I got invested in my Starbound OCs! I was a Wings of Fire kid so I started out drawing dragons(and I still do, just different dragons lol), but I've even gotten into gesture drawing lately just to draw my SB characters better.

🔎-What's a small, easy-to-miss detail that you just love?

I honestly really like the bug catching! It was absolutely a pain to get all of them for the achievement, but they make lovely lil decorations. The wild bugs add excellent ambience when wandering around on planets, too.

Also, all the little lore snippets from scanning stuff and talking to NPCs are excellent.

🎳-Funnest toy?

I must admit I never really bothered to do much with the toys! I kind of forget they exist most of the time. If I ever stumble across them I do have fun chucking them around my ship for a minute before they get banished into a miscellaneous storage box somewhere. I should do more with them

💺-What is your favorite furniture set? What is your favorite standalone furniture item? Do they go together?

I'm quite fond of the Astro set! One of my favorite things about SB is the sci-fi setting, and I love all the cool space props available. I like to mix and match them for individual builds, but Astro is my favorite whole set just because it's orange lol

My favorite individual piece has got to be the Symbiote in a Jar. I like to put them in my ship as a friend. Just look at him. Little guy

🛋️-Top 3 furniture mods?

I don't actually use any! At least not any elaborate ones; I have a few for little things like gravity field generators, ceiling-mounted sprinklers, and craftable plants and coral. Also more colors of string lights and neon lights, because shiny glowy things are a necessity.

Letheia Expanded does look very cool, though! I love mods that build on the existing lore like that.

🧱-Favorite block(s)?

The good old Ornate Wood and Classic Baseboards are some of my go-to blocks for regular house builds. Heavy Pipes, too! They make great extra details.

I also love a bunch of the super niche blocks. There's not exactly a lot of regular building uses for a block of eyeballs, but if you ever need some weird stuff for a science lab or whatnot then there's that!

🧰-What huge, super ambitious mod would you make if you had the time/energy/skills?

CHARACTER CREATION OVERHAUL. I utterly despise the little arrows for selecting everything. It's already a pain in vanilla, but when you start adding in things like Colorbound and new hairstyles it is absolute agony. I've never even tried modding and I've heard that the current BS system is hardcoded in, but I long for reasonable character creation. NPCspawner's creation menu is excellent (it uses lists of colors/hairs to pick from rather than the wretched arrows) and I wish vanilla had something similar.

#thank you very much for the ask!! :D :D #i rambled Just A Little Bit lol #ask game #starbound

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meruz · 4 years ago

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once again i am answering asks in a big compilation post. included is... gotham, patrick stump, tips about drawing backgrounds, tips about drawing in general, links to my faq, and infinity train

like.... the tv series? No... I’ve drawn dc comics fanart before, though. But it’s been years since I’ve been really into it. I like jumped ship like 10 years ago when the New 52 happened LOL.

AFJHDSLKGH I’m sorry I (probably) won’t do it again??

Actually full disclosure I have a truly cringe amount of p stump drawings/photo studies in my sketchbook right now LOL. He’s just fun to draw... hats, glasses, guitar, a good shape... but I don’t think I’ll rly post those until I can hide them in another big sketchbook pdf.. probably Jan 2022. Stay tuned........ (ominous)

(ominous preview)

These are all sort of related to backgrounds/painting so I grouped them together even though they’re pretty much entirely separate questions.... ANYWAYS

a) How is it working as a BG artist? Is it hard? What show are you drawing for?

I think you’re the first person to ever ask me about my job! Being a background artist is great. It’s definitely labor intensive but I think that could describe pretty much any art job (If something were rote or easy to automate, you wouldn’t hire an artist to do it) and I hesitate to say whether its harder or easier than any other role in the animation pipeline. Plus, so much of what truly makes a job difficult varies from one production to the next, schedule, working environment, co-workers etc. But I will say that I think while BGs are generally a lot of work on the upfront, I think they’re subject to less scrutiny/revisions than something like character/props/effects design and you don’t have to pitch them to a room like boards. So I guess it’s good if you don’t like to talk to people? LOL

A lot of my previous projects + the show I’ve worked on the longest aren’t public yet so I can’t talk about em (but I assure you if/when the news does break I won’t shut up about it). But I’m currently working on Archer Season 12 LOL. I’m like 90% sure I’m allowed to say that.

b) ~~~THANK YOU!! ~~~

c) What exactly do you like to draw most [in a background]?

@kaitomiury Lots of stuff! I really like to draw clutter! Because it’s a great opportunity for environmental storytelling and also you can be kind of messy with it because the sheer mass will supersede any details LOL.

I like to draw clouds... I like to draw grass but not trees lol,,, I like to draw anything that sells perspective really easily like tiled floors and ceilings, shelves, lamp posts on a street etc.

d) Do you have any tips on how to paint (observational)?

god there’s so much to say. painting is really a whole ass discipline like someone can paint their whole life and still discover new things about it. I guess if you’re really just starting out my best advice is that habit is more important than product. especially with traditional plein air painting, I find that the procedure of going outside and setting up your paints is almost harder than the actual painting. There’s a lot of artists who say “I want to do plein air sometime!!” and then never actually get around to doing it. A lot of people just end up working from google streetview or photos on their computer.

But going outside to paint is a really good challenge because it forces you to make and commit to lighting and composition decisions really quickly. And to work through your mistakes instead of against them via undo button.

My last tip is to check out James Gurney’s youtube channel because hes probably the best and most consistent resource on observational painting out there rn. There’s lots other artists doing the same thing (off the top of my head I know a lot of the Warrior Painters group has people regularly posting plein air stuff and lightbox expo had a Jesse Schmidt lecture abt it last year) but Gurney’s probably the most prolific poster and one of the best at explaining the more technical stuff - his books are great too.

e) Do you have tips for drawing cleanly on heavypaint?

@marigoldfool UMM LOL I LIKE ONLY USE THE FILL TOOL so maybe use the fill tool? Fill and rectangle are good for edge control as opposed to the rest of the heavy paint tools which can get sort of muddles. And also I use a stylus so maybe if you’re using your finger, find a stylus that works with your device instead. That’s all I’ve got, frankly I don’t think my drawings are particularly clean lol.

f) Tips on improving backgrounds/scenes making them more dynamic practicing etc?

Ive given some tips about backgrounds/scenes before so I’m not gonna re-tread those but here’s another thing that might be helpful...

I think a good way to approach backgrounds is to think of the specific story or even mood you want to convey with the background first. Thinking “I just need to put something behind this character” is going to lead you to drawing like... a green screen tourist photo backdrop. But if you think “I need this bg to make the characters feel small” or “I need this bg to make the world feel colorful” then it gives you requirements and cues to work off of.

If I know a character needs to feel overwhelmed and small, then I know I need to create environment elements that will cage them in and corner them. If a character needs to feel triumphant/on top of the world then I know I need to let the environment open up around them. etc. If I know my focal point/ where I want to draw attention, I can build the background around that.

Also, backgrounds like figure compositions will have focal points of their own and you can draw attention to it/ the relationship the characters have with the bg element via scale or directionality or color, any number of cues. I think of it almost as a second/third character in a scene.

Not every composition is gonna have something so obvious like this but it helps me to think about these because then the characters feel connected and integrated with the environment.

Some more general art questions

a) Do you have any process/tips to start drawing character/bodies/heads?

I tried to kind of draw something to answer this but honestly this is difficult for me to answer because I don’t think I’m that great at drawing characters LOL. Ok, I think I have two tips.

1) flip your canvas often. A lot about what makes human bodies look correct and believable is symmetry and balance. Even if someone has asymmetrical features, the body will often pull and push in a way to counterbalance it. we often have inherent biases to one side or another like dominant hands dominant eyes etc. you know how right-handed artists will often favor drawing characters facing 45 degrees facing (the artist’s) left? that’s part of it. so viewing your drawing flipped even just to evaluate it helps compensate for that bias and makes you more aware of balance.

2) draw the whole figure often. I feel like a lot of beginner artists (myself included for a long time) defer to just drawing headshots or busts because it’s easier, you dont have to think about posing limbs etc. But drawing a full body allows you to better gauge proportion, perspective, body language, everything that makes a character look believable and grounded.

Like if you (me) have that issue where you draw the head too big and then have to resize it to fit the proportions of the rest of the body, it’s probably because you (I) drew the head first and are treating the body as an afterthought/attachment. Sketching out the whole figure first or even just quick drawing guides for it will help you think of it more holistically. I learned this figure drawing in charcoal at art school LOL.

oh. third mini tip - try to draw people from life often! its the best study. if you can get into a figure drawing/nude drawing class EVEN BETTER and if you have a local college/art space/museum that hosts those for free TREASURE IT AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT, that’s a huge boon that a lot of artists (me again) wish they had. though if youre not so lucky and youre sitting in a park trying to creeper draw people and they keep moving.. don’t let that stop you! that’s good practice because it’s forcing you to work fast to get the important stuff down LOL. its a challenge!

b) I’ve been pretty out of energy and have had no inspiration to draw but I have the desire to. Any advice?

Dude, take a walk or something.... Or a nap? Low energy is going to effect everything else so you gotta hit that problem at its source.

If you’re looking for inspiration though, I’d recommend stuff like watching a movie, reading a book, playing video games etc. Fill up your idea bank with content and then give yourself time/space to gestate it into new concepts. Sometimes looking at other art works but sometimes it can work against you because it’s too close.

Also something that helps me is remembering that art doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking... like it’s okay to make something shitty and stupid that you don’t post online and only show to your friend. That’s all part of the process imo. If you want to hit a home run you gotta warm up first, right? Sports.

I should probably compile everytime i give tips on stuff like this but that’s getting dangerously close to being a social media artist who makes stupid boiled down art tutorials for clout which is the last thing i want to be... the thing I want to stress is that art is a whole visual language and there are widely agreed upon rules and customs but they exist in large part to be broken. Like there's an infinite number of ways to reach an infinite number of solutions and that’s actually what makes it really cool and personal for both the artist and the viewer. So when you make work you like or you find someone else’s work you like, take a step back and ask yourself what about it speaks for you, what about it works for you, what makes it effective, how to recreate that effect and how to break that effect completely, etc. And have a good time with it or else what’s the point.

for the first 2, I direct you to my FAQ

For the last one, I don’t actually believe I’ve ever addressed artwork as insp for stories/rp but I’ll say here and now yeah go ahead! As long as you’re not making profit or taking credit for my work then I’m normally ok with it. Especially anything thats private and purely recreational, that’s generally 100% green light go. I only ask that if you post it anywhere public that you please credit me.

(and I reserve the right to ask you to take it down if I see it and don’t approve of it’s use but I think that case is pretty rare.)

a) @lemuelzero101 Thank you!!! I haven’t played Life is Strange but actually that series’ vis dev artist Edouard Caplain is one of my bigger art inspirations lately so that’s a really high compliment lol. And yeah I hope we get 5-8 too...!

b) Thank you for sticking around! I’ve been thinking about Digimon and Infinity Train in tandem lately, actually. They’re a little similar? Enter a dangerous alternate world and have wacky adventures with monsters/inanimate objects that have weird powers... there’s like weird engineers and mechanisms behind the scenes... also frontier literally starts with them getting on a train. Anyways if anyone else followed me for digimon... maybe you’d like Infinity Train? LOL

c) @king-wens-king I’M GLAD MY ART JUST HAS PINOY VIBES LOL I hope you are having a good day too :^)

a, b, c, d) yessss my Watch Infinity Train agenda is working....

e) aw thank you!! i think you should watch infinity train :)

#ask #trying this new thing where i tag people in the body of the post instead

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canyouhearthelight · 4 years ago

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The Miys, Ch. 137

Trying to figure out Author’s notes is hard.... Sometimes I just don’t have anything pithy to say, or have too much to say and don’t know where to put it all.

Obviously I am an overthinker.

So, for the sake of everyone reading: Let’s cut to the Shoutouts!

The obvious first: @baelpenrose, @the-raven-fae, @anotherusrname, and @charlylimph-blog! I love all of you, you are the best.

Special mentions to: @zommbiebro bc I miss you and hope you’re okay. @nekohuntslight for being the OG person to message me about liking the story (yes, Bael, this is the dirty secret behind why I thought you lived in Australia when we first started talking.... shhhhhh). And alllllll the binge readers who blow up my inbox every day, Iloveyousomuchyoudon’tunderstand. Very much adore all of you, you have no idea how serious I am being right now. I need to go through and make one post just screaming all your names to the universe.

Tyche brought drinks and snacks from my kitchen before flopping on the couch in my quarters. The guys were at work, along with Antoine, but my office was closed down for the day. “How are you feeling about tomorrow?” she asked.

“Vati and Hannah have everything planned to the smallest detail,” I shrugged. “They’ve already coordinated with Xio and Evan for all the crowd control and monitoring shifts, and the murals are going up today.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m well aware of the logistics stuff. I literally handle all the staffing for the humans on the Ark, and Antoine was also part of the crowd control conversations.”

“Then why did you ask?” I laughed, grabbing a cracker and carefully stacking cheese and other toppings on it.

Before I could get it to my mouth, she snatched it and held it out of my reach. “Because I’m asking how you feel. You’re only attending as… well, an attendee. No monitoring, no calling the shots, no working from the floor.”

She surrendered my cracker, but I found myself setting it down, appetite gone. “I’m okay - “

“Lie.” There was suddenly a finger levelled between my eyes like a gun. Just as quickly, it was lowered, and my sister was tilting her head at me. “Come on. You know you can’t lie to me - I’ve known you longer than literally anyone on this ship except yourself.”

“Fine! It’s weird!” I admitted in frustration, standing to pace and shoving my hands through my hair. “My skin is crawling with anxiety, my hands are twitching to snatch up the files and nitpick everything to the smallest detail….”

“Except they locked you out.”

“Except they locked me out, yeah. But I’m pretty sure I could get Derek to let me in, which is why I’ve made a point to tell him not to, no matter how much I ask.” Dropping my hands, I sighed. “But if I ever want to leave this position, I have to let them do this.”

She shrugged and stole my cracker, this time chewing and swallowing before she responded. “You could have kept some involvement in it, you know.”

“Pfft, yeah right. I would have taken it over, and you know that.”

“Yep.”

“Then why even ask.” I dropped back down on the couch.

“‘Cause you needed to hear yourself say it,” she explained, nonchalant as ever, snagging an olive and watching me calmly.

I sat in silence, processing it. I hated when she outsmarted me like that, especially when she was right. “Can I at least eat first?”

She laughed and let it go, telling me how well the murals for the Festival were coming. I hadn’t even gotten to - allowed myself - to see the designs, and the more Tyche talked about them, the more I wanted to see them. By the time I finished my share of our snack, I decided to check out the progress.

We finally made our way to the decks where the Festival would take place, and I thought Tyche was going to die laughing at the way I gaped. The alcoves where the vendors would stage looked the same on first glance, but a closer look revealed very subtle shapes added that would give them a more savage, wild look in the right lighting. Metal sconces had been added to hold what looked like torches, but with special light emitters to simulate open flame. As we walked further, swirls of color revealed themselves slowly, first in light, curling tendrils, but slowly sharpening and taking on a more angular shape, twisting together into phantasmal images that vanished as soon as you tried to focus on them.

“It’s like walking through a garden, or a rainforest, but when I turn my head, I’m in a city.”

“Right?” she laughed as we came around the final corner.

At this point, we were surrounded by this mural. Just up ahead, there was a messy head of black hair tied back with a green piece of cloth. Bare feet and arms show smears of paint, and overalls covered a tank top - that, or the cloth for the hair had formerly been sleeves, I couldn’t tell. One hand propped up on hips while the other hung down, holding a very familiar paint pen.

