#if it's just more a mini con/ networking event?

[elvenbeard]

Wake the fuck up Samurai, we got a Phantom Liberty Tour to attend 🤘

[muditaaah]

🌴 Miami in 2011 isn’t just about beaches, clubs, and sun—it’s also home to the criminal world. Especially those who’ve tried the hustle, hit the streets, and ended up stuck in dead-end jobs, or worse, the ones who’ve been chewed up and spit out by the city's larger criminal empires. But these outcasts aren’t done yet. A new gang is forming from the people society left behind. No fancy uniforms, no huge criminal network—just a bunch of ex-cons and street rats trying to make their way in the world.

A loose collective of washed-up, down-and-out criminals who decided to put aside their differences, if only to survive. They may be dysfunctional, but everyone's got a past, everyone’s got a specialty, and no matter how crazy things get, they’ve got each other’s backs.

　 ҉　 ҉　 ҉　🌇 　 ҉　 ҉　 ҉　

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[nogoodninny]

I want a Gilmore Girls reboot that follows Rory and her baby. Here are 64 points on my predictions for what is to come for the next generation of Stars Hollow…

Rory will have a baby boy

The baby will be part wookie

She will name him after her grandfather, they will call him Ricky Gilmore

Rory will get her book published and come back to run the Stars Hollow Gazette

Ricky will love spending time with his Grandpa Luke and hanging out at his Diner

Kirk and Lulu will have a kid who is surprisingly well adjusted

Ricky wants to go to Chilton

Ricky wants to go to Yale

Great Grandma will spoil the crap out of little Ricky

Ricky will NOT like coffee

Rory will eventually have a daughter that she names Lorelai

Ricky and Baby Kirk will be best friends

Ricky will LOVE the snow, and can smell it coming, just like his Grandma

Ricky will often wear a backwards baseball cap, just like grandpa

Davey will work at the inn and Martha will work with her daddy

Rory is going to write a biography for Patty, and it’s going to be a best seller

Rory is going to settle down and become an actual decent person. Think more Chilton Rory than Yale Rory

As Ricky gets older Luke and Lorelai move out of the house and back into the space above the diner, so Rory and Ricky can live there

Either that or they all move into the Twikem House like Luke wanted

Ricky will be a lot like Luke, personality wise

Taylor will absolutely adore Ricky, and is the only person in town who doesn’t realize that he’s basically a mini Luke

Naomi Shropshire will actually write that book about the whale and the rabbit/mouse

It’s one of Ricky’s favorite books

It wins a Pulitzer

GG has a baby and wants her big sister in their lives

Ricky loves his baby cousin

When Ricky gets his first phone, Luke thinks it’s too soon

Ricky is the only person who finds it weird that their town still has a troubadour

Ricky is indifferent to town events, he participates, but it’s not like he counts down the days

He loves town meetings though, he thinks they are hilarious

Patty gets a pet monkey

Emily still employs Berta and her family

Ricky gives out the WiFi password at Luke’s once, as a joke, which results in the router being ripped out, and Ricky losing all WiFi privileges

Lorelai found this hilarious and was very proud

Ricky can understand Berta

Every time someone asks Baby Kirk what he wants to be when he grow up, he gives a different answer

Christopher loves Ricky, but hates the idea that he’s a grandpa now, it makes him feel old

Guy Fieri gets a cameo where he comes to Luke’s for his show Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives

Luke is grumpy about the camera crew, but Lorelai and Sookie are so excited that he puts up with it

Both Patty and Babette flirt with Guy

Kirk asks him how to have a career on Food Network

Liz and TJ have multiple kids, just as weird as they are

Rory hasn’t been in contact with Mr. Wookie since that night, until she randomly runs into him at that collectibles store in NY while shopping for a birthday gift for Ricky

She doesn’t recognise him at first, but he does immediately

She tells him that she’s shopping for her son’s birthday, then tells him all about Ricky

She explains everything and brings him home to Stars Hollow to meet her family

Luke doesn’t like him

Neither does Christopher

Ricky isn’t quite sure what to think, because he’s still pretty young, but he can sense how tense everyone is

Mr. Wookie asks if he can visit occasionally, on birthdays and around the holidays

He takes Ricky to Comic Con each year

I don’t know who or how, but somebody in Stars Hollow is going to be involved in a murder somehow

The kids love hearing stories about the Life and Death Brigade

Ricky even tried to start his own kiddie version of it in Stars Hollow

Luke and Lorelai like visiting Nantucket every year and actually look forward to it

April will have a baby at some point

a third film by Kirk

another beloved pet will die and the entire town will gather for the funeral

Emily Gilmore will sadly pass away

At leash one flashback episode

TJ and Liz get lost while camping or something and Luke has to go find them

Lorelai meets Taylor Swift

At some point during the final season she decides to write a sequel to her book, this one is about raising Ricky

The last scene of the entire series will be Rory revealing that they are thinking about making her book into a tv series.

[phantasticworks]

If You Don’t Love Me, Pretend - Chapter Nineteen

Four months without uploading she comes back with a new chapter! Thank you so much for your patience i love you guys! I don’t know that I’ll be going back to my previous weekly posting schedule with everything going on in my life right now, but I hope this can tide you guys over until I can finish the story! 

read on ao3

Words: 11.5k

Summary: Dan and Phil have some talks about parenting and make plans. 

Warnings for this chapter: swearing and a disgusting amount of fluff 

It's a few days later when Dan finds himself in his office at school, looking over the schedule change requests that he's received over the past week. He's just added another to the pile of finished requests when his work phone starts trilling on the desk by his elbow.

“Hello, you’ve reached the office of Daniel Howell at Queensbury Secondary School, how can I-”

“Dan, it’s me,” Phil’s voice interrupts him. “Is this a- a bad time?”

"Oh! Sorry, yes- I mean no, it’s a fine time. A great time. I’m just going through some forms. What’s up? Is everything okay?”

"Yeah, everything's fine." Phil clears his throat and there's a pause that Dan doesn't know what to make of. "I’ve been meaning to ask you something."

Dan feels the tendrils of anxiety gripping at his chest now. "Okay," he says slowly, setting his papers down in front of him. "What is it?"

Phil doesn't waste any time. "Well- okay, I don’t particularly want to go, but I know you’re interested in everything that goes on with mental health charities and you told me about the thing you wanted to do at the school, and I think that’s really cool and maybe this will give you a chance to network with people already involved and-”

Dan can’t help but laugh at the rambling words, tripping over themselves in their haste. “Spit it out, bub, what’s your question?”

Phil takes a shaky breath. “So, the BBC is doing a fundraising event for a mental health charity. I wanted to know if you'd like to attend with me." His words are quick and short, like the request is a time bomb and he’ll explode if he doesn’t get it all out at once.

It takes Dan a moment to process the request, and when he does, a stupid part of his brain wants to ask for clarification on the nature of this joint outing. But he's not about to ask Phil if it's a date because that would be both ridiculous and mortifying, and besides, he already knows with his rational brain that it isn't. "When is it?" he asks instead.

"It's next Friday, a week from today."

Dan is opening his calendar as Phil speaks, checking to see if they have any prior events scheduled. They don't, which isn't too strange for a Friday night. He chews on his lip as he considers the offer. He's really interested in mental health charities and it would be great to get some more information about how they work and network with some of the people who actually work there. He's been trying to get the school board to approve a mental health support group for the secondary school for over a year, something only Phil and Louise are aware of. This would be perfect. The only thing holding him back...

"You know we'd have to deal with your nosy coworkers the whole night? And it'll be different being couple-y around other adults," Dan informs him. "I'm not saying I don't want to go, but..."

"I don't care. I think we can handle it, and I honestly don't care what they think about how we're acting or aren't acting." Phil's voice is firm and sure, and Dan wonders if he expected Dan to object for this very reason. "I want you there with me, if you want to be."

Dan smiles down at his desk at this. "Okay."

"You'll go?" Phil sounds mildly surprised, but overall very pleased.

"Yeah. I'd love to go with you."

Phil lets out what sounds like a relieved breath. "Okay. Perfect."

"I'd say see you then, but we live together," Dan jokes. He grins when he hears Phil snort.

"Bye, Dan. I'll see you at home later. Drive safe."

"Bye, Phil."

~~~

It's not until Dan gets home that evening that he realizes that in order for them to go out for an evening by themselves, they'll have to find someone to babysit the kids. It's a strange thought, suddenly. They hadn't really had a situation yet where neither of them could watch the kids, and it was strange to think that he was at the point in his life where he needed to enlist the help of another adult outside of his family to watch his children. He wasn't sure how he felt about it.

After sending all three of the kids off to do their homework, Dan makes his way to the kitchen to sort out their dinner plans for the evening. He's perusing their selection in the pantry when he hears the front door click shut. Rather than go to meet Phil at the door, Dan makes the executive decision to have pasta for dinner, moving over to the fridge to make sure they have everything they need.

"Hey," Phil greets from behind him.

Dan glances over, smiling at him. "Hi. Good day at work?"

Phil shrugs, dropping his jacket on the back of a chair haphazardly before coming to rifle through the cabinet next to Dan. "It was alright, yeah. How was yours?"

"Just another day. Nothing that exciting, I guess." He closes the fridge without looking inside, turning to rest his palm against the counter beside it as he studies Phil. "So, we need to find someone to watch the kids on Friday."

It takes Phil a few more minutes of rummaging through the shelves before he glances at Dan. "Alright. I can ask Martyn if he's busy?"

Dan nods. "That's fine. If he can't, we can find someone else” Dan snorts then, a thought occurring. “Honestly, it’s an hour from here to Reading, Mum could come babysit if we really needed her to."

"Sure." Phil turns to face him with a smile, revealing a little bag of mini marshmallows. He stares Dan dead in the eyes as he rips it open and pops a handful of the colorful treats into his mouth.

Dan quirks a brow, crossing his arms. "You insolent shit, you're spoiling your dinner," he chastises, chewing on the corner of his lip to hide his smile.

Phil shrugs as his hand sneaks back up to his mouth. "Want some?" He offers.

Rolling his eyes, Dan lets out a huff. "You're a child," he says, hauling himself to sit up on the counter as he holds a hand out. "Give me some pink ones, they're the best."

The sheepish grin that lights up Phil's face is definitely worth spoiling his appetite. He steps between Dan’s legs and carefully pours out a small handful of marshmallow treats into Dan's palm, and then proceeds to pick out the white and blue ones for himself. Dan's chest is flooded with warmth as he watches the childlike glee on his best friend's face. It's immensely precious, a secret thought he holds close to his heart.

"I don't think they actually taste any different," Phil's saying. Dan barely hears him. "I'm pretty sure they all just taste of marshmallows. Like, vanilla, or whatever it is that marshmallows taste of."

“Mhm,” Dan hums, the pink marshmallow dust sweet on his lips as he enjoys his coveted snack.

~~~

"Could you pause your game, guys? We wanted to have a chat with you about something," Dan says. He and Phil had agreed that they needed to go ahead and tell the kids about their plans to leave them with a sitter for an evening, so they could go ahead and get used to the idea now. So, after finishing their covert snack, they'd gone upstairs where the twins were deep in a Mario Kart race, Levi coaching them both from the armchair.

At Dan's words, the three of them exchange a series of panicked looks. He'd nearly laugh if his heart didn't break at how the connotation of a "talk" has truly traumatized them forever.

"Everything’s fine, we promise," Phil prefaces, moving to sit on the sofa closest to the stairs. Dan follows, perching on the arm beside him. Almost without thinking, Phil drapes his arm over Dan's thighs, while Dan's arm falls to Phil's shoulder.

"Okay..." Levi says. Jaiden pauses the game and drops the joy-con, turning to face Dan and Phil completely. "Are we in trouble?" He asks.

Dan tilts his head to the side, smiling. "Have you done something to be in trouble for?"

Levi looks confused but shakes his head. "I don't think so?" He sounds unsure.

Phil nudges Dan's stomach with his elbow, gently digging into his skin. "You're not in trouble, bub, no. But, we just wanted to tell you guys that a week from today, Dan and I have an event to attend. So, we'll be finding a sitter to come stay with you that evening."

Amelia immediately perks up. "Can it be Miss Louise?" She asks excitedly.

Smirking, Dan shares a look with Phil. "We'll see. We might ask Phil's brother Martyn and his wife Cornelia to do it, but if they can't, we'll see if Louise will."

She doesn't look particularly happy about it, but Amelia nods in understanding. Jaiden doesn't seem too bothered either way, his hands twitching towards the joy-con as he clearly waits for them to say that was all.

Glancing at Levi, Dan can tell immediately that they're not all on board with the idea. "Levi? Would you be alright with that? It would only be for a few hours."

Levi shrugs, then shakes his head. "Why can't I watch them?" He asks, gesturing vaguely to his siblings. "I'm fifteen, I could stay here and take care of them."

Dan shares a look with Phil. They hadn't considered this. But, knowing each other as long as they have, their mental-symbiosis gives Dan the idea that maybe it wouldn't be the best idea, or at least they needed to discuss it in more detail first.

"We'd prefer to have someone else be here with you," Phil says carefully. "If there’s an emergency or something, we think it'd be best to have an adult here."

Levi shrugs, staring down at his feet and saying nothing.

“But, we’ll consider it, yeah?” Dan adds, sending Phil an imploring look. The older man shrugs, but nods. “Just give us some time to talk about it before we make a decision.”

“Okay,” Levi answers.

Dan moves his arm to pat Phil’s chest. “Let’s go start dinner.”

Phil nods, allowing Dan to drag him from the sofa and off towards the stairs. Dan’s mind is already building a pros and cons list for Levi’s request, so it’s not until they’re already downstairs that he realizes he and Phil are still holding hands. A little embarrassed, Dan releases his grip, mumbling something about starting some pasta.

"So, do you reckon we really ought to consider letting Levi stay here alone with them?" Phil asks quietly, moving to pull two wine glasses from their cupboard.

Humming, Dan pulls a box of pasta from the pantry, looking for a jar of pasta sauce and huffing when he can't find it. "I think we owe it to him to at least have a conversation about it, yeah."

A contemplative silence settles over the kitchen, punctuated by the sound of Phil pouring wine into the glasses. Dan finally spots the jar of sauce, hiding behind a box of crackers. He sets it beside the pasta before moving to the other side of Phil to rummage through the cupboard for a sauce pan.

"Honestly... As long as he keeps his phone on him, and checks in with us fairly often throughout the night... I wouldn't mind him watching them."

Dan's head snaps up at this, and he stares at Phil in surprise. He hadn't expected Phil to actually be on board with the idea. He tries to school his expression into something more neutral as he fills the pan with water and sets it on the stove, clearing his throat before speaking. "Yeah? It doesn't bother you?"

Phil hands him a glass of wine, shrugging. "Not really. I trust him to be responsible. I mean, we let him stay home from school by himself and he was fine."

Dan chews his lip as he stares at the water. He's not sure how to voice his opinion on this without sounding like he doesn't also think it's probably a good idea. "This is different, though," he says gently, blinking up at Phil. "We'd be holding him accountable for two children."

"I mean, yeah. But, I think he loves them enough that he'd keep them safe and be responsible with them." Phil pauses then, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. "Are you... Do you think maybe we shouldn't let him?"

Taking a sip of the wine, Dan waves a hand dismissively. "That's not it," he says after he's swallowed. "I actually don't think it's a bad idea, I just... I don't know, I just didn't expect you to be so on board with it." He tries not to sound accusing. It's not an accusation.

Phil shrugs, scratching a fingernail against the counter absently. "Am I usually that strict?" He sounds sad, or maybe nervous.

Dan smiles softly. Reaching out, he tugs on the pocket of Phil's hoodie, dragging him closer and resting his head on Phil's shoulder. "Not exactly. Sometimes you're just more cautious about them than I am. You think through the situations more than I do, so sometimes you're a little more reserved about these kinds of things."

There's a soft huff of laughter that ruffles through Dan's curls. "I guess you're right," Phil agrees. He kisses Dan's hairline before gently shrugging him off, moving to grab the pasta to pour it into the boiling water. "So... Have we decided we're okay with letting him stay here with them?"

"I think so, yeah. If you're okay with it." Dan watches him pour the pasta in, reaching for the drawer to hand him a spoon when Phil needs it.

"I am. We'll talk to him after dinner, yeah?"

Dan nods. "Sure."

Phil steps back into his space and wordlessly pulls Dan against his chest again. Dan tucks his hands into Phil's hoodie pocket and hooks his chin over Phil's broad shoulder. Phil wraps his arms around Dan's shoulders and sighs. "You need a haircut," he whispers.

With a snort, Dan tilts his head and bites at a lock of Phil's hair. "So do you, mate."

"Can you call for a hair appointment tomorrow?" Phil requests, his voice a little timid.

Dan can't help but smile at this. Phil's grown his confidence over the years they've known each other, but there were lots of times after first settling into their friendship that he would ask Dan to make calls for him, always claiming he was too forgetful or lazy to do it himself. It took a couple years for Dan to understand the real reason.

"Phil? You alright?" Dan had asked through the bathroom door. Phil had been retching on the other side for close to five minutes now, and Dan was panicking, completely out of his element here. He was barely twenty, he didn't know how to really take care of anyone when they're ill, not like this.

"I'm fine," Phil had called weakly.

"You sound kind of… not fine," Dan had countered, trying for gentle.

It had taken a little while, but eventually Phil caved. "Could you call my mum?"

"Er- yeah? What- why do you need to speak to your mum?" Dan had been completely confused by then. Phil was a massive mumma's boy, but in the year or so they'd properly lived together, Dan had never known him to call her while he was ill.

"I just- please, Dan." Phil had sounded so pitiful, but Dan was more worried now than before.

"Can you let me in, Phil?" Dan had asked softly.

Phil did, but he did not seem pleased by it. He looked everywhere but at Dan, settling back against the tiled floor of the bathroom and closing his eyes weakly. "I need mum to call in a prescription for me."

Dan's brows had crinkled in confusion. "For what?" Before Phil could answer, Dan had remembered Phil mentioning his terrible migraines, and vaguely remembered him coming home with a little white paper bag from the pharmacy. "Your migraines?"

Phil nodded mutely.

“I can call it in. Where's your phone?"

Phil had barely had the energy to look surprised, but after Dan found the phone and called the prescription in, he went about making Phil some soup and doing his best to take care of him as well as he could, with his limited knowledge. Later that evening, with Buffy playing in the background, Phil had quietly told Dan that he had sometimes found it extremely difficult to do phone calls or things like that. “I know it’s stupid and- and everyone else thinks it’s easy, but it honestly just makes me feel so bad that I’d rather just. Not."

"I wish you would have told me," Dan had mumbled. "I can make calls for you. It doesn't bother me."

Many years later, though, and now Dan understands the extent of Phil's social anxiety better than he did back then. Phil does as well, which makes it a bit easier for him to try and get a grip on it, but still, he sometimes struggles. But Dan's always there to help when that happens, and he can't imagine there ever being a time when he isn't.

"Sure. We probably need to get Levi and Jai's done while we're at it." Dan laughs a little before adding, "I reckon we should see if Mia would like a trim, too. God knows that child can't stand to be left out." He smiles against Phil's shoulder when he hears him giggle.

"She really can't, can she?" He muses, his fingers playing idly with the ends of Dan's hair.

"Mm," Dan hums in vague agreement. He sighs before pulling out of Phil's grip to stir the pasta. He pouts when Phil fully steps away, grabbing his glass of wine and taking a large sip. Dan's about to tease him when he hears the unmistakable sound of the twins thundering down the stairs. He rolls his eyes as Phil huffs, clearly slightly agitated at their inability to remember that they shouldn't run inside. "Is it really even worth it to keep chastising them about it?" Dan asks, sipping his own wine.

Phil snorts. "It's the principle of the thing, Daniel."

Still, when the twins burst into the kitchen, Phil doesn't say a word. Dan smirks at him, but Phil pretends he doesn't notice.

"What's for dinner?" Amelia asks, tapping her hands in an off-beat rhythm on the table.

"Spaghetti," Dan tells her, glancing over his shoulder and finding Jaiden staring out the balcony door, probably at his pigeons. He turns to look at Phil, gesturing to their son. "Will you help him with the birds? It's been a few days since we've put seed out."

