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shveris · 2 years ago

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luxiem + shoto in teyvat

nsfw

hydro vision holder, singer and novelist ike eveland. he is from mondstadt, gives singing lessons to barbara, enjoys the fine wine diluc would gift him, meets up with lisa in the library to go over his notes for his next books, reading to the children on the plaza with venti’s soft tunes in the background. he likes to travel since it gives him inspiration for his novels, especially inazuma and sumeru caught his interest.

vox akuma, once a renowned sword fighter for the royal guard of khaenri’ah, now the curse has made him more reckless. he fled to inazuma after the war was settled, hoping to regenerate his powers in peace. the people in a nearby village claimed he was a demon when they saw him using his “magic” without a vision. the people started to worship him — much to the shogunate’s dismay. they attacked akuma village and thought he was dead for good (and oh were they wrong).

shoto is the vice leader of the shuumatsuban, a skilled rouge that answers to every of ayato’s words like a puppy. his excellent skills are a combination of the training he received during his childhood, the anemo vision around his neck and the blessings of the gods above. his multiple attempts of trying to kill vox, the so called evil, often get interrupted by a certain detective butting his way into shoto’s life.

mysta’s life is scarred with hardship and challenges, the gods visibly pitying him, judging by the cryo vision he always tried to hide in the pocket of his pants. it’s widely known what the cold stone symbolizes and mysta hates all these looks on people’s faces when they see him using the so called “blessing”.

luca kaneshiro, the fiery and loud head of the yakuza, would often get into (drastically escalating) banter with itto. to the oni’s luck, fire couldn’t do much against his brick walls — to his dismay the boss somehow found out about his bean allergy and always carries a small pouch of them around.

prince shu yamino, another one of the archons’ puppets. to ei’s surprise his heart became a warm and friendly home and she’d let him live after yae found a liking to the boy. she announced him royalty and the people adore the prince; his soft voice, the honey-laughter and heart melting smile on his lips.

before the decree, shu would spend a lot of time at the shrine with yae and morax (mostly because of morax) and learn about everything the archon knew. barbatos would occasionally join them if he wasn’t busy being passed out drunk somewhere in the woods of mondstadt. together shu and him would sing for the other two, discovering his newfound hobby in music thanks to the wind spirit.

ike and shu became good friends after yae dragged him along for a meeting with her writers, editors and publishers. she likes hearing shu’s input because it amazes her how a puppet of her beloved god was so much more different than it was intended.

yae liked playthings, shu was the perfect toy for her amusement. seeing contrasts and unforeseen occurrences was nothing unusual coming from shu — turns out ike thought highly of shu’s opinions on certain topics as he found him fascinating too.

it wasn’t a rare occurrence to see them leave together, ike always claiming he had unreviewed notes for a new book at his inn and would really appreciate shu’s thoughts on them. who would’ve thought shu would inspect those said notes really closely, laying on top of them, moaning and gasping under ike’s hands.

mysta was called to an emergency situation because two (apparently) buff men were beating the living soul out of a man on the open street, under broad daylight — weirdly enough the police didn’t feel like involving at all, just turned their heads around and heizou was on watatsumi for some weird dog attraction (that’s how he said it, don’t blame mysta). the two men beating up one single one were vox and luca.

they told mysta the guy was harassing a young girl on the street, trying to touch her and even suggested to give her candy if she’d come with him.

vox, having abnormal senses, had witnessed everything from the very start but the last one finally send him.

luca was naturally good at perceiving imperceivable things. it was normal for his underground senses to pick up such disgusting actions.

the police knew luca and vox well enough to save their own skin from being taken right there and now.

mysta turning all three of them into solid ice blocks not only surprised everyone, it also cooled down luca’s heat immediately. the harasser went to jail, the little girl got a small keychain from mysta (a fox out of ice, it would only melt if the maker dies), vox and luca were taken to his office.

which was a bad idea because the two taller men ended up fucking mysta into his desk, making him moan like the little slut luca called him and being a good boy — just how vox liked it.

vox got whipped by ike the second he saw him with yae and shu at the publishing house. he was on the look out for shoto (the little rouge had left after their sparring session with vox’ hairclip still in his hair and vox really wanted it back now).

he found the perfect time to butt into their conversation, smooth and cunning; being thousands of years olds finally paid off. not only did he spark ike’s interest with his way of expressing himself, yae and shu were curious about this strange man with the deep voice and knowledge as old as yae herself.

shu has never met someone as experienced in history except for the archons and his oneesan (yae), his eyes basically glued to vox’ lips, his mind finding his voice addicting.

another thing he would learn to find addicting was vox and ike buried deep inside him, hands and teeth and lips and sweat driving his once so pure mind into oblivion. the moans coming out of his sore throat (vox was very much into choking) and the tears on his rosy cheeks glistening in the dim light were the perfect invitation for luca and mysta, who just arrived and did not expect two additional members to their usual dynamic.

#genshin impact #luxiem #nijisanji en #alternative universe #shxtou

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stray-tori · 4 years ago

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TPN S2 Appreciation

I remembered I started this so here we are: there's a lot of problems with s2 but you've probably heard everyone talk about them anyway so I'm skipping that and going straight to all the stuff I DID like about s2:

opening

episode 1

(episode 1) seeing them interact with the environment

(episode 1) Ray running + being out of breath animation and voice acting

episode 2

(episode 2) especially the parallel with the drop like holy shit

episode 3

(episode 3) the fish bug scene while maybe out-of-place is pretty cute and funny

(episode 3) the wall scare is pretty ominous and as of ep3, not yet stupid.

the **OPENING**

(episode 4)

(episode 5) the shot of the apple rolling and the camera turning over with it. so cool.

(episode 4) Ray shooting the demon animation cut even though Emma was robbed

(episode 4) Chris knowing the bunker tunnels after we saw him playing there with other children is really nice. Especially knowing that in the manga he's sad he can't explore properly, I think it's a nice in-character touch haha.

(episode 5) masked Norman with blood splattering behind him

Myuk Mahou cover art makes them look so cuteeeee

portraying the two worlds in parallel from the OP to wanting to care and save your family

the opening making me cry every time

cup-kun memes

(episode 3) them entering the bunker being so fecking tense and suspenseful, like i was expecting a corpse the entire time pff-

(episode 5) ray and emma using hand signals during the rooftop chase

(episode 5) the natural in-convo reveal about how they hide their scent by Lani/Thoma

(epsiode 5) the detail that they throw it in the fire to spread the masking scent when the old demon gets there

(episode 5) the old demon scene (listen ik people questioned this, but it's an old weak demon... I kind of see it like helping out a weak strong animal. I doubt this old geezer would have jumped Emma; it could reveal their location, that's true, but oh well - it’s implied he met them more often before so maybe Emma just slowly considered over time / maybe her realizing they’re not that different and all that yadayada)

(episode 5) Emma doubting herself because they've literally just been chased around (ik some people didn't like this and I get why but they've been barely surviving for like 11 months... she's lost and paralyzed, she's allowed to have her doubts, though they could be worded a bit differently. It just sucks that there wasn’t much of an arc regarding this after that, so. Yay Norman Christ has rescued us all.)

(episode 6) the reunion hug / scene, it looked so soft and nice ahhh- the entire art in that scene was just nice.

(episode 6) the atmosphere and framing of when Barbara was eating the demon meat. it came pretty unexpected and the moment you realize was such a big “ohhh… oh no.“

(episode 7) Lani and Thoma mentioning the migrating birds during their tower watch and that then later coming back when the kids think about where they could be was nice!

(episode 7) Norman’s soft “be careful” to Emma and Ray

(episode 7) Also Ray's reaction to "the gate is in gf" is just a mood haha

(episode 7) THE SHIPMENT PARALLELS! the sounds, grabbing his hand this time when he had to take hers during his shipment AHHH-

(episode 7) evolvment of the “dont do it on your own / involve your family/friends” by asking Gilda and Don to come with them on the search for Sonju/Mujika. Sadly this doesn’t carry over to ep11 where they decide to do sth as drastic as staying behind for god-knows-how-long without letting anyone know beforehand.

(episode 7) like their reactions to it are so wholesome, I really like how it is portrayed. Especially because up until now Emma was still bottling up. Idk I like that it takes a while for this to really settle in properly.

episode 8

(episode 8) “are you god?” / “I’ll be a god or a devil” / “are you a human?”

(episode 8) showing the demon suffering pretty graphically for what I expected

(episode 8) the simple fact that I got the experience of pure euphoria and a laughing attack when the parallel between Vylk and Norman was actually a thing, when I was so confused why they both had a distinct characteristic (the walking stick) in episode 5. My friends thought I was crazy but I was just big brain. (we were robbed of more stick though)

(episode 8) norman hand symbolism, with blood, Emma grabbing it, him looking at it and how it ties Emma to his plan inherently and then when it's not his blood on his hands but someone's that he's taking away from another living being.

(episode 9) the unspoken realization that he’s not the only one being tested by the test scanner was on the right-hand side. good shit. Ik thats technically not the anime’s idea but I like how they put the focus on it with blur and didn’t actively state it.