“Christ on a triscuit, Vati, this is incredible,” I gasped softly.

She turned and smirked at me over her shoulder. “Not yet, but it will be when I finish.”

“I mean, all of it. The sconces…”

“Those were Hannah and Ivan.” Parvati walked over and touched one with her finger tip, stroking it gently.

Tyche made an impressed noise. “I’m only a little shocked that he had enough time.”

“The materials are on loan from the engineering departments, and we wanted them to be rather rough in the finishing. It helped. Sophia, no matter how curious you are, please do not lick the walls.”

A giggle bubbled up through my chest. “The thought never crossed my mind. I was trying to put together all the flavor profiles here. It’s… a lot.”

“Forgive me if I focused more on color than how the walls would taste. I don’t generally cook, remember.”

I stared down a swirl of pomegranate, popcorn, and gochujang. The colors - blue, pink, and yellow, respectively - worked well together, but the thought of the flavors made my stomach churn. “I solemnly swear not to lick the walls,” I promised. “How much of this are you expecting to still be up by the third night?”

“We have a team that will specifically come touch up the mural in specific places the morning before the second day.”

Tyche turned toward me and away from her study of the art. “Also, you would be surprised how much paint is on the walls. It will take a lot for Else to eat it all, once they are allowed in the area.”

“Before you ask,” Parvati cut me off. “We just asked them nicely. Well, Sam and Derek did. They’ve become quite the ersatz diplomats to Else.”

“Anything left?”

“Hannah is putting the final touches on the curtains for the alcoves and the seating areas. She’ll have a team installing them tonight once I finish.”

It was clever, and explained why she was only touching up part of the mural halfway between now and the closing of the event. “You two have really put your stamp on it.”

“Feel better?” She held one hand up gesturing at the entire entire project, eyebrow arched to show me that she hadn’t been fooled for a moment.

I rubbed my neck, and glanced at her from underneath my eyelashes. “Busted, I guess.”

“That would imply that anyone had believed your charade,” she smirked.

Taking a deep breath, I looked around us again. “I honestly do. I could never have done all this. Holding on would have…”

“Kept you in a position you frankly hate,” Parvati interrupted gracefully. “It’s the same reason Sebastian went back to the Undine. He’s passionate about it, and it shows in the quality of his work.” When I gaped in insult, she held up a hand. “Not everyone can succeed through fear of failing and a determination that things be done right if they must be done at all.”

“Everyone talking about me needing to retire, like I’m old or something,” I joked, throwing my hands into the air. “Physically, I’m only thirty-five.”

Tyche nodded to concede my point. “What about the food? I haven’t seen a menu come out yet.”

The change in topic made Parvati’s face collapse. “What? It should have gone out yesterday…” She flicked open her datapad, which flickered from the overspray that covered it. Frantically scrolling, she groaned. “This was scheduled, why didn’t it send?”

“Did you check the date?” I asked calmly. “Specifically the year.”

“Three times, it’s scheduled for tomorrow,” she insisted. “Right here: May seventeenth, twenty-forty aw fuck….”

“At least you got the decade right,” I pointed out. “You wouldn’t believe how many scheduled emails I’ve tried to automatically send out for ten or fifteen years ago.”

She nodded and seemed to get her bearings back. “So, protocol for this is… just send it right now and apologize for the late notification, don’t try to make excuses or explain?”

“Exactly. They won’t care why, they’ll just be excited the list is out.”

With a couple quick gestures, she sent the email and dismissed her datapad. “Okay, that was the last thing, then.” Turning back toward the wall she was working on before, she waved to us over her shoulder. “I’m not trying to be rude, but I really do need to finish this up. Thank you for coming to see everything… it was oddly reassuring to have both of you give us your stamp of approval before the Festival instead of making us wait until after.”

“For the record, you two have always had my stamp of approval, or I wouldn’t have tried so hard to keep my nose out of it.” I knew she couldn’t see me, but I still smiled. “We’ll catch up with you after the Food Festival. Remember: both of you need to plan on taking the day off afterwards. I’m serious. Have your unofficial advisors drop in and chat about everything, that’s fine. But no actual work, and I won’t let either of you see the survey results until the second day after. So rest.”

“Got it, boss lady. Have a good night!”

Tyche and I turned and headed back to my quarters. We remained silent as we took in all the preparations that had been done, waving to the handful of vendors who were bringing their supplies in already. Once we were back in normal corridors, the silence broke almost immediately.

“I think they’ve got this,” Tyche suggested nonchalantly.

“Oh, I know they do.”

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#the miys #found family #humans are weird #science fiction #aliens #apocalypse #humans are space orcs #humans are space fae #earth is space australia #post apocalypse #post post apocalypse #original science fiction #original sci fi #original writing

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shouldntcryoverit · 4 years ago

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the art of discordance

a captain rex x jedi fic during clone wars era :))

no warnings i think uh yeah hope you enjoy let me know ig...

next chapter

CHAPTER ONE -

A new general. That’s what the rookies had heard, though Rex was reluctant to believe the Jedi Council had the guts to replace Skywalker. After a good few months, the captain had learnt of his general’s unique ‘disposition’, and getting a new general to step in was what he least expected.

That was until the ship landed just outside their camp and she walked out. Even from his position sitting further back on some crates, Rex could make out the figure, identifying her as one of the jedi knights, though which one escaping him. Perhaps the rumours were true.

He watched as she walked closer, hands placed purposefully and eyes wandering over the other two jedi in front of her. The commander crossed her arms defensively, though her master seemed unbothered by her arrival, excited even.

“master?” Ahsoka coughed

“oh snips!” Skywalker bleated with the same enthusiasm he had wagered throughout the interaction “this is Jaida Reyes”

“the one from your padwan stories?” Ahsoka said with smug conviction

“my reputation precedes me” her accent was crisp and calm, though her tone radiated a coolness that Ahsoka couldn’t help but feel distanced by “though i’d rather be known for my skills with a lightsaber than helping Akin steal from Obi-wan”

Ahsoka held back a snicker as Rex walked up to the three, absent minded as he double checked his comm.

“General Skywalker, we have the new coordinates” His attention tried hard to divert to the new face.

“ah thank you” Anakin turned to his friend “this is my captain, Rex”

Rex nodded at his introduction.

“i’m the new co-general, General Reyes” her face settled into the beginnings of a smile, but faultered and remained her neutral, placid gaze.

The young jedi watched with focused eyes as they walked the short distance towards the briefing tent. Already her presence seemed to spark rumours among the men, and she watched as the younger looking troopers sent her inspecting looks. It was to be expected, honestly she never wanted a big formal introduction, but she didn’t know that her arrival would breach the news so quickly.

When they arrived, the tent was half full. An open and decorated holo map was in the centre, with at least two clones at each marked entrance point.

“Boys” Skywalker called “we have a visitor”

She rolled her eyes slightly at the flamboyant gesture, but stepped forward anyway. “I’m General Reyes, apparently Skywalker wasn’t trusted enough to run his own battalion, so i got called in” Her hands rested behind her back, but a small grin encroached her face as the snipe made a few troopers smirk.

“excuse my fellow jedi, she’s never been good at taking second place” Anakin fired back, earning another set of grins.

Reyes crossed her arms as her smiling face resumed the same placcid one she’d kept previously. “i have heard nothing but good things, and i look forward to serving with you.”

The Captain moved forward from the side of the room and clicked to change the holo map, it made a small beep as he did.

“The 212th met a settlement of droids over this side of the ridge. Last report was that they were able to move forward at the threat subsided.”

“so what does that mean for us?” Jaida’s brows furrowed as Rex layed the plans out for her. Already her mind was scoping escape routes and vantage points, but she remained seemingly unbothered by the conflict describes. Rex couldn’t help but feel unmotivated by her apparent lack of interest.

“our initial plan was to take out the last forces left on the planet after the seppie defeat, but intelligence believed the 212th accidentally did it for us”

She scoffed “so we’re here for a clean up?”

“hope you brought something fun to do” Ahsoka scorned.

The efforts were limited within the first hour. Already the men were tired of the same scenery and nothing but expansive flats. The sun stood high in the sky, illuminating the landscape in a orange hue. It wasn’t hot nor cold, everything about the mission mediocre, something Reyes particularly hated. It wasn’t just her with an annoyance, she could sense the captain’s distrust. She understood it, only hoped it wouldn’t comprimise her efficiency.

As if nothing interesting was ever going to happen, a yell from a trooper a little further ahead broke the methodical thump of the machinery.

Soon followed was the sound of gun fire. Each shot was slow, until finally the enemy was visible.

“Find cover!”

“you did say you wanted action” Anakin quipped, earning an actual chuckle from her usual pursed lips. It almost caught Rex off guard.

It was unavoidable, the lack of cover meant the men were almost completely exposed, accept for the three jedi that stepped forward, sabers ignited.

Reyes was a new sight, though she didn’t look out of place on the battle field. Her lighsaber was different, instead of the usual one blade, hers had two, both green and glowing as she tactically spun it round and round, catching blasts as if it were sport. Even her fighting style seemed new, she fought with elegance and structure, each blow purposeful and strong.

Her focus was planted entirely on the enemy ahead, so much so that she failed to notice the trooper settling down beside her.

“karking droids, never seem to die” she muttered, deflecting a few more blasts.

A muffled laugh came from beside her and the familiar blue and white etched her vision.

“I’d get used to it general” a trooper grinned

Jaida turned and grimaced, an offering of acceptance. As she refocused her mind to the task at hand, a thought slipped through.

“trooper, get those three and come with me”

Her request caught the clone beside her off guard, but he complied none the least.

The five of them rounded behind the line of defence, all the way to their republic.

“uh, sir, what are we doing?” a soldier with a hand print on his chest asked, gingerly as the new, seemingly scary, general climbed onto the side.

“if i can prime the ignition gear and jinx the starter cable, I can force it into their ranks and it’ll, with any luck,” she popped her head up with a half devilish grin “turn them all into scrap parts”

It was the trooper with the cog on his helment that relaxed first “heh, they teach you that at the temple?” he quipped

“nope” she gestured for them to cover her as she popped open the side “they taught me it on florrum” she said with a smirk, before diving back into the mess of wires and sparks.

Jaida’s plan worked, and effectively too. After a very short battle, the men finished their sweep and prepared to bid the timeless campaign fairwell.

Once back on the ship, most clones settled down for the trip back to Coruscant, and Reyes followed suit, though only subtly checking that everyone was well and okay, before continuing her sweep on the ration packs. After she deemed her check satisfactory, she retreated to the command rooms. The door slid open and revealed Rex standing over a report, absent minded to say the least. His shoulders tensed momentarily as the door swooshed, and she noticed the sour taste that seemed to flood his tongue when he met her eyes.

Jaida cleared her throat, and planted fists against the table, propping herself up.

“i’m sorry, we lost men” Jaida spoke calmly, slightly softer than her usual tone.

“with all due respect sir, you don’t seem all that bothered.” Rex mentioned.

“captain” “it’s not something i’ve grown accustomed too yet” Jaida countered, though her argument didn’t cause Rex’s stance to loosen. She cleared her throat

“i’ve lost people before, and I know what it’s like to loose someone in battle, though i don’t know what it’s like to loose your brothers. i did not want this” her tone was instructive, but it softened all the same and her true compassion fell through.

Rex paused for a moment and met her eyes again “i shouldn’t have blamed you, my apologies, general”

“relax, captain”

“it’s uh, Rex, sir” he corrected. It was when he lifted his hands to the side of his helmet that Jaida realised she had never actually seen his face. It came off, and revealed a strong jaw and cheek bones, all toned perfectly set. His eyebrows arched above his eyes, a slightly different shade of golden brown than his brothers. Of course the main difference was his hair colour, short and stark blonde.

“Jaida” her response made Rex frown ”if i have to call you by your name you have to call me by mine. Jaida” she explained

“sounds fair”

“good” she smiled for the first time, and Rex liked it.

————————————

The night after an assignment was always filled with either anecdotes or silence, a relief or devastating. Jaida watched as the men loitered around crates of rations and equipment, all with distant smiles; tired.

She had previously been stuck at the medbay after the medics caught sight of her, a few gashes on her cheeks the real cause - nothing bacta wouldn’t heal, but she learnt quickly of their head medic, Kix, and his ability to scare even Jedi into looking after themselves. After making peace with the captain, a warmth had begun to spread about her.

Now, she stood against the cold duraplast walls of the Resolute, picking aimlessly at the scarce red dirt left on her hands.

“You okay Jay?” the question broke her mindless thought.

“yeah, i am” she looked up to her friend knowingly, Anakin grinning as he always did.

“Generals!” a trooper with geometric tattoos called out “come sit with us”

She turned her head sharply and gazed over the haphazard array of lounging clones

“I ought to check the ration packs” she tried to excuse.

“you should take one sir” Another clone encourage lazily “deserve it after that rescue”

She blinked for a second, unsure if it would make more sense to agree or deny. Before she said yes or no, Anakin had already collected her on his way to his own seat in the game.

Jaida sauntered over and handed each clone a bar before taking one herself, sitting down cross leggedly just as graceful as she did anything.

“sir, i don’t like it” she spoke between chews “name’s Jaida”

“well, Jaida, general’s told us a little about your career together, got any stories?”

“many” Jaida gave the first ghost of a smile any of them had seen from her yet, however small it may have been, and lent backwards against another log “Anakin ever told you about the time we climbed to the very top of the temple walls?”

#captain rex #captain rex x reader #clone wars #501stlegion #anakin skywalker #the clone wars #rex x reader #commander rex

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souprights · 4 years ago

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DIY for Transmasc Minors/Those still living with unsupportive family

For context, I'm just turned 17, still living with my parents and live in the USA. This is just my experience! It may not be the best/easiest way to go about DIYing. I'm going to do my best to make this as comprehensive as possible, and please let me know if anything if incorrect or if I should add anything.

Firstly, if you're under the age of 16, I don't recommend this at all!! DIY should be a last-ditch effort, after you've tried all else. Please seek therapy, a supportive friend group, and a good community before turning to illegal means, because, yes, purchasing and being in possession of T without a script is illegal.

What's it Gonna Cost?

For cost, you're going to need about $60 - $115 of reliable income a month. Depending on the site you use, and how many millilitres of (injectable) T you purchase, that's going to vary, but $60 is the typical minimum I can find. Don't forget shipping is going to be around $15-30.

This only includes the T!! Don't forget you're going to need needles, bandaids, and alcohol swabs if you're injecting, as well as blood tests.

What Kind of T?

Whether you use gel or injections is entirely up to you and your comfort. However, please avoid orals! Those are just gonna wreck your liver, no matter how painlessly tempting they may be.

Gels run more expensive, but with injectable, there's extra purchases/packages to be had.

Hang On, Blood Tests?

To make sure your levels are in a safe/normal range, you're going to need a blood test. If possible, look for Quest or LabCorp-esque places to get proper bloods done. I was too nervous to do that, given how closely my parents track my every move while I'm not at home, so settle for finger prick at-home tests if necessary. Unless the site advertises Discreet Packaging, I highly recommend having these sent to a friend and picking them up at school/when hanging out.

Do one before starting T, one at Month One, Two and Three, respectively. Based on your levels, adjust or figure out your dose. If everything is typical at Month Three, you don't have to test again till Month Six. After that, check at your One Year mark, then yearly thereafter.

Where/How Do I Get All This?

eroids.com is the first place I turn to when looking for places to order T. You can read reviews for each site listed, and get an average rating from people who've used the sites. If you want to go for gels, I suggest poking around Reddit and finding other people who've DIYed with gel, and asking them for their opinions and recommendations. Make an informed decision no matter what you choose, and spend PLENTY of time researching.