Phil nods, and Dan focuses on checking to see if the pasta's done. He hears Phil grabbing the bag of bird seed, instructing the twins out the door and onto the balcony. They're gone for several minutes, and when they come back in, Dan glances over at them with a small smile.

"I don't know, Jai-bird. I can't really tell if the birds are girls or boys, but you can name them whatever you want anyway," Phil is saying.

Jaiden seems to consider this. "Could I just name all the fat ones Behemoth?"

Dan snorts.

"Uh, sure, bubby. Whatever you want." Phil sends Dan a baffled look, and Dan only shrugs, grinning.

Amelia and Jaiden settle at the table, arguing over pigeon names, while Phil returns back to the stove, rolling his eyes. Dan smirks, poking Phil in the stomach gently. "Did you find one thicc bird?"

Phil wrinkles his nose delicately. "Ew. Don't say that."

Dan giggles helplessly, stepping away when Phil gestures to the pasta, obviously intending on draining it. He gets as far as the sink, but as soon as he sets the pan down in order to grab the strainer, a little wave of water splashes over the side and onto his hand. "Shit!" he squeals, his eyes flying wide immediately after, glancing between the twins and Dan in a panic.

Amelia gasps. "You said a Daddy word!" She shouts gleefully.

Ducking forward, Dan quickly takes the pan away and turns the cool water on, taking Phil's injured hand and sticking it under the stream. He prays Phil's too stunned to register what she said.

"I'm sorry, I- wait, what?" Phil's head snaps to the side and he glares at Dan.

Well, shit.

"A Daddy word," Amelia repeats, pointing at Dan, as if naming him isn't enough condemnation for her. Dan sends her a dirty look. She just giggles.

"Daniel," Phil starts, enunciating carefully to be heard over the sound of the faucet. "Have you been swearing in front of our children?"

"No!" Dan protests. Phil quirks a disbelieving brow at that. "Okay, well, maybe. But not on purpose! And it was only once," Dan amends.

"Nuh-uh," Amelia argues from the table. "It was twice!"

Dan shoots her a pleading look. "Amelia! Whose side are you even on?"

She hides her laughter behind her hand. "Sorry!" She most certainly does not sound like she means it.

"Hm," Phil hums, sounding unimpressed. "Someone's sleeping on the sofa," he decides.

Dan knows he's kidding, but he plays along, wrapping his arms around Phil and whining. "But... Philll."

"Nope. Shut it, you." Phil tries to keep a straight face as he strains the pasta and returns it to the pan.

Dan releases him long enough for him to get it back to the stove and pour in the sauce, and then he's right back behind him, his arms wrapped around Phil's waist as he nuzzles against Phil's back. "Phil," he starts, voice saccharine sweet. "It's really just a misunderstanding, you know."

"I fail to see how," Phil quips.

Pressing a trail of kisses across Phil's shoulder blades, Dan hums. "I didn't mean to. If I did, in fact, swear in front of them, I assure you it was just an accident. Hypothetically"

Phil seems unconvinced. Dan gently bites at his shoulder. "Yeah, alright. But no more swearing in front of them or we're doing a swear jar."

Dan smiles, kissing the spot he bit. Phil shivers. Dan smirks.

"And," Phil adds, his voice just a touch louder. "You have to make me coffee in the morning. And take the bins out."

At this, Dan scoffs, pulling away enough that Phil can turn around to face him. "No way," Dan argues. "It's your turn to do bins!"

Phil is unwavering, giving Dan a smug smile as he holds up his burnt hand. "I'm injured, babe. Out of commission."

Dan glares. Holding eye contact, he leans toward Phil's hand, nipping gently at the side of Phil's hand.

"Ow," Phil says, with absolutely no conviction.

"That's what I think of you blackmailing me like this," Dan informs him, resigned to his fate.

Phil uses his hand, still just a breath away from Dan's face, to pull Dan's face closer so he can press a kiss to his cheek. Amelia and Jaiden make synced gagging noises behind them. "Thank you in advance for taking out the bins, darling."

"Shut up."

~~~

After they’ve all sat down for dinner, Dan clears his throat. “Levi, we talked about next Friday,” he begins.

Levi puts his glass down and turns to face him, his gaze darting back and forth between him and Phil. “And?”

Dan can’t help but laugh at his impatience. “You can stay here and watch them. But, you have to keep your phone on you, so we can check on you guys every hour or so, okay?”

“Sure,” Levi agrees, nodding. “How long will you guys be gone?”

Phil shrugs when Dan glances at him for the answer. "The event starts at seven, so probably no later than eleven, maybe earlier. Will you be alright here?"

Levi's eyes twitch into a roll but refocus when he probably realizes they're both watching him. "Yeah. I mean, they'll basically just be asleep after you guys leave."

"Right," Dan nods. He feels slightly more comfortable knowing that. "We'll make dinner or order takeout or whatever before we leave, and then you guys can do whatever after that." He glances over at the twins then, who have been mostly quiet, probably only passively listening. "But, you two still have to listen to your brother, okay?"

Amelia glances up at this. She smiles brightly and nods. Jaiden blinks, but then shrugs, which Dan figures is probably the best agreement he'll get from him. "What if he makes us go to bed early?" Jaiden asks, sparing a peek over at his older brother, who's rolling his eyes.

"Well, your bedtime is nine on weekends. So, you still have to go to bed at nine," Dan tells him.

Phil taps the table, causing both the twins to look up at him. He's got a mischievous look on his face. "Dan's right, bedtime is still nine on weekends. But we won't be here," he says this very slowly, enunciating every word. "So you have to listen to Levi when he tells you to go to bed..." He glances at Levi, grinning. "At nine."

Levi gets it first, smirking. "Right. Nine pm, sharp. Got it."

"Yep. Nine pm." Phil winks at Jaiden, and after a second, the boy seems to catch on, and his eyes widen with his grin.

"Okay!" He says gleefully.

Dan sighs. "Philip," he says, exasperated.

"Daniel," Phil replies on a sigh, his lips curled up in a smile.

"You can't just..." Dan starts, then stops. Phil quirks a brow, unbothered, but Dan decides this is one battle he can lose, as really the twins going to bed a little late isn't going to hurt anyone.

"What?" Phil asks, almost challenging.

"Nothing," Dan says, dropping his head to rest on his hand. "Nothing at all."

Phil smiles at him, shaking his head before turning back to finish his dinner. "This might be a little premature," he announces after a second, taking a pause then. The kids turn to glance at him, all of them taking a pause from eating at the tone of his voice. If Dan had his phone on him, it would make a hilariously creepy photo.

"Well, go on, then," Dan prompts. "Don't leave us hanging."

With a barely-concealed grin, Phil sets his fork down, clasping his hands together and studying each of their faces carefully. "This might be a little premature," he repeats. "But who would like to start thinking about what's for dessert?"

~~~

Later that night, after all the kids are tucked in, Dan and Phil find themselves getting ready for bed together, going through their usual nightly routine with big yawns and shared smiles. Phil passes Dan his medication and Dan makes sure Phil removes his contacts, and when they’re finished in the bathroom, Dan leads the way to their bed. He yawns as he flicks off his lamp and crawls beneath the covers, blinking in the low light of the room.

“Are you staying up?” He asks once Phil’s settled on his side of the bed.

“Mm. No, I’m exhausted, actually,” Phil hums in response.

Dan gestures vaguely to the lamp still shining on Phil’s nightstand. “Mind turning that off?”

Phil is quiet as he rolls over and pulls the chain, sending the room into pitch darkness. Dan blinks quickly, forcing his eyes to readjust to the sound of Phil shifting around on the bed, trying to get comfy.

“Cuddle?” Phil asks, his hand rubbing up and down Dan’s arm.

Frowning a bit, Dan shakes his head sheepishly. “I’m not really in a cuddly mood tonight bub, sorry.”

“Oh,” Phil sounds surprised. “Okay, that’s fine.” He sounds like he means it.

Dan gently catches Phil’s hand as he retracts it, bringing his knuckles up to his lips for a gentle kiss. Phil lets out a soft sigh at the contact, and Dan smiles against his skin before releasing his hand.

They lay in silence for several moments before Phil speaks. “You’re not upset with me or anything, are you?” He asks, his voice unmistakably nervous.

“No, not at all,” Dan assures him. “I dunno, I’m just... feeling kinda sweaty, don’t really wanna be snuggled. I’m not mad at you.”

“Alright,” Phil replies. A few seconds pass before he says, “I reckon the kids are excited for Friday.”

Dan smiles. “Yeah, cause you had to go and basically tell Levi to let them stay up late. I’d be excited too,” he says teasingly.

Phil giggles. “Sorry about that. But I honestly think they’ll crash early anyway, just out of habit.”

Shrugging, Dan rolls to blink up at where the ceiling would be if it wasn’t too dark to see anything. “For Levi’s sake, I hope they do.” He chews his lip, his mind swirling with a couple thoughts he’s been considering the last few days. “Do you think maybe Levi is still uncomfortable living here?”

“Hm...” Phil considers it for a few minutes before he answers. “I think... maybe he’s having a harder time adjusting than the twins did.”

Dan nods, wincing when he accidentally chews through the skin on his lip, drawing a little blood. He smacks his lips against the metallic taste, nearly gagging as he tries to speak. “Maybe we should try to spend some more one-on-one time with him,” Dan suggests then.

“Maybe. We could go see a movie together or something? The twins could stay with my brother,” Phil offers.

“That might be nice. Do you think he’d even want to spend more time with us?”

Phil laughs at that. “I mean, honestly... if I was his age, I probably wouldn’t. I’d just want to have my own space and be left alone.”

Dan considers this for a while, and they’re both silent long enough that he wonders if Phil’s fallen asleep. The question is answered for him when Phil scoots closer and drops a kiss on Dan’s temple. “Don’t think too hard, love. We’ll figure something out.”

“Yeah,” Dan agrees passively. “We can maybe ask him about it tomorrow, see if there’s anything we can do to make him feel more at home or something. Do you reckon he’s just missing some of his old stuff?”

Phil yawns. “Maybe. Dunno what we’d do about that.”

Dan nods to himself before patting around until he finds Phil’s hand. He laces their fingers together before nudging at Phil’s shoulder, prompting him to roll over to face the door, allowing Dan to be the big spoon.

“Thought you didn’t want a snuggle,” Phil mumbles.

Dan shushes him. Phil snickers.

“Love you,” Dan murmurs against Phil’s hair a moment later, eyes drifting shut. He’s almost hoping Phil didn’t hear him, the words isolated and completely defenseless.

Phil releases Dan’s hand long enough to reach back and squeeze Dan’s hip gently in a fond gesture. “Love you too. Goodnight.”

~~~

There’s a tapping noise coming from either inside Dan’s skull, or perhaps the door. He realizes, somewhere in his soup brain, that it’s probably the door, but given he’s only slightly awake, he’s not completely positive. It stops and starts a few times, and eventually enough is enough.

They’d separated from their cuddle at some point and Phil is flopped out on his back, while Dan’s curled up on his side. Dan nudges Phil’s hip with his knee in an attempt to wake him. “Phil,” he mumbles. No response. “Phil.” Dan punctuates this with a sort of gentle kick to the shin

“Ow,” comes the mumbled response.

“Phil,” Dan whines, exasperated.

“Hm?”

“Door. Go see who’s at the door.”

Phil smacks his lips loudly in his nearly asleep state. “‘M asleep,” he rebuttals.

And really that leaves Dan only one choice.

“Dan!” Phil nearly screeches, flailing on the bed, suddenly blanket-less and exposed to the sharp chill of the room.

Dan hums innocently from where he’s confiscated all their covers. “Go. Door.”

“Why didn’t you get it?” Phil grumbles, even as he willingly climbs out of bed.

Snuggling down into the blankets, Dan sighs. “You were closer.”

Dan listens to Phil’s footsteps and then the sound of the door creaking open. His ears perk up like some weird superpower when he hears sniffling, followed by a tiny, “dad?”

“Oh, come here, Mia,” is Phil’s answering response. Dan imagines Phil wrapping her up in a hug then, and his heart is gripped with longing and fondness.

“I’m scared of the storm,” Amelia admits between shaky breaths.

“That’s okay,” Phil tells her kindly. “You can come sleep with us, baby. Come on.”

“It’s dark in here,” Amelia whispers as Phil leads her to the bed.

“Hold on, love.” There’s the feeling of the bed dipping, then the click of the lamp turning on. Dan scoots back on the bed to make room, holding out his arms with a tired smile, relinquishing some of his covers. Phil climbs back into bed behind her, pulling the blankets to cover himself as well.

“Night, babygirl,” Dan whispers to Amelia, dropping a kiss to the top of her head before letting his eyes drift shut once more.

His serenity lasts for only a few seconds before he feels something poke his chest. “Daddy?” Amelia whispers. “Are you asleep?”

Dan hums. “Mm. Not anymore,” he jokes.

It seems to go over Amelia’s head, as she replies with a quiet, “oh, sorry.”

Shaking his head, Dan brings her to his chest, checking that the blanket is tucked up evenly around her. “It’s okay, love. Are you warm enough?”

“Mhm,” she replies. “But daddy... I left my stuffy in my room.” She sounds positively devastated.

Dan, who had almost fallen back asleep in the time it took her to say that, tries to push out of the haze of sleep to think up a response. “Mm. Do you have to have it?”

“Yeah,” she whispers.

He sighs. “Alright.” Clearing his throat, he blinks over at his co-parent. “Phil. Babe, Mia left her plushy in her room and needs you to go grab it.”

Phil lets out an exasperated sigh. “Dan,” he states, calm but on the verge of annoyance.

“You already got up and lost some of the warm, you’ll be fine.”

“I hate you,” Phil informs him, squinting over at him in the low light of the lamp that still hasn’t been turned back off.

Dan smiles. “I love you too. Get the bear.”

“It’s an elephant,” Amelia corrects softly.

“Yeah, that,” Dan agrees. “Get her elephant.”

Phil makes a huffing noise and leans down to ruffle Amelia’s hair. “You two are lucky I love you both so much,” he says with a resigned sigh.

Dan dimples up at him, endlessly fond. “Thank you, dear,” he calls after him as Phil makes his way out of the room.

Amelia rolls over to blink up at Dan with shiny, tired eyes. “We’ve got a good dad,” she tells him thoughtfully.

Kissing the top of her head gently, Dan smiles. “Yeah, I reckon we do.”

A few minutes later, Phil returns with the plushy in hand. He leaves the door cracked open, and when Dan quirks an eyebrow at him, he shrugs. “Just in case Jaiden wakes up and gets scared.”

Dan’s lips quirk into a soft smile as he nods. “Good idea.”

Amelia holds her little hands out for the elephant, which Phil hands to her before tucking her in. He stays standing beside the bed for a moment, his fingers tapping against his thigh in a jittery sort of fashion.

“Are you coming back to bed?” Dan asks, his tone teasing.

Phil glances at him, shrugging. “I’m debating.”

“On?” Dan asks when Phil doesn’t elaborate.

Phil gives Dan a pitiful look, bringing his hand to rest on his belly. “I’m hungry.”

Dan rolls his eyes. “You’re not eating in bed in the middle of the night.”

Phil pouts. “Not even a little snack? Just a biscuit?”

“Absolutely not,” Dan snorts, indignant.

There’s a sigh, and Phil pulls the covers back, sliding underneath, resigned. Amelia shifts closer to him and whispers something in his ear. Phil’s eyes widen in surprise before he looks to Dan, his face full of glee. “Is that right?” He says, voice teasing.

“What are you two whispering about?” Dan mumbles, feeling very left out.

Amelia glances over her shoulder at him, giving him a very pitiful face. “Nothing,” she says, smiling innocently.

Phil grins before sitting up, reaching over Amelia to gently pet Dan’s hair, definitely a gesture of someone who wants something. “Dan,” he begins, his voice already full of smugness.

“No,” Dan interrupts, staring at him resolutely.

“But-“

“Absolutely not. You get crumbs in my bed, you‘re sleeping on the sofa.”

Phil looks absolutely abashed. “But, Daniel, you wouldn’t send our sweet little girl to sleep on the sofa, would you?” The smugness intensifies.

Dan narrows his eyes, his gaze flicking between the two of them. “What did you tell him, Mia?”

She smiles, patting Dan’s arm gently. “I asked if I could have just a tiny snack. A little one.”

Phil blinks at Dan pointedly. “And how can we say no to her? What kind of parents are we if we let her go hungry?”

Dan snorts at that. “Both of you finished your dinner and had dessert. I don’t think either of you are going hungry.”

“Daddy, just a little snack? We’ll bring you one too,” Amelia pleads, her little brown eyes so full of hope and innocence. Dan has no will against it.

“Fine.” They cheer quietly before he shushes them. “But,” he continues. “You can’t eat in here. I’m not kidding about crumbs in my sheets. Eat it in the kitchen, alright?”

Amelia nods excitedly before climbing over Phil, already desperate for the promise of food. Phil looks positively delighted as he leans over to press a kiss to Dan’s cheek. “You’re the best,” he says happily.

“Mhm,” Dan grumbles, waving them away.

Phil glances over at him, tilting his head to the side a bit. “You coming?”

Dan smiles at him gently, shaking his head. “Nah. I think this should be your thing with her. I don’t think I’m the midnight snack parent here.”

Something fond crosses Phil’s face, and he glances over to where Amelia is waiting for him by the door, scared to go to the kitchen by herself probably. “Alright. Want us to bring you something?”

Snorting, Dan shakes his head again. “I’m not breaking my own eating in bed rules, so that’ll be a no. But keep it quiet, yeah? I don’t want everyone in this house to know the sin you two are up to.”

Phil sticks his tongue out and Amelia covers her giggle with her elephant. “Be right back, then.”

Dan nods and gets comfy while they disappear down the hallway. He listens for a while at the quiet sounds of them whispering, and he’s glad the kitchen is closer to their room rather than the twins’ room. He hears what sounds like clinks of spoons and he guesses they’re probably having cereal. He wants to snort at the predictability of his best friend, but even sitting a room away he can’t pretend to be anything other than fond.

When they return, Phil’s carrying Amelia, who is sleepy and smiley in his arms. He’s got a wide grin on his face, and Dan can’t help but return it when they climb into bed. “Good snack?” He asks.

Phil nods and Amelia giggles. “We had some cereal,” she informs him.

Dan looks Phil dead in the eyes, giving him the most bland look he can muster. “Shocker,” he says, deadpan.

They maintain eye contact for just a moment before bursting into a fit of laughter. Amelia looks confused, but happy.

“You and your cereal-thiefing ways,” Dan mumbles, raising his arm and letting Amelia snuggle up to him. Phil looks down at the bed with a sheepish grin as he lays down. “Night, Mia. Love you.” Dan punctuates his words with a kiss to the top of her head.

“Night, daddy,” she mumbles, clearly already on the verge of sleep.

Phil blinks at him expectantly. Dan rolls his eyes. Phil pouts.

Leaning over Amelia carefully, Dan sloppily kisses Phil’s cheekbone. “I love you too, you absolute toddler,” he says, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Phil looks more than pleased when Dan pulls away. Dan watches as he snuggles down under the cover, tucking the blanket around their daughter carefully before closing his eyes. “Love you, Dan,” he mumbles when enough time has passed that Dan honestly thinks he may have already fallen asleep.

Dan blinks the moisture from his eyes. “Goodnight, bub,” he murmurs, the sound of Phil’s deep breaths already filling the silence.

~~~

Saturday is the same uneventful sort of day as it usually is in the Howell-Lester household, the day moving slow with everyone off school and work for the day. Dan is in the kitchen making an early lunch for everyone when Phil walks in, talking on his phone. Dan smiles at him, which Phil returns, a little less enthusiastically.

“Yes, I know, Mum,” he’s speaking into the phone. “I told you, Dan and I needed to think about it. We can’t just force them to go to your house for Christmas, can you imagine how awkward they’d feel?” Phil rolls his eyes as his mum speaks, probably chastising him for keeping her grandchildren away from her.