(episode 9) him coughing up blood to show how fast it’s been progressing/getting worse // though that implies he refused to take his meds OR that its that bad even with the meds which I don’t think is the point. Like the psychological warfare of giving the kids a condition that they can only fight while they’re in their prison bc they’ll run out of meds is just. hHHH

(episode 9) I really liked Norman going to talk to Vylk and… hhh- Emma *AHEM* and how he didn’t really know what to say, and .........… E-EmMa going up to him and apologizing for what demons did, showing empathy and understanding AND ABSOLUTING WRECKING NORMAN and me. man, cycle of hatred bad.

(episode 10) Emma speaking over the radio to everyone is just… so heartfelt ahh

(episode 10) The little kids sneaking amongst the others is rly cute and honestly kind of epic haha

(episode 10) the moms/sisters either not noticing them or not doing anything bc they’re on their side anyway is just… a funny thing to think about either way

(episode 10) Phil and Emma hug TvT

(episode 10/11) MICHELLEEEEEEE

(episode 11) the turning ceiling is pretty

(episode 11) I like the shadow asthetic of the Ratri exposition, generally the Ratri exposition is pretty nice aside from being so fast you cannot take all that in and process it properly

(episode 11) dramatic gate closing is dramatic

(episode 11) the slideshow of them in the human world gives nice glimpses into things, even if… very vague haha. Especially the shot of Isabella playing guitar stuck with me. And Phil on a train! Not a steam one, sadly.

(episode 11) while the demon world slideshow is uhhhhh SOMETHING, I do like that the weird dragon-on-water thing is in both the Ratri exposition during the promise thing and then also at the end, which at least gives A BIT of context to what's likely happening. Idk I liked that, but then again my standards aren't very high.

I'm not saying any of this outweighs the problems bc oh boy, but ye.

#tpn #tpn anime #tpn s2 #the promised neverland s2 #positivity #tori talks #tori has opinions

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ofkamis · 5 years ago

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haley lu richardson. cisfemale. she/her. ／ kameron “kami” abbott just pulled up blasting man by jojo — that song is so them ! you know, for a twenty-six year old singer & actress, i’ve heard they’re really self-destructive, but that they make up for it by being so persistent. if i had to choose three things to describe them, i’d probably say midnight drives with the top down, music playing loudly through headphones, & a wall of paintings from everywhere she’s been. here’s to hoping they don’t cause too much trouble ! ** jojo levesque acting & voice claim

general info

full name: kameron joanne abbott

birthdate: november 3rd, 1993

“stage name”: kami

basically if you know who jojo is ......... that’s kami. but if you don’t, watching this 26 min video explains everything ( and is kind of worth the watch bc jojo is a fucking QUEEN )

growing up and rise to fame

kameron abbott was born in massachusetts to recently divorced lynette & joshua abbot. though they were divorced due to other extra marital issues ( her father and mother were both cheating on each other for the length of their marriage ) they decided they could be co parents.

when they made these plans, they didn’t expect it to really affect them as much. their own personal issues made it hard for the two grown adults to get along and they wound up fighting all the time.

kameron lived with her mother full time, seeing her dad often though, but most of her early memories include hearing the two of them fighting or making comments about each other in front of her.

was seven years old when she got her first singing gig, she was going to be singing the national anthem at a school event, which is where somebody else saw her and she wound up singing at another event.

it was at one of these events that kameron was spotted by a talent scout and brought in to a recording studio. she wasn’t sure if it was going to work for her, but she was excited nonetheless. a real paying job! singing and making music, man it was her dream. she would give anything for it.

they signed a contract when kami was ten and a half, and started looking into music that they could use for her. kami was interested in writing her own music, but at ten years old she didn’t have a lot of life experiences to draw on for music. so the label worked with different demos and gave her some options and they worked with her to pick what would be best.

kameron and her mother relocated to brooklyn when she was eleven years old, working on getting her music heard by people who mattered and working on the album. it was a lot of time that kameron took out of her school in order to work on everything.

some of the kids in school were always curious why she was missing so much school, and yet was still at the top of her class. kameron continued getting her school work even when she’d be working in the studio either in new york or los angeles.

her first single “leave ( get out )” dropped the summer before her 12th birthday. the album followed, titled “kami”, was released the next winter early in the year.

suddenly, there was a lot of press about the tiny girl who had a powerful voice. she was on talkshows and working on different circuts getting her music out and talking about everything.

claiming that fame

kameron’s life changed drastically when her album dropped. she thought they would be staying in new york, since that’s where the label had relocated her. but shortly after the release, they decided it would be best to bring her out to los angeles instead.

so at thirteen kami found herself in a new city ( again ), surrounded by people she didn’t know. sure, she was making a name for herself, but what the hell was she really doing?

kami wound up not going to any of the local schools, instead her mother decided it would be best to home school her in the meantime while they were in a period of adjusting to a new place and working on her second album.

it wasn’t anything that they expected to be doing so quickly after the first, but the abbott women adjusted.

during this time kami didn’t see her father a lot. she would call him and talk to him here and there, but since he lived on the east coast and she was on a tight schedule there wasn’t time to do much of anything.

on top of working on a second album so soon after her first, kami was auditioning for film roles. she even managed to land a lead role in the film aquamarine -- which meant she was filming that and had to put the album on pause for a couple of months.

aquamarine premiered the spring of 2007, and was claimed to be one of the best “sleepover fics”. the kind teenage and preteen girls watch to get their minds off of their own problems.

she got close with her co-stars too, some of the first real hollywood friends she had.

following the success of her theatrical debut ( not as herself ), kami’s second album dropped the following year ( very unusual for me, but i’m keeping the track listings of jojo’s first two albums the same for kami’s ....... a wild concept ik ) actually just before halloween.

during the process of promoting her new album, kami got her second fil role in the movie rv. the film came out in the summer of 2008.

of course, as much as kami liked acting, she really wanted to be in the studio working on music of her own. but there was something else going on.

the lawsuit

kameron wanted to be in the studio for everything -- she’d been writing her own music finally.

except, her label was putting it off. and kami didn’t understand why.

she tried to busy herself by working on recording everything she had, working with several different producers and coming up with new tracks. and still, despite all of this, her label wasn’t releasing her music.

kami confronted them about it, telling them ( at 16 years old ) that if they wouldn’t release her new music, that she’d walk from the company and find somebody else.

that’s when they pulled out their contract. they owned kami’s voice--so she would have to do what they wanted her to do.

she was ten and a half when she signed the contract--or technically when her mother signed the contract. they hadn’t been in hollywood before and they’d been assured that it was the same kind of contract that anybody would sign.

of course, kami was livid, she had worked hard, to just wind up fucked by the label she’d thought of as a family for so long.

the label was putting out other artists music and pushing her release date back again and again and again.

finally, kami found a lawyer and she began the very long process of suing her label for her voice back.

handling the situation

to make herself heard, to keep her fans happy while she was going through all of this--kami found a loophole. she couldn’t release her music publically and do any big promo through her label. but she could release her music on multiple websites such as soundcloud and straight to youtube.

of course, she was a little disheartened at first that there wasn’t a direct answer for her issues even though she was in the courthouse.

in the meantime, since she couldn’t put her own music out into the world, kami was featured on several different songs.

she was also acting, because she felt like she needed to keep being out there in the world for everyone who cared about her.

her mother and father were both there for her, but wanted kami to see if she could quit making music and focus on something else. she had money from her previous and current work, she could make her way in anything she wanted.

but it wasn’t what kami wanted to do. it wasn’t her dream. she wanted music. she didn’t care how she had to do it, she loved making music and bringing her music to people who needed to hear it.

sure, she could go to college or find another job. that wasn’t even what she had been thinking about. but it wasn’t what she wanted. music was all she could think about.

finally, kami said fuck the studio’s rights and decided she was releasing her music one way or another. which is how her mixtapes came about.

her first mixtape was released in 2011. and then she started doing smaller shows. no big concerts or anything, but small shows in order to get everything out there.

this was also the first "album” that kami had nearly completely had a hand in writing herself. she finally felt like she was letting her fans see who she was as an artist and not just as a performer.

of course, during this time, kami is still in a consistent legal battle. her label’s going bankrupt, but they still technically own her voice and she wants it back. but nothing’s happening. and she just wants to scream out loud.

this led to a lot of self doubt and depression and kami wondering if she wasn’t good enough to be on her own. she fell into a spiral of doubt and stubborn thoughts and couldn’t bring herself out of it.

it doesn’t help that kameron isn’t the most talkative person ever in the world because she thinks she can really handle everything on her own. so while this is all weighing on her and causing mass amounts of stress and destructive thoughts, kami’s pretending like it’s all fine.

she’s photographed laughing at parties and working on her music too. nobody suspects that inside she’s dying and needs a release.

she managed to release another mixtape and an ep of covers, too.

release

finally, kami could breathe again. the spring of 2015 brought her the courts decision. it was ruled in kami’s favor that she could be released from the contract she’d signed years earlier. and finally, she could look into making music of her own with a new label.

kami’s response was a big fuck you to her label.

instead of immediately coming out with new music that she’d been working tirelessly on, kami put that to the side and began a new project.

her music wasn’t available online for her fans, and she had won the rights to the songs. they were hers. so she could do what she wanted to.

kami spent the next two years in the studio working on rerecording her original two albums ( kami, 2005 & this time 2007 ).

of course, during this time she’s doing interviews and talking to her fans and she swears that she’s back for good and nothing will stop her.

she’s found a new label that will treat her like she deserves to be treated and won’t do something like that again. she’s protected in her contracts, and she completely understands everything.

the fall of 2017 kami rereleased the albums on streaming services and on itunes. she didn’t expect anything of it, but suddenly the two albums were at the top of the itunes charts.