For needles, bandaids, and alcohol swabs I honestly just use Amazon. MAKE SURE you mark your order as a gift, or else you're probably going to run into the issue of the packaging being marked with "medical supplies." Imagine your overbearing parents seeing that and ripping open your package, and immediately assuming you're spending your days in back alleys shooting up. Not fun. Take my word, and learn from my mistake.

As for bloods, just poke around till you find a test that takes your free T and total T both, or go somewhere and have it done proper.

Now, you might try using a PO box to not worry about your family seeing any packages arriving, or having it sent to a friend with more relaxed/accepting parents. Later in the year (when I'm doing this) using the approaching gift-giving holidays to keep people out of your parcels might be plausible. Or maybe your family doesn't care. Ultimately, imagine the worst case scenario and judge what to do knowing your own situation.

Okay, But....Bitcoin

Ah, yes. Daunting, tricky Bitcoin. Majority of sites only accept Bitcoin as payment. But I swear it's not as bad or hard as it sounds. Your first issue is honestly going to be finding somewhere that doesn't require you to be 18+ to purchase it. Now, don't worry too much. For me, I got my older sister to put in all her details, and I just used my money to make purchases. You can do the same with an 18+ friend, relative, or relative of a friend's. Or, send an 18+ friend's CashApp the money necessary to make a Bitcoin purchase and transfer for you.

Now, my first order of T was only about $60, with shipping and everything, since I only bought 4ml total to begin with. If you buy a bigger vial, it's going to cost more. $60 was as much as I could spend without making my parents suspicious (they keep an eye on my bank account), so if you have a similar problem or a smaller spending threshold of concern, don't worry. Just spend your max threshold on buying Bitcoin as often as you can. The Bitcoin will be stored for you to compile and use later. Keep in mind its value may go down, so buy a bit extra if you're saving up over time.

I use an app called Edge to handle all my Bitcoin transactions. It's simple, easy, and you can use a card, a direct bank transfer, Apple Pay or Cash (if there's a Bitcoin ATM near you--no worries, there's a handy map in the app itself to lead you to the nearest one of those). I used Apple Pay, so unfortunately, I can't help with any other methods than that. You can also use CashApp, but Edge's verification went much much faster, and I was not in the mood to wait a few extra days.

There's going to be a fee, usually outlined before you select your payment type. I included that in the cost of the T above, which might be more or less.

And lastly, it's not instant. It usually takes a few hours, but if it's more than a few days, reach out to customer support.

Each site lists instructions with how to send payment once ordered. Just follow their instructions, and talk to them if you have any trouble. They're usually more than happy to help you send them money.

So I've ordered my T

Shipping times are going to vary!! Keep this in mind. If you used eroids, users typically include shipping time in their reviews. This may influence which site you pick. Domestic sites tend to have faster shipping and don't risk customs seizing your pack--if customs seizes a pack with an illegal substance, you're going to get a letter. That's pretty hard to find an excuse out of, way closer to impossible.

Typical processing times are 2-5 days, but may vary a little, depending on things that may include a lovely little pandemic. Shipping is typically 1-2 weeks for domestic sites, 3-5 weeks for international. Shipping prices tend not to vary much, however, no matter where the warehouse is.

Hiding Changes

This is going to be the tricky part. I've known some people to only go on T for three months or so, as to get some changes to reduce dysphoria, but not have family members notice. If you spend a lot of time around family, the changes are gradual and they might not notice. But keep your own safety in mind above all else. What's the worst that's going to happen if your family confronts you over your changes? How long will you be able to write off your voice as "a cold" before someone wises up? How much longer are you going to be staying with your family?

I'm out to my unsupportive family, so despite being discouraged from any transition of any sort, any and all voice changes I'm writing off as voice training. Facial hair? Minoxidil. More muscle? I've been working out. These may or may not be things you can use, so consider carefully.

Aside from your voice and facial hair, there won't be anything too difficult to hide or write off. Shave your facial hair away as soon as you get up if it develops/needs to be hidden. Consider and compile a list of excuses as to why your voice is changing in case of questions.

Hiding Supplies

This is going to depend a lot on your house and situation. Do you have animals, parents or siblings who invade your spaces and find your hidey holes? A piece of advice I read in an MtF guide to DIY is to hide something you won't get in trouble for where you plan on hiding your hormones, and see if anyone finds it over a few weeks. Repeat until somewhere safe is scouted.

I have small cardboard boxes I keep under my bed, in a cabinet I have in my room, and on my desk. Only bandaids are kept on the box on my desk. But the other places I hide things have an equal distribution of my supplies, so even if someone finds one box, I'll be able to continue HRT.

Try to keep your T much better hidden than other supplies. I'm in an arts-focused degree in college, and a very artistic person, so I've managed to write off needles and syringes as pieces to build a 3D art project for a portfolio. Try to find an excuse to use if your needles are found. Maybe the art thing works for you, maybe not.

Consider taking precautionary measures of removing/covering labels of your T if you're using an injectable kind. You might be able to get away with calling it a prop of some kind, for a TikTok video or something if it's found.

Disposing of Needles/Wrappers/Etc

Alright, so you've done your first shot of T, or applied your first gel packet. Congrats! Now, how to hide the evidence? Firstly, for gels, it won't be too difficult. Just use a plastic grocery bag and fill it with other miscellaneous rubbish and mix the wrappers in with that. Toss the tied bag in your own bin, or a neighbour's bin if that's safer. If that's not possible, do so at school.

Needles are a more tricky circumstance. If you're able to purchase and safely dispose a sharps bin, 100% do that. If you're in a place like me and that's not possible, go and buy some soda with twist-top lids, or get them from friends. Once the bottle is empty, you can toss needles into there. In my experience, 1ml syringes and the small needles used for T injections fit in these 500ml bottles no issue. I throw these sealed bottles in the bin once they're full. I know this isn't proper disposable, but I'm unable to get a sharps bin.

Never throw exposed needles into the bin, or leave them somewhere anyone or anything could possibly be exposed to them.

For T bottles, I've only ever found one site that sells it in containers smaller than 10ml. I'm not sure if the 10ml bottles would fit into the soda bottles or not, so follow the same procedure as disposing of gel wrappers. If that's not possible, use a sharp knife to cut open your soda bottle at the widest part and put the bottle in there, before using a strong adhesive tape (not scotch tape--duct tape or something similar) to seal the incision before disposing of it.

In Conclusion

I've left out a list of the changes T causes, and starting doses, because those are all easy things to find, which you probably know already. Regardless of what this small guide says, please keep your own safety in mind and do as much research as possible before moving forward with DIY, and know that I'm no kind of professional, and all this is based off my tiny bit of experience.

As of the original posting of this, I haven't yet started T. I'm going to start in about two weeks, however, and have gathered everything necessary. I may update this guide further as I take T.

#ftm #trans #ftm minor #t #testosterone #transition #reblog

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straightfacedstrangeness · 4 years ago

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Okay, these are not expert/Hardcore Nerd opinions, but I’m so used to being surrounded by Star Wars and keep being surprised that other people aren’t, so...Some Kind Of Star Wars viewing guide for people who aren’t into Star Wars

STARting point:

Basically, if you like robots, aliens, and big space battles (and/or are a special effects or sci-fi design nerd), you’ll probably enjoy Star Wars. If you don’t...the writing and acting quality varies from version to version, and between different movies in the same trilogy. Star Wars is more a thing to enjoy because it’s fun, not to appreciate as high art (unless, again, you’re a nerd for special effects or design).

The original movie, aka Episode 4: A New Hope, is the best starting point because it sets up the central characters and conflict, is a lot of fun, and if nothing else you’ll get like 60% of the Star Wars references people make.

Episode 1: The Phantom Menace is also a lot of fun and could be watched as a standalone, but the plot can be hard to follow, and the other Prequel movies (Eps 2 & 3) are best viewed through the lens of “how does this inform the events of the Original Trilogy” since they’re kind of awkward, confusing, and depressing without that context. Only start with 1: The Phantom Menace if you have some nostalgia for it.

Episode 7: The Force Awakens is also a lot of fun and has the added bonus of a more diverse cast, but it and its sequels heavily build on and reference the events of the Original Trilogy. The basic plotline of “evil fascists VS people trying to stop them” is probably easy enough to follow, though, so you can probably start here if you’re okay with getting some Original Trilogy spoilers, but you’ll most likely want to watch The Original Trilogy before watching 8 or 9.

Rogue One and Solo take place before The Original Trilogy and can probably be viewed first if you like the cast or concept of either (Rogue One: “here are the people on the ground doing the hard work that sets up the other heroes’ victories,” Solo: “it’s a heist movie IN SPACE!”), but they’re fairly dark by comparison and some of the big reveals or other details might make more sense with the context of seeing the Original Trilogy first.

The Mandalorian takes place on the fringes of the Star Wars universe and barely references any events or characters from the rest of the franchise (and even then, neither the audience nor the main character are expected to know who or what they are), so you can start here if you don’t mind minor spoilers for who won the (Original Trilogy) war.

The Original Trilogy (4, 5 & 6, 1970s-80s)

Lots of fun, heavily referenced in pop culture, great designs and cool puppetry and other practical special effects. These are the movies with Mark Hamill as Luke, Carrie Fisher as Leia, and Harrison Ford as Han Solo. All of them are great and bring a lot of charisma and humanity to their performances. 4: A New Hope is the really iconic one and is mostly a fun adventure through space. A lot of people love 5: The Empire Strikes Back because it’s darker and hate 6: The Return Of The Jedi because it’s sillier, but honestly, it comes down to personal preference.

Once you’ve seen The Original Trilogy, you can freely watch either of the other movie Trilogies. Just watching 4 is enough to let you skip over to the standalone movies or the TV show The Mandalorian.

The Prequel Trilogy (1, 2 & 3, 1990s-2000s)

These are the movies with Ewan McGregor as young Obi-Wan, Hayden Christensen as Anakin, and Natalie Portman as Padmé. A lot of people shit on these for being “bad movies,” and yes the acting is often flat, the plots can be hard to follow (Original Trilogy is a simpler “bad government VS good rebels,” Prequel Trilogy has a lot of political manipulation and nuance but doesn’t explain it much), and a lot of it is watching people making decisions that you know from the Original Trilogy are going to turn out badly. But I unironically love them, and they have really amazing design and special effect work (the CGI of course looks dated now, but it’s still phenomenal), and a lot of fun moments. 1: The Phantom Menace is another fun adventure through space, but with a lot of awkwardly racist alien caricatures who are thankfully played down or removed from the other movies. 2: Attack Of The Clones is a space adventure with an unfortunately uncomfortable romantic subplot, and 3: Revenge Of The Sith is relentlessly dark but I like the emotional drama of it. Again, either you’ll think they’re fun or you won’t.

Like I said above, these are best watched after having seen the Original Trilogy, to inform the backstory and characters’ actions, VS being watched as standalone movies.

The Sequel Trilogy (7, 8 & 9, 2010s)

These are the movies with Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Oscar Isaac as Poe, and Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. Like with the Original Trilogy, all of them are great and bring a lot of fun and depth to their characters, and also 7: The Force Awakens is a fun space adventure, and people are divisive over 8 and 9, 8: The Last Jedi being darker and 9: The Rise Of Skywalker being lighter...but with the added meta-drama that 9 spends the entire time trying to undo or contradict things that happened in 8 (and an extra level of meta-grossness in that 9 seems to bow to things that Toxic White Guy fans hated about 8, like removing a major WOC character). I personally prefer 8 because it’s a neat subversion on a lot of accepted lore and concepts from the Star Wars franchise and was disappointed in 9 as a result. But once again it comes down to a matter of taste, and at the end of the day the main thing about Star Wars is fun dialogue and cool sci-fi stuff.

These should be watched after The Original Trilogy because they heavily build on and reference the events of it, though 7: The Force Awakens is a reasonable “First Star Wars movie” if this is the version you’re most interested in...just with inherent spoilers for The Original Trilogy.

Standalone Movies (Rogue One & Solo, 2010s)

Rogue One takes place immediately before The Original Trilogy but is darker and more of a heavy action-drama about people making difficult choices, with a good, largely-POC cast. Solo also takes place before The Original Trilogy, though I feel it has some clunky writing (a droid character who’s reasonably upset about the literal enslavement of her own kind is treated as delusional and comic relief??) and also gets pretty dark with lots of character deaths, but it has the fun of being a heist movie with a conscience.

Like I said above, these can prrrrobably be watched without Original Trilogy context, but at least Rogue One is probably more rewarding if you’ve already seen 4: A New Hope.

The Mandalorian (TV show, 2020s)

This is the show with “armor guy and Baby Yoda” X’D It’s basically a Western about a guy drifting from town to town across space and helping people with their problems...which mostly involve fighting and killing people. As always, amazing designs and special effects, and I find the writing consistently compelling. There are a lot of bonuses if you recognize a character, character design, or prop design from another Star Wars media, but since you don’t need to know them in order to understand the episode you’re watching, you may not even realize they’re references (which is the BEST way to do a reference).

This takes place immediately after The Original Trilogy, but you can watch this first if you don’t mind knowing who wins the war. Though there are a few worldbuilding details (like being able to recognize the evil Empire’s uniforms or ships) that are probably a bit less confusing or a bit more rewarding if you've at least seen 4: A New Hope.

Other Media

I haven’t seen/read/etc much of any Star Wars except what’s listed above, so I can’t really offer any advice here. But the CGI TV show The Clone Wars probably relies on you knowing the plot of Prequel Trilogy eps 1 and 2 (since it takes place between 2 and 3)...and if you’re jumping into some other Star Wars media and you can’t understand what’s going on, look at its copyright date and check what movies came out before it did, to gauge what you’d need to watch for context. But all the movies only rely on knowledge of other movies, the other media are about fleshing out other aspects of the universe or things that happened between/before/after the movies.

Otherwise all I can say is that the Star Wars: Droids cartoon from 1985 is delightful and the few eps I’ve watched don’t require any Star Wars knowledge whatsoever. (It’s long out-of-print but some kind soul put it on YouTube.)

#uh...guess this is how I spent my morning oops #rambling #star wars #sw

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winter-chill · 5 years ago

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RWBY 7 - 3 “Ace Operatives” Thoughts

So thoughts...

BOO!!! they didn't work on stuff themselves.. although if it was Pietro and not just random scientists, I'll let it go :) And i'l give him props for using the Amity fights footage (i'll talk more on weapons later)

Oh, dust mines, launch site... ghiest, oh that's gonna bring back some memories

God Nora being so giddy about her stuff puts a smile on my face

and the Blake/Yang nod, the first of so many bumbleby touches this ep

They're really trying to hit hard again with Jaune and that sash, though it was a good set up for his hair cut (since I wouldn't really think of cutting it now when he's in a cold climate ideal)

Another very slight, but nice detail about having Yang be actually armless, not just fixing it while it's on her. We need more points like this, or maybe i just like the idea of it, but having those details shown off and not forgotten is nice. Also that's a beefy arm, though I swear it looks larger in the intro?

Again, having Blake have an onscreen notice of her hair leads well into why it's cut (though not showing it on screen? nor how/why her weapon's fix being gold... missed opportunity , truly)

WAIT??? Ruby got a NEW cloak? BOO, I would have thought her current one was still the original, has she been swapping it with each outfit? but, all the cuts and tears, the detail and history from her past fights, lost :(

I'll talk about the Oscar scene when it shows up, not here

Again, lovely intro to their new looks, but... could have been more. Showing them actually zip things up, buckle them in, cutting their hair themselves. Just lots of little details that would have added so much

I'll say it again, I think Yang's new glasses look weird.. too anime for the actual show style, but, I guess they 'work' ?