Dan can’t help but wince on Phil’s behalf. It’s strange enough suddenly being parental figures for three children, but add in the fabrication of their romantic relationship and, well, Phil’s family is feeling very left out of the loop, despite the fact that they’ve met the kids over FaceTime countless times. Dan knows the other man is holding onto what’s left of his sanity by a thread at this point, with all the pressure from his mum and the obvious obstacles that come with parenting. Dan definitely doesn’t envy his situation right now.

“Right. But there’s five of us now, mum.” Phil sends Dan a pleading look, and Dan can’t help but snicker. Phil rolls his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. He hardly ever gets cross with his mum, so Dan knows something else must be bothering him. “I’ll talk with Dan about it, okay? I can’t make any promises, though. I...” he looks over at Dan then, something conflicting flashing across his face. “I have to put the kids first now, mum. We’ll see how they feel about it, okay?”

Dan tears his gaze away, focusing back on the sandwiches he’s meant to be crafting. He listens as Phil says his goodbyes, quietly murmuring for Phil to tell Kath he loves and misses her on Dan’s behalf. Phil relays the message and hangs up. A long sigh escapes his mouth then, and Dan can’t help but glance over at him.

Phil looks exhausted. His eyes are tired and his shoulders are slouched in a way that Kathryn would be rather appalled by. Dan’s heart feels a stab of sympathy for him.

“Rough talk?” He murmurs, trying to be careful with his inflection. He doesn’t want Phil to think he actually knows what they were discussing, even though he does.

“Yeah,” Phil whispers after a while. “Mum wants us to come to hers for Christmas.” Dan nods, staying quiet as he clears up the mess he’d made of the counter. Phil sighs again. “I don’t know what to tell her.”

Dan waits to see if there’s more, and when it’s clear that there’s not, he turns to face him, leaning on the counter. “Well, do you want to?”

“Do I want to what?” Phil asks, bewildered.

“Go to your family’s house for Christmas,” Dan elaborates, keeping his tone neutral.

Phil looks surprised, like he hadn’t thought to actually consider it. “I... well, I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it. I mean, I’m hoping we still have the kids by then.”

Dan hates the stab of fear he feels at the implication that there might be an alternative to that, but he forces it down, smiling and stepping closer to wrap his arms around Phil’s waist in a hug. He thinks idly about how this is their first hug of the day. “I reckon we ought to at least consider it.”

“Hold on, wouldn’t your mum be upset if we went to mine instead of hers for Christmas?” Phil asks, almost sounding accusatory.

Dan snorts, pulling away. “Not likely. She’d want to see us, sure, but their big family Christmas dinner is always the Saturday after anyway.”

“Oh,” Phil says, somewhat surprised. “You’ve never told me about that,” he sounds offended.

“I guess it never crossed my mind?” Dan replies, a little puzzled as to why Phil seems to care. “Either way, my mum wouldn’t be fussed.”

Phil looks away as he considers it. Dan steps out of his personal space to give him room to think, moving around the kitchen and setting the table for lunch. Finally, Phil says, “I’ve never not been at my family’s house for Christmas Day.” He whispers it, like he’s ashamed.

Dan turns to glance at him, raising an eyebrow in surprise. “Yeah?” He says lightly, prompting him to elaborate if he wants.

“I don’t want to force the kids to go somewhere else if it’ll make them uncomfortable,” he continues quietly. “And I don’t want to not see my parents on Christmas, but…” He takes a breath, looking up at Dan with something vulnerable in his eyes. “I won’t leave you alone with the kids on Christmas.”

“Well...” Dan pauses to consider their options. “We could invite your family here, just for Christmas Day. Or we could speak to the kids and ask how they feel about Isle of Man for a holiday. You never know, Phil, they might actually want to go. They’ve met Kath enough through calls and all that, I really don’t think they would mind going.”

Phil nods slowly, his eyes becoming a little unfocused as he spaces out, deep in thought.

Before they can reach any sort of agreement, the twins come barreling into the kitchen, followed by their older brother, who looks vaguely apologetic. Whatever thoughtful silence that had existed in the kitchen before is completely gone when they enter.

“I tried to tell them not to run,” Levi says, shrugging.

At the same time, Amelia grabs the back of a chair, hopping up and down behind it as she asks, “What’s for lunch?”

Jaiden is the only quiet one, drifting to the balcony doors and gluing his face to the glass to watch for his pigeon friends.

Dan sighs, somewhere between content and exasperated. “We’re having sandwiches,” he tells Amelia. Smiling reassuringly at Levi, he says, “I think it’s a lost cause at this point, really.”

The teenager shrugs before going to sit at the table, glaring at his sister pointedly until she halts her jumping, looking sheepish as she slides into her chair. Dan smiles at this before looking over at Phil, who’s studying the table activity with a look of almost curiosity. Dropping a gentle hand to his arm, Dan waits for his gaze to refocus before speaking. “Love, could you get some drinks while I pass out food?”

Phil nods, offering a partial smile. “Sure.”

Dan waits until Phil’s turned to collect cups before he goes about setting out the plates for everyone, calling Jaiden to the table and promising they can feed the pigeons later.

After everyone has food and a drink, Dan allows himself to have a seat as well, making sure everyone has what they need before tucking into his lunch. The talk at the table varies from school, to video games, and to the excitement of being home alone the following Friday. Phil is much more present now, joking with the twins and listening carefully when Levi speaks. Dan’s so full of such a sense of normalcy that the thought of the true nature of the situation very nearly drifts away entirely.

Eventually everyone is finished eating and Levi offers to help clear everything up after the twins run to play in their room. Dan sees this as a perfect opportunity to ask him about how he’s feeling about his current living situation, and a shared glance with Phil says they’re on the same page. “Sure, bud,” Dan agrees easily. “Why don’t you help Phil clear the table while I put the rest of this stuff away.”

Levi nods, clearing plates away quietly. Phil glances over at Dan rather pointedly and Dan nods. Phil clears his throat, a little bit awkwardly, before speaking. “Levi,” he begins, his tone soft. The teen’s gaze snaps up almost immediately, a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face until something on Phil’s makes him relax slightly. “We were wondering how you’re feeling about living here so far.”

Levi looks vaguely uncomfortable, but shrugs. “Alright, I guess.” He pauses. Then, suspiciously, “Why?”

Dan shrugs from where he’s stood putting the sandwich stuff away. “We just want to make sure we’re doing what we can to make you comfortable here.”

“So, if there’s anything you need or want that we don’t know about, you can tell us and we can work on getting it for you,” Phil explains, giving Levi a bright smile.

Levi seems to consider this. He still looks vaguely suspicious. “Oh... okay. Well, nothing comes to mind.” He clears his throat awkwardly.

“And that’s fine! Just, you know, if you think of anything. You can tell us.” Phil says, giving Dan a soft glance.

Dan nods at him in agreement before turning to smile at Levi. “Yeah. You can always talk to us about anything.”

Levi glances between them, his gaze somewhat confused. “Right... okay.”

Feeling a little awkward at how poorly that seemed to go, Dan clears his throat. “I know it’s awkward for you,” he says quietly, trying not to make Levi feel even worse by having this conversation with Phil there. Levi gives him a wary look. “But we want you to feel at home here, if it’s possible.”

There’s a silence, and Dan turns to tidy the pantry up a little, allowing Levi the space to think or leave if he’s feeling uncomfortable. After a few moments, he sighs. “I... I appreciate that, really,” he says slowly. “But, like... you don’t have to try so hard.”

Dan glances over at him sharply in surprise, his gaze flicking over to find that shock mirrored in Phil’s. “Oh. Okay,” is all Dan’s mouth can come up with.

Levi shrugs awkwardly. “Just... it’s awkward enough, yeah? Like suddenly you two have a teenager to look after, and I mean, I’m glad you let me be with my brother and sister, but you can worry about them, not me.”

It takes a long moment for Dan to process this, and when he does he feels his eyes burn. “Levi...” he starts, his voice pained.

Before Dan can even begin to explain how wrong it is for Levi to think they shouldn’t care about him, Phil speaks. “Levi, no. We’re not- we care about all of you. We didn’t just let you in like some stray off the street, okay? We wanted you here, from the moment we realized that the twins had a brother they’d been separated from.”

Levi looks surprised, as if they hadn’t already tried to relay this information to him before. “I-“

Phil interrupts him, holding a hand up to pause his words. “As awkward as you think this is for us, it’s not. We consider the three of you a part of our family, okay? Not just the twins. You’re just as much our child as they are, and you will be until your case manager decides otherwise. And we want to do things for you, just like we do the twins, if you’ll let us.”

Levi looks actually, properly stunned. He blinks rapidly, his gaze flicking between the two of them before finally dropping to the floor. “Okay.”

Phil’s shoulders seem to relax at that. “Good. Now, go get your things ready so Dan can drive you to your group session.”

Without another word, Levi leaves the room, although he does give Dan a bewildered look as he leaves. Dan shrugs at him, unsure how to explain Phil’s sudden outburst of emotional connection.

Left alone with him, Dan looks over to find Phil leaning back against the counter, rubbing the palms of his hands against his eyes and taking shuddering breaths. Without even thinking, Dan moves over to him, tugging his hands away and sweeping gentle fingers over the tears pouring from Phil’s eyes. “Shh,” Dan whispers when Phil lets out something like a sob. “You’re alright, baby. I’m so proud of you. That- that was such a lovely thing to tell him.”

“I love them so much, Dan,” Phil cries, dropping his head to Dan’s shoulder suddenly. Dan stares at the side of his head in shock. Phil obviously cared for them, but he’d never gotten this openly emotional about his affection for the children before. Seeing it was making Dan sniffle a little as well.

“I know, Phil. I know.” Dan brings one hand up to stroke the back of Phil���s head while the other caresses down his spine.

“I can’t believe Levi thinks he’s- he’s- like, a charity case or something! He’s our son!” Phil’s nearly sobbing now, and Dan tightens his grip.

“Shh. Quiet now, love. Shh, I know,” Dan murmurs soft words as Phil manages to work it out. He was a little out of depth here, as Phil was normally the more rational, less tearful one between the two of them. Apparently today was the exception, however. “You’ll cry yourself into a migraine if you aren’t careful, baby.”

Phil sniffles a few more times after that, finally getting a grip on his emotions. Dan waits for him to pull away first, and when he doesn’t, Dan begins to pepper kisses to his cheek and temple and ear. “Sorry,” Phil whispers.

Dan presses a soft kiss to his earlobe. “Nothing to be sorry for. Everyone cries.”

It’s quiet for a bit, but eventually Phil tilts his head, catching Dan mid-smooch. Dan flushes at their close proximity, but before he can pull away or apologize, Phil tilts forward just enough to peck Dan’s lips with his own. It’s hardly a kiss, more just a brush, but Phil looks completely unapologetic when he pulls away.

“Thank you,” he mumbles, hugging Dan tightly.

Dan’s not sure what he’s thanking him for, so he stays silent. They’re interrupted by the sound of footsteps, and Dan steps carefully out of Phil’s grip. Phil clutches his shirt anyway, and Dan can’t help but smile at that. “Ready to go?” He asks Levi, who’s hovering by the door looking awkward.

“Yeah,” he replies. He looks down, scuffing his shoe against the tile. “Phil?”

Phil looks surprised when he glances over at him. “Yeah?” He says, his voice a little scratchy from crying.

Levi seems to consider his words carefully before replying. “Er- thank you. For what you said earlier.”

“Of course,” Phil says immediately.

The teen nods, not lifting his gaze. Evidently that’s all that he’s got to say.

Dan tilts his head to look at Phil, who looks back at him with a surprised, but proud face. Dan doesn’t even think about holding back, dropping a soft kiss to Phil’s mouth like it’s nothing. Like it doesn’t send his blood racing and his heart stuttering. Like he does it every day.

Phil looks... well, happy. Dan shocks himself with the thought, but his mind only supplies that description of the look on his face when Dan pulls away from the brief kiss. “Drive safe, okay?”

“I will,” Dan nods. He pushes Phil’s quiff up from where it’s drooping. “Need anything while I’m out?”

“Snacks?” Phil asks, his voice sweet.

Dan rolls his eyes. “You’re going to snack yourself into a sugar coma, bub,” he teases.

Phil grins, his tongue caught between his teeth. “And you’ll take care of me while I’m in a coma, right?”

Dan kisses his nose. “If I have to.”

They grin at each other, and somewhere, Dan feels some relief in his heart or mind or the void where his soul should be. It feels a little bit like a fading resolve, or some wall being chipped away at. He feels lighter than he has in weeks, standing in his kitchen banting affectionately with his best friend in the whole world

“Go, he’ll be late,” Phil prompts, pushing Dan away.

“Movie night when we get back?” Dan asks, moving to the door.

Phil smiles and nods excitedly. “And pizza.”