“#kamiscomeback” was trending on twitter worldwide for two whole days.

she was elated. began doing interviews with her fans. q&a videos on her youtube channel.

kami did a couple of pop up appearances too. she wanted to make sure everyone knew that even though she’d spent a lot of time rerecording old music, she did it for a reason. she owned it, and she wanted the people who had worked hard on the songs with her to get what they deserved from it instead of the now defunct label that had kept her in the prison for so long.

kameron was in a constant motion of making music in the studio and working on concerts. she did a whole summer concert series in the summer of 2018. she was working so hard.

DEATH TRIGGER WARNING before going on the stage during one of her summer concert shows kami got a phone call from her mother. normally she wouldn’t have answered this, but she felt it was important to do so. her father died in a car accident.

kami’s team was ready to pull her out of the show, pull her out. but kami was insistent on performing.

a video of kami breaking down during not one but two of her songs went semi viral. it wasn’t until the next day that it was announced what had happened.

focusing on now

kami took a bit of a break, which she hated doing, because she’d just been on the longest music break of her life but she knew her mom and her people were right. she needed time to grieve.

kami moved away from los angeles and went back home to massachusetts for seven months.

during this time kami was working on new songs and writing them. but she needed time to breathe and focus on herself.

it was in december of 2019 that kami released a new song off of her upcoming studio album, along with a music video just dropped with a link on her twitter. music. ( more coming in 2020 ) the video is a string of all old home videos of kami growing up and singing. it’s raw and real, and was praised for how honest it felt.

kami recently released another song off of her upcoming album, man. it’s much more of an upbeat song and she released the music video the same day too.

fun facts

kami is allergic to strawberries, which she found out at the age of four.

was never particularly close with either of her parents, but she spent more time with her mother growing up. she wished they were closer and friendlier, but there was a lot of underlying resentment.

kami has a dog named sodapop. has a cat named bender.

she’s had a couple of different hair colors over the year, but it was always different for her different phases. during her bad battle with her label her hair was jet black.

loves crime shows. always wanted to be on criminal minds, but she has done shows like hawaii five-o & lethal weapon.

was a contestant on “kids say the darndest things” when she was five.

rides a motorcycle, but also doesn’t ride hers too often.

loves to watch makeup tutorials for fun.

makes fun of herself constantly. in fact, she released a song about some hate tweets she got for shits and giggles not too long ago ( kameron )

has one a couple of awards, but won her first grammy at this past grammy awards

loves 80s and 90s movies.

collects paintings from street artists everywhere she goes. she’s got a whole room filled of them at her house.

turned her house’s guest apartment into a full fledged recording studio.

wanted connections

childhood friend(s) / a first love / exes / past pr relationship / current pr relationship / a friendship where they tease each other but love each other / maybe a roommate or something

#♬ ━━ ooc ←#excess:intro #god this is ......... so long pls love me and my new child

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firebirdtransam68 · 5 years ago

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30 Sonic Questions

1. Why did you become interested in Sonic?

2. How did you hear about Sonic?

3. How long have you been a Sonic fan?

4. Favourite male character(s)?

5. Favourite female character(s)?

6. Favourite game(s)?

7. Favourite vocal theme(s)?

8. How much merchandise do you have, if any?

9. How many Sonic games do you own?

10. Got any clothing or apparel?

11. AoSTH, Satam or Sonic X?

12. Archie or Fleetway?

13. Favourite Sonic form? Pick one.

14. Classic, Dreamcast or Modern? Pick one.

15. Favourite Sonic level(s)?

16. Favourite Sonic soundtrack(s)?

17. Favourite Sonic music track(s)?

18. Got any remixes you like?

19. What do you contribute to the fandom? (art, writing, edits, videos)

20. Do you closely follow Sonic related news?

21. Been to Sonic Boom?

22. Been to Summer of Sonic?

23. Got any fan characters?

24. Any artists you admire?

25. Favourite voice actor for Sonic?

26. Favourite official art style?

27. What do you like about the fandom?

28. What do you like about Sonic? (the character)

29. Met any Sonic friends through the fandom?

30. Excited for Sonic's next birthday?

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This ask meme has been reblogged by @xsailormobian, who had the meme in text format (I changed the formatting, but I credited the user who reblogged this post). And, since I had not found a decent Sonic ask meme as of now, I will take pleasure into answering all 30 questions.

I will answer as much as I can, since I have answered questions relating to Transformers; and since I am a fan of both Transformers and Sonic, I might as well answer this ask meme.

Here it goes:

1. “Why did you become interested in Sonic?” - Besides the fact the franchise is based on extraterrestrials, have many different characters with many different complex traits, and contain an anti-hero, the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise shares a lot of things in common with the Transformers franchise (extraterrestrials, different characters, voice actors/seiyuu, styles, etc.), despite the former being set in the 1990′s and the latter in the 1980′s. I took more interest when I realized Sonic X was an anime (characters speaking English, or throwing in English, comes to mind). I took even more interest when a particular character has the same seiyuu as a few Transformers I really liked (hint: the character is a hedgehog).

2. “How did you hear about Sonic?” - When I was at a movie store a long time ago (I was around 5 or 6), I came across a character with spikey quills and a signature smile with a pose (it was on a wall in a children’s watch room). I first heard of the name when an elementary school student was talking about it when playing a computer game featuring the blue hedgehog. I wasn’t too much of a fan until much later.

3. “How long have you been a Sonic fan?” - Almost a year; I recently became a fan after Transformers.

4. “Favourite male character(s)?” - Sonic The Hedgehog, Shadow The Hedgehog, Silver The Hedgehog, Knuckles The Echidna, Jet The Hawk, Scourge The Hedgehog, Team Chaotix, and Mephiles The Dark (but mostly Sonic, Shadow, and Silver).

5. “Favourite female character(s)?” - Amy Rose, Rouge The Bat, Katella The Huntress, Wave The Swallow, and Sally Acorn (to an extent).

6. “Favourite game(s)?” - Shadow The Hedgehog (2005), Sonic The Hedgehog (2006), Sonic The Hedgehog (1991), Sonic Riders (2005), Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, and any fan game where a character and zone can be created (Sonic Forces is influential, even though I never played the game).

7. “Favourite vocal theme(s)?” - Many, but I took interest with Crush 40′s “Live And Learn” from Sonic Adventure 2.

8. “How much merchandise do you have, if any?” - None. My cousin, on the other hand, has the games, toys, shows, and books (but not all, of course; though, I wish).

9. “How many Sonic games do you own?” - None; my cousin has the games; that is why I come visit his house.

10. “Got any clothing or apparel?” - Nothing related to Sonic; my clothes have regular (non-pop cultural) styles, or are just simply plain.

11. “AoSTH, Satam or Sonic X?” - Sonic X; with English subtitles; unedited. Animation and some sound effects remind me more of Transformers: Micron Legend. Also, Sonic’s English was awesome and funny (depending on how he throws in English).

12. “Archie or Fleetway?” - None of the above; not even IDW. I don’t read comics as much.

13. “Favourite Sonic form? Pick one.” - Many, but since I have to pick one, I will go with Super Sonic.

14. “Classic, Dreamcast or Modern? Pick one.” - As much as I appreciate Classic, I will go with Modern.

15. “Favourite Sonic level(s)?” - Many; I can’t name just one.

16. “Favourite Sonic soundtrack(s)?” - 1991-1997, Adventure 1 and 2, Shadow The Hedgehog (2005), Sonic 06, Sonic X (Yoshihiro Ike, NOT 4Kids), Sonic OVA, and, to some extent, Sonic Forces.

17. “Favourite Sonic music track(s)?” - I don’t have one.

18. “Got any remixes you like?” - Do 1980′s remixes count?

19. “What do you contribute to the fandom? (art, writing, edits, videos)” - All of the above; fan media included.

20. “Do you closely follow Sonic related news?” - Not as much; I am not particularly into new trends; just what I like (whether old, new, or underrated).

21. “Been to Sonic Boom?” - No. Next question, please.

22. “Been to Summer of Sonic?” - No; I never heard of it until now…

23. “Got any fan characters?” - Many, but not online. One of them is Stella Stripes (female; Alignment: Good), the other is Silhouette The Hedgehog (female; Alignment: Evil), and I have a couple on DeviantArt (all female). I also got many male fan characters (including a falcon whose Alignment is Neutral), as well as fan characters with different genders rather than male or female.

24. “Any artists you admire?” - Many, but mostly the official creators; also the creators of Sonic X.