Also they all look to Ruby, this is her mission, her shot to call, she's back with her team (just rwby) for the first time so it's good to see them keeping the team dynamic, she was leader for a reason.

OH THIS SONG IS A BANGER!!!! also, totally a Weiss song (it said mirror)

Bunny hopping Ruby :D adorable

SUMMON SWORD SURFING!!! Finally

Blake really making the use of that ribbon, a little detail they again seem to forget about during most of 4-6 until it's necessary (running from adam in V6)

And... yep, no nonsense Yang sticking with the classics, recoil (( I take it back, Yang's arm is the same as the intro, though I still think it somehow got bigger than when she put it on ))

And end it all on an amazing pose shot

Okay Ace ops time. Harriet, let me see what that little backpack thing do. But for serious, rolling only stops you from getting hurt on small drops, not several hundred foot... Marrow though taking a similar root to Ruby, seeming to ride it down, but he's doing some troll physics there, "stand on chair, jump off building, jump off chair at last moment, you only actually fell 2 foot"

Also, boomerang, gun? Honestly I kind of dislike the generic gun looking form, would have been cooler if it didn't change, but just had a little barrel pop out an end when he needed to shoot.

And now JN- OMG ELM YES, Loving the attitude. Oh Vine what's that on your back? you wielding an expanding throwing star (three pronged)

erm, right... JN_R

so, we got, some sick new looks, Ren's ponytail especially. Jaune's hair (i was one to hate it at first) in motion looks great, the concept art didn't do it justice. Also holding his sword on his arm..... kind of reminds me of @kumafromtaiwan's design for Jaune

"okay Jaune, you got this, it's not gonna be like Beacon all over again"

Oh, is he gonna use his shield like a plow, smashing through rocks, or maybe as a wing and glide do............................

DID JAUNE JUST FORTNITE PARACHUTE SHIELD HIS ASS TO THE GROUND?

Moving on though, yep, Hard light dust was a genius move he would have stuck in his head from Argus, and opens up the question of adding (what i'm dubbing) Shield Shield, with his V4 Nuckelavee Sword Sword, to make hard light blades.... SWORD SWORD SWORD???

a quick little peak at his shield, the emblem lighting up as he shoots a blast to bounce him from hitting the floor, that better be used later too.

And another amazing pose shot!

Oh Elm, you really need to work on your social skills. Actually maybe all the Ace ops do?

POUTY NORA!!!

and, good luck bad luck duo for the final team, this'll be fun.

NEW SCROLLS! Love them, slim and cool, and with new team icons (c'mon girls, smile for your picture)

and that detail on how Ruby zoomed, Weiss had to summon, and Yang had some energy stored up, so their aura is down a bit, but Blake is 100%

THE EARS, THEY SENSE BEES

Oh Yang, adorable goof

Oh Blake, also an dorable goof!!!

And Marrow is indeed the baby of the squad, you said it well Harriet, if a tad harsh?

Weiss no, this is a bad place for your name, but you're here to make it a better one, to fix that remember!!

Has.. has no one taught Ruby to project her aura to keep her warm, or at the others just dealing with it better? Either way, same Ruby, i hate the cold

Okay, yes, Oscar chat time

I don't know what to say, I agreed with it the whole time. Atlas is in a mess, there are good and bad times to tell people, and it's nice that Ruby has her intentions, but this may have been the same path Ozma first took, hiding things "for now" but never finding a chance to tell the truth later... they just need to keep it in mind.

And Oscar, please look after the Relic, I can already see red flags over your head the moment you took it, be that from Ironwood doing shady shit, Watts/Tyrian stealing it, or Ozpin popping back up to use it's last question.

OH, Clover, hitting a man hard with that, bringing up STRQ :/ all those fanfics of Qrow ('s semblance) being behind Summer's death, they all feel more realistic

I almost forgot, Qrow's looking snazzy too, those cross buttons, the eye/feather emblem embroidery in the sleeves. No... no necklace though?

Oh god Qrow's getting shipped with everyone this volume it seems. Good catch Clover.... I MEAN LITERAL CATCH

Halfick? Halphr... what did he say? Don't bullshit me captions, that wasn't alpha

REN!!! PAY YOUR GIRLFRIEND SOME ATTENTION!!!!!!!!!!!! Jaune you dork, nice try?

Another great Bee moment, Yang too can sense a disturbance in the force.

Weiss this is great, but can you keep your emotional daddy issues and the racial discrimination of a whole people a little more separate. But it's nice to again see you trying to make some amends and distance yourself from being.. well, 'Jacques' and his actions

OOF, Marrow coming in, hitting hard, and then acting like he's.... a millennial "I'm just a teen who does research, what do I know, boomer"

this scene though. Issues and history of faunus oppression, followed by a Schnee apolagy, and a faunus using her traits to help fix the past for a new future... that's some symbolism

Oh, a jump scare, good thing about Blake's semblance there too

HARRIET YES!!!! BIG FISTS, JUST WHAT I WANTED!!! PUNCH THAT ROCK

And RW_Y right behind already running before the rumbles settled to help their girl

I LOVE THE GRIMM IN ATLAS. don't get me wrong, Deathstalkers are still top tier, but these things are awesome too

and now we get to upgrades!

Nice, so Yang has some trigger-able explosives, so she doesn't have to rely on her semblance to protect her when she's using his shotgun blasts

A subtle little thing there, Weiss being able to shoot an icle, not doing so from a glyph, but from the gun part of

Myrtenaster directly

Okay yes, this bugged me for so long. A scythe is a big weapon, the weight is in the blade as much as it is the handle, so having to turn it around all the time would be unwieldy and difficult in combat, so just a tiny upgrade like this is both smart, and amazing for Ruby to have realised she needed

Although I still don't get how shotting a bullet down the barrel, can give her swings an initial boost of speed........

Marrow really out here flying though the sky like he's on a zipline? though the buzz saw boomerang is, again, brilliant

Oh................ So the boy who cried wolf, can pause time? I erm- actually hold on, I need to figure out how that's logical......

I'm just gonna guess it's more "Harriet is moving so fast, he did this for dramatic affect XD

JN_R once again, taking a moment, a little nervous but willing and--- now they're very much not nervous, doing their thing, never first to run in, but never first to run away either.

Also, Vine has a stetchy arm semblance, and Elm has rooting feet semblance. Ye they make a good team (i ship them)

THERE'S THAT PURPLE SHIELD BLAST

And finally StormFlower is getting some love. I don't think they look different, but having those blades be used in more various ways... grapples were a great idea

and again, Nora using that spiked back of Magnahild for more than a place to stand when she launches herself, loving it!!!

Oh Jaune, being nervous dorky, Nora a little ashamed? or ready to be.. and Ren, quiet as ever (i think he's kind of looking up to Vine honestly) don't worry though, you kids did good

OH Harriet... you don't wanna be left out of the action do you :) RUBY YOU DORK! And that little back+forth was actually hilarious

Hmm, I was always wondering how a fishing rod could be a weapon.. i guess pulling a grimm in works, but what was your plan then, to punch the Ghiest?

OH MY GOD THAT ANIMATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

again, what are you doing Clover? At least Qrow knows his semblance, acting all "i'm gonna look around, things could easily go wrong here"

Good luck bad luck eh? OH MY GOD Qrow don't make that face, the people are gonna ship you two even harder now!!!

And the hammer duo charging in first... ye Elm/Vine is just Atlas' Renora, and I love that dynamic

oh, weird dust draft from Ren stopping, sweat boiling on the rocks... this room is gonna be interesting, mess things up a bit? fluxuating gravity, hot and cold spots maybe??? Ah yes, dust energy... makes sense

And Marrow in the background while we hear him on the coms, just a great little look at how Vine seems to be "distant" from the moment, doing the whole, Ren style of vague-speak

Ye it is kinda empt-- oh. Also good work having not just the face move, but the whole midsection being rotated... kind of as if, the face is stuck to that one position... COINCIDENCE?

Erm, does this one seem bigger than the V4 Ghiest?

And now we see Ruby trying to act as leader, pause to think, to come up with a plan, where as the Ace (while more experienced) seem to have both a plan on how to take it out, and might also be a little to reliant on Clover, knowing his semblance will fix any little issues

Oh that trumpet, a very self-knowing victorious tune.

And again, Vine and Elm doing a whole of semblance work, shame we don't see them use their weapons a bit more here, same with Marrow though not using his semblance (whatever it is) at all.

HEY WAIT. those black parts weren't there earlier, nor did they appear on the V4 Grimm until it needed them to pull toge- oh... they stretched the limbs to force both a space to cut them, and for the grimm parts to sort of 'be revealed'

And another eye colour semblance indication. Loving the runners pose Harriet does too. She's not time-pausing fast... (I take back what I said about Marrow's semblance earlier?) but things do act slower, even while she's running quicker than we'd see as normal in that moment. It's not time-pausing, but it's very very fast. And the motion blur trail!!, just a tiny effect, but it adds so much detail

Marrow really is the child of the squad, he's the one to make a mistake, but again- kind of had to rely on Clover there.. Interesting to see how things pan out when he's inevitably killed, or trapped, or just isn't there

Little details here and there. Vine using his semblance not just to grab, but to push the grimm back. Harriet taunting it to get it's attention and then getting out before it can hit her (but late enough that it keeps it's attention on her and really slams it's fist down). Elm again sticking to her name, rooting that fist down, being basically an anchor in all her actions. And Marrow... throwing his boomerang

UGH.. that little medallion touch pisses me off somehow, it's so pretentious? but anyway, he had a good idea, pulling it out by it's mask, kinda really relying on his semblance to get between it and the ice chunk without bouncing off anything. Again, very semblance reliant group

Erm... she punched the grimm.. but i wouldn't say it's dead.. are we gonna ignore that??? IT'S GONNA RETURN LATER I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT

Vine again grabbing dust, would have loved to have seen Elm basically kick one to stick it to her feet instead of just catching (or pinning herself to a wall to catch it, as if it was too high to jump and catch)

And Harriet going in for the catch, only for....oh.. that's the first thing RWBY or JNR did this fight? (also no weird dust affects, i feel upset)

But ohhh, her semblance isn't speed. I had this same issue in last volume, that her semblance early on was supposed to be speed, and yet she uses it to fly, to separate into several for moments, and she can 'merge' with others to carry then, when like for Nora in V4 her reaction speed should have been way too slow to really be ready for when she was basically thrown at the previous ghiest

AY yep, I'm shocked if Ruby has control over her eyes, she never tried to flash them off during this whole scene... but again, after Maria's story, hiding them from people we don't fully trust is better

And another little bee moment, Yang flirting with them puns

Omg! Elm carrying Ruby, Yang and Nora dancing, love this group dynamic

Hey, it's that guy from last episode, why are we... Robyn?

huh, kinda spooky... flickering lights... Robyn, watts, or...

TYRIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! why are you not wearing your coat, it's cold remember! but that entrance, reminds me again of that "Cheshire cat inspiration" people first thought of back in his V4 reveal

HIS EYES!!! So whatever he does that triggers them is still apparent, and his stinger either still uses his own venom, or it's semblance related

And that line. He's here to mix things up... either he's finally gonna kill someone and let the police find out (unlike last ep when his victim was in a building, it'll take time till that's discovered... oh wait, blood) or he's here for info maybe?

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theme-park-concepts · 6 years ago

Text

The Praise List

Because it deserves it!

-the sound design of the land is brilliant. You wanna duck when you hear some of the ships flying around.

-the app/datapad is so much fun. I was a huge skeptic for this element of the land but I really need to eat crow on this. It's completely optional and not having will not affect your enjoyment at all, but having it adds another layer. There's sooooo much to interact with - you can tap into nearly every mechanical looking prop you see and they all respond! There's dozens of quests I haven't had a chance to even check out, the stories seem layered, the tasks you have to complete are just complicated enough to make you pause for a moment and wonder how to do it but not so hard as to hate life (at least for a non-gamer like myself). My only real complaint is the translate function is kinda garbage in that you have to type everything in your self. I was expecting it to have a google translate-esque AR feature that would translate text via the camera. Typing in arabesh is tedious. Oh and nothing beats the satisfaction and cool story addition of having Honda essentially text you after you get off the attraction congratulating you on the mission depositing credits into your account.

- the live entertainment and roaming characters around the land are a great addition. It's exactly the kind of interaction I was hoping for - it's very balanced between being interactive for people who like that and observable for people that don't (like myself). I love that they all have their loops they're following like Sleep No More, and it's done really well and a perfect fit for the land. Honestly the set is so big I kinda hope they add more. I'm really glad that the hype they put out around the immersiveness of the character and interactivity of the land was mostly hype. This is not a live action RPG. I don't have to haggle with the wookie operating the cash register, I'm not getting dragged into missions I don't want to complete, or being interogated by stormtroopers if I don't want to. These are exactly the kind of interactions I put into my own Poppins attraction and I really appreciate it. It's still theatre. And the Diegesis of the cast members operating everything is also this great balance of "we're going to stick to the story of the world, but we're not gonna have it get in the way, not be super serious and we're gonna be a bit tongue in cheek about it". A cashier for instance told me that he used to know Kylo Ren but had Ben solo for a while. It's a great fit.

-the millenium falcon is just plain fun. Like, really, really fun. It's not serious, it's not trying to be something dramatic, it's not going to blow your socks off, it's really just plain fun. It kind of is the quintessential Disneyland attraction in that regard. It puts you in this really cool environment, you get a really cool unique experience you can't get anywhere else, and you find yourself wanting to get right back on and do it again and again. It's interesting because it's a technologically groundbreaking attraction that breaks no real new ground while breaking a ton of new ground. Which is how themed entertainment should be - all the groundbreaking stuff is done so invisibly as to appear seamless and effortless and inevitable. This is the first real attraction that lets you control the action, where your role is legitimately meaningful. That's HUGE. And yet it feels completely natural and obvious. And yes is ultimately a simulator with not much movement, and a big screen, and visuals that sometimes don't match up. At its core it's something very basic and not particularly remarkable. But you add the interactivity that matters, and you add the advancements in projection tech and addention to detail so the screen disappears, and you add the amazing themed interior, and you add the queue, and seamless falcon interior - you add all these things together and you've really arrived at what the promise of a simulator attraction has always been but never before quite reached. And there's stuff I could complain about from an academic perspective in regards to the story execution, etc but the bottom line is the ride is just so much fun. And fun because of its show and immersiveness - not for the tech or ride system or whizbangs. And that's what rides at their core are supposed to be. I don't think it's high art, I don't think it's the best attraction Disney has ever built, but dammit I'm going to want to go on it and more than once every time I'm there.

-falcon has capacity!!! Like it's variable depending on a lot of factors and not as much as I originally thought but somewhere between 2000-2500 people an hour.

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peachies-and-tae · 7 years ago

Text

“You’re mine now.”

Ship: Vmin (V/Taehyung and Jimin)

Taehyung needs a nude model for his art project. Jimin, his best friend and crush, agrees to be his model.

Is drawing supposed to lead to a handjob?

Taehyung was sitting in class, tapping at the desk with his pencil as he watches the clock move slowly. He’s barely listening to the teacher talk about the properties of drawing the human body, because it’s their next project.

“Now, I hope this won’t be very hard for most of you, but I’d like for you to find a nude model. Someone you’re comfortable with. Having a real life display of the human body right in front of you can help you with proportions and accuracy. Is that clear?”