“Perfect. It’s a date.”

~~~

Several hours later, after an overwhelming amount of pizza and a passive watch of Disney’s Hercules, Dan and Phil see the kids off to bed, much to the chagrin of the twins, who for all their complaining, stumble down the stairs like little drunks. Dan teases them for it, and Amelia, predictably, teases him right back, reminding him of the time he tripped down the stairs, stone-cold sober. Much giggling on the twin’s behalf later, after Dan has tried, and failed, to defend himself, the kids finally say their goodnights and head to their bedrooms.

“I’m so tired,” Dan moans the minute he steps into their room. He flops down onto their bed, star-fishing out in that way Phil does that usually annoys him so much.

“Sucks, bub,” Phil chuckles. “Gonna take your jeans off?” He asks, rummaging through their dresser.

Dan considers it. He really is very tired. “Is there some way I could perhaps convince you to do it for me?” He asks sweetly, fluttering his eyelashes up at Phil when the older man glances at him. He’s mostly kidding.

Phil’s eyes roll up to the ceiling at this, but sighs as he walks over and deposits his pajamas onto the side of the bed not currently occupied by Dan’s noodle limbs. “Undo ‘em for me,” he instructs, bringing his hands down to tug Dan’s socks off for him.

Dan hadn’t expected this. Honestly, he’s not sure he would’ve done it for Phil, really for no reason other than how it would feel to undress his best friend. Especially now that he knows there’s some very not-platonic feelings floating around his heart. Just that conscious thought, accepting those feelings he has for Phil, sends Dan’s blood rushing to his head, making him dizzy.

“Dan?” Phil calls quietly, patting Dan’s thigh to get his attention. “Do you actually want me to?”

“I... I’ll do it. I was just kidding, really,” Dan stutters out. He clears his throat. “Thanks, though. You’re a good friend.” He’s glad he’s still laying on his stomach, so he doesn’t have to meet Phil’s eyes as he says it.

There’s the feeling of hands running over his calves, gently massaging, and Dan sighs. “Of course, bub,” Phil quietly murmurs. “I’m gonna go take a shower, okay?”

“Yeah,” Dan agrees passively.

Phil squeezes his leg. Dan listens to his footsteps, allowing his eyes to flutter shut as the bathroom door clicks shut.

He doesn’t mean to fall asleep, but when he drifts back into the present world, it’s to the feeling of something tugging underneath him. “Mph?” He huffs a confused sound.

“Shh,” Phil whispers softly. “It’s just me, Dan. I’m trying to cover you up, scoot over a bit.”

After blinking the sleep out of his eyes a bit, Dan realizes that he’s still laid on the bed, wearing the same clothes he laid down in. Phil’s stood next to him, working on tugging the blanket out from under him so he can cover him up. “My jeans,” Dan complains.

Phil nudges him to sit up. “Go take them off and brush your teeth. You’ll wake up in the middle of the night anyway if you don’t go to bed with a clean mouth, remember?”

Dan grumbles but does as he’s told, stumbling off the bed and into the bathroom, unbuttoning his jeans as he goes. After taking a wee and tugging the stupid jeans off his long legs, Dan brushes his teeth slowly, feeling groggy from his short nap.

“Don’t forget to take your meds, babe,” Phil says, poking his head into the bathroom and tapping the doorframe to get Dan’s attention.

Nodding, Dan waves him off. Phil leaves him to it, allowing Dan to finish his routine alone before going back to their bedroom to join him. Phil’s sat up at the headboard, his glasses sliding down his nose as he looks down at the worn pages of a book. Dan crawls into bed beside him, leaning his head on Phil’s shoulder. Wordlessly, Phil tilts his head and kisses Dan’s forehead. Dan is so, so warm.

“What are we reading tonight?” Dan asks softly, too lazy and tired to actually read the page.

“Ready Player One,” Phil replies, turning the page. “Want me to read to you?”

Dan snuggles against his side shamelessly, wrapping his arm around Phil’s stomach. “Yeah.”

Phil takes a moment to pull the covers up and over Dan, smoothing them over his leg and patting his knee before bringing his hands back to the book. Phil’s voice is low and soothing as he reads, and Dan is very nearly asleep when he hears a soft knock on the door. They both turn to face it in sync, and Dan has to bite back a giggle at the movement.

“Come in,” Phil calls, loud enough for whoever to hear, but quiet enough that it won’t wake anyone asleep.

The door swings open after a second to reveal Levi, who shifts awkwardly from foot to foot, avoiding their eyes, cradling his hand awkwardly.

“Hey, bub,” Dan says softly. “What do you need?”

Levi steps closer to the bed, holding his left hand up with a grimace. “I, uh... kinda cut myself. I didn’t know where the band-aids were,” he says, looking the epitome of awkward and uncomfortable.

Dan immediately climbs off the bed and heads into the bathroom, gesturing for Levi to follow. “I’ll give you some to put in the other bathroom, I thought we had some but Phil’s the actual clumsiest person alive so sometimes we run out,” Dan explains with a smile. Levi offers a quiet laugh, hovering in the door.

“I am not!” Phil protests from the bedroom.

Dan rolls his eyes, but mouths, “he is,” causing Levi to laugh for real. Dan grins, gesturing to Levi’s hand. “Want me to look at it?” He offers gently.

Levi shakes his head. “It’s barely a scratch, honestly. I don’t even know why it’s bleeding, it doesn’t hurt.”

Dan sends him a suspicious look as he rummages through the cabinet. “What happened, anyway?”

“I was working on that art project I told you about,” Levi replies. “The paper mache thing? I was cutting the paper and the scissors just slipped.”

“Hm,” Dan hums neutrally. “Be more careful, alright? You might need your hand later in life,” he jokes.

Levi rolls his eyes but nods. “I will. It’s really just a scratch, though, honest.”

“I’m sure,” Dan agrees. “But make sure to wash it out and put some antibacterial gel on it, okay?”

Looking on the verge of another eye roll, Levi manages a more impatient nod, holding his hand out for the bandaids. “Got it,” he concedes.

Dan supplies him with a bandaid for now and several extras, making a mental note to buy a new box the next time he’s out. He follows Levi out, going to climb back in bed as Levi shuffles to the door.

“Levi?” Phil calls gently.

The teen turns around, raising his eyebrows. “Hm?”

“Everything at school going alright?” Phil asks. “I feel like we never get a proper chance to ask you about it with the twins always around.” He smiles as he says it, softening the almost accusation in his words.

Levi shrugs. “It’s alright. It’s school,” he says, his voice betraying nothing.

“Yeah,” Phil agrees with a twitch of his lips. “I get what you mean. But so far, it’s okay? The teachers aren’t too bad and the kids are alright?”

“Yeah, they’re fine,” Levi says. He gestures at Dan vaguely. “I think he gave me all the easy teachers because they’ve all been pretty nice.”

Dan is about to protest but Phil sends him this lovely smile and Dan shuts up immediately. “Good, good,” Phil says. “I guess we’ll let you get to bed, then.”

Levi nods, waving at them a little awkwardly. “Alright. Night, guys.”

“Goodnight, Levi,” Dan calls after him as he walks out the door. He waits a beat to make sure Levi is well down the hall before turning to look at Phil. “You really are a good dad,” he says, almost conversationally.

Phil smiles at him fondly. “I should be. I’ve been practically raising you for the past ten years.” His tone is joking but it still embarrasses Dan, just a little, to be reminded of their slight age difference.

Dan can feel the wicked grin making its way onto his face. He can’t control himself, obviously, with the joke presented so perfectly. He leans in, resting his chin on Phil’s shoulder and pressing a feather-light kiss to Phil’s ear before whispering in his most sultry voice, “Daddy.”

“Ew!” Phil splutters, immediately shoving Dan away. He looks absolutely mortified when he’s put some space between them. “Never say that again, Dan,” he warns, sounding very, very serious, and very, very disturbed.

Dan erupts into a fit of laughter at Phil’s reaction, swiping tears of mirth out of his eyes. “Oh my god. You’re too easy! And the look on your face,” Dan sighs, catching his breath. He snuggles back against Phil with an innocent smile that Phil returns with a glare. “I promise I won’t say it again. I just had to, honestly.”

“You really... didn’t,” Phil argues, flicking his gaze up so he doesn’t have to meet Dan’s eyes.

Pressing his lips to Phil’s cheek is Dan’s apology, which Phil seems to accept if his sigh and the way he wraps an arm around Dan is any indication. “That really wasn’t funny,” he mumbles, collecting his book back on his lap and flipping it open again.

“Sure it was,” Dan replies easily, watching with a cringe as Phil returns to his dog-eared page. “It was funny to me.”

Phil knocks his head against Dan’s gently as reprimand. “You’re doing an awful lot of chatting for someone who was nearly asleep only half an hour ago, bub.”

Dan smiles against his shirt. “Alright, alright. I’ll be quiet.” Phil huffs like he doesn’t believe it but clears his throat to start reading. Before he can, Dan interrupts him. “Can you start at the beginning? It’s been a while since I’ve read this and I don’t remember who half these people are.”

There’s a groan, and Dan can’t help but bite back a laugh. “No, I’m not starting at the beginning, you horrible boy. This is supposed to be my quiet reading time.”

“Sorry,” Dan lies. “But you offered to read to me, so...”

“I’ll start at the beginning of this chapter. And if you get confused I’ll explain what’s happening. But otherwise shut your mouth and go to sleep, yeah?” Despite the irritation he’s obviously feeling at Dan pestering him, Phil’s words are still incredibly fond and bear no actual unkindness.

“M‘kay,” Dan agrees. “You may proceed.”

There’s a pause as if Phil’s waiting to be interrupted, but when he isn’t, he jumps right into the story, reading it at just the right volume for Dan to listen passively, his eyelids getting heavier and heavier with every paragraph. Eventually he nods off on Phil’s shoulder, but in their position his head lulls to the side and the movement jolts him awake again.

“You okay?” Phil whispers.

“Mm. Mhm. Sleepy,” Dan mumbles back.

Phil turns down the corner of his page, making Dan cringe, before placing the book onto his bedside table and turning off the lamp. He’s careful not to jostle Dan too much as he guides him into a proper sleeping position, tugging Dan’s pillow closer to his own and guiding his head to it. Dan allows his eyes to drift shut as Phil settles behind him, pulling the duvet up and over their shoulders.

“Warm enough?” Phil whispers against Dan’s hair.

“Mhm.” Dan reaches back until he finds Phil’s hand, pulling his arm to wrap around his waist. He feels a kiss against his neck and smiles. “Goodnight,” he murmurs.

Phil hums a response into the lack of space between them, but Dan’s already drifting back off to sleep.

[love-takes-work]

Who wants a rare merch post

I just want to randomly show you some of my merch that’s anywhere from somewhat rare to rare af

For two reasons: One, if you’re a collector and you didn’t know this stuff was out there to get, now you know! and two, if you happen to have some of these things but aren’t too attached to them, chances are you could sell them for a good chunk of money. A few of these items I’ve seen for sale for over a thousand dollars since I’ve gotten them. (I have never paid that much for an item.) Some of them could be worth hundreds. So surprised at what some of them are selling for on eBay! And that I was lucky enough to get most when they were cheap!

First, let’s do TOYS:

SuperCute Plushies Peridot and Lapis

Complete set of Pint Size Heroes, including the rare water Gems

Complete set of Backpack Hangers, including rare Tiger Millionaire

Complete set of Figural Keychains, including rare Wedding Ruby and Sapphire

A Tiger Millionaire 2016 SDCC-exclusive mini-plushie

All of the 2017 SDCC Exclusives

All of the 2018 SDCC Exclusives

A GIGANTIC GARNET PLUSH??

LootPets Squeaky Cookie Cat dog toy??

2016 SDCC Big Donut original minis

I have many other toys but I don’t think they’re rare?

Kitchen Stuff

One of these lunchboxes is rare but I forgot which

Color-changing Mug (featuring Connie, Steven, and Jasper)--I think this is pretty rare?

I’ve got water bottles, glasses, coffee mugs, and other accessories but I think these are the only rarely found ones.

Art Stuff

Missy Peña’s limited edition art print sold through Cartoon Network Collective

A set of posters that come in mini tubes--

18 different designs (13 mini-posters, 5 locker posters)

(some of them on my wall)

Six years of SDCC signing sheets (2014 to 2019)

Gallery Nucleus 2014 flier

I also have several more easily found posters, but they are readily available and not rare.

Media:

Pretty rare I think, vinyl set of Soundtrack Volume 1

Vinyl Single, “Stronger Than You” / “Love Like You”

Of course I’ve got the cool DVD sets and digital soundtracks but they aren’t rare.

Comics

I have some rare variant covers in my various collections. Probably can’t put them all here.

Original comix

Ongoing comix

Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems covers

Harmony Covers

Special Issues Covers

Zines, related materials, and compilations

SDCC Zuke/Tang Zines with all 3 covers

(Some non-rare comics not pictured. No books included; I believe none of the books that have been released are rare.)

Trading Cards

I’ve got the trading card binder and complete base sets and a lot of pink foils and some sketch cards but what people will be interested in is these:

All the Totally Fabricated Bubbled Gems Cards

A bunch of autographed cards

This is Dee Bradley Baker as Lion, Ashly Burch as the Rutile Twins, Zach Callison as Steven Universe, Michaela Dietz as Amethyst and as Purple Puma, Estelle as Spoon, Kate Flannery as Barb, Erica Luttrell as Padparadscha, Aimee Mann as opal, Kate Micucci as Sadie Killer and as Sadie Miller, Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald, Matthew Moy as Lars Barriga, Grace Rolek as Cloud Connie, Charlyne Yi as Navy and as Ruby, and the promo card of Estelle as Garnet from SDCC.

Accessories

Spinel Heart Enamel Pin

Crystal Gem Quartet large buttons, con exclusive

Rose Quartz Flag patch

Gem Scarf and Rose Quartz Pin from LootForHer:

Complete set of dog tags, including two rare ones

The Answer temp tattoo from book event

I also have a ton of stuff like earrings, necklaces, rubber bracelets, hair bows, gloves, socks, caps, lanyards, patches, and keychains, but I think they’re all easy to find.

I have a crapton of shirts, six dresses, some underclothes, shoes, costumes, and some sweaters and hoodies, but I don’t think any of them are rare enough to make this list either.

And I have board games, cards, puzzles, and video games; none are rare as far as I know. Up in my house there are some things like magnets, air fresheners, the Rose Quartz flag, the Lion coin bank, stickers, and various bags like the Cheeseburger and Hot Dog, towels, pillowcases, wallets, calendars, and journals . . . but again, far as I know they are not rare.

And I don’t know what category I’d put these in but

CN Steven Penny???

Official Karaoke Microphone???

Let me know if you’re wondering about whether an item is in my collection that I just may not have or may not have known was rare? (Yikes this post got long.)

[aeonmagnus]

TFNation: Transformers Animated Season 4 Premiere Information:

We’re at TFNation 2019 and the presentation of Transformers Animated Season 4 has just concluded.

To recap, in lieu of a script reading at this year’s TFNation, Marty Isenberg took to the stage with the outline for what would have been the premier of Transformers Animated Season 4: The Trial of Megatron. This was presented by the entire original voice cast reading their parts of the outline.

The highlights of this three-part story that wasn’t are:

The Protoforms are handed over to the Cyber Ninjas and their new sensei, Dai Atlas.

Sari is not one of the protoforms. She’s something else.

A wake is held for Prowl.

Ultra Magnus dies and names Optimus Prime as his sucessor.

Sentinel Prime bribes Bumblebee with a spot on the Elite Guard to endorse him as Ultra Magnus’ successor. This drives a wedge between him and the rest of the team. He later reconciles by refusing to follow along with Sentinel’s bribery.

Ratchet and the other science bots build Sentinel Prime a “Powermaster” armor suit.

Ironhide and Jazz become members of Team Prime.

Omega Supreme has a hard time fitting in on Cybertron as people view him as a weapon of mass destruction. Omega decides to dedicate himself to saving lives.

The Decepticons attack the Energon farm Bulkhead came from. Obsidian leads the attack. A later raid sees Team Prime sans Bumblebee fight Strika’s Team Charr.

Sentinel gets played by Megatron, first leading the Elite Guard on a wild goose chase then distracting everyone with a public trial.

Rattrap (here named Rattletrap) is Megatron’s defence attorny. He gets Megatron off all charges.

Megatron launches Trypticon Prison into space.

Optimus (using the Powermaster armour) leads his team on Omega Supreme in pursuit. Bulkhead stays behind on Cybertron to fix the damage Trypticon launching caused.

Omega VS Trypticon leads to Omega being damaged and remaining in ship mode.

Optimus and crew (minus Ratchet) break into Trypticon prison and knock the rocket city’s power offline by overloading the power grid.

Megatron throws his soldiers into the city’s reactor in a desperate bid to keep the prison powered (Lugnut jumps in willingly)

After a showdown with Optimus Prime, Trypticon prison crashes to Earth – landing on top of Dinobot Island.

A huge thanks to the TFNation crew for organising this event, Marty Isenberg for sharing this with those in attendance and the entire Transformers Animated voice cast for reuniting to reprise their roles.

The performance was presented in aid of Mary’s Meals. You can donate to this good cause at www.marysmeals.org.uk/donate

TFNation: More Transformers Animated information from TFNation 2019:

At his panel on Sunday 18 August 2019, Marty Isenberg shared some additional details on Transformers Animated, including a few more things we might have seen in a possible Season 4.

Some key points included how Hasbro wanted to do some toys (Powermaster Optimus Prime and Marauder Megatron) and how this would have influenced the show. There was also reference to how Optimus Prime would have got his Movie flames (another toyline influence, intended to sell a redecoed Optimus). Spare a thought also for Beachcomber – the team wanted to have him killed off in Season 3, in a cut scene. He’d have died in Season 4 instead, and if that got cut, he’d have died in Season 5.

Lastly, they never fully figured out Sari’s story. But Sari’s true purpose would have figured into the series finale.

Read on for all the details from the panel.

Powermaster Prime was a Hasbro request to allow Hasbro to release a larger size / priced character. Marty worked it into the premiere.

Hasbro also requested flames on Optimus, movie-style. This would have been a repaint on the toy. It popped up in the outline as signifier of a high honour awarded to Optimus.

Focus would have been on Mini-Cons, but the other Decepticons would have eventually come back.

Megatron was completely losing it at this point in the story. Described as “not quite Beast Machines genocidal, but on the way there”

Marauder Megatron was a Hasbro request, they wanted a triple changer design. Intended to make Megatron a huge threat to the point he didn’t need minions.

Writers never figured out exactly where Sari was going. But her journey was the story of Transformers Animated – idea was the finale would have been the end of her journey.

Beachcomber was intended for Season 3. He was supposed to catch Longarm turning into Shockwave. His reaction? “Dude, not cool”. Then Shockwave kills him. This was cut for time.

Beachcomber was then intended for a scene in Season 4. Blackout would have killed him.

If the Beachcomber scene hadn’t happened in Season 4, he’d have died in Season 5. Marty didn’t like Beachcomber.

Unicron considered “too big for Animated”

No plans to have had Megatron become Galvatron in Animated.

Shattered Glass episode was intended for Season 3. It got bumped when the Season 3 opener was made into a three party.

Marty doesn’t remember who would have been on Slipstream’s own team of Decepticons.

Optimus as a young leader was Marty’s idea. He likes writing underdogs and characters with something to prove rather than big heroes.

Blitzwing as a character was born from Marty wanting to write a character who turns into anything. Because that didn’t work as a toy, Derrick Wyatt suggested using a triple changer. Marty then came up with three personalities. Derrick was then inspired by He-Man’s Man-E-Faces. In-show origin would have involved Blackarachnia and been told in Season 4.

There was a running joke about having a transforming character called “Tractor”. He’d have been an Energon farmer.

Blurr was not intended to come back – he was “gone and dead” as far as Marty was concerned. But, the Botcon story where Blurr is revived “is canon. Sure. Why not?”

Team Charr were not specifically planned to be used (no stories built around them) but Marty thinks they would have “inevitably” been used.

Ratchet probably ran off with Omega Supreme as the Ark, and nobody else knew rather than him being intentionally given to Optimus.

Characters like Red Alert and Rodimus would have been recurring characters.

Marty thinks Obsidian in the treatment may have been a slip on his part, and could have been Strika in the final cut.

No plans for more flying Autobots.

Human villains were phased out – “fell by the wayside” – as the series progressed. Not a Hasbro pushback.

The timeslot for the Unicron Trilogy and Animated was based on a deal. The first run was on a decent timeslot but if the ratings were not good, it’d be moved to an earlier timeslot.

Cartoon Network wanted Marty and the crew to “age up” the show for season 3, to reflect the network’s other shows at the time (specifically the new Ben 10 and Clone Wars)

Bulkhead was the first character Derrick Wyatt designed.

Lockdown was based on wanting a version of Death’s Head that Hasbro could own.

Chances of actually seeing a new season “slim to none”. Comic a smaller investment, but up to IDW to decide if they want to do it. Marty would be happy to write it.

Marty says if you want to know more, get the Allspark Almanacs

[liithium]

new york’s very own lorraine “raine” isaiah was spotted on broadway street in manolo blahnik heels . your resemblance to liz gillies is unreal . according to tmz , you just had your twenty fifth birthday bash . while living in nyc , you’ve been labeled as being heartless , but also ambitious ...

i guess being a geminiexplains that . 3 things that would paint a better picture of you would be the scent of burnt matches , leather jackets , the sound of 80s soundtracks on repeat  . ( my parents were con artists in their younger age and its how they became rich and gave me the life i have today )  &  ( cisfemale & she/her  )

HELLO NEW PALS. my name is jules and i am from ny and i miss home sm so i’m blessed to be here. i’m gonna put this on my blog somewhere but here’s all the info on my gal pal raine here for the moment.

the basics ––– –

name:  lorraine widow isaiah

nicknames: raine, “if you have a death wish then call me by my full name”

age: twenty five

Birthday: may 25th

gender:  Female

relationship status: single

physical appearance ––– –

hair: dark brown

eyes:  blue

height: 5′8″

distinguishing marks:  has a scar just below her left eye

tattoos:  way too many to name

piercings: ears, nose

common accessories:  she always wears rings, bracelets and necklaces that have to match her outfit ofc

personal information––– –

profession:  arts dealer

major: graduated with a major in business/ minor art history

hobbies:  sketching, painting, DRINKING, shopping, ruining people’s lives

languages:  english, russian, italian

birthplace:  long island, new york

relationships ––– -

children:  none

parents:  isla marshall-isaiah, mother. lazarus isaiah, father.

siblings: none

other relatives: none worth speaking about.

wanted connections ––– –

friends ofc

someone who she can confide in

ENEMIES bc we love drama

ex-flings/current flings aaallll the flings

additional information ––– –

** i will write a full bio which will be posted on my page hopefully soon but here are the major points for her

violence, and alcohol tw !!!!

raine grew up with very tough parents. they had a difficult life ( ties into her secret ) and they taught her young how to defend herself and wasn’t rly shielded from anything. her childhood wasn’t rainbows and unicorns bc they wanted to toughen her up

she is wicked smart. always best in her class. as much as she has a mouth on her she can get physical as well

mini hc #1 after she got in trouble for her first fist fight her parents got her a celebratory cake

she grew up in the city but spent a lot of time out east on long island because “better views for painting” in her opinion

her parents have money which she used to her advantage to get her name out there and network

definition of “ work hard, play harder”

she sells her own artwork and also deals in the sale of valuable art pieces. she has a small gallery at the moment that shes trying to build up.

is pissy towards those from chicago tbh bc she’s worked hard and will be Mad(tm) if they invade her space personally

fashion til the day she dies, her mother always had designer everything and she learned it all from her