25. “Favourite voice actor for Sonic?” - My favorite Japanese voice actor is Jun’ichi Kanemaru; I really admire the fact that this seiyuu speaks both Japanese and English, since he was also an English teacher at one point, and I really like Sonic’s quirkiness and fun-loving personality. My favorite English voice actor is Jason Griffith; it was the first English-speaking voice I heard, and he nearly captured Sonic’s personality nicely. My least favorite is Roger Craig Smith, since to me, he sounded off, and a little too old; and the creators drastically changed Sonic’s personality as a result, just like how they changed Shadow’s personality since 2010 or 2014.

26. “Favourite official art style?” - Sonic X (similar to Transformers: Micron Legend/Armada), Modern CGI renders, the 2005 game versions, Sonic OVA, and the classic styles.

27. “What do you like about the fandom?” - Extraterrestrials, many different characters, many opportunities to ship, has an anime I really like, seiyuu, and had female villains (Katella The Huntress came to mind; Merlina is a little weak, in my opinion); also, the fandom is very open to fan characters and fan media.

28. “What do you like about Sonic? (the character)” - Fast, confident, knows how to fight, is friendly, is quirky, throws in English here and there (Sonic X), and never gives up.

29. “Met any Sonic friends through the fandom?” - Some, but I don’t exactly remember their names.

30. “Excited for Sonic's next birthday?” - I am actually more excited about a crossover with Transformers (which this is hardly talked about), but I acknowledge Sonic had a birthday (although, to me, he will always be 15 years of age).

There should be more ask memes like this. In fact, I am for adding many different ask memes for many different fandoms, including Sonic, Transformers, and Spore (there should be at least one Spore ask meme, since I cannot find any).

Well, that is all I will be saying for now. Stay tuned for more posts (I am thinking of doing reviews for certain episodes of Transformers: Micron Legend and/or Superlink when I have the time).

This is FirebirdTransAm68 signing out.

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dreamcatcheroflight · 3 years ago

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Mental Health Tip #3

Frustration. Anger. Annoyance.

Those are probably some of the biggest emotions that cause problems for us mentally ill folk. And most the time, none of us really know how to handle it (if you do, well, you’re ahead in the game lol)

This probably won’t work with every situation. Especially since everyone is very different and have their own unique triggers, stress, tolerance levels, etc. but hopefully it’ll help at least one person.

The number one thing I recommend when dealing with those emotions is: take a break. Walk away from whatever it is that’s causing you grief and give it a bit of time. Take a few minutes. An hour. Maybe even a couple days, weeks, months, even years. Sometimes, it takes a long time to cool off. And that’s okay. Everyone goes at their own pace.

So, I’ll give you an example. For my artist friends out there, we can all relate to that feeling of just pure frustration and anger if we can’t get something right (like the pose, anatomy, background, etc.) and I know, for me at least, I’ll just keep trying to force it and work with it until I’m at the verge of punching through a wall. Taking a break and coming back later will help you see it in a different way. The more calm you are, the better you will be at fixing what is frustrating you so much.

Another example can be an argument you’re having with someone. Arguments can get pretty heated and toxic very easily, especially if you don’t know the tricks to having a healthy argument. The more angry and upset you are, the harder it will be to either A) come up with responses on your end because you’re so worked up you’re shaking and practically mute at that point. Or B) you can’t control your tongue and you end up saying some very hurtful things to the person you’re arguing with. When this happens, it’s best to step back and let both of you cool off. Then you can come back later, talk about the root of the argument, hurtful things you said, and coming to at least some term you both agree on.

Obviously you can’t step away from every argument or problem you have from someone. You might be in a car, they could follow you if you try to leave, keep bugging you, start it up again after you come back and try to make peace with them, they corner you so you can’t get away, etc.

When you can’t walk away, the best thing to do is breathe. Ik, corny as hell, but that’s probably all you can do at that point. Sometimes you can retreat into your mind, live in a fantasy world that helps you keep at least somewhat calm so nothing drastic happens until you can retreat to your safe space. That’s what helps me the most when I’m cornered. Maybe you have a comfort character? Or maybe you like coming up with stories? Or you like imagining yourself in a calm setting, or anywhere really. Anywhere but reality. And that’s okay. Don’t ever let someone tell you it isn’t. The way you cope is your own business, healthy or otherwise. It’s your choice to get help for unhealthy things, but never let anyone force you to. Because if you try to force something like that, it will most times only get worse. Sometimes it can get better, sometimes it gets worse. It’s like a 50/50 chance.

Anyways, I’m done rambling. Let me know if you want any specific tips and I’ll try to come up with one to help. Stay safe out there friends <3

#mental health tips #tips for mental health #mental illness #mental disorders #tips #depression #anxiety #bipolar #schitzophrenia #OCD #any other mental illnesses out ther #mental health #nonjudgemental #long post

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dipulb3 · 4 years ago

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Samsung Q80T series (2020) review: High-end design, excellent picture, approachable price

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/samsung-q80t-series-2020-review-high-end-design-excellent-picture-approachable-price/

Samsung Q80T series (2020) review: High-end design, excellent picture, approachable price

In 2020, Samsung’s TV lineup seems skewed more than ever toward higher-end models: There are three series with 8K resolution, a bunch of lifestyle models such as The Frame, The Sero and even a crazy-expensive outdoor television called The Terrace. Among relatively “normal” TVs, the Q80T stands out. It’s not cheap, but it is the least expensive Samsung QLED TV to feature full-array local dimming, which gives it an excellent picture.

Excellent overall image quality

Superior styling

Wide range of sizes

Numerous features, voice options

Don’t Like

More expensive than competing TVs with similar picture quality

The Q80T’s big brother, the Q90T, also has FALD and I expect it to perform even better, but once again there’s an issue with price. In the 55- and 65-inch sizes the Q90T costs basically the same as my favorite high-end TV for 2020, the OLED-powered LG CX, and in my experience the OLED will have a better picture overall. That puts the Q80T in roughly the same price-to-performance sweet spot as the Sony X900H, the Vizio P-Series and TCL 6-Series.

I compared all four in my basement TV lab side-by-side and the Samsung Q80T was indeed excellent, but despite costing more than the other three, it didn’t put out a better picture. Instead its strength lies in design, with sleeker looks, an excellent remote and, yes, that Samsung nameplate. Like the others it’s also well-suited to pair with an Xbox Series X or PS5 thanks to variable refresh rate capability and 4K/120Hz input.

If you have your heart set on a Samsung, you want a great picture and you don’t have money to burn, the Q80T is pretty sweet. But if you’re brand-agnostic, the Vizio and TCL are both better values.

Sleekness from the stand up

When you pay a little extra for a Samsung you expect superior design, and the Q80T delivers. The most obvious upgrade is the stand: Samsung uses a central pedestal, which to my eye looks a lot sleeker than the two separate legs to either side that most new TVs employ. The base is a single slab of metal, flush against the tabletop. An angled chunk of metal and plastic supports the panel, creating a nice floaty effect.

Black with a minimal frame around the image, the Q80T also has a textured backside and a cable management system that lets you channel power and HDMI from their ports through the stand, making for a cleaner look.

David Katzmaier/CNET

Samsung’s clicker is also among my favorites, with minimal buttons and just the right feel in-hand. Channel and volume keys click up and down, Ambient mode gets its own button as does the mic for voice, and even the Netflix and Amazon app shortcut keys are nicer than on other remotes: They lack garish colors and instead just match the rest of the wand.

Ambient mode is designed to show stuff on the screen when you’re not watching TV. It’s a cool feature if you don’t like the big black rectangle of an inert TV, and can display your photos, designer art, the weather, headlines and even adjust backgrounds to match your wall.

David Katzmaier/CNET

Alexa and Google join Bixby

Samsung’s homebrew Bixby voice assistant is built into the Q80T, as you’d expect, but new for 2020 you can choose the overwhelmingly more-popular Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant instead. You can select between the three in the menus and whichever one you choose will be available when you press the mic button on the clicker.

Alternately you can set the remote’s mic to listen for the “Alexa” or “Hey, Google” wake words, allowing you to issue commands hands-free (it worked well as long as I stayed relatively close to the remote). And like most TVs you can also pair the Q80T with separate Alexa or Google speakers.

David Katzmaier/CNET

Beyond voice, Samsung’s on-screen smart TV system is excellent, with quick responses and plenty of apps, and I’d take it over LG or Vizio’s systems. I still like Roku and Android TV (found on Sony TVs) better overall, however, because they have even more apps. Just like most TVs now (including Roku), Samsung has the Apple TV app and works with Apple’s AirPlay system.

Full-fledged features and HDMI connectivity

Full-array local dimming sets the Q80T apart from cheaper Samsung TVs. This technology, which improves LCD image quality significantly in our experience, boosts black levels and contrast by making certain areas of the picture dimmer or brighter in reaction to what’s on the screen. The step-up Q90T and the company’s 8K models have more dimming zones and brighter images than the Q80T, but Samsung doesn’t say exactly how many zones each has.

Key features

Display technology LED LCD LED backlight Full array with local dimming Resolution 4K HDR compatible HDR10, HDR10+ Smart TV Tizen Remote Standard voice

Like all of Samsung QLED TVs, as well as most higher-end TVs from Vizio and TCL, the Q80T’s LCD panel is augmented by a layer of quantum dots — microscopic nanocrystals that glow a specific wavelength (i.e. color) when given energy. The effect is better brightness and color compared to non-QD-equipped TVs. The Q80T uses a true 120Hz panel, which improves the TVs’ motion performance, but as usual the “Motion Rate 240” specification is made up (note that the 49- and 50-inch sizes are 60Hz/MR 120).