The students start chattering with each other loudly, some groaning about how weird it is, others super excited about drawing someone naked. Taehyung is frozen in his seat. He’s not sure how to feel. Is it even legal to make us draw from a nude model? And who in the hell is Taehyung going to use? He knows nobody who would even be a candidate for that position; even if he stared at himself in the mirror. No thank you. The only person Taehyung would be slightly comfortable with is his crush...his best friend, but that’s too much to ask from a friend. Plus...Taehyung would just get distracted by his body and it would be hard to focus on the drawing. His hand would shake as he held the pencil and he’d probably press down too hard on his soft features when they locked eyes. No way. Maybe he can just fake it? Hopefully his professor won’t notice.

The bell cuts off the student’s conversations and everyone grabs their bags, shuffling out of the room. Taehyung shoves his sketchbook into his bag and follows everyone else out. He’s done with his classes for the day, so he just heads back to the dorm. He plans to throw himself on his bed and bitch about this stupid assignment that he’s most likely going to fail for not doing at all.

When Taehyung pushes open his dorm room door, he’s surprised when he sees Jimin staring out the window beside his desk. Did they have plans that he forgot about?

“Oh, Taehyung! Finally, you’re here,” Jimin says.

“Uh, yeah.. What’s up?”

Jimin sits down on Taehyung’s bed and scuffs his feet against the carpet, “Nothing. I get really bored at my dorm. God, my roommate is ignorant. And he’s really mean to me!”

“Yoongi? Isn’t he like that to everyone though?” Taehyung laughs as he sets his backpack down and takes a seat at his desk chair.

“I mean, I guess. It’s just really frustrating. I honestly like it better here. You’re lucky you don’t have a roomate.”

Taehyung is lucky he doesn’t have a roommate. It’s all he asked for when he went to college. He’s fine with everything else, but staying in the dorm, it wasn’t going to be with someone he didn’t know. So, he has this dorm all to himself, although there’s still an empty bed on the left side of the room, looking lonely. Jimin sometimes sleeps there; Taehyung would have been fine if Jimin was his roommate but Jimin had gotten into college early. Taehyung came later.

Taehyung leans back in his chair and signs loudly, “Okay, you wanna know what assignment my art teacher gave us today?”

“Hmm...you have to draw those weird squishy anime kitties?” The smile on Jimin’s face is adorable, and honestly, he kind of reminds Taehyung of these so called ‘squishy anime kitties’.

“Nope. He wants us to draw the human body but oh, here’s the best part. We need a fucking nude model!”

Jimin’s face falls slightly, as if he’s discouraged about this assignment as much as Taehyung is but...in a different way. “Oh. Who’s your model?”

Usually, Jimin would laugh and start complaining along with Taehyung but this reaction is something he didn’t expect. He seems a little...jealous.

“Pshh, no one! You think I’d have someone who’d be brave enough to let me draw them naked?” Taehyung scoffs, running a hand through his hair. “I’ll never get the assignment done. Maybe I should just take the F right now.”

“I’ll do it.”

Taehyung freezes. It feels like his whole body has lit on fire.

“...what?”

“I said I’ll do it. I’ll be your nude model, since you need one,” Jimin says, shrugging softly. “It’s not a big deal to me.”

“B-but, it is to me! We’re best friends, Jimin. I’m not going to ruin our relationship over a stupid homework assignment,” Taehyung expresses, looking at Jimin as if he’s gone crazy.

Jimin is silent for a minute. “It’s not going to ruin our friendship. If anything it will...strengthen it.”

Taehyung chokes on his spit and Jimin reels back, not sure why he’s suddenly dying. Can Taehyung really accept this? Is he really going to say yes to sketching his best friend...okay, not just his best friend, HIS CRUSH, naked?? It feels taboo to him and he’s not sure if he even wants to risk anything. But...Jimin doesn’t seem turned away by this, or disgusted. He willingly said he’d be Taehyung’s model without him even asking or hinting towards it. Why would he let this special chance go to waste?

Oh, ya know, cause you’re gay for your own best friend but you're going to sketch him naked? Yep, that’s a great idea.

“Are...you sure?” Taehyung asks after catching his breath.

Jimin nods and smiles, “Absolutely. It could be fun.”

Taehyung almost chokes again but he stops himself. God, he needs to stop being so awkward.

“When did you want to start? I’m free now, or later. Uhm...tomorrow afternoon-”

“N-now,” Taehyung spits out a little too quickly.

Jimin looks a little surprised at first, but then nods, “Okay. I’m here now so, mind as well do it before either of us chicken out.”

“I wouldn’t chicken out,” Taehyung mumbles but he knows damn well if he planned for later, he’d probably act like he was dead when Jimin came and knocked on the door.

“Neither would I,” Jimin smiles and it makes Taehyung’s stomach do backflips. He’s already too excited about this.

Jimin stands up and looks around the room while Taehyung turns to grab his sketchbook out of his bag. Oh god, this is really happening. How is Taehyung supposed to stay calm? Any exposed piece of skin that isn’t supposed to be shown makes Taehyung want to throw up. Not because it’s gross...it’s because he’s so gay sometimes, it makes him sick. There’s nothing he can do about it, besides pleasure himself later that night with the image burned into his mind.

“Well, you can-”

All of Taehyung’s words fall out of his mouth when he turns and sees that Jimin has already taken his shirt off. He stands there in his jeans and, goddamn, Taehyung can barely take all of it in at once. Even from here, Taehyung could just see how soft Jimin’s skin is. All he wants is to run his fingers over every inch of him and drown himself in everything that is Jimin.

“What?” Jimin inquires, cocking his head to the side and smiling.

“N-nothing.”

Jimin just shrugs and starts to unbutton his jeans. He does it slowly and Taehyung starts to freak out at how tantalizing he can be. In a swift motion, he gets his jeans off and sits down on the extra bed so he can take his socks off. Taehyung has to look away because he knows he’ll start staring and probably drool over Jimin. He looks up when he hears the fabric moving as Jimin situates himself of the bed. And just like he ‘promised’, he's completely naked and Taehyung is holding his breath. He doesn't want his eyes to wander down. But it's not like he can just avoid it the whole time. He has to draw it!

“Could you toss me a pillow? ...Taehyung?”

Taehyung snaps out of his daze and nods quickly, grabbing Jimin a pillow. Jimin moves it under his arm as he props his head up with his hand.

“Does this work?” He asks.

“Y-yeah,” Taehyung stutters as he opens up his sketchbook to an empty page. His fingers skim over the page as if he's feeling the emptiness; the potential it holds. This sheet of paper holds the most potential of them all and Taehyung is shaking at the thought. Soon, it will be covered in soft lines that etch out all the curves and dips of what makes Park Jimin. The most beautiful human being Taehyung has ever seen.

Jimin moves a piece of hair out of his face, “If you want me laying in a different position, I can change. On my back,” Jimin turns to demonstrate what the pose is like. It’s suddenly like Jimin’s member is more exposed and Taehyung can't help but finally look. Let me remind you, Taehyung is gay. Really gay; and to suddenly see his crushes dick...it's hard NOT to get hard.

“Nope. Side is fine,” Taehyung finally manages to choke out. Jimin nods and switches back to his side while Taehyung crosses his legs awkwardly and sets his sketchbook in front of him.

He stares at the blank page and at his pencil like it will start magically doing it all. This is all him. He has to look at Jimin’s body and draw it out on paper, which will never do his looks justice. Taehyung decides to start with Jimin’s abdomen. It's the building block of the body, the best place to start. When his pencil hits the paper, his hand moves automatically. Soft lines over the curve of his side, shading in the dips for each and every muscle, and moving up to the arm that drapes over his side. Just to get this done perfectly takes 45 minutes, yet Jimin holds on. Taehyung takes a moment to lean back and inspect his work, to see how it looks so far. The next step is Jimin’s face, which is a plethora of fine details. Taehyung can handle the challenge. But when they lock eyes, Taehyung's heart skips a beat and his lungs tighten, like he suddenly can't breathe. He shakes this off and continues, working on a brief outline before going in and starting on his plump lips. Taehyung's mind wanders to what it would feel like to kiss Jimin, especially with those pink plump lips. He'd be so warm and inviting. Taehyung feels a familiar pang in his stomach and he wiggles in his chair, trying to relax all over again. He sighs and focuses on Jimin again. His eyes are probably the best part of his face. They accentuate all the smaller things, like his round nose, and defined eyebrows. Jimin is a walking masterpiece.

Almost an hour later, Taehyung finishes fluffing out Jimin’s hair and shading his jawline when he leans back and yawns.

“We can take a break, if you'd like,” Taehyung tells Jimin.

“Oh, well if I move then we won't be able to perfect the picture. It will look weird,” Jimin says, laying his head down on the pillow.

Taehyung silently agrees. Honestly, he wants to give his wrist a break and his mind. He may have been working daintily but his mind is going wild. About Jimin. Taehyung saved the bottom part for last because he wouldn't be able to continue drawing after it. And he needs to get this done.

So here comes the hardest part for Taehyung.

At the same time, he wasn't really complaining. Jimin has a nice body which leads down to a nice length. Taehyung thinks he can do it. He thinks the feeling will pass as he keeps drawing but...it only gets worse. Taehyung is working on the shading of his thighs when his shaky hand drops the pencil and he lets out a breath he's been holding.

“Are you okay?” Jimin asks.

Taehyung shakes his head, “No, it’s okay I’m...fine.”

Jimin narrows his eyes because he’s known Taehyung long enough to know when he’s lying. “No, seriously, what’s wrong?” Jimin then catches sight of Taehyung fidgeting in his chair and he starts to get a clue. “Are you...hard?” Jimin eyes Taehyung’s crotch and it suddenly feels like his already tight jeans are getting tighter.

Taehyung chokes on his breath. He doesn’t want to say yes but he doesn’t want to say no either because then...this ‘issue’ wouldn’t get taken care of. So, Taehyung just nods softly and keeps his eyes down low.

“Come here,” Jimin says.

“Uh, what? Why?” Taehyung’s head shoots up and he sees that Jimin is now sitting up, and he’s made a spot available for Taehyung. He stares for a second, but Jimin pats the spot next to him and Taehyung automatically scurries over.

“Tae,” Jimin says, “I know that you’re turned on. Why...why is that?”

Taehyung still stares down at his feet, “I guess, I kind of like you?”

“Oh...really?” Jimin asks with some excitement in his voice.

“Yeah and...yeah. I’m sorry, I knew this wasn’t a good idea to begin with because I knew all the consequences but I felt like playing cards with the devil and here I am now, paying for it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Taehyung shrugs, “I don’t know. Getting turned on by your best friend, who has nicely volunteered to be your nude model, isn’t exactly...normal. And now there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“You can touch me,” Jimin whispers.

Taehyung freezes. This isn’t what he was expecting at all. Jimin wants him to touch him? Where…?

“Uh,” Taehyung finally looks up and meets Jimin’s gaze. His hazel eyes are lusty and it almost scares Taehyung because he’s never seen Jimin like this before. “W-where?”

“Anywhere,” Jimin says, smiling softly.

Taehyung wants to touch Jimin. The whole time he was drawing, the only thing he could think about was touching his soft skin like how the pencil touched the paper. The way it left marks, Taehyung wanted to do that too. He wanted to run his fingers through Jimin’s blonde tousled hair and let his thumb graze over his plump lips. Taehyung wants to feel everything, yet given the chance to, he tenses up and his soul leaves his body, never to be seen again.

“Please, Taehyung.”

This isn’t exactly a beg or a plead...it’s more of a command. Nothing harsh. Just a simple quiet command that Jimin wants Taehyung to follow. So he finally does. At first, Taehyung caresses Jimin’s cheek, and he smiles when Jimin’s warm skin comes in contact with his hand. It’s extremely soft, just like he knew it would be. Jimin seems a little surprised that Taehyung went for something less intimate first. Taehyung would like to be intimate but...doing that right away doesn’t feel right. He wants to soak up all of Jimin’s beauty. All of his flaws and imperfections, his loving soul, and everything in between. Whatever is Jimin, Taehyung wants it.

Taehyung continues to let his fingers drag across Jimin’s skin, and by this time, Jimin has closed his eyes. He finds the soft touches relaxing, as would anyone else. But Taehyung isn’t trying to relax him. He’s trying to feel the curves and edges, the rounder portions, and the more defined parts of Jimin’s face. He lets his fingers slide along Jimin’s jawline but when his thumb brushes over his plump lips, Taehyung stops. Jimin opens his eyes to see why Taehyung stopped so suddenly, especially at a place like his lips. But then Taehyung pulls his hand away and Jimin starts to think he did something.

“I-I’m sorry, did I do something?”

Taehyung is practically lost in Jimin’s eyes as he shakes his head slowly, “No.”

Jimin waits for Taehyung to say more but nothing comes. He then notices that Taehyung’s eyes are switching between Jimin’s eyes and lips.

Jimin pushes away the thoughts of how bad this could end up and goes for it. He leans forward and Taehyung swears the world stops when their lips meet. It’s like fireworks on the Fourth of July, firing off in his heart, and on his lips. He’s sure he can feel his lips buzz against Jimin’s warm ones. It’s...heaven.

When Jimin tries to pull away, Taehyung stops him by grabbing the sides of his face and pulling him closer. Jimin doesn’t complain or protest, especially with the way Taehyung smoothly slips his tongue into Jimin’s mouth, and the way his fingers tangle through his hair, just like he imagined. Although Taehyung absolutely loves the feel of Jimin’s lips, he wants to feel everything else. When his lips move away, Jimin almost whines but the whine is quickly turned into a soft moan when Taehyung starts to kiss his neck. His lips move slowly along Jimin’s jawline and down to the softer parts of his neck where he nips softly.

Jimin is now pulling Taehyung down on top of him so that he's sitting on Jimin's thighs. When Taehyung leans forward to trace his tongue along Jimin’s collarbones, his erection rubs against Jimin’s and it makes him whimper. Taehyung not only realizes that Jimin is now just as hard as him, but that he needs to get these jeans off before he lights on fire.

When Taehyung stands up, Jimin almost looks frightened, like he's afraid Taehyung was about to leave.

“Tae?”

“I'm sorry, I just need to get these off,” Taehyung grunts, undoing his jeans as fast as he can. He was planning to leave his boxers on for now but Jimin suggests that he takes them off now.

Back to it, Taehyung is hovering above Jimin, kissing him deeply and holy shit, when their cocks accidentally rub against each other, an idea comes into Taehyung mind. A way to pleasure them both at once.

Taehyung leaves Jimin’s warm lips, trying to catch his breath, “Can I try something?”

“Anything.” The way Jimin says it, it almost sounds like a plea. His cheeks are flushed and he's breathing heavily, making Taehyung wish he could draw him like this. All hot and flustered. But at the same time, drawing is not on his mind.

“Sit up.”

Jimin obeys, and Taehyung sits down on his thighs again. Jimin staring down at the suddenly closeness of their members to each other, or maybe being self-conscious about himself. Taehyung doesn't understand that. Jimin is perfect.

Taehyung's hands move under Jimin’s sides, and to the front of his chest, moving back down to his navel, and to the trail of hair that leads farther down. He finds it extremely hot.

Jimin meets Taehyung’s eyes, which are practically screaming for more.

“This will probably feel weird at first,” Taehyung says, reaching over to grab the very ‘convenient’ bottle of lotion. He gets some into his hand and rubs it in a bit. Jimin is furrowing his brow, looking cutely impatient, as he watches Taehyung's actions. But now Jimin is the one to choke on his breath when Taehyung grabs his member and presses it against his own.

“T-tae-”

“Shh,” Taehyung soothes, as his large hand wraps around their cocks. He was right. It does feel weird. He hasn't exactly jacked off another person at the same time as himself. But he starts with slow pumps, trying to get the both of them as comfortable as possible.