she learned how to fight from her father aka bad bitch who won’t take no shit

she found out in her late teens about what her parents used to do for a living and how they got most of their riches from conning people across the country before they settled down w their real identities in nyc

she doesn’t hate them for it she fights wanting to go down that road sometimes bc she got most of her toxic traits from them and her upbringing

raine Loves a good party, get her a bottle of jameson and she’s good to go. loves every single formal event or red carpet she can go to and since she’s pretty well known there isn’t an invite that she won’t get... unless she caused a riot which has probably happened...more than once.

in conclusion she is a bad bitch w big dick energy. she’s used to her big personality being v offputting so she overcompensates being extra w everything

this is a whole big mess im all over the place idk man BUT PLS COME PLOT W ME ON HERE OR DISCORD I WANT ALL THE PLOTS PLS N TY

[percussionmassagerblog]

10 PROS & CONS OF MASSAGE GUNS FOR RUNNERS

People that are always trying to find the very best & best method to call home through hard races and workouts. And who could blame individuals? The capacity to recuperate quickly means athletes may endure education hard, which theoretically, means advancement to getting a quicker, stronger runner. Of course, each time a fresh restoration technique or even product reaches the endurance community, then it is inclined to show viral. Compression socks. CBD oil. Epsom salt tub. Percussion / vibration massage firearms are no exception for the principle.

In reality, as I write this article, every advertisement that this is appearing within my own interpersonal networking packs is to get an alternative new rub gun down. Apparently everybody is expecting on the bandwagon, from quite long recognized restoration application brands, to businesses you may possibly have definitely never been aware about. Thus, what's the offer with percussion / Percussion Massager firearms? Achieve they actually get the job done? Let us dig deeper.

A massage is actually a handheld resource which massages muscles by supplying rapid bursts of force at concentrated, short-duration stimulation. Think about a mini-jackhammer, especially parts of your muscles.

The notion is the fact that the movement and impact, frequently called shaking treatment, helps loosen tight and sore muscle, very similar to that of a massage, in addition to stimulate the flow of blood to aid one to increase healing.

The massage firearms are an average of battery powered, also have various rate settings to change the intensity out of the massage. The majority of those massage firearms arrive with interchangeable minds to concentrate on different muscle tissues and portions of the human body.

Let us first discuss the advantages of these massage programs for runners.

Decreased DOMS

For anyone not familiar with the definition of, DOMS is the tender, tight experience which pops anywhere from 24-28 hrs after a powerful work outside or race. It's brought on by microscopic tears which ofcourse occur in muscle fibers throughout exercise. DOMS isn't simply embarrassing, however it might interfere with future work outs by leaving you sense too sore to work out, or inhibiting movement routines as a result of aggravation.

Plus one as straightforward as changing your running gait as your hamstrings are tender may lead to additional injury else where.

Essentially, the shaking therapy will help in avoiding mechanical overload of their muscular fibers, leading to less of one's above microscopic tears that the muscle.

Higher Efficiency Exactly the Exact Same above research shows that utilization of percussion and/or vibration treatment before exercise might assist:

Decrease tissue adhesion, thus increasing array of flexibility Reduction accumulation of lactic acid in the bloodstream, so decrease time before fatigue May offer an earlier decrease in pain (origin ). Each one these things can subscribe to increased functioning performance.

Greater Blood Circulation = Faster Recovery When used article exercise, percussion massage-therapy firearms might help temporarily increase the flow of blood into the muscle. Heightened blood circulation helps hasten the healing process by helping remove waste product in tissue that is damaged. What's more, the specific blood provides oxygen and nutrients into the muscular mass, and also help stimulate regrowth and recovery of their tissue.

Pain Alleviation Let us imagine you worked outside or dashed hard, and no matter of one's absolute best preventive measures, you still have muscles that are super sore. Massage. In other words, percussion massage firearms feel-good about sore muscles.

However, what does this mean?

According to the theory, sensory nerves carrying vexation sense and sensory nerves carrying vibratory sensation both transmit signals towards precisely the exact afferent neurons, which then sends data to a mind. The nerves triggered by vibratory feeling impair the afferent pain nerves, hence barring or preventing the material delivered by the nerves who felt pain. To put it differently the shaking by the percussion caress rifle may shut the nerve pathways into painful inputsignal, preventing pain sensation in traveling into the leading nervous system.

Give More Anxiety than Massage therapies I have no idea about you, but I am definitely the most intense at using self indulgent programs such as"the rod" and sometimes perhaps polyurethane rollers. Why? Because I can't physically use the tension needed, or I am at precisely the exact same time frame chicken to take to (as it strikes ). The battery life run, mechanical percussion/vibration massage firearms, but do not return. They have the seriousness that my muscles that are sore desire once I can not...or will not...take action .

Which would be the Disadvantages of Knead Guns? Here Is What you Want to're aware of the drawback of those recovery tools:

User Error Have you some idea what it is you're doing? Are you currently trained in the science in addition to implementation of massage? Chances are the answer will be extremely little (it's okay, the majority folks are not ). And consequently, often there is a chance you may wind up utilizing the massage gun erroneously. Or, you may possibly well be massaging a region that's experiencing known pain, also maybe not targeting the location which really needs help with healing.

I reached to someone Who's trained in massageand she consented up on." It (the massage weapon ) is a instrument, so it is just like the consumer " Says accredited massage remedies therapist Michele Zeberlein. "Should you understand just what direction to go and manners, then it's really a fantastic tool. However, in addition, it can cause further problems is employed in the incorrect way. "

It's required to learn the safety instructions which include your percussion massage handgun. So if in doubt in the event that you're targeting the suitable area for helping any pain you're having, make reference to your doctor or maybe massage therapist.

Stroke firearms utilized on harms such as stress, sprains, broken bones, and sometimes extreme swelling may potentially cause your injury more powerful. They are able to further hurt the wounded tissue, and sometimes even fortify swelling speed. This is only going to delay healing period, and might cause further annoyance.

Hypertension (elevated blood pressure) Rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis, arthritis, or fibromyalgia Varicose veins

Muscular dystrophy or alternative muscular ailments As always, reevaluate to a medical doctor when you have questions regarding respect to massage gun usage and some other injuries, chronic complications, or other health conditions such as pregnancy.

Bulky / Enormous / Noisy While maybe not true for each and every percussion massage weapon, more than a few of these are able to be bulky or heavy. The very first time that I implemented one, I had been astonished by just how much sexier it had been anticipated (today, do not misunderstand me, an average of the ExoGun DreamPro we have is 2. 5 weight. Still, I did not expect the burden ). It primarily is logical, nevertheless, since the battery has to be large enough presenting capacity to the engine which goes pretty fast.

Rely to a Solar-battery While virtually all the massage firearms available on the industry at this time chance to be corded, they still have a battery that has to be charged. Different from a normal foam roller or hand-held tool which could possibly be human-powered, a massage weapon wont work without becoming an energy resource.

Therefore, if you should be carrying your knead rifle into a lengthier event -- state an ultra marathon or stage race, then you have to become conscious of battery lifetime.

Bundle cost This is huge. I have seen percussion massage prints vary between $49. 9-5 completely as much as $1, 200. Sure, you read that right -- a dozen hundred cash to get its small edition, goldplated, G3PRO Theragun. Many folks us seem to put at the 100 -$300 range. All these are certainly the investment, and maybe not really a cheap tool such as a roller coaster.

You may be wondering exactly what these acronyms mean -- and also why that they matter. Thus, allow me to help.

Stroke Length: that can be called amplitude. To spell out, just how far does the mind of this massage gun travel. Or simply, how heavy can it move in your own muscle. Percussion exact firearms will routinely have a increased stroke span than guys designed to concentrate on vibration.

To put it differently, what number"percussions" (sometimes the mind of this massage gun will likely reach on your muscle) each and every minute.

Stall Force: how the burden it's possible to apply on the apparatus before it dries and ceases changing. To put it differently, just how much pressure could YOU placed on the rifle before motor ceases proceeding.

Other items to think about: Additional variables to take into account are now actually going to boil down to personal taste. Consider precisely what you want (and desire ) out of a massage weapon ). Those variables might be:

Battery life or interchangeable battery packs Weight Develop (could it be easy to put up? Would you reach specific sections, such as the back or shoulders? ) Noise place Attachment heads

Therefore...Can I Want a Massage Gun Only for Running Retrieval? The thousand dollar question -- will probably soon be these massage firearms worth every penny?

Maybe.

The boundless marketing effort in my face book feed directly now may possibly be attempting to embarrass me these would be the best things since sliced bakery. But massage firearms are merely an instrument. They'll in no way completely block or solve sore tissues, and they'll never guarantee decreased healing period.

While there's loads of researching pointing into the efficacy of percussion and shaking healing for muscle soreness and healing period, there's also viable research that says differently.

My thoughts: In case you should be excited about purchasing a massage first use one from the pal or with a massage therapist. See whether you take pleasure in the stroke, also notice some other positive aspects.

After that, browse reviews.

You are able to acquire hundreds of brands of massage firearms available on the industry at the moment. Ordinarily the greater price label does not necessarily relate to some fantastic nutritional supplement. Conversely, a relatively inexpensive massage rifle does not suggest it's crap.

And finally, be sure to actually enjoy the massage gun. Many folks will likely delight in the impression of percussion and shaking massage rifles, while some could see them anything but relaxing. Of course in the event that you are not going to make use of a restoration tool or procedure as you can not endure it (such as me personally along with ice bathrooms ) so of course it wont be quite good in any way.

[betabites]

D6 Star Wars

After a long long hiatus from the Star Wars setting and WEG D6 in particular, I have returned. 2nd Edition was literally the first RPG book I read, before I understood what RPGs were at all. I borrowed it from the library, where it was filed with the video game guides. I also read video game guides for games I’d never played, so I think I just figured all the numbers in the book were more of the same.

One crippling D&D addiction later, I rediscovered D6 Star Wars. In a very round-about way, using the Firefly system for Star Wars, and coming across D6 resources. I tried a few more kitbashed systems, and I have finally decided to, you know, actually run the D6 system. Sort of. I’ve got thirty odd years of folks’ house rules, several editions, and successor games to collate. I’m borrowing from 1st edition, 2nd edition, 2nd edition revised, REUP, Mini Six...

In any event, here are my current D6 House Rules.

Consolidated Skill List

By REUP, the skill list is insane. I checked out the 1st edition list, and more or less reverted to it. I went with my standard high society/underworld/outdoors breakdown of Protocol/Streetwise/Survival, because it’s got excellent coverage. Trying something new to me with Bargain/Command/Con social split, on the basis that it’s more gameable than D&D’s scare/lie/persuade ...thing. Brawl and Melee are redundant, but the ‘big fighter’/’quick fighter’ split is really hard to fight against. Currently, you get no benefit from having both.

Dexterity

Blasters: covers all blaster pistols, carbines, and rifles, as well as more esoteric ranged weapons like slugthrowers, disruptors, bowcasters, etc. 

Dodging: used to avoid blasterfire, and other such hazards.

Heavy Weapons: covers crewed weapons and anything that can be described as ‘man-portable but’.

Melee: covers all sorts of hand-to-hand combat, armed or otherwise.

Throwing: used to chuck grenades, ewoks, priceless idols, etc.

Knowledge

Astrogation: used to calculate hyperspace jumps, as well as basic knowledge of trade routes, planetary quirks, and the like.

Protocol: knowledge of bureaucracies, high society, rules-obsessed alien societies, etc.

Scholar: knowledge of education, learning, & research. Specializations indicate specific fields of study.

Streetwise: knowledge of the criminal underworld, the common folk, urban environments.

Survival: knowledge of how to survive in dangerous natural terrain, including dealing with local lifeforms.

Mechanical

Comms: use of communication equipment, including ciphering & code-breaking.

Gunnery: use of fixed weaponry (emplaced or vehicular).

Piloting: flying or driving starships, repulsorlift vehicles, walkers, etc.

Sensors: use of sensor equipment, and analysis of sensor data.

Shields: use of shields.

Perception

Bargain: use this whenever the social participants are trying to reach a deal (typically over credits). Also includes bribery.

Command: use this to coordinate a group of people, or to browbeat the weak-willed.

Con: use this to trick people to do something that isn’t in their best interest.

Gambling: use this to win in games of chance. 

Hide: use this to hide items or people, or sneak up on someone.

Search: use this to find something specific.

Strength

Athletics: any sort of activity relying on general fitness, such as running, jumping, climbing, swimming, etc.

Brawling: use for hand-to-hand combat, especially unarmed or with improvised weapons.

Lifting: use to perform short feats of strength.

Stamina: use for protracted activity of any sort.

Technical

Demolitions: make things go boom. Includes how to maximize the effects of explosions, and how to improvise your own.

Medicine: make the hurting stop. Advanced procedures require additional knowledge.

Programming: working with software.

Repair: fixing what’s stopped working.

Security: working specifically with security technology, including, but not limited to, locks, alarms, and surveillance networks.

Character Points & Force Points

Spending a Character Point (CP) gives you +1D on a single roll, or allows you to declare a minor change (there’s a shift change in ten minutes, this guard is hooked on deathsticks, etc). Spending a CP converts it into XP. XP, not CP, is spent to increase your attributes & skills. This means that you have to spend your CP (and be awesome) in order to become better.

Spending a Force Point lets you add +5D on a single roll, or allows you to declare a major change (this guard is a Rebel sympathizer, the last prisoner almost finished an escape tunnel).

The Wild Die

The Wild Die, on a 1, will either just be counted as a 1 (with no additional effect), or generate a complication (severity depending on the total dice roll and success/failure of the attempted task). Players are encouraged to suggest complications. Complications do not have to trigger immediately; they can be saved by the GM (up to 6) and deployed when they’ll cause the most damage. [This last bit is mostly for my current game, which is heist-focused. At some point, things are going to go horribly wrong.]

Static Defenses (directly from Mini Six)

In order to reduce rolling, your character’s defenses are static.

Dodge = (Dodge dice value x 3) + pips in Dodge

Parry = (* dice value x 3) + pips in *

* use your higher total skill in Brawl or Melee.

Soak = (Strength dice value x 3) + pips in Strength + Armor value

You can, as your only action ‘Full Dodge’ or ‘Full Parry’, which adds +10 to the appropriate defense. 

Spending a Character Point adds +3 to a static defense, spending a Force Point adds +15.

Minions, Henchmen, & Villains

Minions are defeated by any hit that beats their Dodge/Parry.

Henchmen are defeated by any hit that inflicts a Wound or worse.

Villains track damage like PCs.

The Force

Force is a sixth attribute, ranging from 0D to 6D for all creatures. ‘Force Sensitive’ just means you start with 1D in Force. More to be decided when/if it becomes relevant.

Dice-Based Resource Depletion (from Cascading Dice)

Limited resources are assigned a die value (from d4 to d20). When you use some of those resources, roll the associated die. On a 1, reduce the die value one step (i.e. from d8 to d6). If you roll a 1 on a d4, you’re down to one use of your resource left (one blaster bolt, 50 credits, etc).

Large expenditures may require multiple rolls at the same die value, but careful use (high rolls on attack, bargaining, etc) may allow things like ‘roll 3, pick 2’, rerolls, or the like.

Examples:

The operating expenses for a struggling restaurant is a d4, representing about 200 credits. One financial mistake (rolling a 1), and they’re down to 50 credits, and rent is due…

A heisting crew establishes a fund for their latest job. The fixer scraps together some liquid funds from her info broker job, about 6000 credits, giving the crew a d6 fund. They buy a speeder bike for the job, requiring multiple rolls on the d6 (since it costs ~2000 credits). They roll a 1, and their fund goes down to a d4.

A bunch of rebel scum raid an Imperial Weapons Depot, and come away with a speeder full of explosives. They gain a d10 of Explosives, which is good, because they’ve got a bunker to crack...

[thiinka]

Hey there! I know I’m a stranger but I was recently admitted to CUI (which I heard you attend?) and I was wondering your personal opinion on it! I think it’s an awesome school but I’m not entirely sure if I want to attend, ya know? Could you offer some advice? Thank you either way!

Oh heck yeah! I’m really curious as to who you are and how you found out I go to CUI, haha.

Personally? I love this school and the time I’ve spent here, and I’ve had moments walking across campus thinking, “I’m so glad I went here,” no joke. There are several reasons for that: small size of basically everything, the faculty, the location, and the cafeteria (mostly). 

Everything is small here. You can walk across campus in 5 minutes. The classes are always under 30 students (except for precious few general classes like the freshman intro class and general physical fitness lecture) and I’ve mostly been in classes of 10 or under in my majors’ classes (Math and Graphic Design). Also kinda on the topic of rooms, the dorm rooms are cushy comparatively to other dorms. The non-quad buildings are suite-style and the quads are apartment-style, with a toilet and shower per 4 students, not a floor of students sharing a stall bathroom. Also, you don’t have those brick walls that a lot of other universities have, you can actually put thumbtacks into these walls. And there are professors in residence! I live in the Uppers Quads, where there are 3 separate families of professors with their kids, and personally? I love it. Uppers has always felt like a big ol’ family to me, especially with hall events.

The small size helps out the faculty, and all the professors I’ve had except for like... one or two have been amazing and passionate about what they’re teaching. I took a look on your profile and it looks like you like history and psychology? I’m not even in those areas and I still have personal experience/positive grapevine talk about those professors. For me, Dr. Armstrong (also highly involved with Honors goings-on) was the professor who got me to finally like history in CHST 201 after high school killed it for me, partially because Ancient Greek and Roman history is his baby. He also takes students on Getty Villa field trips at least once every semester, once to see the play that happens out there, and it’s great. Dr. Cosgrove was my professor for Intro to Psychology, and she was fantastic with a class of 4 students including me! I know about other professors (Flores, Francisco, Karges, Matthews) and that they all have excellent reputations. Word of mouth is swift here, and you *will* get recommendations on whose classes to take. It’s a bit more likely that adjuncts will provide inferior learning, but faculty who care about the students interview them, so it’s not nearly as bad as a large university.

Personally, my experience with the Mathematics and Art faculty has been so amazing. Math (Prof Melberg and Dr.s Croll, Schulteis, Taylor) and Art (Soo, Hayes, Dunham, Kruger) are all so invested in their students’ success, no matter if it’s a GE or a major-specific course. There’s also a bit of group discussion encouraged as a mix with traditional lecture at least for Math.

Additionally, I’m in the string orchestra, and while ensemble directors all have this “Music is the only thing you should be focusing on” attitude to some extent, I really love interacting with them. Also, they’re super helpful in networking with theater and church gigs if you ask (Dr. Held recommended me to one of the theater profs, Dr. Vezner, to play violin, and subsequently got pulled back for nice paying gigs several times). Not as applicable if you’re not in music, but we will have the new music and theology building open for use starting I think in Fall 2019. And even if you’re not in music, we have *so many* great performances for strings, winds, choir, *handbells*, and the mini theater productions. CUI (and our donors) really loves the arts, man. 

The location is excellent, especially if you’re from out-of-state. Irvine is literally ranked the safest city in California, and UCI with all of its amenities (the library!!) and other fun stuff (University Town Center, Woodbridge area) is right next door. You’re a stone’s throw from the beach and the mountains and theme parks and several malls (The Spectrum, South Coast Plaza, Fashion Island, The District). Some of these places are 100% close enough to walk or bike to, and I’ve done so many times. I guarantee at some point you’ll make friends with someone who has a car, or if not, there’s a shuttle service that goes out on weekends.

And finally the cafeteria. It’s comparatively better than other college cafeterias in my opinion. There’s always something you’ll want to eat; just don’t let Senior Preview Day trick you on the daily quality of the food! Also, breakfast is consistently good, since you can order eggs and omelettes how you’d like them. Meal plans work on an allotted x meals a week deal, starting on Monday, at either 19, 14, or 10, or you can appeal to have no meal plan past freshman year in case of dietary stuff. 

Some cons? If you’re not too into Jesus then the required Theology (Old Testament and New Testament) probably won’t be cool. The school *is* affiliated with LCMS Lutheranism, and I’ve had my fair share of Catholic vs Protestant joking around with professors. All Theology and some History profs are Lutheran pastors. As a very personal note for when I turned 21, the campus is a dry campus for the sake of reducing liability issues, and it’s pretty frustrating to me. If you eventually have a car, parking is free but holy crap is it hard to find a parking space sometimes!! I’m not involved in sports, but we apparently do well?? but we don’t have a football team. The bureaucracy has gotten really congested with clubs and orgs over the past 5 years I’ve been here. 

But I mean, in short? Like I said way up there, sometimes I get moments where I’m walking across campus and I think, “I love this place and I’m so glad I came here of all places.” I met my rock-solid group of close friends and my boyfriend (long story) here, I have professors who I really do consider friends (and for the end-of-the-year math dept. dinner? Almost like family! Three of them are moms!) and who are so invested in my and other students’ success, and I believe I can truly say I've grown tremendously as a person while going to CUI because of these people. 

That, uh... mini-essay kinda encapsulates my personal experience with and feelings about CUI. I definitely recommend campus visits to each college you’re accepted to if you’re undecided and able to, though. Good luck picking where you want to go, and I hope this helped you understand CUI better!

[kodanshamanga]