The set supports high dynamic range content in the HDR10 and the HDR10 Plus formats. It lacks the Dolby Vision HDR support found on most competitors’ HDR TVs. I’ve seen no evidence that one HDR format is inherently “better” than the other, so I definitely don’t consider lack of Dolby Vision a deal-breaker on this TV — instead it’s just one more factor to consider.

Gaming features are one of the Q80T’s strong points. It’s compatible with variable refresh rate, as well as the FreeSync and G-synch VRR formats, available from devices including select PCs, the Xbox Series X and PS5, although the latter doesn’t support VRR yet. The Q80T also accepts 4K/120Hz input on HDMI 4, which is conveniently marked with a little game controller icon. The TV supports Auto Game Mode too, which lets it automatically switch to game mode to reduce input lag when it detects you’re playing a game. (Note that the 49- and 50-inch sizes lack 4K/120Hz input and VRR.)

David Katzmaier/CNET

4x HDMI inputs

2x USB ports

Ethernet (LAN) port

Optical digital audio output

RF (antenna) input

Remote (RS-232) port (EX-LINK)

This list is mostly solid, unless you happen to own a legacy device that requires analog video (component or composite) or audio. The Q80T is one of the few TVs that doesn’t at least offer one analog input, audio or video.

Picture quality comparisons

Click the image above for picture settings and HDR notes.

David Katzmaier/CNET

The Q80T is an excellent performer overall, with good local dimming and contrast, excellent brightness, color and video processing. It fell short of the black levels and brightness of some less-expensive TVs, such as the Vizio P-Series and TCL 6 series, especially with HDR material, but showed less blooming and a slightly cleaner image, earning the same score of 8 (Excellent) in this category. I preferred the Vizio and TCL overall for image quality and liked the Sony X900H a bit less, but all four occupy the same general plane.

Click the image above to see the picture settings used in the review and to read more about how this TV’s picture controls worked during calibration.

Dim lighting: I started with the excellent-looking Blu-ray of Parasite. In brighter scenes the Samsung generally matched the image quality of the others — all four were excellent overall. Differences emerged in darker scenes, for example during Park Dong-ik’s ride in the back of the car in Chapter 4. The TCL and the Vizio both showed darker, more realistic “black” in the shadows and letterbox bars, with less bleed from bright areas into dark, compared to the Sony and Samsung. The latter two were close, but the Samsung has a slight edge over the Sony. The differences weren’t drastic — all four TVs have very good black levels and contrast — but still visible side-by-side.

Here’s where I mention an unusual thing Samsung did with settings, which I liked. The Brightness control handles backlight level but there’s an additional Shadow Detail slider under Gamma (where it should be) that controls exactly that (and does a lot of the same work as a standard Brightness/black level setting). According to my measurements it does what it claims: boosts brightness at low levels (5% to 20%) as you creep up. The default “0” setting is the most accurate but cranking it up did reveal more, yes, details like the car seat cushions and floor of Parks car became more visible.

Bright lighting: These days TVs just seem to be getting brighter but the Q80T is an exception, measuring dimmer than many TVs at its level including the TCL, Vizio P and Sony, and even slightly dimmer than the Q70 from 2019. It’s still bright enough for just about any room, however, and has plenty of punch to make HDR look impactful.

Light output in nits

TV Brightest (SDR) Accurate color (SDR) Brightest (HDR) Accurate color (HDR) Hisense H9G 1,239 1,238 1,751 1,498 TCL 65R635 1,114 792 1,292 1,102 Sony XBR-65X900H 841 673 989 795 Vizio P65Q9-H1 768 629 1,305 1,084 Hisense 65R8F 717 717 770 770 Samsung QN65Q80T 664 503 1,243 672 Vizio M65Q7-H1 595 424 588 480 LG OLED65CX 377 290 690 634

Don’t let the high score in Dynamic fool you. Aside from being woefully inaccurate, it fluctuated quite a bit, starting out at over 1,200 nits but falling almost immediately to around 300. Most other TVs don’t show such dramatic fall-off, and none of the Q80T’s other modes did either.

For the Accurate measurements in SDR I used the Natural picture mode in combination with the Warm color temperature setting (the default temperature for Natural is quite blue). I prefer Vizio and TCL’s approach of a dedicated, accurate bright-room picture mode.

Unlike previous Samsung TVs I’ve tested the Q80T didn’t excel at handling ambient light. In a bright room all of the TVs in my lineup were better at reducing the brightness of reflections to preserve the fidelity of the image. The difference wasn’t massive but definitely noticeable in dark areas of program material.

Color accuracy: The Samsung’s Filmmaker Mode and Movie modes are both accurate before calibration but I prefer the former because it disables most video processing by default (see below). After calibration, as expected, it was excellent. During Parasite, colors like the green lettuce and red kimchi in the cafeteria in Chapter 4, as well as the skin tones of the family as they eat, looked natural and well-balanced. Then again so did the other displays — it was difficult to see any real color differences even side-by-side with non-HDR colors.

Video processing: As usual the Samsung aced my tests in this category, delivering true 1080p/24 film cadence with film-based sources and plenty of motion resolution (1,000 lines) with video-based sources. The TV achieved both results with a Picture Clarity setting of Custom with Blur Reduction at 10 and Judder Reduction at 0, so if I had this TV I’d “set it and forget it” right there. Note that Filmmaker Mode’s default setting is to turn Picture Clarity off, which results in less motion resolution, but you can adjust it to taste.

You can also add more smoothing or soap opera effect by increasing Judder Reduction or choosing Auto instead of Custom. Meanwhile the LED Clear Motion option makes motion even sharper with the help of black frame insertion, at the expense of flicker and a dimmer image.

Samsung continues its tradition of excellent input lag in game mode with a score just over 14 milliseconds with both 1080p and 4K HDR sources.

Uniformity: With demanding, full-field test patterns the Q80T’s screen was quite uniform, with more-even lighting from edge to edge than the Vizio, whose sides looked slightly dark, and slightly less-even lighting than the TCL. With program material I saw the same minor issue on the Vizio while the others were very similar (note that uniformity can vary from sample to sample). From off-angle the Samsung was the best LCD TV I’ve tested, maintaining color fidelity, brightness and contrast better than the others.

HDR and 4K video: With high dynamic range sources the differences between the four TVs became more apparent, and the Vizio and TCL looked slightly better than the Sony and the Samsung overall. The Q80T’s highlights appeared a bit dimmer than the others, including the Sony, while its black levels were lighter and less realistic than the TCL and Vizio, it’s contrast did beat the Sony’s.

Watching the Spears and Munsil HDR benchmark’s test montage, the ferris wheel at night (4:51) was a good example, with a slightly gray-blue cast to the sky, and less pop in the lights on the Q80T. It still looked great, with plenty of punch and contrast I expect from HDR, but next to the TCL and Vizio it didn’t convey quite the same sense of realism — although it looked better overall then the Sony.

Brighter scenes, like the closeups of flowers and insects (3:26), showed less of a difference but the Samsung still appeared very slightly dimmer than the TCL and Vizio, an impression backed up by spot measurements of my light meter. Colors were crisp and vibrant, however, and the orange of the monarch butterfly for example appeared a bit deeper and more saturated than the TCL, if not quite as powerful as the Vizio.

The Samsung and Sony had one advantage during the montage however: they were slightly cleaner than the TCL and Vizio in the first fade up from black to a bright sky. The latter two showed faint, subtle banding in the sky as the image brightened, while the two “S” TVs didn’t.

Another advantage: The Q80T was the best among the three at controlling blooming, so stray illumination wasn’t an issue even in difficult mixed bright-and-dark scenes. One major reason, I suspect, was its less-aggressive brightness compared to the more blooming-prone TCL and Vizio.

Switching over to Parasite in HDR, the Samsung’s image held up better than before thanks to its ability to control blooming and maintain black levels (at the expense of brightness). During the dark Chapter 4 car ride, for example, the Q80T’s black levels were darkest and it showed less stray illumination in the passing streetlights. On the other hand those lights and other bright spots were more brilliant on the TCL and Vizio, and both exposed more shadow detail than the Samsung — while the Sony had the best shadow detail and the worst contrast. I still ended up preferring the TCL and Vizio overall, but the Samsung was much closer.

In brighter scenes where blooming is less visible the superior light output of the other TVs shined gave them more characteristic HDR punch, particularly in highlights like the sun as TK approaches the house in Chapter 3. The Samsung still looked brilliant, saturated and impressive, but the TCL and Vizio looked just a notch more-so in my side-by-side comparison.