Jimin’s whimpers are throwing Taehyung off as he tries to concentrate on pleasuring not only himself, but Jimin as well. He guesses it's working because Jimin is whimpering and hiding back moans, while Taehyung is breathing heavily, trying not to moan either. That’s until he starts moving faster, flicking his wrist quickly. Jimin leans forward and presses his forehead against Taehyung’s shoulder, and when he reaches down to help, Taehyung suddenly wants to fall apart. He chokes on a moan, and he lets his chin rest on the top of Jimin’s head. Both of their hands move at the same speed and Taehyung feels the heat rushing through him. He wants to pull back because he knows he’s going to cum, but under Jimin’s hand, he doesn’t want to move.

Taehyung wants to fall apart while staring into Jimin’s eyes. So, with his free hand, he grabs Jimin’s chin and makes their eyes meet. Jimin lets out a shuttered breath, and thankfully he gazes right back at Taehyung.

“I can’t- oh god” Jimin mewls, biting his lip. Taehyung wants to pull his teeth away from his precious lips but he can’t. He’s stuck staring into Jimin’s eyes as they simultaneously cum together. Jimin’s eyes roll back a bit and Taehyung swears he can see a bright white light. Both of them are gasping for air. Jimin pulls away and collapses onto the bed. With the both of them, they’ve made quite a mess. Taehyung has never experienced having another guy’s cum on his hand and stomach, and it definitely feels weird, but it’s somewhat nice. It’s proof that he could manage to pleasure Jimin and himself.

Taehyung presses his palms into the mattress as he tries to gain back his composure.

“That was…”

Taehyung glances up to see Jimin staring at the ceiling, cum on his stomach as well, but obviously he doesn’t care.

“Amazing…” Jimin finishes. He looks at Taehyung and smiles. “Best thing ever?”

“There is still more to do,” Taehyung says, but he really didn’t mean anything by it. It wasn’t trying to make a plan for Jimin to come do this again. Taehyung thought this was probably a one time thing.

“Well,” Jimin says, sitting up, “there’s always a next time.”

“N-next time?”

Jimin nods and stands up, grabbing a towel from the bathroom. He wipes himself off and proceeds to help Taehyung clean up as well. He has this devilish smile on his face as he tosses the towel to the side and starts putting his clothes back on.

“You’re mine now.”

-Tae

#bts #bts fanfic #bts scenario #kpop #kpop scenarios #member x member #kim taehyung #bts taehyung #bts v #vmin fic #vmin #bts vmin #park jimin #bts jimin

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whoslaurapalmer · 6 years ago

Text

hot takes on ihoso, rife with spoilers, this is a lot of words

in general (a little less spoilery?)

-to me, I think the book is the most fun when it tries to function like the unauthorized autobiography – like, the page of the book about the paltryville fire, part of fernald’s job resume, the full article about the anwhistle aquatics fire, the stuff like that, I loved reading them and it reminded me so much of being like ten years old and reading unauto for the first time, it was a damn delight

-behind the scenes stuff was really interesting, and it was pretty much just, mostly, behind the scenes stuff, which just makes it weird combined with the parts that are more reminiscent of unauto

-but, good behind the scenes content.

-a lot more like, explicit s3 content than I was expecting. we really did pay for a trailer, didn’t we

-although it was kind of nice because I can sometimes hate reading information about things i’ve already seen, I almost missed one of the coded letters at the bottom of a page cause I was like ‘why the fuck do you want me to reread the timeline for an episode i’ve already fucking seen and know from the books?????’ so seeing new content was still………….nice, I guess

-i will give it this. the cover is very nice. book has a nice weight to it. like, you could probably kill a man with it.

notes I made while reading (incredibly spoilery)

-endlessly amused that nph has under his signature ‘actor and count olaf’s legal representative’ -like, what would that be like??????

- “ – and the show’s version of fiona widdershins echoes another morally ambiguous girl searching for her missing father (see: ellington feint, pg 89)” NO I DO NOT WANT TO SEE ELLINGTON FEINT, PG 89 but also I never…….considered fiona and ellington to be similar, but, I mean, I guess??? I mean actually yeah I can sort of see it

-awww booooooooo they cut out a mention of the word hangfire in the wide window

- “but he once had a selfless heroic side, and he feels very loving and protective towards the baudelaires. they’re all he has left in the world, these children that aren’t even his, and I think he wants to see them in a safe place.” patrick warburton you’re breaking my heart -oh he also got the tattoo!!!!! top notch bro

-WOW THE PIC OF LEMONY AND BEA IS JUST SMACK-DAB IN THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK WITH ALL THE DEDICATIONS AROUND IT, artsy -although honestly I think from behind she looks more like jacquelyn but that could just be the black and white -also, there’s the wonder taxi again….

-oh, the full page of the paltryville fire book -i always give bea more of the inventing vibes than bertrand although he probably has them too (says a girl who once wrote a scene (and then scrapped it) where bertrand can’t figure out how a radiator works, but that’s neither here nor there) and the idea that he ‘repurposed a large cowbell, a hammer, and a ten-foot pole to create a makeshift fire alarm’ is a DELIGHT -and the lumbermill photo…. -wow larry is really credited as ‘mr. your-waiter’ - ‘not pictured: dr. orwell’s flamethrower’ good job

-aunt josephine’s ‘chance of survival’ is listed as ‘cloudy’ -aasif mandvi describes playing monty as “a little bit of a cross between a swashbuckler like errol flynn and gene wilder as willy wonka” and you know what???? that’s the most delightful thing i’ve heard in my whole life cause that’s on point

-OH I’M SORRY DID YOU JUST CONFIRM JACQUELYN AS R????? IS THAT WHAT I’M SEEING, PG 42??????????????? -that has honestly been my least favorite theory and I hate it with all my heart and you’ll never get me to accept jacquelyn as ramona, light of my life -also larry is listed as ‘last seen….missing!’ gustav is ‘last seen….DEAD’ which is just, hilarious, and…….yeah whatev re: jacquelyn -although this does make me no longer the only person out there shipping r/olivia considering all the jacquelyn/olivia stuff but i’m. still not happy about it. as previously expressed.

- “kit is a fearless volunteer, a trusted friend, and currently, a very pregnant woman” next to a picture of allison williams looking barely pregnant if at all -ALLISON WILLIAMS JUST SHOOTING OFF DETAILS ABOUT KIT’S OPENING SCENE LIKE WE’VE ALREADY SEEN SLIPPERY SLOPE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO -although kit straight-up diving off a mountain while pregnant is still…….pretty kit - “leaping off a mountain may not be a typical activity for an expectant mother, but kit snicket pulls it off with bravery and style.” bravery? yes! style? no

me: hey mom can I ask you a question mom: sure me: would you say this picture of this woman looks very pregnant mom: yep me: you would???? I mean like she looks a little obviously pregnant but – mom: she does, but….maybe not very pregnant me: I didn’t think very pregnant. mom: i’d say she’s…….six months???? mom: six months. me: thank you for that assessment.

- “dashing and heroic, adventurous and charming” have never been words I have used to describe jacques snicket in my entire life, I have never cringed so hard before -in case anyone was wondering, i’ve based my entire characterization of jacques on basically one single line – “principal predicament: wondering if it’s the right time to step in”

- “while the book’s version of olivia is a veteran agent of dubious morality, the show reinvents her as a noble school librarian struggling against institutional corruption.” because apparently ‘veteran agent of dubious morality’ wasn’t good enough for you, I GUESS

-oh my they have the rhetorical building marked on the ‘admittedly stylish but how many eyes can you really incorporate into geography before lulu vandelay starts to think you’re overplaying this’ city map -also some of these streets are………..very tiny, but they’re all labeled (and named mostly after people involved in the production) but i’m gonna need like a goddamn magnifying glass for this, what the hell -or well there are numbered places on the side but besides the longitude/latitude markings there are, no numbers -but I am dying to know where they’re placing the grotto on this map wtf personally i just imagined........a bigger landscape, especially once they reach the ocean, as perhaps illogical as that truly is

-okay i’m gonna give them this, the explanation about the trolley/underground tunnel system was, actually, intriguing and fairly on-point. I am, distressingly, impressed.

-thank you, pg 48, for immediately pulling me back to reality by listing the kids as ‘klaus, violet, and sunny’ that was unnecessary and uncalled for, have a hearty fuck you!

-why…….look, “i’d rather eat a bowl of vampire bats than spend an hour with carmelita spats” isn’t from ‘poet unknown.’ isadora wrote that. why put????? ‘poet unknown’????????? cause she’s not!!!! unknown!!!! THIS IS VERY, VERY CLEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- “there are few things more dangerous than a person armed with a slingshot and a poorly oriented moral compass” thank you for forcing me to relive the memory of stew mitchum while reading about carmelita

-fernald’s education listed as ‘degrees in marine biology and theatre arts’ good on you for keeping that in

- ohhhhhhhhhh re: white faced women “heimlich hospital announces birth of world’s first conjoined triplets” good on you for hopefully not taking away third sibling backstory!!! hadn’t considered them as triplets, though, but I hadn’t considered them as twins, either, so whatever

-awww I wish they’d found a way to keep in the cut song from the end of s2 it looked delightful

-olaf as “alias: DAD” in s3…………….oh boy -“the voice is reminiscent of eugene levy” oh man but i’m here for that

-re: barry sonnenfeld “in the grim grotto he plays the vital role of the missing captain widdershins” well that sentence is like six kinds of whiplash -he makes a good…….sea captain picture though.

-hmmmmm the lil sugar bowl section seems to lean towards the horseradish as the contents…….?

- “the props department created two sugar bowls, including a rubber version that could be dropped for a critical scene in season three.” oh really. oh. really. that better just be someone flinging it out the damn window in the mountains

-the masked ball invitation saying “a safe place that we hope will be much more difficult to burn” right on

-as someone who has frequently wondered how they really use movies for codes considering information can change while making the movie and how would you even decode it anyway, the explanation of pulling a message from existing subtitles based on a changing code number makes sense, but probably still won’t change how I view them making a considerable number of movies on the fly -does remind me, though, of how I put in beatrice the idea of picking up certain props, something that can be easily changed, in order to convey information

-bo welch saying “so I asked barry, ‘this house in season one that olaf lives in, where did he get that?’ and in talking with him, we decided that he probably married or moved in with some wealthy old dowager and then when she died, he kept the house, and of course, he didn’t have the resources and it went to seed.” well that’s…………………...uh………………….one way to think about it I prefer the theory that it’s the remains of his family’s house

-WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR WRITING ‘AND, FUCK YEAH, OTTOMANS’ IN THE SCRIPT ABOUT JUSTICE STRAUSS’S LIBRARY THAT’S FUCKING AMAZING

-okay all the little jokes they have in the scripts are. GREAT

-nathan fillion re: jacques “he’s goodhearted. he’s kind. he’s capable. and he’s dead.”

-wow uh just straight-up revealing the opening theme rhymes for s3. gutsy of you

-you know, I really am sad they cut out widdershins, because i really liked him, and fiona aggressively adopting his mannerisms once he disappears, and i LOVE the scene here she tells the kids why widdershins didn’t go after the kids and how much fiona herself doesn’t know, but, i......guess they could still????? keep that in????? if he said that before he disappeared??? depends on when they have him disappearing, i guess

i just????? widdershins is the whole reason they don’t show up until they do so how this works out now idk, unless they’re gonna have just fiona actively trying to find the kids (if they go that route, unless they just like, bump into each other?) as a KID trying to save kids does put an interesting spin on it

-THE WHOLE POINT IS THE SECRECY, THOUGH!!! FIONA IS BASICALLY STILL RAISED IN VFD AND SHE HAS NO DAMN CLUE ABOUT IT AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! augggggggggggggg

-the anwhistle aquatics article talking about gregor and ike not getting along?????? intriguing - “there are secrets in this world to terrible for decent people to know.” I read that and immediately thought of “mrs. palmer, there are things dark and heinous in this world. things too horrible to tell our children.” but that could just be because my mind pulls up peaks quotes for literally everything

-you know as much as I liked the imagined red vibe of penultimate peril, i’m really digging these set pieces even if they are green

- “several key scenes in the penultimate peril take place in an opulent opera house” are you gonna full flashback to the opera house??????????????? because hmmmmmmmmmm I never wanted to see the whole thing but I HAVE always imagined them as. barely adults when the opera happens, so?? at least there’s that

-still VERY nervous at the idea of the beatrice letters being at the end of the end. no damn clue what i’m nervous about. I already had my say about how I think the beatrice letters goes down. in almost 20,000 words. it shouldn’t matter to me. but. regardless. ……….still nervous……….

-based on the allusions page it looks like this be the verse and the blind men and the elephant will show up?????? they’d BETTER (and if I had to pick, this be the verse.) (my brit lit professor in college took great, great thrill in reading that poem out loud, so much so that when we were studying it, she read it out loud twice. she was a delightful woman.) (but re: the elephant poem that’s just, such a sweet, delightful memory of bertrand ‘sweetest man alive’ baudelaire, and considering all the memories of bea and bertrand they’ve really cut out, I just really, really want that one to stay in…….)

-hey, that final image of the eye-shaped island????? legitimately one of the most terrifying things i’ve ever seen in my life. I hope you’re happy.

-so, missed two words in the telegram code so I did look up what it was, and I was incredibly disappointed that that was all it was

(HOLY FUCK WAIT A SECOND as i’m rereading the beginning of my notes here, the see: ellington feint, that’s the only reference to ellington and she’s not even mentioned on the referenced page because it’s one of the code pages, but if that’s supposed to somehow imply ellington is in the two sets of people the telegram code refers to i’m. not gonna be happy) (unless it was just a reference to how the picture of barry sonnenfeld in austere academy is as the founder of the school, last name feint, and…….they’re just doing something with that, how the hell should I know) well I was disappointed until I got UNNECESSARILY TERRIFIED BY PROBABLY OVER-THINKING IT, gonna forget that ever happened at all, completely anyway, besides that, it’s still………….nothing that really???? doesn’t already go without saying?????? like THAT’S the code you decided to put in this book????? and how does that have any relevance to ‘don’t decode it until after s3’

#spoilers #that's my story and i'm sticking to it.#lulu talks about the sad lemon man

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inexchangeforyoursoul · 6 years ago

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Luffy, son.... you are not supposed to serve tea this hot to people… (I wanted that to be its separate chapter, but it turned out to be waaay too short for that, and thus, a waste of ch numbers. Art incoming, too; because of that, this will be another “tumblr exclusive (for a while)” part.)

As I’m rather happy with this thing and it’s a halfway Law-centric chapter, I shall put it in the main tags. (this is a dumb LawXOC thing; this one seems to beee.... roughly 4500 words, attagirl)

This was the part that was fun to write even while unmotivated. I think y'all understand why. Now, for the less pleasant things, out of which I'm missing the next two or three chapters entirely… ho, boy. Now, this will be power writing. (Also thanks to anyone who might be here who might have written any of the anon messages I got to keep me going past this particular chapter???)

Ps.: do not ever sterilize your whole entire house if you have a kid. They are meant to catch things so their immune systems get stronger… and have work to do. Because if they don't, they get bored, and a bored immune system will look for shit to defend against anyway; this is how your kid gets allergies ranging from 10 pollens through animals to fucking SUNSHINE. They are meant to be sick a lot in the first couple of years, deal with it. And fucking vaccinate them, too.

31. We need to talk

8 o'clock; there's noone opening the door gently, nor is there anyone near-falling down the stairs. All is perfectly still.

Law drums on the desk with his fingers and sighs; he kind of saw this coming. Doesn't make convincing himself to go out and fetch the girl any easier, however. He's about as unwilling to seek her out as it is the other way round.

A good ten minutes later, he drags himself out of his room and up to the surface; it's relatively silent for a Saturday morning, but a lot of these idiots have been out partying, so whatever. He wouldn't be surprised if half of his crew was still out snoring on a bank or alley.