New York Comic Con is just around the corner, and that means another NYCC of epic new panels, news announcements, con-exclusive goods, and more from Kodansha Comics and Vertical Comics! In New York October 4 through 7? Look for our Kodansha Comics / Vertical Comics booth (#2109) and events at New York Comic Con and Anime Fest, featuring The Ghost in the Shell: Global Neural Network, Sailor Moon Eternal Edition, APOSIMZ, BECK creator Harold Sakuishi, and more!

(For the most up-to-date info, check out our blog post here!)

GUESTS!

Harold Sakuishi It’s been announced that Harold Sakuishi (BECK, Seven Shakespeares) is receiving the International Spotlight Award from the Harvey Awards this year. He will also be making appearances at New York Comic Con as a ComiXology Originals guest—doing signings at the comiXology booth (Artists Alley #1B5), appearing at the International Creator Spotlight panel, and meeting you in person! For more details on Harold Sakuishi’s rare Stateside appearance, click here.

Kodansha Comics’s BECK and Seven Shakespeares are now both available exclusively as comiXology Originals!

The Ghost in the Shell: Global Neural Network Creators The Ghost in the Shell: Global Neural Network is debuting at this year’s NYCC (on-sale date: October 21,) the minds behind this brand-new original comics anthology will be sharing the process behind the making of this project. Plus they will be doing signings at the Kodansha Comics booth (#2109) several times throughout the NYCC weekend. Here are the list of guests:

Alejandro Arbona –– Editor, Black Magick, Old Guard David Lopez –– Artist, Mystic, New Mutants Brenden Fletcher –– Writer, Batgirl, Motor Crush Genevieve Valentine ––Writer, Mechanique, Catwoman Alex de Campi ––Writer, Smoke, No Mercy

SIGNINGS at the Kodansha Comics Booth (#2109) Come and get your fresh copy of The Ghost in the Shell: Global Neural Network signed by the creators! Friday, October 5, 5-6 pm Saturday, October 6, 5:30-6:30 pm Sunday, October 7, 11:00-12:00pm

Make sure to grab a copy of The Ghost in the Shell: Global Neural Network debuting at NYCC, or preorder now!

PANELS!

Thursday, October 4

Sailor Moon Presented by Kodansha Comics The original Sailor Moon manga returns this year in a beautiful, definitive Eternal Edition, and this is your chance to see what’s in store! Come see new cover illustrations, color pages that have never been printed in any English edition, and details and videos about Sailor Moon live shows and concerts. Plus, ask some of the Sailor Moon Eternal Edition localization team your questions and win fabulous prizes straight from Japan! Date Thursday, October 4 Time 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM Location  Anime Fest – Main Stage

Friday, October 5

The Kodansha Comics and Vertical Comics Big 2019 Mangastravaganza The publishers of classics like Akira, Sailor Moon, and Battle Angel Alita, as well as new hits like Attack on Titan, APOSIMZ, Pop Team Epic, and Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, reveal their exciting slate of titles for 2019 for the first time. Don’t miss this chance to be the first to see where manga in the US is headed next! Talk to the editors and publishers of your favorite series, get free manga samplers, and win fun, exclusive prizes straight from Japan. Date Friday, October 5 Time 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM Location Javits Center, Room 1A24

Saturday, October 6

Making Manga: From Mind to Magazine to Your Bookshelf A team of manga professionals presents a unique inside look at how your favorite Japanese comics are created. Learn about the differences between American comics and manga, then experience a live demonstration featuring the translation, design, and lettering of an English-language manga. Ask a question and you could win a free book! Presented by Kodansha Comics. Date Saturday, October 6 Time 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM Location  Anime Fest – Mirai Stage

International Creator Spotlight – Harold Sakuishi

Master manga creator Harold Sakuishi has built a storied decades-long career with his kinetic style and award-winning manga, like the musically charged BECK and historical drama Seven Shakespeares—both available via ComiXology Originals. Join comiXologists Matt Kolowski and Kiersten Wing in this rare chance to hear from renowned mangaka Harold Sakuishi in an intimate and wide-reaching conversation, along with Sakuishi’s editor at Kodansha, Yohei Takami, and Kodansha USA’s Misaki Kido—it’s a panel no manga fan can miss!

Date

Saturday, October 6

Time

12:15 PM – 1:15 PM

Location

Javits Center, Room 1A02

The Ghost in the Shell: Global Neural Network Creator Panel Meet the minds behind this brand-new original comics anthology, supervised by The Ghost in the Shell creator Shirow Masamune, including Alex de Campi (Twisted Romance), Brenden Fletcher (Motor Crush, Batgirl), David López (All-New Wolverine), and Genevieve Valentine (Catwoman). Speak with the writers and editors about their contributions to the Ghost in the Shell world, and see the future of Section 9! Date Saturday, October 6 Time 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM Location Javits Center, Room 1A24

WHAT’S FOR SALE?

At Kodansha Comics / Vertical Comics Booth #2109!

PRESTREETS!

APOSIMZ, volume 1 Battle Angel Alita, Deluxe Edition volume 5 Battle Angel Alita: Holy Night and Other Stories The Ghost in the Shell: Global Neural Network

CON EXCLUSIVE MERCH!

Attack on Titan Poster Set Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Enamel Pin Set Cells at Work! Acrylic Keychain Set Devils’ Line Manuscript Replica Pop Team Epic Chara Dice Pop Team Epic Selfie Sticks Pop Team Epic Acrylic Stamps

FREEBIES!

EDENS ZERO global pin (the US Edition) with Kodansha Comics newsletter sign up! …Details Kodansha Comics x Vertical Comics con exclusive tote bag with gift with purchase of $25 or more The Seven Deadly Sins, Devils’ Line, or Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card mini shikishi free with purchase Pop Team Epic keychain with purchase of Pop Team Epic volume 1 & MORE! *while supplies last.

PLUS – DON’T MISS OUR OFFICIAL SAILOR MOON POP UP SHOP! Visit Kodansha Comics at NYCC Javits Center Booth #2109 to pick up a Sailor Moon discount flyer coupon and exclusive Sailor Moon merchandise straight from Japan, such as Moon Stick, original illustration hand towel, handkerchief, and more!

[natalieluneva1]

10 of the best community platforms for online entrepreneurs

Facebook and Slack used to be the best community platforms for online businesses: they are free, everyone is using them, and they are easy to use. However, new online community platforms emerged to offer better interface, more customization opportunities, and the chance to create your own mini social network.

In this article, we will cover what online community platforms are, why software companies should build communities, how to get started, and which solution to choose out of hundreds of options.

What is an online community platform?

Online community platforms are tools that allow users to create profiles, share content and connect with other people. These platforms are often used for exchanging information about topics of interest, connecting groups with similar interests, or bringing the same product users together.

Similar platforms are usually used by community managers, marketing managers, customer support managers, and product managers to engage users, retain customers, facilitate the support process, and gather product feedback.

Why should SaaS startups build communities?

Online communities are a way for people to come together and chat about topics of common interest. They form a dynamic social network that is both engaging and informative, as well as users on online community engagement platforms are more likely to convert and stay loyal to the brand.

For users, communities are an ideal place to go and get advice from people who have been in their shoes.

How do I start an online community?

Starting an online community is more than just creating a Facebook group or a Slack channel. Online community platforms are designed to help you organize, grow and manage communities of people around shared interests. They come with the tools that can help you create and manage a community, like:

– A discussion forum with the ability to start new threads and reply to existing ones,

– Ability to provide incentives for members such as badges and points.,

– Opportunity to send private messages,

-Organize events, and more.

All you need to do is to pick a solution from the best community platforms we list below, sign up for a free trial or a demo, and understand which one meets your requirements.

Which are the best online community platforms?

Every business that is planning to launch a community is unique and gives importance to a unique set of features. Below we are discussing the 10 best community platforms and comparing them in terms of

        key features,

        onboarding,

        support,

        pricing,

        free trial opportunity.

Let’s start comparing!

Further reading: How 13 SaaS Companies Use Community Marketing to Grow

#1 Higher Logic, Member and Customer Engagement Platform

Higher Logic is the best community platform software for membership organizations and software companies who prefer a highly customizable solution. They don’t offer fixed pricing plans but instead, they offer use cases and scalable solutions just for your industry.

Key features

        Mobile app

        Discussions

        Libraries

        Ads

        Polls

        Event calendar

        Directory

        Admin- and user-created blogs

Pros

        Webinars on Youtube

        Email, phone support

Cons

        No free trial

        No free version

Pricing

Customized pricing, no pricing plans

#2 Tribe, Customizable Community Platform

Tribe is one of the best free online community platforms that offers paid plans with advanced features as well. It’s for businesses in different industries and helps engage and delight customers.

Key features

        Unlimited spaces

        Theme customization

        Custom domain

        Analytics

        Moderation

Pros

        Free version

        Email and chat support

Cons

        No phone support

        No live webinars

        No onboarding for Basic and Plus users

Pricing

        Basic $0

        Plus $49/m

        Premium $199/m

        Enterprise

#3 Vanilla Forums, Online Community and Customer Forum Software

Vanilla Forums is one of the best community platforms for

        customer support leaders who want to enable self-service and minimize support costs

        customer experience executives who want to level up customer experience,

        products managers who want to gather product feedback,

        marketing and brand champions who want to build loyalty and increase revenue.

Key features

        Pageviews

        Staff users

        Community Essentials Bundle

        Integration Bundle

        Developer Bundle

        Analytics

        Forums

        Knowledge Base

        Q & A

        Ideation

        Gamification

        Themes

        Moderation

        Groups

        Events

Pros

        Email, chat, phone support

Cons

        No free trial

        No free version

Pricing

Customized pricing, no pricing plans

#4 Ning, Online Community Building Platform

Ning helps users create their own social network and stay connected.

Key features

        Up to 100,000 members

        Up to 100 GB storage

        Drag & drop builder

        Photo & video

        Events & posts

        Activity feed

        Multiple blogs and forums

        Customized groups and members onboarding

        Analytics & GA tools

        Broadcast messages

        Integration with social networks

        Social sharing

        SEO tools

        Ability to run ads

        Custom domain mapping

        Custom HTML design

        RSS feeds on homepage

        API access

Pros

        14-day free trial

        Feature demos on Youtube

Cons

        No live chat and call support for Basic and Performance users

Pricing

        Basic $25/m

        Performance $49

        Ultimate $99

#5 Mighty Networks, Community, Course, and Membership Platform

Mighty Networks helps businesses create communities, build online courses, run events, live stream, and more.

Key features

        Native live streaming and video

        Chat and messaging

        Events and Zoom integration

        Paid memberships

        Live cohort course creation

        Analytics and Member data

        Zapier API & workflows

Pros

        14-day free trial

        Feature demos and workshops on Youtube

Cons

        No analytics for Community plan users

        Support mostly via Help Center

Pricing

        Community plan $33

        Business Plan $99

        Mighty Pro

#6 Plush Forums

Plush Forums builds discussion forums for everyone.

Key features

        Real-time everything

        Integrated blog

        Private conversation

        Live notifications

        Mobile app

        Free SSL

        Simple editor

        Powerful search

        Events

        Questions

        Polls

        Smart history

        Custom profiles

        Member directory

        Paid subscriptions

        Image gallery

        Document repository

        Pre-moderation

        Professional localization

Pros

        Free 14-day trial

        Email support

        Unlimited pageviews

        Unlimited members and staf

Cons

        No phone or chat support

        No webinars

Pricing

        Small $49/m

        Medium $75/m

        Large $120/m

#7 inSided, Customer Success Community Software

inSided combines customer community content with a knowledge base and integrates across the platform.

Key features

        Q&A

        Knowledge base

        Product updates

        Gamification

        Events and registrations

        In-app embeddable

        User groups

        Ideation and customer feedback

        CRM and ticketing integration

Pros

        Webinars and podcasts

        Email and community support for all plan users

Cons

        No free version or free trial

        No chat or phone support for Professional and Business Plan users

Pricing

No pricing information

#8 Hivebrite, Online Community Platform

Hivebrite is a solution for community managers and helps them build, manage, and engage their audience.

Key features

        Import and export member data

        Powerful search and targeting filters

        Mass updates

        Profile-update campaign

        Profile update tracker

        Full moderation

        Integrated CMS

        Visibility

        RSS feed

        Up-to-date content

        Calendar

        Invitation emails

        Ticketing

        Online payments

        Social networks integration

        Email campaigns

        Powerful targeting

        Automatic newsletter

        In-app notifications

        Mobile push notifications

Pros

        Email support

Cons

        No free trial

        No free version

Pricing

No pricing plans

#9 Muut, Discussion system

Muut is a discussion system and allows businesses to organize lively discussions and make users happy. Muut is one of the best community platforms in terms of free trial as they allow you to try all features for free for 14 days without credit card.

Key features

        Unlimited traffic

        Unlimited users

        28+ languages

        Ad-free

        Customized style

        Private messaging

        Additional admins

Pros

        Free 14-day trial

        Email support

        FAQ / Forum / Demos / Documentation

Cons

        No onboarding

        No phone/chat support

        No webinars

Pricing

        Mini $16/m

        Small $36/m

        Medium $96/m

        Large $486/m

#10 Panion, Community Engagement Platform

Panion helps businesses invite people to a private social network, build connections based on common interests and goals, enable activities and events. This is one of the best community platforms that offers a free trial with no credit card required.

Key features

        Landing page

        Activity board

        Events and member gatherings

        Member searching and filtering

        Detailed member profiles

        Direct messaging

        Public and private groups

Pros

        30-day free trial

        Tech/community support

        Platform onboarding

        Migration assistance

        Email support

Cons

        No live webinars

        No phone/chat support

Pricing

        Starting $38

        Growing $79

        Scaling

Conclusion

Now you are familiar with the best community platforms in the market and know how they are different from each other. If you are a startup, you might want to get started with Ning, Panion, or Mighty Networks because they offer a free trial. Or if you don’t plan on investing in a solution for now, you might use Tribe’s free version for a while.

Growing businesses and enterprises will probably pay attention to other factors like support, onboarding, and a set of features.

If you don’t know where to start and don’t have time to try multiple products, reach out to me for a free consultation call. We will create a roadmap that will help you launch the dream community for you and your users.

The post 10 of the best community platforms for online entrepreneurs first appeared on Natalie Luneva.

from Natalie Luneva https://www.natalieluneva.com/blog/10-of-the-best-community-platforms-for-online-entrepreneurs/

[numberonedefendortimetravel]

Hidden Cameras with Audio for Homes

The usage of hidden cameras with audio characteristics in homes has increased in the past years. In the modern world, you don't have to possess superpowers or come from krypton before you can be at multiple places at a time. The creation of hidden cameras has made it possible to monitor events at various locations at a time. Privacy has been a significant issue with using hidden cameras. However, there are still countless reasons why many would deliberate on the usage of hidden cameras.

A hidden camera is majorly utilized for surveillance and entertainment. Hidden cameras with audio have the edge over other home security systems due to their low cost and variation in sizes. A hidden camera can be as small as a key chain and yet take high-resolution video.

What are the Cons and Pros of Hidden Cameras?

Similar to other machinery, hidden cameras also have a negative and positive impact on individuals and society. However, the positive effects outweigh the negative hence, the increase in sales experienced over the years.

Pros of Hidden Camera

Size: They have varying sizes, hence, providing more choices to buyers. Due to the small size of most hidden cameras, it is tough for third-parties to notice you are monitoring your house. They can be attached to bulbs, toys, TV and less prominent location in the home.

Proximity: Unlike most security systems available for your home, you can have an assessment of what is going on in your home at al ltime. You don't have to get home to start watching a recap of what had been recorded; preferably, you can always check through the app on your smartphone. You can link your hidden camera to your home’s Wi-Fi, giving you access to feeds at all times. So, if you feel very uneasy about leaving your kid with a nanny, you can monitor their activities on your phone.

Cons of Hidden Camera

Privacy: "Privacy" has been the greatest issue when considering the usage of hidden cameras. Most employees wouldn't love the idea of you recording them without their knowledge. The problem is not that care providers do not want to be monitored, NO!! They want to know about hidden cameras beforehand. In a line of thought, their request defeats the purpose of having a hidden camera in the first place.

Now, those are some of the advantages and disadvantages of hidden cameras. However, there is one disadvantage of the hidden camera that I am just going to drop here. A lot of the less-costly hidden cameras have a short battery life (3-5 hours). Therefore you need to plug it most times to have continuous footage.

The Best Mini Spy Camera - An Extensive Guide

What is the best-hidden security camera?

There are more than thousands of security cameras with audio you can select from. We will highlight the top hidden cameras for your home based on five factors; effectiveness, size, cost, connectivity, and suitability for home. 

 Effectiveness: The “HUOMU Mini spy cam” is uniquely the superior hidden cameras for your home due to the ability to cover a larger radius. The hidden camera has a 150° wide-angle lens, which covers a large part of the room and a smart motion detector. Another significant feature of the HUOMU mini hidden camera is the great video resolution (1080P) and internal storage of 64GB that is expandable to 128GB of external memory.

Size: The “Mini hidden camera pen” is the smallest hidden camera. The camera offers a video resolution of 1080P and a battery life of 2.5 hours. The pen hidden angle offers a 75° wide-angle lens and up to 32GB internal storage.

Cost: The “Hidden Mini Camera” is the best camera when considering the price. You can purchase the hidden camera for less than $20. Apart from the low cost, the camera is small and offers a 140° recording angle plus 32GB internal storage. Unlike other hidden cameras, the Hidden Mini Camera only records to internal storage. To pair the absence of Wi-Fi, the hidden camera features a motion detector; therefore, the camera can pick when to record. Also, the hidden mini camera offers loop recording which overwrites the oldest files in the storage to free up space.

How to Save Ring Doorbell Video Without Subscription

Connectivity: One of the major advantages of the hidden camera, as we have discussed above, is the ability to have access to feeds at all times. The "AKASOWireless hidden camera” supports Alexa to give users a smooth experience. The hidden camera offers a battery upgrade of 6000mah to 10, 000mah.  With the night vision feature, the camera can produce clearer video feeds even at night.

Suitability for home: The “Wi-Fi spy LMGL wireless smoke detector hidden camera” is the most suitable hidden camera for your home. The hidden camera offers 1080P HD video recording, and it is well-fixed inside a smoke detector. The LMGL wireless smoke detector hidden camera can last up to 4 hours and has a Wi-Fi feature which allows you to view feeds at any time.

Ring Doorbell 2 vs Pro: Which Device to Choose and Why?

Can a cell phone detect a hidden camera?

As unbelievable as it may sound, there is no guaranteed method to detect a hidden camera with your phone. Let me rephrase that a bit; there is less than a 20% chance to detect a hidden camera with your cell phone. If you are willing to take your chances, you can try these two methods:

Use your phone's camera

Most cell phone cameras can detect infrared rays. To test this, launch your phone's camera app and point an infrared remote, for instance, your TV's remote, at the camera. If you see the light on your phone's screen then, your camera can detect infrared.

Scan through suspected locations; you can expect hidden cameras to be in the house; if you get a light on your screen while searching, then you might have detected a hidden camera. This is a long guess, but it might be worth the shot if you feel monitored.

Use your Phone's Wi-Fi

A second option is to try to detect the hidden camera’s Wi-Fi. With your phone, you will know the list of available nearby Wi-Fi networks in your location. To do this, open the Wi-Fi option on your phone and scan for a list of nearby networks, with the name, you might be able to locate the hidden camera if there is one.

How to Save Ring Doorbell Video Without Subscription

How can I install a hidden camera in my house?

Installing a hidden camera in your house is very easy, and the installation will mostly take less than 30 minutes. Most hidden cameras on purchase come with manuals that will guide users through the process of installation. A quick add-on to the manual; you should select the most secretive and best camera angle when placing your hidden camera. Also, for the Wi-Fi feature, try to ensure that it is functioning before you step out.

What is the smallest wireless spy camera?

The Pannovo spy Wi-Fi hidden camera is the smallest spy camera. The camera features a motion detector, wireless remote live view, and a 1080P video resolution. Due to the small body of the spy camera, it is hard to detect. To complement the small size, the spy camera also has a recording time of 140 minutes when fully charged and supports an external memory of up to 128GB.

[shalliedragon]

Midwest Furfest 2017 - Convention Report

(First, yes, I haven’t posted anything on here in months. I apologize. I figured it would be better to put my convention reports on Tumblr, as it can better handle large text posts. Second, this’ll be a big one. Third, I will probably end up re-posting older con journals on here, because it’ll probably get more face time than FurAffinity.)

It always seems like a lot of crap happens at MFF. Like, most cons are fairly busy and eventful, but MFF in particular always seems to be jam-packed. Not all of it is good, but most is. MFF is now very close to being my favorite con (though it's hard to upset Anthrocon and Fur Squared). Let's talk about why.

Thursday

I left a little early from work that day. I got everything squared away, my car was packed, my tank was full, and my tires were new. I put the pedal down and drove east. It was probably one of the smoothest drives to a fur con I've had in a while. There was only one small hiccup: apparently my roommates weren't able to get the credit card situation figured out initially. Apparently it's not a good idea to put down a debit card when the hotel asks for a credit card hold. But we got it sorted and it was fine.