Geek Box

Test Result Score Black luminance (0%) 0.003 Good Peak white luminance (SDR) 664 Good Avg. gamma (10-100%) 2.22 Good Avg. grayscale error (10-100%) 0.64 Good Dark gray error (30%) 0.90 Good Bright gray error (80%) 1.37 Good Avg. color checker error 2.70 Good Avg. saturation sweeps error 2.01 Good Avg. color error 1.29 Good Red error 1.34 Good Green error 0.59 Good Blue error 1.13 Good Cyan error 1.38 Good Magenta error 1.61 Good Yellow error 1.70 Good 1080p/24 Cadence (IAL) Pass Good Motion resolution (max) 1000 Good Motion resolution (dejudder off) 1000 Good Input lag (Game mode) 20.77 Good HDR10 Black luminance (0%) 0.005 Good Peak white luminance (10% win) 1243 Good Gamut % UHDA/P3 (CIE 1976) 91.85 Average ColorMatch HDR error 5.52 Poor Avg. color checker error 2.65 Good Input lag (Game mode, 4K HDR) 20.37 Good

Samsung QN65Q80T CNET revie… by David Katzmaier

Portrait Displays Calman calibration software was used in this review.

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imnotyogi · 7 years ago

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I wanna believe jd is a good guy and I believe he is due to his actions over the span of his career and I do think Amber is lying in some sort of way for eg the bruises and inconsistencies but something that rubs me the wrong way about all of this where I can't 100 per cent stand by him is that video she posted, ik he was drunk but still... what are your thoughts on it ?

_____

My responses to things tend to be a little long winded because I try to be as detailed as possible. So please bare with me on this.

Nothing about his words or movements suggested he was drunk to me, tbh. He wasn’t slurring, stumbling, or uninhibited and there’s nothing else we can actually go on. The “drunk” shit comes from Amber. And given that everything else about her and her so-called evidence is sketchy as fucking hell, I doubt that assertion. I do wish we had the full context of what they were talking about. Some people have said it was edited but I haven’t seen a breakdown post supporting it and I have no idea what to look for myself.

I doubt she would have been so obvious in recording him if she was abused. He appeared to have wanted to be left alone and she kept talking to him. I highly doubt she would have done that as well if she was abused. She alleged he was abusive and terrifying only when drunk/high. In the video he is clearly upset and she asks him if he drank almost an entire bottle of wine that morning. Why would someone stay around a person who is in the exact state they claim he only gets abusive in? Why keep pestering him when he obviously wanted the topic dropped?

In all honesty, I think someone of his age should have a better way of dealing with emotions than kicking a wall and breaking glasses. This is nothing new with him. It goes back decades. With that said, no other woman has accused him of domestic violence and said very much the opposite of their time with him. They constantly said he was very loving, sensitive, kind, and gentle. So the fact that he could break shit and still be viewed that way says a lot. They weren’t afraid of him, simply put. That’s what it comes down to, imo. I’ve been in situations where I was more afraid of someone who didn’t break inanimate objects than I was with those who did. There’s other incidents where she acted in a way that many doubt she would have if she was being abused at home. For example the Overhaulin video and there’s a video of her pulling him away from a fan. I believe it was a young child.

Everything prior to her accusations suggested she was the one “in charge” of the relationship.

He always seemed like a decent person from what can be gleamed from interviews (from him and others talking about him) and his actions. IF he did abuse Amber then I’d still think that. People fuck up, sometimes very badly. I wouldn’t think he was this irredeemable scum lord that others want to paint him as. I’d wonder what on Earth led him to do something that was the complete opposite of how he has behaved over the past several decades. I don’t think he’s currently a drunk or drug addict but he has talked about these things in the past. And he still was never accused of abuse. So what was different this time? Know what I mean? What’s laughable to me is Amber trying to paint herself as a caring wife/girlfriend to him that just wanted to get him help. His image tanked after they hooked up. He became bloated and just looked like a mess. I believe she was the catalyst for this since he’s looking healthier and healthier post divorce. It says a lot if there’s a drastic change when someone enters your life and again when they leave it.

#johnny depp #Anonymous #amber heard #jk rowling

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caraidean · 7 years ago

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Trueblade Duel || Mia & Edward

Participant(s): Mia, @daein-liberation: Edward

Words: 3,100

Type: Epilogue / C-Support

Summary: Shortly after the end of Radiant Dawn (before Ike leaves the continent), Mia reunites with Edward as the Greil Mercenaries tour Tellius to check up on old comrades. The two decide to test how far the other has come. More accurately, Mia resumes bullying her pseudo-little brother.

“Mia! Good to see you in Nevassa. Did you miss having a good sparring partner enough to visit me?”

“Edward! I didn’t know you were here.” The mercenary raised an eyebrow, hand already trailing towards Alondite’s hilt.

“Don’t flatter yourself too much. Ike’s still a better sparring partner than you, but I have to take a break from him sometimes. Hey, how’s the leg? You know, the one I almost took off at the river in Begnion?”

He reached across his chest to grasp Caladbolg’s hilt. He preferred Freedom’s Edge, of course… but that just wouldn’t be sportsmanlike.

“I’m a knight, you know - I’d be remiss not to hang out in the capital,” he replied. “My leg’s fine, and I already know you’ve recovered from Aran almost skewering you in the fortress. Really, you shouldn’t fight someone with such a long reach. Not a sword’s finest quality.”

“Oh, please. I got cocky, it happens. Like it is to you right now!” She chirped, pulling Alondite out of its sheath. Sure, the damn thing was much longer and heavier than she was used to, but…it had advantages.

“So, you want to do this here? Or is Micaiah going to get kinda pissy if we ruin one of her hallways?”

“I don’t know whether Micaiah would mind, but I’m guessing the rest of the royal guard wouldn’t take well to a crazy purple-haired lady with a sword attacking their commander,” he said with a grin. “I could take you to the sparring grounds, but I’ve got a better idea. A more challenging one.”

He removed his hand from the sword and turned to begin walking through the palace. He figured she would follow him. After all, she obviously enjoyed a challenge.

“Oh, really? This I’ve got to see.” Mia let the ‘crazy’ comment slide, deciding it wasn’t really worth escalating it over.

“Although if they really can’t recognize me, well, that’s on them.” She laughed as she followed him, interested as she twirled the legendary blade in her off-hand. “It’s also a pretty stupid mistake to make.”

“I doubt the veterans could forget you,” he said over his shoulder. “A lot of them were there in the war against Gallia. You killed some of their comrades. Might be another reason not to make yourself threatening.”

He led her up a spiraling set of stairs, passing by multiple floors. It wouldn’t take long to realize they were in one of the palace’s towers, with the ever-higher stairs taking them right to the top. With the final step up, he opened the door, a rush of cool wind hitting them both.

Outside, they found themselves on the roof of the high tower, a round space with low walls. The wind roared at the height, and Edward briefly looked down over the wall to see the dizzying distance from the ground.

“This tower is only manned a few hours a day, or during a crisis,” he explained. “Nobody will interrupt us up here. You might want to get any excess gear off, though.”

As for himself, he began taking off his longcoat, realizing the adverse effect it would have when combined with the intensity of the wind. He then unfastened the sheath for Freedom’s Edge, carefully laying it atop the clothing.

“It was war, and I was getting paid. They’ll get over it.”

Mia’s words were blunt, but those were her feelings on the matter. Did it suck? Sure, but she hadn’t done anything she was morally opposed to. The worst thing was that those men had been on the wrong side thanks to the machinations of the senate, but she refused to let it get to her.

“If they’re honestly stupid enough to try and do anything to me or the Boss while we’re here, well, they deserve what they get.” She finished as they arrived on the roof, her initial energy ruined by the more serious moment.

Besides, Edward wasn’t an opponent she could take lightly - anymore. Begnion had been different, but he’d improved drastically, even in as short a time as they reached the Tower of Guidance.

“I’m game when you are.” She shrugged, taking off her Trueblade trenchcoat and hooking it over a wind vane, leaving it billowing in the wind. “Sorry about the tiles in advance - I’m still not great with the ranged thing Alondite can do. There tends to be collateral.”

He drew Caladbolg in one motion, twirling it in his hand for a moment before adopting a defensive stance, blade in front of his chest. It wasn’t exactly a pretty blade like Alondite - forged of bronze and with a weighty handle, it had taken getting used to. The magical enchantments placed upon it still left it one of the strongest swords he had.

“What, you want to use magic instead of proper swordfighting?” he asked with a smirk. “But then, I suppose a sword is only as good as the one who wields it - even a legendary one like yours.”

“Hey, I almost died to this stupid thing twice. Let me use it a few times.” Mia pointed out, raising an eyebrow. Fine, if he didn’t want to talk about any of the tension the Greil mercenaries being her brought, she wouldn’t bring it up either.

“There’s a reason that the Boss gave this to me, Edward - and if you say it’s because I’m sleeping with him I’m going to come over there and choke you to death with your own tongue.” She was only half-joking. “Look, if you’re that worried about it, I won’t use the beam thing��on purpose, anyway.”

“You said it, not me.”

With that, he had decided they’d delayed enough. He lunged into close quarters, attempting to fake her out with the lunge before pulling it up into a defensive position to block her likely counter-attack. He kept both hands on the sword for now, because it would be too easy to disarm him if he wasn’t cautious - he was all too aware that she had years of experience over him.

“Trust me, I’ve heard it from enough people-”

She should have expected him to lunge early, really. She’d let her guard get brought down - Ike would never let her hear the end of it if this got out. Still, she recovered fast enough, Alondite flickering with surprising speed to bat Caladbolg away.