It's all the more scary when a masked rando pops up right beside him at the railing of the Thousand Sunny with a cheerful ‘yo, Kat’ as he starts checking on her whereabouts.

It's Luffy with one of those fucking… things. Looks like a cheap imitation, too. Seriously… if he didn't know it was one of these idiots, he would have gotten a heart attack. He's still way too jumpy in this body, goddamn.

“Strawhat-ya, honestly... does Kat-ya make a face like this all day?” he asks, with mild annoyance, pointing at his scowling self. “Also… take that thing off.” It's kind of creeping him out, now that he's taken a good look at it up close.

“Ah, right, it’s you, Torao… and nope, it's pretty rare,” Luffy nods, then plucks the mask off his head. “Found it between these big warehouses! Pretty cool, huh?”

“I'm not surprised it was ditched… Anyway, if even you can tell that much, then why do you keep mixing us up?” It's been like… no, not ‘like,’ it HAS been a week, for fuck's sake.

“Well, hugger you is definitely not you you, but otherwise... both Kat and Torao are worried, sad or angry most of the time, so it's hard to tell them apart, to be honest,” he states wondering as he drops the prop on deck with relative care and puts his hands on the back of his head to lounge at the railing. “Like today. And, whenever they are really tired, it feels like the prickly needle thing you get when your leg falls asleep. Everyone else tends to be more like... slow waves, when you stand in water.” He stretches one leg out and flaps the sandal to his soles.

“Huh?” What? Being talked about in third person is also weird, but… excuse him?

“The feel you two give off is pretty similar is all. Though I guess Kat is also more tense overall, at least she used to be. And she has a lot of weird jokes. That I usually don’t get,” he squints. Whenever the others find something she said funny and he doesn't get it, he feels left out, really.

“No, I mean… what would she be pissed off at?” And sad. And tense… He won't even try comprehending that other stuff. Anyhow, she can be the very literal definition of a nervous system at times, that's for sure. The very first thing he knew about her was that she was either really nonchalant about something, or about to have a panic attack, after all. And not exactly in the situations that matched those reactions... she shrugged off a date with the Reaper, but was really anxious when Nami dragged her off to get her cuts and bruises treated by Chopper on board of the Sunny two minutes later. But... halt, stop. It just registered… what does rubber boy mean by him being similar to her?

Luffy shrugs. “Dunno and don't really care. It's not even directed at anything, though... which is the weird thing about it.” He hops up on the railing to sit, then crosses his arms.

Law sighs… his observation haki will never be on this level. And the way Luffy formulates it is akin to an 8-year-old giving descriptions of a dream, which doesn't help, either. Reading faces and gestures can only get you so far, doesn't it.

Scowling a bit, Luffy eventually comes to a conclusion. “Maybe she just hates herself.”

The surgeon is a little taken aback by that; going by what this dunce just said, it makes sense, but... “Why would she...?” he mumbles mostly to himself, also crossing his arms. Going by whatever he could gather from Shachi and the rumors from her time in the dining hall, it did cross his mind that she might have some self esteem issues, that’s why he decided to be better safe than sorry and basically walk on eggshells when dealing with her. How she acts in general can support the idea, too, when considering some traits from another point of view…

“You are the one hanging out with her all the time, so why do you ask me?” Luffy pouts. The expression turns into a thoughtful one soon, then turns into mild worry. “… do you hate yourself, Torao?”

In the blink of an eye, he and his body (that’s worryingly cold in the first place) both realize that it’s like twelve degrees Celsius at best outside, and that not taking a sweater over a thin undergarment and breezy, medium sleeved shirt was a Mistake™. “You're… overthinking it,” he responds while waving dismissively.

“Really? That's a relief!” the other captain sighs and puts a smile back on.

“... yeah.” Perhaps it all boils down to her having a similar way to handle her emotions? She did keep being in pain a secret, which is something he does, so that's one thing they have in common. But goddammit, Strawhat… don't just say things like this all of a sudden.

He peeks then up towards the garden, where rhythmic little thuds have been disturbing the silence for the past minute. They really ought to talk.

Right now.

This is much easier to do once Nami appears from the direction Kat could be, as the navigator won’t let her captain go alone and get himself lost again in town when latter declares his intention to go back, even despite his excuses of being able to see the Sunny from the church tower when it’s not dark. Having gotten rid of Luffy surprisingly quick this way, Law stops on the stairs as soon as he’s high enough to look around. He peeks towards where he suspects her being, and indeed, the noise that started somewhere down the line was caused by a dazed Kat. He weighs his options for a moment; on one hand, taking some time off is a reasonable way to handle this. On the other… if he leaves this up to the girl, she may never show her face again, which is no viable route for him to take. He’ll definitely have to take initiative.

Noticing the light steps closing in on her, Kat stops drumming her heels against the ship.

Law sighs. “Look…. I know I’m making you uncomfortable right now, but I really kind of need my body back as soon as possible.” … maybe not the best start, but he got the point across.

After a short pause, Kat bonks her head into the wooden pillar in front of her with considerable power, and takes a long, sharp breath.

Law watches in perturbed bafflement. Um… maybe… it was a bad start, after all.

“I’ll manage,” she sighs, straightening herself at once. “It’s hard to ignore, and cuts my productivity in half, but… is, what it is. I’ve kind of made peace with telling my boss as-is, too, so that won’t be bothering me.” She pauses the fast rant for a moment to cut the speed, and stares into the waves licking away at the side of the ship. She had enough time to think about this somewhat objectively during her short-ish wake around midnight and later in the morning. “And you… shouldn’t have to worry about it, either. Once you're all gone for good, it will fade away soon. Knowing myself, I might not even be able to remember your name in a few months, anyway,” she shrugs all limp. “I’m no good with names, so… it would be nothing new.” It’s a famous and super simple name that’s not hard to catch, so she likely will. Maybe even his surname, since it’s a funny one. No promises, though.

… twisting knives much? Sheesh, he never suspected her of being capable of such… savagery. And he thought Luffy was being blunt today… Generally, he likes both of their honesty quite a lot, but Kat saying that he’ll be deleted from mind as soon as he’ll be out of sight is… a bit too much. And frankly, it hurts like a bitch. If he was in any way unsure about how he felt about her until this, well... there are no doubts about it now. He better keeps all of this to himself, though.

After all... it really is for the best. Technically, good news, even. And he also gets her; it’s the pragmatic thing to do. Having any kind of amiable relationship with a pirate is not exactly easy. There's no sure way to reach them, and sending messages to someone endangers that person. Hell, they all could die the day after setting sail for all he knows. A part of him has an even deeper understanding of what she means… it's not about worrying about anyone getting killed, quite the contrary. She's sheltering herself from getting hurt, by simply staying indifferent. He handles strangers the same way, and did the same for the longest time while with the Family: laughing whenever he felt like it... helping if he wanted to, or if he had to... generally enjoying the company, but not building any meaningful relationships. The question is, though... how did she get there, to this mindset? Few normal people do that. It could be just the way she’s always been, but considering how much she strives to please people around her, and how sensitive she seems to be to other’s moods in the first place…

Who hurt her?

Getting no response and feeling his eyes on her back is getting to her fast; Kat puts her head back against the pole and continues. “... Sorry, that sounds... really mean... but I suck at keeping in touch anyway. People just... come and go?” She shrugs, then starts to swing her legs again, until her heels hit the ship and she stops with limbs still flailing about. “I have no idea what my kinda-friends from high school or college are up to, either. Even when I think about fun times and miss someone… I never sit down and write a letter or go visit. I don’t get any further than grabbing a pen, but… what even are the chances they still live where they used to, huh?” She puts on a bitter smile that fades away fast. “Am I... a bad person? For that?” Her voice is unstable and hoarse at this point. She takes a shaky breath, followed by a gulp.

“... no, you're not.” Not being able to keep up with people is okay. Being stuck in a cage of her own making is, though. He takes a moment of consideration, then joins her at the railing.

Kat stares down to where her hands should be through the white pillar as Law plops down, then speaks up after a short pause while holding back a sniffle. ”The other week, I was wondering... why none of them tried to hit me up, either. Ever. I guess I'm just... that insignificant...” The sniff escapes and she also needs to wipe off a tear.

“…” He didn’t plan on joining a therapy session, nor doing anything else past talking, but a good old shoulder pat is definitely warranted here, so that’s what he does. Realizing that the cold hand made her shiver is too little, too late, so he just rolls with it. “Now, now… you know like a dozen of infamous people as of last Tuesday, so that automatically makes you count for something.” Her self esteem really seems to be in a bad shape. There's definitely some asses that ought to be kicked on these islands, because this is definitely not normal behavior.

Cannot help but crack a smile at that. “If you say so.” She rubs her eyes. “Sorry, I went off tangent again.”

“As did I the other day… and? Got it out of your system?” Seems like she’s bouncing back at least.

“Kinda,” she breathes after a pause.

“Just kinda?”

“…” She rests her temples against the railing again, even though it’s starting to hurt, bump she just made notwithstanding. “Every now and then, I keep thinking… how there would be someone in my place to do all the things I do.” Her eyebrows furrow. “If not now, then later. I’m just another pebble in the sea, and it feels… suffocating.”

“… I see.” Oh, boy… this actually sounds like more zero filter stuff, but without drugs to make it weird. Which is iffy, since he’s far from being a psychologist. Well, is what it is… take notes, analyze, and most importantly, watch your fucking mouth.

“Like, I know it’s the same for important people, inventing and doing actual, impactful stuff. Because, there’s little difference in the grand scheme of things, is there? It just doesn’t matter whether something happens today or in a hundred years. Everyone is replaceable. As is everything else. What I wanna say, is… wanting attention… at all… makes me feel selfish. Even when it probably shouldn’t.” Feeling the hand on her shoulder makes it tingle… she’d move, if not for knowing that he would lift it off again.

“… Um…” Okay… he might have stepped into this one hard. Aside from blinking wildly, because this has suddenly nosedived into deep waters… he needs a second here. The spaced-out girl he got to know in the past two weeks thinks about this shit regularly? She did seem less bubbly and way less excitable than she actually is at first glance, but… holy shit. She actually is pretty good at brooding herself. If he wasn’t so dumbfounded, he’d be impressed. “… wow, I… never considered the possibility that you could be a nihilist.” A very sentimental nihilist. That’s certainly what he takes from this. The conclusion is kind of enlightening.

She remains silent for a second, then squints. “... all I crave is death.”

Law lets out an exasperated sigh, then slaps her on the back of the head resulting in another light bonk. “Don’t you think for a second that I cannot tell the difference between you being serious and on the brink of grinning like an idiot,” he tells her off with the other hand on his hip. She may be trying to keep a poker face up, but none can do if she’s gonna use that overly dramatic delivery anyway. This woman, he swears to god.

And, as soon as the jig is up, there it is: the smile.

She reaches up to scratch the head area that stings a little after getting smacked. “Heh… sorry, had to break that gloomy mood.” Though, no lie, she does like talking about heavy stuff like that. If Law did not seem to be bothered by it, she probably would have continued.

“By willingly pissing me off?” Was that really necessary?

“Well… it worked, didn’t it?”

“Touche,” he breathes, crossing his arms. “But don’t make a habit out of it, if you know what’s good for you.” If she has actually figured out how to dig down to his berserk buttons, she’s playing with fucking fire, and he wouldn’t be surprised if she found enjoyment the activity. “I can fix myself up as soon as I get my body back, and rearranging your internal organs or face with, or without my powers, is not beneath me.”

She nods, humming. “I didn’t doubt for a second that you’d make a feisty kuja, alright. Will not overdo the gremlin act.”

“… good.”

After a silent pause, Kat stops rubbing her head. “… say, Law?”

He lets out a questioning hum.

“Are you in pain… because you were sick?”

“…” Is there a point to tell her anything if it’s so obvious in the first place? Oh well, she's asking, so… “Yeah. There are a few intergrowths I cannot really do anything with. Removing the lead deposits left my body aching at random, the bigger they were, the worse it is… you’ve probably noticed, but some areas like the left side of my torso and the right jaw are the main culprits. Those spots tend to act out a little even when everything else is fine. And I have additional god awful headaches when it’s too hot or cold outside and I don’t hidrate proper. These are honestly the worst aspects of it, no lie.”

“Act out like... Saturday evening?” When she first noted how something was a little off? It’s the only common experience they have…

He thinks for a moment. “Yeah, like that. The odd tissue that seems cancerous during a checkup, I can get rid of... but the fucking pain just won’t go away. Unless I kill off the receptors altogether, but that strikes me as an exceptionally stupid idea.” Even if it sounds really tempting at times. Maybe if he did it to his internal organs only…

“Wait…” Kat takes the first look at him today, and looks very much taken aback at that; “did you say cancer?” As soon as he looks back, she averts her eyes again. Seeing him, save looking him in the eye, is just… not something she can handle at the moment.

He blinks at the reaction, but keeps his eyes on her for a second. “Heard me right. Don’t shit yourself, I can deal with it.” Looking back in front of him, he adds, “I’m also legally infertile, but that’s the least of my problems.” He’s unlikely to get old, too, but honestly… there’s only so many times you can cheat your expiration date.

“Oh,” she says a second later. And sounds quite disappointed at that.

“... don't you ‘oh’ me. You can have all the kids you want for all I care.” As long as her plans involve someone else, that is. … aw fuck, brain, don't you have anything else to comment on?

“Oh, no, no, no, it's just…” She gives the sideburns a scratching; “This is going to sound so stupid… but you seem like… the dad type?”

Law laughs out at the ludicrous idea. “Me? Seriously?” Geez, that’s so… out of the blue. Even more so than the being married line. Never even seen him with a kid around, has she? They just tend to shit their pants right away. He needs to put a hand on his temples to process this a bit… and to make sure there’s no headache caused by stupid on the way. “God… the hell makes you think that?”

“Well, for starters… someone like Luffy would drop his toddler into the ocean by accident, which you would… not.” As simple as that. From what little she’s heard about Garp’s parenting… even if Law happened to be on the strict side, there is, like, no competition here, honestly.

A millisecond of consideration ends up in a concerned, solemn nod on Law’s part. He wouldn’t want Strawhat oversee children in general, or at the very least, not leave them with him all alone. He out-dads him in any technicality regarding safety and common sense, so that’s a score.

“You still could be fun around, though,” Kat continues leaning back; “Like… you would totally do something like sticking them to the ceiling as punishment for being bad,” she muses with a little relaxed smile, pulling up some average family scenarios. “but, unless you are obviously angry with them, they would love it instead. You could experiment with pretty much everything from floating to chopping them up, but all would backfire spectacularly as they think of it as just another game.”

“... can’t argue with that,” the notes, raising a brow. “Little hellraisers be like that.” Punishing a kid that's acting out, well… Best bet would be the basic ‘send them into a corner’ situation instead of getting creative, huh?

“You’d also be the go-to solution for homework… despite not being helpful at all.” Definitely trolling the shit out of anyone who’s trying to use him for an easy pass… yes, yes. Would come through when needed, too, she knows that much firsthand.

“Correct,” Law nods with a smug grin. He absolutely would be the most useless genius around. It would drive them crazy and he would be enjoying the hell out of it. If they legitimately did not understand something, though… that’s actually negotiable.

Having seen enough of his self-assured smile from the corner of her eye, she addresses him directly. “... get off your high horse, Law. You might be a little shit, but you’d also be out-bawling anyone at any milestone your kiddos reach whatsoever,” she states with an amused look.

“Absolutely not,” comes the indignant reply; “Do I look like the sentimental type to you?”