Got to the hotel at around 9:30PM (after the usual 5 hour drive), unpacked, and made my way over to registration. Along the way, I ran into a gentleman with... wheels on his shoes. They weren't heelies or rollerskates, but they had wheels strapped to the heels. I saw him trip and fall, so when he got back up and we got to the crosswalk, I asked him if he was okay. We got to talking, and apparently he is from Pennsylvania (my home state), knew of my home town when I mentioned it, and recognized the name of the college I went to. Friggin small world, am I right?

Anyway, we talked for a little bit as we walked into the Rosemont Convention Center (which is where MFF apparently had the dealer's room and art show) and then parted ways. I followed the crowd of people through the sky bridge over to the Hyatt. It was... a longer walk than I expected (I later clocked it: 6 minutes from dealer's room to Hyatt). I thought I would probably have gotten to the Hyatt faster if I had walked outside. And it was oddly warm at points. But I did eventually get to the Hyatt, and went down to Registration.

The line was wrapping around the con space. Or at least, the onsite reg line was. Thankfully, I had preregistered (pro tip: ALWAYS preregister), so I went to the much shorter (though still somewhat long) line for prereg. It took about 15-20 minutes for me to get through it. They had a full 10 stations processing attendees. It was actually rather impressive. All while I waited, I just reveled in the fact that "I'm home. I'm with my people."

That's what's special about the furry fandom. It is a climate of radical acceptance and love, beyond pretty much anything I have experienced. Every time I come to a convention, it feels like I belong there, like I can be myself without anyone batting an eye at me. It has become all the more meaningful now that I've started to develop a network of friends in the fandom. So, it was nice to be back.

After I got my badge (which read "Shallie"; I've started feeling more comfortable referring to myself that way, rather than the more masculine-sounding "Shal"), I walked around the conspace a little, taking in the sites and sounds. It was nice to see fursuiters again. I hadn't been to a large convention since Anthrocon, so I was really excited to be there. I then met up with one of my roommates, Jake (whom the attentive reader will recognize as a roommate from my past 2 Anthrocon's). This was his first MFF, so he was pretty stoked to be there. We exchanged pleasantries, took a brief look around, and sought out our third roommate, Arylena (I had to give her a room key). We found her and chatted briefly with her and her friend, and then me and Jake started making our way back to the Crowne Plaza to rest (both of us had had long travel days, as he had flown in from Atlanta).

Upon arrival, I discovered that I misplaced my room key, so I went up to the front desk to get a new one. Which was very lucky, as I ended up getting one of the special MFF room keys (there were 4 different ones), which had an awesome picture of a nine-tailed fox on it. We went up to the room, where we met up with our 4th roommate, DarknessWolf89 (hereafter referred to as Dark). Again, pleasantries, chatted for a bit, started making plans for the con. I briefly looked over my schedule, and was delighted to see that my first event (opening ceremonies) was not until 11AM the next morning, which gave me some time to sleep in.

Also, we had a TON of food. I brought Clif bars, crackers, jerky, and chips. Dark had also brought jerky, as well as oreos and Chex mix. We were going to be set for the weekend. =)

Friday

My sleep was less than ideal. Adjusting to a new bed is never easy, especially when your pillow is an unusual consistency. Also Dark liked to move around a lot in his sleep, and he ended up waking up early to pick up his fursuit from his maker (who was loaning the suit out to him for the weekend while he paid it off). So I started the day off a bit groggy and stiff. But we had time, so we took it easy and made our way down to opening ceremonies.

Two things of note here. First, I ran into my friend Hemlock Fox! It was great to see him again, and we got to chat for a bit, along with his friend Sorcererdale. Second, the reg line. It was MASSIVE. It stretched all the way from the Rosemont Ballroom to the Grand Hall (for reference, that is like a quarter mile or something). We were FLOORED by the number of people lining up. They had to shift over the line for opening ceremonies just to make room for the reg line.

Anyway, the doors opened, we went in, and opening ceremonies kicked off the con. The charity of the year was CRISP (a local non-profit that took in animals that people couldn't afford to keep). The Chairman, Kodi, kept the discussion lively and interesting as he explained some of the new stuff happening this year. Lots more places to eat in the vicinity (more than last year, which was good because MFF has historically had very few places to eat within walking distance), and a lot more reason to go over to the Convention Center. I foresee that as the convention continues to grow, actual panels will start to be held there. Finally, the guests of honor were Latinvixen (the lady behind MixedCandy fursuits), Remy Wolf (a very talented artist, who produced a lot of the art for the con), and Russ Adams (who produced costumes and special effects for movies, especially those featuring "creatures" as he liked to put it).

After the opening, Jake and I stuck around for the Meet The Guests Of Honor panel. It was fairly simple, just "how did you get into furry", work-specific questions, and things like that. It was actually pretty cool to hear the various stories from our guests. Latinvixen is apparently called such because she is from Latin America (I want to say Ecuador, but I am probably very wrong). Remy is also a fursuiter. And Russ brought along a werewolf head that he created for a movie, which he was going to use for a later panel. It was nice, and it gave me an appreciation for our guests a bit more. I generally recommend "meet the GOH" panels at cons, because the people are different every year, and there's always something cool to learn.

After that, Jake and I went over to the... eat-a-teria? Expositeria? The food place across the street from the Hyatt, attached to the Convention Center. They had some pretty good options: various tacos, chili, soup, burgers, hotdogs, chicken tenders, etc. We ate our fill, and were pleased (though I gotta say, the food was rather expensive). We had a good discussion about fursuit making (Jake is actually looking to get into making suits himself, which is fantastic and I hope he does it). Then it was time for my next event, so Jake and I parted ways.

The Furrhythmics Live! For those who don't know, they are a barbershop quartet composed of Nbowa, Stargel, Arcturus, and Piroshki. They did a mini concert, taking about an hour. And OH MY GOD they were good! Like, phenomenal. I was really, really impressed. They later explained that they had only had a chance to practice a few times over the past 3 or so months. They weren't perfect, but considering how little time they practiced as a group, they did an amazing job. I am pretty confident their performance was recorded, so I highly encourage you to look it up, cuz goddamn. I also ran into my Iowa Fur friend Alex (who was in his Asriel Dreemur outfit).

After their performance, I went over to Fursuit Price Is Right for a little bit (I usually like to check it out, because it's pretty fun), but it was in the process of wrapping up, so I went over to the Dealer's Room instead, to take a look around. Unlike in previous years, where the dealers were crammed into the lower level of the Hyatt, they now had a massive room to spread out in, and apparently the number of dealer tables tripled from last year. There was SO MUCH STUFF. Art, merchandise, fursuits, fursuit parts, you name it. Not a whole lot I wanted to purchase, but still impressive.

While I was there, I ran into Xander The Blue. I introduced myself, and we got a chance to talk briefly. It was the first time I had met him out of suit, which was a nice surprise. Apparently his graduation ceremony was held in the Rosemont Convention Center. After our brief chat, he departed to meet up with a friend of his. I assumed he was busy, so I went on my way. After the con, I spoke with him on Telegram, and apparently he was feeling a particularly pronounced case of social anxiety, which was what kept our interaction short. Considering I was feeling social anxiety just approaching the guy, I completely understand. =)

After my encounter with Xander, I went back over to the con to attend the panel "So You Want To Perform at the Furry Variety Show". It was billed as a panel for giving tips about making a great performance for the variety show (or other similar things at other cons). What I got was... a bit of a let down. There were a total of 4 of us in the room: the panelist, a friend of his, me, and one other audience member. Remembering what happened to me at Fur Squared this year, I decided to stick around through the whole thing, as a sign of solidarity. And I'll be honest, it was awkward. The pacing was kind of slow, the people running it kind of got "too into it" with their demonstrations of past performances, there were problems with the bluetooth speaker, and they were rather focused on a specific class of performance (comedic skits).

All in all, I was disappointed with it. But I did get a few things out of it: practice your idea before auditioning, make it polished, do your best to keep it interesting in more ways than one, and don't be discouraged if you don't get picked your first time.

After that, I went back to the hotel room, ate some quick food, and got into suit. Lemmie tell you, I missed being in suit SOOO much. I've been busy a lot lately, so I haven't had time to practice fursuit performance at my apartment. As a result, the last time I was in suit was at StormCon in September. So, it was a big deal for me. Suiting is so freeing and fun! You can be a goofball and a complete idiot, and people will just laugh and take pictures. It's great!

This time was no exception. I posed for pictures, I ran into 1coin my Ant friend and stole his sugarcube (before giving it back), I ran into some of my Iowa furs friends, I found a guy who was playing violin and I sat and listened while swaying to the music, I went down to the board game room and sat in on people's games briefly, I played around with a cute alligator banana plush creature, and I sat in on a giant game of Dread in one of the panel rooms (they lost but in a hilarious way). Overall, I was pretty pleased with the amount of interaction I got. I also got complements on the Sprout I was wearing (thank you Sven!).

I wanted to keep suiting, but I had events I wanted to attend, so I ended up going back and getting cleaned up around 9ish. It made me start thinking about how I could improve my fursuit performance, or fursuiting in general. I'm going to make an effort to improve my suit endurance (looking at you, Serathin #goals), and really practice my performance. I've learned a few new tricks (sitting with people playing music, stealing things, etc), but I'd like to take it further. I also want to get some kind of a prop, as while I am cute, my suit is kind of plain, and I'd like to have something that catches people's eye a little better (as I continue to improve my performance).

I took too long in the shower (I was daydreaming about my next fursuit), so I ended up being a little late to my next event, "I Comedy Better After I've Had A Few" featuring Alkali and Boozy Badger (later joined by Renegade, captain of the Dorsai). The basic premise: put Alkali and Boozy on a stage and have them BS for an hour and a half. It's a fairly standard formula (swap out various performers) but it usually results in hilarity and awesomeness. This time was no exception. It was filmed.

The panel ended up running a bit long, so it butted up against Whose Line (which Alkali also ran, so it's no biggie). Definitely one of the better audience-participation Whose Lines, though there were plenty of "lol I'm being edgy" jokes. Remember, kids: clever is better than crude. Of note, this was also Alkali's 10 year anniversary of running Whose Line panels, so his long-time co-host Sema (who hosted the panel in her adorable wild dog fursuit) got a bunch of people to sign a card for him. There were tears, it was sweet.

Seriously, Akali is one of my favorite people in the fandom, because while he is hilarious and vulgar, he is incredibly sensitive and passionate about furry. A giant loudmouth with a heart of gold. Not to mention he and Xander are a friggin adorable couple.

After Whose Line, I was beat, so I went back to the room and promptly passed out. 

Saturday

Once again, a somewhat restless night's sleep. Ended up sleeping in until 9 or something. Got up, got some breakfast, and made my way down to the con for a little bit. Briefly sat in on the "Fursuiting In Public" panel. I don't remember the names of the other two people at the panel, but I did recognize Epitome (probably should have said hi). It was funny, though like many of these panels, there was a lot of "audience participation." I'm sorry, but it kind of cheeses me off when people go to panels and start giving long explanations and commentary, instead of letting the panelists talk. They're the experts, so please don't upstage them at their own panel.

Anyway, I left partway through to go find some lunch. Got a cheap hotdog and pretzel over by the dealer's room. I went back to my room to get in suit in preparation for the fursuit Menagerie. I ended up getting there a little bit late, and scrambled over to one of the photo stations to be there for a 1:15 photo shoot. However, apparently they had restructured the Menagerie. Instead of having one picture, they had many pictures during the 15 minute window for a given fursuit type.

Let me back up. At 15 minute intervals, each of the 10 photo stations took photos of certain "demographics" of fursuits. Color, species, fursuit maker, style of suit, special features, etc. During each of those 15 minute intervals, they took several different pictures of the people in those demographics. This was different from the previous year, where they just took one big group picture at the given time. This made it much easier for suiters to show up and be photographed, because they didn't have to rush over to the stations by a given time.

Anyway, I participated in the photoshoots for dragons, for orange fursuiters, and for fem suits. The dragon one was pretty unremarkable. The orange one was fun, though. Between photos, we danced to the music, played with a toy orange wheel (which I subsequently stole, before giving back), and rolled around on the floor. I also ran into Hemlock while I was there, which was a nice surprise (he says he's orange, but I still think he's brown). At the fem suit shoot, I ran into the two cat ladies I met at StormCon (Mieze and his fiancee). We got a few photos, and then I went on my way. I took a brief break outside, and I ran into Spidy, one of my roommates from Furry Migration 2016. We hugged, hung out for a bit, and then I left.

In the headless area, I met up with Hemlock again, as well as his hyena friend, Akila. She seemed like a pretty chill person. Also her suit was SUPER PLUSHY. Like, dropped crotch, big belly, large thighs, the works. It was really cute, but she explained that it was REALLY hard to move around in it (not to mention extremely warm). We hung out for a bit, and then we parted ways, and I went back to my room to cool off and clean up. I had to motor it, in order to make it back in time for...

Celebrity Whose Line Is It Anyway? Easily one of my favorite panels of any con, it was an absolute riot. While the audience-participation Whose Line is funny at times, these guys are well-practiced, skilled improv comedians. They even had a few new faces (Isaac and Tiller, who apparently were professional improv comics). So, the caliber of humor was much higher, and I loved it. I am very confident it was filmed, so you should check it out.

After the panel, I met up with Jake, and we got tacos from the food vendor in the lobby (they were tasty but messy). We had a long discussion about furry in general, about what makes the fandom so special and welcoming and friendly. We concluded that a couple things contributed to this.

First, because furry has been the butt of jokes for decades, it has brought the people within it closer together. After all, hardship often strengthens bonds. Second, furry is much more tolerant of the "adult" side of the fandom. Unlike other fandoms (like bronies, for example), furries do not have a media franchise breathing down their neck about not having "adult" things at the conventions. There is an adult side to most fandoms, but if they are tied to a franchise, those fandoms have to keep the adult side buried underground, and pretend it doesn't exist. Furries, on the other hand, know that it exists, acknowledge it, but keep it private. They know that some people are into that sort of stuff, but they don't judge people for it, as long as they keep it to themselves. Sort of a large-scale example of "your kink is not my kink and that's okay." And because furries are comfortable knowing these things about their friends, it fosters an atmosphere of non-judgment, which makes friendships even stronger. Furries don't care what you're into; as long as you're a cool person and aren't hurting anybody, we can be friends. And I think that's pretty darn special.

Anyway, Jake and I talked for a bit about that stuff, and then he went to Floor Wars, while I went to the 3 Headed Monster show. For the unfamiliar: Xander The Blue, Pandez, and Alkali each do back-to-back 20 minute comedy sets. Hilarity ensues. This time was no different. It was filmed, go check it out. As was the following panel: the Dragget Show Live. As usual, good times had by all, lots of fun. Though shameless plug: at the end of the Dragget Show's live shows, they always turn off the recording devices and tell a "charity story", which is usually something they're too embarrassed to share on camera. So if you want to hear stories that no one else gets to hear, be sure to attend the panels live.

After that, I considered sitting in on the Jackbox After Dark panel, but since I could probably play that anytime I want, I instead elected to do some people watching. Wait around long enough, and you are bound to find something interesting. There were tons of fursuiters, as usual. Silly antics, cool designs, the works. It's fun to just revel in it for a while. OH! I did see a gentleman dressed as Skull Kid from Majora's Mask; he was playing music on his little boombox. It was pretty fun. I also saw a Lambchop fursuiter. Never thought I'd see one of my childhood heroes brought to life in giant form.

Finally, it was time for the event I was waiting for: Fox and Pepper's After Dark concert. I sat with Jake and Hemlock for the show. It was hilarious and amazing as usual. But, this time was a bit different in a few ways. First, the band was joined up on stage by a bassist named Flop (who was apparently a bunny, but he was wearing a lady wolf fursuit head and paws). His antics throughout the show were pretty adorable, and he is a fantastic bass player. They also had a fiddle player (who was also in suit), didn't catch their name though.

Second, and more importantly, Alkali was there, and he was on a mission. He knew that last year, that panel raised $3000 for charity, which was the most money a non-convention-sponsored event had raised that year (or ever?). His goal was to beat that record. So he set up stretch goals for different tiers of money. If they reached $1000, fox and pepper had to put on their fursuit heads. At $2000, they had to get into partial suits. At $3000, Fox would put on his full fursuit. And at $5000, Alkali promised to make a Christmas album with Fox and Pepper (at some point).

Well, we hit 1k. And 2k. And 3k. And 5k.

But it kept going. And going. Alkali brought out an iPad with a card reader, so that people could donate with their credit cards. I ended up putting down $100 to help get the total up higher. More and more money kept pouring in, it was ridiculous!

All told that night, that panel raised $8,000. This ended up being more than any other event at MFF this year, con-sponsored or otherwise (other than closing ceremonies). People went insane. Alkali was in tears. And Pepper sang the Bad Dragon song. It was pretty spectacular. I'm pretty sure it was filmed. Hemlock left early, so he missed out on the final number.

After the concert was over, Jake and I went back to the room to get to bed. We ended up staying awake for a good 30 minutes chatting, because Jake didn't want the night to end. He unfortunately had to fly out on Sunday morning, so it was his last night at the con. But I think he had fun. Hopefully I'll see him at the next MFF (or possibly sooner; I did try to convince him to go to Fur Squared).

Sunday

Jake woke up early and left. I made sure to give him a hug before he departed. After getting a little more shuteye, I got some breakfast and went over to the Charity Auction.

Now, the MFF charity auction is enjoyable, and usually has a lot of good stuff at it. Indeed, this time, they ended up auctioning off not one, but two fursuits, as well as a ton of other swag. However, it suffers from one critical flaw: they have it in the morning on Sunday. Furries, being party animals (see what I did there?), like to stay up late, and then sleep in. Sunday is the last day of the con, which means that the furries have had two nights of partying prior. As a result, they are either not present, or very tired, at the charity auction. This makes it difficult to raise a large amount of money. More people, more excitement, higher bids. Fewer people, less excitement, lower bids. I think, if they rescheduled the charity auction to a different time, they may end up getting more money for charity.

At any rate, it was still a good time, and I ended up winning a "dragon oil warmer". It's basically a little candle holder with a tray up top that you can use to heat essential oil, to make the house smell nice. Kamber, the lady running the auction, kept making comments about "lubricating your dragons" and such, to encourage interest. I jokingly said "this is making me not want to buy it." But I still bought it, and it's pretty cool. But I didn't stick around to the very end of the charity auction, because I was hungry, and it was running long. I ducked out early to get a cheeseburger.

After lunch, I debated about going to the fursuit dance competition. I usually really enjoy it; it's frequently been one of my favorite events at the con. However, I figured "eh, you've seen one dance comp, you've seen them all" and decided to go over to the dealer's room. I was on a mission: to find a portable cooling fan for my fursuit. You know, the ones that fursuiters hang from their neck, and occasionally stick in their mouths to cool off? One of those. I learned from Dark that Dreamvision Creations was selling them. So I went over and sought out their booth; they thankfully had a few left. It was a bit more expensive than I expected, but I figured it was fine, as I was paying to support a furry company.

While I was there, I noticed a table off to the side. "Furries: A Documentary by Eric Risher." Seated at the table was (big surprise) Eric Risher. I knew I had to go up and say hi. See, I was one of the super-backers for the Kickstarter that made this documentary a reality. I put a lot of money toward this project, and I ended up getting a copy of the DVD, a giant poster, a pin, my name in the credits of the movie, and a badge of my fursona. I was wearing that badge at MFF. And he was there. It would have been foolish not to approach him.

So I did. I went up and thanked him for making such a great documentary. And then he thanked ME for supporting him. He's a really humble guy. We talked briefly about how his booth was doing, and then I bid him adieu (didn't want to take up too much of his time). But yeah, it was cool to meet someone in person that I had only ever seen in film. After looking around the dealers room some more, I moseyed back to the hotel. I did some people-watching for a while, got a few photos. Then I caught the tail-end of the dance comp, where they announced the winners. Apparently Gale Frostbane (AKA Nexus) was the MC, and it was her first time doing so. She apparently did a really good job. Not gonna reveal the winners, you need to see the videos to do that.

Afterwards, I ran into Hemlock and Akila, both in-suit. Akila was helping Hemlock be less shy in suit, and she did so by thrusting him at random other fursuiters in the crowds. Hemlock interacted for a little bit, and then Akila dragged him off to find more groups, shouting "Pay attention to Akila's adorable friend!" It was quite hilarious, and Hemlock ended up getting involved in some cute pictures. I decided to play handler for the two for a bit. After a while, we went over to the headless lounge to cool off. There I ran into Comet Scrap, my roommate from MFF last year (whom I hadn't seen all con). It was good to see her, albeit briefly, before she went to go join her bat friends again. While she was there, I received a #SaveTheBats ribbon from one of her friends.

After my furred friends cooled off, Akila left to go back to her hotel room, and me and Hemlock went to closing ceremonies. It was pretty standard. "Thank you for a great weekend, here's what we're planning for next time, here's so and so to talk about the good and the bad stuff."

8,700+ attendees. A world record. MFF beat Anthrocon's total by at least 1,200, and was the first fur con to break 8,000 attendees (and they're well on their way to 9,000). It was pretty mind-blowing. The crowd went nuts!