“-clever.” She admitted, before shutting up once more and diving forward into the fray. The silver blade flickered, trying to come at Edward from almost five places at once as Mia tested the younger swordsman’s guard.

He hadn’t expected just how heavy that swing actually was. Evidently, Alondite was a pretty hefty sword, and even having been ready to block it, he almost lost his grip on Caladbolg. When she rushed in for a flurry of counterattacks, though, he was ready. His grip tightened as he easily parried the first strike, and slipped out of the way of the second. He jumped backward to narrowly avoid another strike, feeling the tip slice a narrow hole into his shirt. The last two blows were easier to block, now that he had some distance, but he still felt the sheer force of every attack.

“Yune, that thing has a swing to it!” he cried.

With an opening finally available, he led his own attack. He changed his grip, trying to take advantage of her wild swings to grab hold of her sword arm while his own blade went low, going to a leg blow to slow down his quick opponent.

“Um, duh? The Black Knight used it?”

It still felt weird to call him Zelgius - especially when the man had actually helped her during one of her sessions learning to use an Armorslayer. And then he’d tried to kill her.

Well, tried to kill Ike, but she got in the way…for a while, at least.

She was starting to enjoy herself, now - even as she jumped over the leg blow. She landed awkwardly, not used to the slight slope of the roof, wincing as she lost her footing - and being forced on the defensive immediately, pushed back by Edward’s more confident footing.

Even though the weapon was the same, Mia’s style was not at all the same wide, powerful style the Black Knight had used, which might be why Edward hadn’t considered just how heavy Alondite actually was. At the same time, the style wasn’t the same one Mia used with lighter swords, which was infuriating. Edward could properly prepare for a duel with her if he actually fully understood her attack pattern.

When he noticed she lost her footing, he saw an opportunity. He grabbed her sword arm’s wrist and raised Caladbolg, trying to bring the blade to her neck and end the fight.

“Oh, like hell-”

Mia grabbed Edward’s wrist, leaving the two locked in a test of strength that she would reluctantly concede wouldn’t end in her favor. Still, it gave her time to gauge his stance, and eventually she managed to break out of the lock - Alondite freed, crashing down and forcing him to retreat.

“Neat trick, I guess.”

He grimaced and backed off when she blocked the attack. He adopted a new defensive stance, not wanting to be caught off-guard by her next attack. He took deep breaths, trying to figure out a way around Alondite. The sword’s sheer size made it a more effective weapon than Caladbolg ever could be, even discounting its more powerful enchantment.

He kept the stance up as he slowly stepped away from Mia. He had an idea, but he’d need his other sword for it.

“Oh, no you don’t.” Mia lashed out with Alondite to the side, its beam tearing across the tiles and sending his other sword clattering down the stairs of the tower, far away from his hand. She’d promised not to use the beam on him, after all, not on the sword he hadn’t even drawn for this duel.

“Let’s do this properly, Edward. You got yourself into this mess with only one sword, try and get yourself out of it!”

He had expected the beam to strike him, so he quickly sidestepped away from the beam. He gritted his teeth when he heard the actual target of the attack clattering down the stairs. So much for that plan.

He took stock of his surroundings. He might do better if he could get above her, but the only option for that was the walls, and obviously, it was a long way down if he fell. He slowly circled around her, searching for any weakness in her footwork or defenses. Now that she had wrecked up the stone, maybe he could goad her into an error, tripping herself up on some of the broken rock…

“I can see why you needed to remove that one from the fight,” he said. “Two swords too much to handle? I just assumed you were up to the challenge.”

“Oh, please.” Mia snorted, tapping Alondite against the tiles again. “You were the one who chose what sword to use. You were gonna grab another one and try to surprise me, cheater.”

She started carefully stalking around him, keeping an eye on the broken roof. She hoped she wouldn’t have to pay for that…well, it was his idea to fight up here.

Well, evidently she wouldn’t be caught up like that. Now he had to find a way to just slip past the huge sword instead. Probably his best bet was a feinting lunge to try and get behind her and tap her on the back.

He raised his sword up out of its defensive position and placed a foot back behind himself. He counted in his head. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Then, he charged. He fully expected her to sidestep the predictable charge, which was what he wanted her to do.

His foot caught. In his effort to charge her, he had himself forgotten about the loose stone. He let out a cry as he stumbled, losing his pose completely.

“Aaaand that’s that.” Mai said confidently. She’d read the feint already, and had been prepared to twist instead of sidestep and slap him on the back to end the duel - but he’d ruined his footwork, and this was easier.

She sneaked inside his guard, knocking him to his knees before tapping Alondite against his two shoulders in rapid time, laughing a little. “I dub thee Sir ‘Not Quite Good Enough’. Still…good fight, Edward.”

He knew he’d lost as soon as he stumbled. He regained his footing while she was tapping his shoulders with the enormous sword.He turned and grumbled, dropping Caladbolg to the ground. He held out a hand for a shake despite his own frustration.

“Yeah,” he agreed shortly, not quite meeting her eyes. “How do you even wield that thing? It’s almost as big as you are.”

“It’s not as hard as you’d think, really.” Mia shrugged, lifting the blade and looking at her reflection in it. “Sure, the thing’s heavy, but it’s not that much worse than an armorslayer. The bulk gets in the way, but that’s why you practice.”

She let out a small chuckle, shaking his hand and helping pull him back to his feet properly. “Honestly? Half the time I’d prefer a killing edge or my old brave sword. But the brave sword broke, and…well, you don’t get given this thing and not use it.”

He stood up on his feet, looking across Mia’s sword, then up her arms. As much as she downplayed it, even he was doubtful that it was as easy a swing as an armorslayer.

“Freedom’s Edge is definitely more my style. I’ve used Caladbolg for a while, but I also like the thinner blades.” He held out a hand. “Mind if I hold Alondite, give it a few swings? I’ve never used a sword like it before.”

“You break it, you can explain it to Commander Tanith.” Mia laughed, passing it to him as she leaned against the wall. She frowned, running a hand along her chin as she considered it.

“Actually, I’m not sure why they haven’t asked me to give it back yet. It’s not like they’re scared of me. I could totally take any of them in a fight, don’t get me wrong, but…Tanith scares me.”

He took the sword and gripped it with both hands. He stepped away to avoid accidentally striking her as he gave it several sharp swings. It was by far the heaviest blade he’d ever swung, but the weight was extraordinarily well-distributed. He remembered almost locking blades with Ike at the river crossing, and was very glad he had not - that duel, with Ike wielding Alondite’s sister, would most certainly have been his death.

“Well, Ragnell and Alondite may be Begnion’s treasures, but they seem happy to let those who are worthy hold onto them,” he replied. “Otherwise Ike would be swinging a silver blade or something. Besides, who the hell is going to be able to take these things from you guys?”

“I dunno…if Sanaki got any older, she might stand a half decent chance. She’s scary enough for a little kid already. Besides, after everything that went down, I don’t think they really want anything ‘blessed by the Goddess’ lying around anymore.” Mia laughed, waving him off. She could make a decent guess at what he was thinking and she sobered a little, a dark look crossing her face.

“The river crossing, right? Yeah. I almost died there too. And that thing -” She pointed at the sword in Edward’s hands, scowling. “was what did it. The Black Knight, or Zelgius, or bastard or whatever you want to call him had Ike down on his back. I tried to stop him, but all I really did was distract him and break my Brave Sword on his armor. He was about two inches from just killing me before Ike shoved me out the way of the beam - and he ended up in the medical tent for his troubles.”

She sighed again, shaking her head. “That was a stupid fight. I still can’t believe we were all set up that easily.”

He kept swinging the sword while she spoke. When he finally was ready to talk again, having let a pause linger for a bit, he had a frown on his face.

“It was all stupid,” he replied. “After we freed Daein, I thought we would be done with war. We were rebels, not professional soldiers or…” He gestured to her with his free hand. “Mercenaries. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll fight for Daein as many times as I need to, but I don’t exactly relish it, and besides, Daein’s only stake in the war was some stupid pact only Micaiah and Tauroneo knew about. For the rest of us, we were just senselessly allying with our oppressors.”

“Entire damn thing. I still can’t believe Micaiah actually saved Sephiran’s life.” Mia sighed, running a hand through her hair. “A lot of people died for a really stupid reason. At least the senators who set most of it up were dealt with.”

She reached out to get Alondite back, a warning look on her face that suggested he wouldn’t like what happened if he didn’t return it. “You’re getting better, Edward. Compared to how you were at the crossing, at least - looks like your leg healed up nicely, too!”

“…I’d say sorry about that, but hey. Teaches you a lesson about biting off more than you can chew, huh?”

He flipped the sword over so the blade faced downward, before holding it out for her to take.

“You make a better sparring partner than an enemy,” he said. “I’m going to beat you someday. Time’s all you’ve got over me. Well, that, and a huge freaking sword.”

“You’ll beat me when I start getting old and slow.” Mia said firmly, taking the blade back and sliding it into the oversized sheath on her hip. “You’re getting better all the time - but so am I, remember. I don’t think either of us has quite peaked yet.”