She takes a long, thoughtful look at his general direction. “Look… I might not be able to guarantee it, but as far as I’m concerned, you would transform into the worst mess of a doting ‘pappa’ there ever was as soon as you’d be holding your firstborn.” First day of school and graduations would be just as bad, if not worse… god save everyone if he’s around for a wedding. Him sobbing in a tux while trying to operate a visual transponder is not a mental image she’ll forget any time soon. In fact, she’s going to treasure the hell out of it. Even if she’s more used to him looking like her, so it takes some extra imagination points to see him in his own body.

Her chuckle earns a very unamused face. “I won’t even begin to try and imagine what you just thought of, but really? Really really?”

“Ve-really,” she states while booping his nose, then gets her hand pushed off to the side. “Honestly… you’re saying it’s very unlikely in the first place, right?” She ponders, scratching her head while sitting upright again. “You can’t tell me that you wouldn’t be all over a baby? Beating whatever low odds?”

“...” She’s probably not wrong on that one. Up to eight, maybe ten per cent aren’t a lot...

“And let’s not even get started on the naming process… You have at least…” her fingers straighten one by one; feather guy, little girl, baby’s grandparents, and who knows, who else? “four, if not a dozen they’d have to pry from your cold, dead hands before settling for anything else!” He based his entire image on one of these people, for fuck’s sake. First boy would definitely get that name, whatever it may be.

… not to mention the chances of a healthy child…

“And… little ones are always sick or some shit, right? You’d go into doctor overdrive. Give them checkups like every fucking week, and be staring from over the bathroom door to make sure they wash their teeth, and… dude, I’d fucking hate to be your kid, oh my god!” At least it takes him like point five seconds to sterilize the entire house instead of scrubbing everything all day like a manic housewife, but holy shit…

“Kat…“

“I have no idea how you’d handle feeding them in any capacity, though… you run, like, exclusively on a handful of veggies, rice, potatoes… and chicken… and fish. And, you suck at cooking.” And the occasional drink. Would he be willing and able to make legit sandwiches…? He has no qualms touching the bread, made those French toasts, so that’s a start. This kind of presupposes him being allowed in the kitchen like a single dad, but still, she can’t help wondering how he would tackle that humongous elephant in the room if the need arises.

“Kat-ya, stop.”

The edge in the word startles her enough to delete the train of thought altogether. “Uh… um…” Did she say something wrong again? Did she hurt him? Or insult him? Is… is he angry…?

He sighs, staring into the darkness underneath the waves. “I suppose… you are right,” he says a few seconds later, his head also meeting the railing. “I am… the dad type.”

She stares down at her now interlocked hands; the images she found so amusing before… look sickly and pale all of a sudden. A quick reality check has sucked all life out of them. Managed to fuck his day up again, huh?

“Dreaming… is dangerous,” Law concludes. The last time he did something like that… came with just another harsh wake-up call.

“… sorry. Didn’t mean to upset you.” Again.

“Eh, I’ll get over it.” However… he’s once again reminded of the fact that he’d been living to fulfill a singular goal for over a decade, and ever since he’s pretty much reached it, he’s been feeling… well, rather lost, to be honest. Stretch goals, like going against Kaido are a sufficient distraction at best. Sometimes he hears a little voice in the back of his head breaking through regardless before muffling it, talking about being tired of this life… bringing up the clinic of his own he's always wanted… having a home to return to.

Peace.

He knows better than to hope for any of that.

A single finger tapping his arm makes him realize that his eyes and nose cavity are burning up. This is followed by her barely audible, little mouse voice; “... Law?”

He takes a shaky breath and rubs his temples, sneaking in a finger to wipe away the half-ripe tear from the corner of an eye. “I’m fine, I’m…” he comes to a halt upon looking at her; “oh my god, are you crying?”

“... a little,” Kat squeaks after swallowing once.

Law snorts all of a sudden, then breaks out in painful laughter. The tears are also coming, but fuck it, because... while he’s hurting, this… also feels kinda good. Actually, it feels great. Talking about all of this… is great. She’s a better psychologist than he could ever aspire to be. Cafe girl… you are too fucking nice for your own good. Sincerely, fuck you.

As soon as the surprise wears off, Kat joins in, too.

After a solid minute or two, Law flops on the grass with hands covering his face. “... both of us… are kinda fucked up, huh?” he ponders out loud after the last couple of laughs. It’s kind of a dumb question; who even is not fucked in the head from all the people that he knows? He should have known that she was no different, even if the causes are still a mystery. No wonder the two of them can hit it off.

“I guess so,” Kat sniffs, rubbing her entire face that must be as red as it feels.

Sliding his freezing hands lower, Law stares skyward at the thickening clouds for a while. Laughing and crying are both exhausting… not to mention doing both at once. It feels like floating in a weird dream. Peaceful, even. Every weight has slid on his back, which is neatly supported by this nice ship made of pure sunshine, leaving him to breathe freely for the time being. He would say a ‘thank you,’ but it gets stuck somewhere in his throat.

He must be in really fucking deep, huh. Not that he minds, though… it feels really nice, after all. A little too much to be true, yes. But for now… he doesn’t want to worry about his short future. Instead, right here, right now... he just wants to enjoy this moment. As much as he can. As long as he can. To the fullest.

#opfanfic #opfic #one piece fanfiction #Trafalgar Law #Kate writes #KMKY

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the-chaotic-neutral · 7 years ago

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I’m so unprepared this year! Due to a lot going on in life, I didn’t have time to watch either of the semi-finals or even pregame with the official music videos! So that means I’m going into the finals 100% cold. I feel both unprepared and excited. I haven’t gone into finals without research and preconceived judgement before. I have no idea what each country’s songs will be like or what style their stage shows may take.

So here’s to art, entertainment, and surprises! 🥂

Opening performance by TK. Last year’s winner, Salvador Sobral, championed authenticity (sometimes to the ire of other contestants and fans) and it feels like

I’m watching the US broadcast this year, which is presented by Logo and hosted by Ross Mathews and Shangela. Since Eurovision is still relatively new to the USA, and very new to Shangela, this broadcast is a perfect entry for American viewers. Ross explains the basics along with the idea of the Big 5[foot]The Big 5 are the countries that have contributed the most amount of money to Eurovision which guarantees them a spot in the finals without competing in either night of semi-finals. They are [/foot]. It’s also available as a live stream on Logo’s Youtube channel regardless of your TV package, so it’s accessible to literally anyone to watch.

01. Ukraine – Mélovin “Under the Ladder” A vampire rises. The song isn’t great, and the performance suddenly loses some of its exoticism when it becomes apparent that he’s singing in muddled English and not Ukrainian. It gains some back when his entire set catches on fire (on purpose).

02. Spain – Amaia & Alfred “Tu canción”

Super cute! Simple staging and great chemistry between these two makes this performance so damn endearing! But they’re really early and not much of a spectacle, so I worry they’ll get buried by later performances.

03. Slovenia – Lea Sirk “Hvala, ne!” She’s trying to throw down tough and maybe come off like Pink, but that’s hard when she’s got a huge, goofy grin on the whole time.

04. Lithuania – Ieva Zasimauskaitė “When We’re Old” A slow, sweet ballad with holograms. Holograms can be a real risk in a show. It can be a neat effect, like when Australia used it for a Minority Report computer interface, and it can be the show-stealer, like when it’s a nude clone with wolves. This came of as middling, especially because she seemed to reign in her own vocals. It felt more like a verse of a song rather than a full performance.

05. Austria – Cesár Sampson “Nobody but You” Great job utilizing the stage and lighting as a single performer, but this song is not up for the job.

06. Estonia – Elina Nechayeva “La forza” Estonia has a history of visually impressive performances, and this is not a disappointment. With this, the world comes one step closer to the Diva from The Fifth Element. Her voice is great and her dress is all projection mapping! This is how you make a strong impression while pushing the vocals to the forefront.

07. Norway – Alexander Rybak “That’s How You Write a Song” Shoobidoo dap dap, shoobay doop hay, that’s how you write a song.

No it’s not. This an adorable performance with incredibly inaccurate instructions on song writing. Major props on playing the violin, and the whole thing is really endearing, but I think it’s too breezy to stick in this competition.

08. Portugal – Cláudia Pascoal[h] “O jardim” This is the home team, the current champions, so they have a lot to live up to. I don’t know if it’s authentic enough for Sobral but I’m loving it.

Anyone else get a total Lola vibe (from Degrassi) from her? These are not the same person.

09. United Kingdom – SuRie “Storm” I’m getting Annie Lennox redux. Her song is not the Tim Minchin song, disappointingly, but this is one of the best UK contestants in years. Many of the Big 5 countries, which can go straight to the finals, seem to phone it in or at least submit very generic pop. This is the first time I can remember actually enjoying the UK contestant.

10. Serbia – Sanja Ilić & Balkanika “Nova deca” (Нова деца) Amazons and the grim specter of death! And discotheque! Unfortunately the visuals are the best part of this group. Their song is meh and I don’t think I’ll even be able to remember what they sounded like the next morning.

11. Germany – Michael Schulte “You Let Me Walk Alone” Really touching, personal ballad. The stylized screen show behind him came off as far more effective than the holograms. I was really surprised at how honestly the whole thing came off touching. The song and accompanying performance are all about Schulte losing his father, and that personal connection does a lot to elevate this from just another pop ballad to a standout act. Also Schulte looks like Philippe and I had a son together, so I am very proud of my boy.

12. Albania – Eugent Bushpepa “Mall” This is clearly a grunge or metal band performing their first ballad before they go soft. Okay song, but could have been more specific to Albania or the band performing it or, well, more memorable in any way. And the disconnect between the look and the sound is jarring, disappointing, and lackluster.

13. France – Madame Monsieur “Mercy” Velcome to Sprokets. Just a reminder that this isn’t Germany’s submission. Okay, enough about their look. There’s a fundamental problem with this song here, though the song itself is good. It’s a really good song about real life baby born on a ship of refugees fleeing to Europe. This song would have been great on an album, but in a music and performance competition the nuances get smoothed out and the striking visuals take, no pun intended, center stage. I’ll probably come back to them as a band, but think that they’ll be lost when the voting starts.

14. Czech Republic – Mikolas Josef “Lie to Me” The year is 1994. The soundtrack is The Mask. The costume is Minkus from Boy Meets World. The inspiration is Fresh Prince of Bel Air. The performer was having fun, so I guess that’s nice. And that’s really all I can say about it.

15. Denmark – Rasmussen “Higher Ground” Do you like vikings? Do you like Silent Bob? Do you like when people take a theme (in this case, All Aboard) 100% literally? Well, have I got the group for you!

16. Australia – Jessica Mauboy “We Got Love” And the Bland Award goes to… The only words I can think of to describe this is “Europop” and “gyrations”. There’s nothing more to say.

17. Finland – Saara Aalto “Monsters” The remix of this song could be a club hit, but not this version. As it is now, there’s not enough bass or and energy for a club and not enough complexity for a pop hit.

18. Bulgaria – Equinox “Bones” I can’t be the only one that sees this guy and thinks black Jack Black.

The song itself was not all that great, but as a group their voices sounded great together. Similar to France, I’m not a fan of this one but I am intrigued enough to keep an ear out for the rest of their singles.

19. Moldova – DoReDoS “My Lucky Day” They’re introduced as a folk-pop group but… well, that must mean something else in Moldova. They have the presentation of a Laugh-In skit and the emotional range of a Bar Mitzvah DJ team. Hard pass.

20. Sweden – Benjamin Ingrosso “Dance You Off”

SCENE I. A desert place

Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches

First witch

Performance of Bieber

Second witch

Face of Ephron

Third witch

Song of Timberlake

I’m assuming that’s how this performer was summoned. An amalgam of safe bets, it’s no surprise that the song is generic yet appealing. Coupled with a great use of stage lighting, I don’t really like this one but I’m betting it’ll be a contender.

21. Hungary – AWS “Viszlát nyár” Yet another country who’s music submission seems to be off by a decade or so. The look screams Fall Out Boy but the music is more of a mid to late 90s pop metal. Whatever their inspiration, I spent way too much time trying to remember what forgettable bands they reminded me of and had no time to actually pay attention to them.

22. Israel – Netta “Toy” Yasss! Netta! And then… Okay, so I am very much not crazy about the Asian appropriation, but I’m here for everything else. The whole kimono and maneki-neko motif is just not sitting right. Please, you can do but. But her amazing sneer, the bizarre incorporation of the chicken dance, and the dance-able Tel Aviv music is killing it! Also, it’s great to see my homeland with something that’s not some punchable dude-bros on a beach.

23. Netherlands – Waylon “Outlaw in ‘Em” When you think of the Netherlands, what comes to mind? High taxes? State supplied health care and other services? How about Ted Nugent tributes and awkward krumping? Well, it will from now on.

24. Ireland – Ryan O’Shaughnessy “Together” This is the reason that China lost the finale broadcast rights. The musicians are recreating the Broadway show Once while a So You Think You Can Dance routine plays out with two dancers. Honestly, I kind of loved this. It was intimate and sincere and lovingly executed. One of my favorites of the night.

25. Cyprus – Eleni Foureira “Fuego” Oh no! Cyprus has read from the Necronomicon and opened up a rift in time! Ash Williams, come save us! This is Cyprus expect a danceable track. Because that’s what you’ll get. Also, every year there seems to be a Beyonce impersonator. Just saying.

26. Italy – Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro “Non mi avete fatto niente” I immediately see this one as a real contender. Not because I love the song (I don’t) but because it’s engineered with brutal efficiency. It perfectly balances poignant lyrics, earnest performance, and a solid song. The lyrics come up on the video screen with stylized fonts, rolling through various languages in a brutal and brilliant method of bringing in the world audience. You could maybe find a performance that is better in each category, but none so perfectly balanced across the board as Italy’s.

And now we wait for the votes to come in and be tallied. There’s always a lot of confusion about how they work so I’ll break it down to the best of my knowledge for y’all.

The jury votes. Each competing country has their own jury of voters that rank a top ten list. Then points are portioned out to their picks, with a top 11th award getting 12 points.

Public votes. These are given out based on the call-in voting from across Europe. This are announced second as they completely reorder the competitors.

If that sounds convoluted, it is. And purposefully so. The system was designed to draw out the suspense of the announcement as long as possible. So really the jury votes set up a baseline that can be completely overturned.

And impressions of this year? Well, I’m happy that the “white dress and a ballad” phase seems to be over. No clear style came out as a successor so maybe next year we’ll see a clear group-think strategy emerge.

My top picks, in no particular order, are:

Estonia

Portugal

Germany

Israel

Ireland

And I want to draw attention to a few more musical performers from Portugal, that weren’t in the competition but performed in the opening and closing segments. Mariza, Sara Tavares, and Mayra Andrade all caught my attention. So if you’re actually looking for new music in the midst of this spectacle, those are a few people I’d like to draw your attention to.

After an insane amount of re-ordering, and a long stretch when it looked like bland-as-bland-can-be Austria might win, Israel won! I am so happy, as that was personal pick. I figured Italy would take a high place in the public vote, and they did with 3rd place.

However, I think I would have preferred that Germany (my precious boy) would have won, as I do worry about Israel hosting Eurovision and all of the possible repercussions. Between the security issues of the people to go, and the political statements of the people who won’t, it’s going to be interesting. So now we can all revel in the greatness of Toy (if not the Orientalism of the performance) for a year. In the meantime, I’ll start a betting pool for how many countries will pull out of Eurovision between now and then.

NEXT TIME IN JERUSALEM! !השלב הבא בירושלים

I watch Eurovision because I know you didn't! I was totally unprepared this year. Still had a great time, though. Eurovision 2018: Finals I'm so unprepared this year! Due to a lot going on in life, I didn't have time to watch either of the semi-finals or even pregame with the official music videos!

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