But it wasn't over yet.

Remember how I said the Fox And Pepper After Dark show was the biggest charity fundraiser at the con, except for closing ceremonies? Let's talk about that.

So they started rattling off numbers, from various events. 1k here, 2k there, 900 somewhere else, etc., plus a $40,000 check from MFF (the organization). That put the total to $63,000. I thought "oh, that's a big number, but it's smaller than last year."

Then Alkali showed up and said, "we're not done yet."

Apparently, throughout the weekend, a whole ton of people approached Alkali and flashed large wads of cash at him, saying "I'm saving this for closing ceremonies."

Well, it was closing ceremonies, so all of those people bum-rushed the stage, throwing money at the con staff. Alkali tossed his hat into the audience, and it brought in even more cash. The staffers had to bring out these large plastic tubs just to hold all the money that was pouring in. It was insane! There were just these mountains of money, and more kept coming. I even saw a little boy, no older than 4, tottering up to the stage with his dad, a $20 bill clutched in his hand.

And then someone named Shadowfox wrote a check for $8,700.

They took the money backstage and began counting it, after it was all collected. After a while, Alkali walked out, tears streaming down his face. He knew it would be a lot of money, but he never expected how much it was going to be.

Closing ceremonies raised $12,000.

All told, the final charity donation to CRISP for MFF 2017 was north of $85,000. The crowd went nuts. There wasn't a dry eye on the stage. The one lady said that this money would be enough to keep them out of debt for over 2 years.

And that's why I love this fandom. Yes, many fandoms raise money for charity. It's one of the ways conventions stay in business: by billing themselves as charity fundraisers, they're able to maintain goodwill with the public. This is normal. However, furries take this to a whole other level. I've been to brony conventions; they raise money for charity, and it's usually a hefty sum. But NOT ONE brony convention I've been to has people making a mad dash for the stage to throw money at the charity. None raise $8,000 at a random for-fun concert late at night. None of them have individual donors giving thousands of dollars in a single go. To be fair, the most expensive item sold at a charity auction (that I've seen) was at Bronycon 2015 (it went for $4,500). But from what I've seen, furries take generosity and charity to an unprecedented fanaticism.

As I said to Hemlock: "Furries have one goal when it comes to charity: make 'em cry."

In other news, apparently Kodi is stepping down as chairman of MFF, and Rama is taking his place. There were some tears, and people thanked Kodi for his service.

After closing, Hemlock headed out to go back to his room to clean up. I made my way up to the O'H restaurant for dinner. It was a decent wait, but they gave me bread to tide me over while my meal was prepared. And boy was a meal it was. I thought to myself "I'm on vacation, I'm going to have one nice meal while I'm here." So I ordered a fish dish. The waiter came out with a fantastic plate: pan-seared salmon stuffed with crabmeat and greens, mashed potatoes, and blackened asparagus. It was HEAVENLY! Probably one of the best restaurant meals I've had in a while. Highly recommended for those who go to MFF next year.

After my lovely meal, I briefly considered going fursuiting. However, after some consideration, I realized I was exhausted from the weekend, and didn't feel like going through all the trouble of getting into suit (which meant going back to my hotel). So I decided to spend my final evening at MFF people watching, and taking pictures.

The con was over, but the party wasn't done yet. A steady stream of fursuiters passed through the con space. Just as it was seeming to die down, more showed up. I saw Majira, Sunny Dingo, Crescent, Bluenose, and countless others. I even decided to film a few mini vlogs while I looked around. And that's what's cool about people-watching at a fur con: wait around long enough, and something cool is bound to happen. They even had another "asian photo booth" forming (I chose not to stick around, because it felt kind of like they were trying to re-do what happened last year).

While I was heading over to the bathroom, I ran into a few other furries (not in suit). One of them commented on the sprout pin in my hat. I had received it as a gift from my roommate Sven last year. She explained that it meant "sprout the love." So i held onto it, as a way to spread a little joy as I went. But yeah, one guy asked me about it, so I explained. There was another lady there, who seemed pretty cool. I complemented her on her makeup, and asked her about how she did it.

See, my girlfriend had challenged me to find one person to flirt with, and get their number/contact info, as a way of helping me break out of my shell a little. Now, as someone who knows very little about flirting, I decided to take a cue from my girlfriend: complement them on their makeup, and ask them about it.

So I did so, with this lady. She explained, and it was going well. We were having a nice conversation for a bit. But then she explained that she was waiting on HER girlfriend in the bathroom. And I started noticing her looking around anxiously a little. So, as not to make her uncomfortable, I decided to say "nice meeting you" and left. Yeah, I didn't get anyone's number, but at least I tried.

Anyway, after flitting around the con for a while and taking more pictures, I ran into Hemlock again. He was partial suiting this time. Apparently he felt more open and comfortable being in partial. Whatever works, I guess? Anyway, we hung out with his friends for a bit, and we goofed around, taking pictures and booping him on the nose. It was good times.

After a while, I decided it was time to go to bed, so I said goodbye to Hemlock (who I might see again soonish at MCFC next year?) and made my way back. I was starting to feel a little down, but my spirits were lifted as I ran into a cute rat femsuiter. Her suit was apparently brand new (and VERY adorable), so I made sure to get her picture. It's funny how just being around a fursuiter can help you feel better.

So I went back to my room and started getting ready for bed. As I did so, Arylena came back to the room, followed by Dark, and we chatted for a bit (mostly about art commissions and conventions and travel). It was nice to unwind a little before bed. But yeah, I was pretty tired, and I knew Ary had an early morning flight, so I hit the hay.

Monday

Both Ary and Dark left very early in the morning. I made sure to say goodbye to each as they left. Then I promptly went back to sleep.

After sleeping in a bit more, I woke up, ate, and packed up my stuff. I was able to get everything in two trips, but it was a struggle. Next time I'll get a luggage cart. Also, next time I'll try to find cheaper parking. I didn't get a room that validated parking, and it ended up being $20 a day for parking.

Somewhat disgruntled by the cost, I got in the car and drove for 5 hours back home, to be ready for work the next day.

Overall

This was a pretty fantastic convention. New friends, met pretty much all of my existing ones, managed to overcome my fear of talking to famous people not once, but twice, and gave more money to charity than I had budgeted for. I didn't suit as much as I would have liked, but that's something I can work on for next con. Like I said, I'm going to make an effort to improve my fursuit endurance, so that I can be in suit for longer. I'm also going to investigate ways to make partial suiting more feasible for me. Dresses? Robes? Something that covers my tail?

We'll see.

Anyway, yeah. MFF. If you haven't been, go. It's great. Seriously.

[yeonchi]

2017 In Review

It’s been a very eventful and turbulent year, with quite a few things, both good and bad, happening all over the network.

Over on the Waifu Network, I’ve restarted Waifu Pros and Cons with the intention of hopefully posting at least one entry per month. The posts on the Waifu Network are pretty much linked to my anime posting on Facebook, so I needn’t make original posts for every page, which makes my life very easier.

We’ve introduced Ritsu’s brother and Azusa’s boyfriend, Satoshi Tainaka, as a new poster on the Waifu Network this year. This was a tie-in to the series A Month of Summer Azusas and its mini-series The Missing Pics on the Ecchi Waifu Network, which (despite delays) went off without a hitch. Anime Tiddie Check was also intended to be a series that estimated the breast sizes of the Waifu Network girls and compared various artists’ (official and fanart) interpretations and portrayals of them. However, it was made a one-off instalment for the K-On girls because there was a lack of viable nude group fanart for the other series we’ve featured.

I’d like to take a moment to pay tribute to three people who inspired me to begin the Koei Warriors Rant Series, namely Matthew Barth, Nathan Kennedy and Mansour Abdulla. Matthew became an admin on the Fans of Anime page for a little bit, but he was a staunch proponent of English voices in Koei Warriors games. Nathan was fighting with depression for a long time (as far as I knew), so I was particularly concerned for him. He deactivated his account in September this year and I haven’t heard from him since. Mansour became disillusioned with Koei Tecmo omitting English voices from their games and gave up on them a while back, even when I transitioned to discussing Japanese game localisation in the West. An honourable mention also goes to Scooter McDowell for helping me out with compiling the EX and Musou attack list for the characters in Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires, which was a big help for me at the time (it’s been a few years, so you should be able to find that information on wikis already).

The #NoDubNoBuy page will be changing its name to English Dubbed Game News from January 18, 2018 and we will no longer be reposting negative comments in the name-and-shame album as it has now been deleted. I will not confirm or deny the fact that recent events have influenced this decision, but regardless of this, I stand by what I said about the comments and the people who wrote them. More information can be found in this post.

The Undub page has strangely gone dead recently as their last update (at the time of writing) was posted on September 9. In the months before this, they have been promoting a website known as Own Your Game, which provides information on games that have physical releases, whether Western or Japanese. They have even gone to great lengths to show the text and voice languages that the game has, which fits with their standard of games being released with dual audio and as many text languages as possible. (UPDATE: 3 January 2018 - Apparantly, the Undub page is not dead. Thanks for clearing that up.)

Over the past three years, you may have seen me comment about English dubs on some posts on the Koei Tecmo Facebook page. I’ve decided to drop that because I feel that my time and efforts are wasted trying to convince a bunch of sheep to support dual audio when Koei Tecmo doesn’t make any effort towards dubbing their games. I’ll admit that I’ve lost interest in Dynasty Warriors and other Koei Warriors games recently because of this and other commitments. I’ve expanded to talking about English dub in general over the past few years, but right now, I just feel like posting news about games that have been dubbed or not. If that helps the English dub fanbase, then I’m happy with it.

I had plans to revive the Sea Princesses cartoon in order to complete the Sea Princesses Wiki, but I’ve decided to put that on hiatus because I’ve heard nothing regarding reruns or fansubs over the past year. I was going to post details about my proposed fansub project, but I’ve decided to put that on hold as well because I’ve been very busy (and not because no one would be interested in it, in case people are pointing that out). The vandalism of pages on the wiki is also continuing, but I’ve decided that it would be a waste of time to continue undoing random changes made by stupid people who have no idea about the cartoon (and rightly so).

Obviously, we’ve had a few conflicts with some people over the years and out of all of them, I think we’ve only had one or two that have escalated. Despite everything that has happened, I think that the main reason as to why the Network has continued to survive to this day is because we stood tall and maintained the high ground in the face of adversity. People have tried to discredit us over the years, but they failed because of various factors - they may have made points that were missing the point, they may not fully understand the topic in question, or they were just being petty (because I already proved that they were morally worse than me). I’m actually tempted to generalise all my naysayers in a negative light, but in the end, all I can count on is the satisfaction of being on the moral high ground. If you want to win an argument with me, your best bet is to just have a polite and civilised discussion, otherwise, it’ll just end up in a conflict with stupid people fighting stupid with stupid.

I’ve stopped actively looking for people to admin my Facebook pages as I’ve found that there hasn’t been a lot of interest in it over the past few years. It’s really sad when you’ve already hired admins to post on your pages and they don’t do anything, which makes you think that they probably shouldn’t have applied to be an admin in the first place. Personally, I think the way I’m running my pages is going good so far, even if the growth is a bit slow because I don’t use dishonest methods to promote my pages.

Speaking of pages, the rumour about non-business pages being deleted is still going on. Even though the timing of the rumour coincides with recent events that caused me to be postblocked three times in a month, I still think that it is bullshit. I won’t elaborate any further on this, but I hope that the people responsible for the reports thinks about the irreversible damage they have caused just for being petty on social media.

Rumours have been spread about me being an “attention-seeking dork with no friends” in relation to the #NoDubNoBuy page and the Dub Logistics series, or me using my niche status on the internet to promote hate and harassment in relation to the political posts on Hong Kong news that a page related to the Network has posted. Firstly, I like to keep my personal life separate from my online life, so what right have you to make judgements about me based on my opinions? Secondly, I’m not the type of person who wants to be perceived that way (in fact, who does?). I like to see myself as an insightful person who likes to speak their mind about things. Obviously, I’ve kept myself informed regarding current affairs in Hong Kong and Mainland China and like other people, I have negative opinions regarding the current situation over there, particularly when it comes to governance and law enforcement (criminal activities). Granted, some offensive language may have been used, but chances are that other people have the same thoughts I have, even if they would have worded it differently.

(UPDATE: 3 January 2018 - Looking back, I’m not even sure what effect the other party was trying to achieve with the events of the feud. Him ‘flexing’ over my posts being reported was definitely a ruse to attract my attention, but it didn’t work well because I didn’t hear about it until three weeks after the first post was reported. As I mentioned, some of his actions did nothing to redeem himself, yet it didn’t seem to mean much to other people since they didn’t pay much attention to it. Personally, I still think that he is either trolling or being paranoid about his reputation. He can say that I’ve been wrong about him and I can say that he’s been wrong about me, but I think that both of us should be grateful in at least one aspect, including the fact that the feud hasn’t escalated to drama the likes of YouTube, 4chan, Reddit, or even Encyclopedia Dramatica, where other people could start taking sides and blowing things way out of proportion. I’d like to reiterate that all views and opinions of the feud have been left to each party’s own interpretation - this is just my side of it. Both of us have moved on from all this, so hopefully in time, it’ll all become a forgotten afterimage.)

Given that I’ve kept the Hong Kong page separate from the rest of the Network, the thing I’m trying to say here is “don’t believe the rumours”. I can only say this because I have a niche fanbase; if I was famous like Keemstar, Leafy or RiceGum, that statement wouldn’t stick with everyone. This is my way of telling you all to focus on the positives and not the negatives.

So, despite what others may say about my fanbase, I’d like to thank my fans for their continued support. You don’t need to be flattered or anything because I know who you are. I wish you all the best for 2018.

[dronedeals]

UNDERWATER CHASING GLADIUS MINI DRONE

Prior to the appearance of Drone, the best way to accomplish top-notch aeronautical pictures was to lease a Helicopter or plane or put your confidence in a hang lightweight plane. Today, flying cameras are typical, which brings up a conspicuous issue: is there anyplace else automatons can go?

One chance: submerged. The Gladius Mini UnderWater Drone from Chasing Innovation is one of another yield of submersible cameras that would like to accomplish for submerged photography what quadcopters accomplished for elevated photography.

Features of CHASING Gladius Mini

The Gladius Mini can work in both freshwater and seawater—you basically need to swap out a screw-in float. It's equipped for working as profound as 300 feet submerged and has five engines, which empower it to go all over, to and fro and to pitch up or down at a 45-degree point. You can secure in the automaton's edge just as your ideal profundity in the event that you need it to saunter at a given profundity.

The Mini can travel through the water at a stately 4 bunches (or about 4.6 miles every hour).

With respect to the camera, there's a 12-megapixel, 1/2.3-inch sensor fronted by an f/3.0 focal point. It has an ISO scope of 100-3200 and can catch both JPEGs and DNG group RAW pictures. You can record 4K video at 3840 x 2160 at 30fps with a piece pace of 60Mbps. You can likewise record full HD video at 30, 60 or 120 fps. Stills and video are spared to a microSD card.

On either side of the camera are LEDs to include some submerged brightening. Each LED yields 1,200 lumens of 4,000-5,000K light with a CRI of 80.

Utilizing the free friend application, you can Livestream your submerged film to YouTube or view it on a VR headset (however it's not in 360 degrees). You'll likewise have some fundamental powers over introduction parameters on the camera.

Design of Gladius Mini

The CHASING Gladius UnderWater Mini Drone really comprises of four unmistakable pieces: the automaton itself, a remote control, a 165-or 330-foot spooled tie string and a base station that ties into the automaton and remains onshore. The base station fills in as a Wi-Fi hotspot, handing-off directions from your remote and telephone to the automaton, and sending video film back. You can convey each of the four of the Gladius CHASING Mini Drone parts in a rucksack, but an enormous one.

Of these three pieces, the automaton is the most sturdily fabricated. The remote, then again, isn't. Actually, while expelling the cell phone clasp, a bit of the brace severed. The remote doesn't feel like it can withstand even a solitary drop, not to mention months or long stretches of generous fieldwork. All things considered, the tie and its association focuses are solid.

PERFORMANCE  and Picture QUALITY  of Gladius

Setting up the automaton was genuinely clear, however, it took us numerous endeavors to make the underlying Wi-Fi matching. There are no directions in the crate and the application (in any event of this composition) just contains guidelines for a prior Gladius CHASING Mini  UnderWater Drone . You can download a manual for the Mini on the Chasing Innovation site, which we'd suggest.

We set sail, so to speak, on a huge lake and adapted rather rapidly that working a submersible automaton is fundamentally unique and ostensibly more troublesome than an airborne automaton. The automaton will glide in the water, so you have to open and actuate the rotors to make it move. In the wake of guiding it out around 30 feet, we plunged. The Gladius CHASING Mini  Drone camera's ongoing, 720p video feed was smooth enough, however, it would once in a while drop all through spotlight contingent upon objects moving before it. The Gladius CHASING Drone slice a genuinely straightway to the focal point of the need notwithstanding wind and waves undulating toward the shore.

Not at all like aeronautical automatons that utilization mechanical gimbals to balance out your recording even with wind and choppiness, the CHASING Gladius Mini UnderWater Drone’s camera has no such pay. While exploring at or near the outside of any annoying water, your video will have a similar hurling quality. Go somewhat more profound, however, and things will get steadier.

As we slipped, the Mini turned out to be progressively flimsy. Indeed, following a moment of the submerged route it turned out to be practically difficult to guide the automaton—it would turn sideways or around and around (the application discloses to you the direction of the Drone and our own every now and again looked aslant.) The main order that worked was forward. We found, in the wake of pulling the automaton out of the water, that kelp had stalled out in the rotors. The CHASING Gladius Mini UnderWater Drone has none of the refined item recognition and shirking sensors that are currently typical on even section level elevated automatons. What's more, the presented rotors appeared to work as a vacuum for submerged vegetation.

Regardless of whether you needed to evade a snaring experience with ocean growth, you're not ready to truly observe what's beneath the camera, which implies you could guide over, nearby or into kelp without knowing it. That is lamentable on the grounds that it's typically the sea or lake floor that has all the fascinating stuff.

On the off chance that you realize you're going to experience ocean growth, your most solid option is to keep the automaton securely over the floor and tilt it down. You can't tilt it in excess of 45 degrees, however, so it's problematic. It additionally won't help in case you're propelling from shore and there's a lot of development along your way.

When the rotors were cleared out and the exercise took in, the CHASING Gladius Mini UnderWater Drone’s had the option to move effortlessly through even uneven water and it holds its position well. It's not as deft as an elevated quadcopter. It's hard to dish it, however, you can move it advances and in reverse no problem at all.

To the extent picture quality goes, the CHASING Gladius Mini UnderWater Drone’s helped us to remember a GoPro around Hero 4/5—i.e., it's not terrible when you think about the options in contrast to recording video or stills under profound, cold or in any case aloof water. New Jersey lake beds in pre-winter aren't the most bright subject you can imagine, yet the tans, pale blues, and greens recreated alright. The focal point held concentrates well, however, it can't concentrate intently so coasting items can distract it. The twin LEDs make a pleasant showing of keeping the prompt territory (1-2 feet) before the automaton lit, without hotspots. The outside of the focal point repulses water spots when it's out of the water and getting dry.

Maybe the greatest obligation with the CHASING Gladius Mini UnderWater Drone’s was the network between the base station and our iPhone. Multiple times during our utilization, the remote and application lost association with the automaton camera, driving us to reboot everything (the genuine automaton has no force button so you simply reset the base station, remote control, and application). The base offers two Wi-Fi frequencies—2.4GHz and 5GHz. At first, both showed up as choices on our telephone however then 5GHz vanished out and out leaving us with an exceptionally spotty 2.4Ghz. When endeavoring to download pictures locally to our telephone, the association much of the time dropped out. (Strangely, when we put the microSD card into our Mac, none of the automaton's documents were perceptible, in spite of the way that they were on there.) we don't know whether this was a flawed base station or an endemic issue.

One territory where the CHASING Gladius Mini UnderWater Drone’s outflanks its aeronautical partners is battery life. You can get somewhere in the range of 1.5 and 2 hours of activity on a completely energized battery.

Final Conclusion about CHASING Gladius

The CHASING Gladius Mini UnderWater Drone is a fascinating idea and one we're planning to see created with the expansion of a greater camera, all the more impressive LEDs, picture adjustment and the capacity to stay away from (or in any case manage) such oceanic vegetation.

 In the event that picture quality is your top need, you're in an ideal situation placing your camera in lodging or jumping on another GoPro and getting in the water yourself. On the off chance that that is not an appealing choice, the CHASING Gladius Mini UnderWater Drone’s can serve however you'll need to work around its confinements and be set up to manage its spotty availability.

Pros of CHASING Gladius: Supports profound jumping; can hold profundity and direction; can be utilized in both new and seawater.

CONS CHASING Gladius: Frequent network issues*; remote is delicate; no article identification or shirking.

Cost: $1,199