Which was something of a terrifying thought, she’d admit. She prodded at some of the ruined tiles of the roof, frowning. “So, uh…am I gonna have to pay for that?”

He looked across the rocks while he picked up and sheathed Caladbolg. He shook his head.

“I’ll get it taken care of, the duel was my idea,” he answered. “Do you need to get back to your company? I don’t think they expected either of us to run off and get into a fight.”

“Honestly, I think boss would be more surprised if I didn’t vanish to fight someone at this point. Did you know I’m technically banned from Sienne unless Ike’s there too? Something about scaring the trainees if he won’t keep me in line.”

Mia waved a hand, dismissing Edward’s concerns. “Hope Micaiah doesn’t yell at you too much.”

#History Had Its Eyes On You;Thread Archive #Spirited Swordswoman;Mia #daein-liberation #sword diaries;mia thread archive

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thelastspeecher · 7 years ago

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🌙 Lute McGucket

🌙 - vampire

Decided to set this in the Stanley McGucket AU. In most AUs, Lute visits his siblings in Gravity Falls unexpectedly and ends up with a firsthand experience of the weirdness there. But in the Stanley McGucket AU, I think it happens more often than in others.

Send me an emoji and I’ll write you a ficlet!

“Dish ish da lasht time Ivishit,” Lute said, frustrated.

“We warned ya ‘bout the bats,”Fiddleford said. Lute scrunched up hisface. “We told ya to bring protection if’nya were plannin’ on goin’ into that cave.”

“Shtanford didn’t brink ‘tekshun.”

“Yeah, well, Ford’s the dumbestgenius I know, so,” Stan said, idly bouncing the baby he was holding. The baby grabbed at his hair. “Ouch! Danny, chill.” Danny giggled inresponse. Lute smiled fondly.

“She’sh sho cude,” Lute cooed.

“Stuff like that is how I knowyou’re bluffin’,” Stan said. “No amountof fangs and blood-suckin’ could keep Lute McGucket away from his nieces.” Lute ran his tongue along the large fangsthat had grown overnight. Stan raised aneyebrow. “That’s…kinda weird, Gucket.”

“Jusht feelin’ ‘em.”

“Okay, we should be able to cureyour vampirism before you return to Gumption,” Ford said, walking into theliving room. After Lute’s bat bite fromthe day before had resulted in fangs and sallow skin, Ford had immediately doveinto researching ‘the vampire condition’. As such, the McGuckets and Stan had gathered at Ford and Fiddleford’shouse, so that Lute could be ‘properly studied’.

“Good,” Lute said. Crying began to emit from the playpen Stanand Angie had set up. Angie stoppedtaking Lute’s vitals for a moment to glance over at the playpen. Their second child, Daisy, was standingupright, chubby fists clenched around the mesh playpen wall and face beet red. Daisy’s wailing grew louder.

“Daisy wants somethin’, Stan,”Angie said.

“Yeah, I figured that out, babe. But I’m kinda busy holdin’ Danny right now.”

“I’ll take care of her,” Lutesaid brightly.

“No,” Stan and Angie saidshortly. Lute deflated.

“Why?” Lute asked.

“Ya still need to be, fer lackof a better word, examined,” Angie replied, abandoning her task and walkingover to her screaming daughter. Shepicked Daisy up. Her nose wrinkled. “Yup, she needs somethin’ all right.”

“Did you finish taking Lute’svitals?” Ford asked without looking up from his journal.

“Nope. I got a baby what needs a diaper changed,”Angie replied. She left the room,grabbing the diaper bag on her way out.

“Also, Lute, don’t take this thewrong way, but ya turned into a creature of the night,” Stan said. Danny tugged on his face. “I know ya love the girls to bits, but still,they’re prime prey for a vampire.”

“How could I nod dake dad da wrong way?” Lutedemanded. “Shtan, I wouldn’t harm a hairon der headsh.”

“I know,” Stan saidquietly. Danny poked him in theeye. “Ow.”

“Shervesh ya right.”

“Actually, that brings up a goodpoint,” Ford said. “Have you gotten anyvampiric cravings yet?”

“Ike fer human blood? Uh, don’t dink sho.”

“Are you sure?” Fordprompted. “We need to plan ahead. It will likely take a couple days to cureyou, and I doubt you can go for that long without satiating your appetite. At least, unless you wish to turn into amindless monster.”

“Whad are ya dalkin’ ‘bout?”Lute asked.

“If a vampire don’t drink bloodfer a long enough time, they turn into a bein’ driven by their thirst ferblood,” Fiddleford explained. “Allhigher mental functions are gone. Theironly thoughts are to satisfy their hunger.”

“…Okay, Shtan, now I shee whyyer nervoush,” Lute conceded. He rubbedthe back of his neck. “Gosh, dat’sh nota happy dought, turnin’ into shome shavage beasht.”

“And that’s precisely why weneed to plan,” Ford said firmly. “Do youhave any hunger? Any at all?”

“Umm…”

“We need to determine the amountof time you can go between feedings,” Ford said. He poised a pen above a fresh page in hisjournal. “What time did you last eatfood?”

“Uh, shix?” Lute said with ashrug. “Dat’sh when dinner wash.”

“Excellent. And since your fangs grew, have you had anycravings for human blood? Or flesh?”

“Flesh?” Stan asked. “Sixer, we ain’t dealin’ with zombies.”

“Yes, but the werewolves ofGravity Falls drastically differ from the werewolves of lore. It’s just wise to prepare for the chance thatGravity Falls’ vampires are the same way.”

“No, no hunger fer blood or fesh,”Lute said.

“Any murderous urges?” Fordasked, scribbling it down. Lute eyedhim.

“No more ‘n ushual.” Ford looked up, startled.

“Oh. You- you were referring to me.”

“Shtanford, I ain’t fond of bein’poked ‘n prodded like a horshe ad da coundy fair,” Lute said. “You’ve been on thin ishe wid me before. Dish ain’t helpin’ yer cashe.”

“A horse is an interestingcomparison,” Ford mused. “Normally,people say ‘prize dog’ or something along those lines.”

“‘Normally’? Do ya make a habit outta inspectin’ people?”Stan teased.

“It depends.”

“On what?”

“If gnomes count as people.”

“Geez, Ford, I was just jokin’,”Stan said. “Why do ya go aroundinspectin’ gnomes?” He carefully coveredDanny’s ears. “Messin’ with those lilbastards is just askin’ for trouble.” Danny shook her head until he removed his hands. She made a satisfied noise and snuggled closeto him.

“Horshe ish the besht metaphor,”Lute said. “Yer lookin’ ad my teef,after all.” Lute opened his mouth wideto demonstrate.

“Oh, mind keeping your mouthopen for a few minutes?” Ford said quickly. “I need to sketch your fangs.”

“…No,” Lute said, closing hismouth. “I ain’t an ekshperiment.”

“Very well,” Ford said with asigh. “I’ll have to collect data on vampiresthrough some other method, then.”

“Dat’sh what yer doin’?” Lutedemanded. “Yer shupposhed to be curin’me, nod shtudyin’ me fer yer journal!” He crossed his arms. “I mean itdish time. No more vishits to dis dangtown. I don’t care how many cute nieshesI’ve god.”

#other things that happen to Lute when he visits #include de-aging. body swap. cursed by a witch. turned into a canary. kidnapped by gnomes.#the list goes on and on tbh #and yet he still visits #Stanley McGucket AU #Lute McGucket #Stanford Pines #Stanley Pines #Fiddleford McGucket #Angie McGucket #ficlet #my writing #writing meme #ask #Anonymous

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ravenvsfox · 8 years ago

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Hey err lmao idk if I'm doing this correctly? But I love ur writing and sob at all ur one shots so I have to ask please can u write an andreil w a daughter??? Ik it's not their style tbh but I'm lowkey obsessed with my ships having kids. ANYWAY THANK YOU UR AMAZING AND I HOPE U HAVE A LOVELY DAY !!

(ur such a babe honestly this is too kind

There’s a blonde girl sitting cross-legged at the end of the hall, huddled amongst the medical waste baskets and supply shelving. Andrew spots her on his way to the vending machine, and she hasn’t moved at all by the time he makes his way back.

She’s maybe six or seven, utterly silent, her bangs long enough to get in her eyes.

He stops, holding a bag of skittles and a shitty mineral water for Neil, watching the girl try to look like nothing at all. If she were crying, the staff would notice, he knows. They would coddle her and take her to the bustling front desk and call for help and smooth back her straggly hair.

Kids are apparently only worth helping if they’re being cute or making a scene, and she’s obviously trying to do neither.

He realizes when he’s stalling his route back to Neil’s room that he’s seen this kid before. Last time Neil was in for a twisted ankle that he’d kept running on until it gave out, and they’d been in this emergency room, both of them stoic and impatient. That same girl had been in the waiting room with an intern crouched in front of her, her purpling wrist cradled between strange gloved hands. Andrew had noticed because the girl’s father had been on the phone, and he’d had one hand tightly holding the girl’s ponytail. A grip like fingers under a dog’s collar.

It could be a different blonde kid, but Andrew knows it’s not. He recognizes that silence.

“Hey,” he says. The girl’s little shoulders tense all the way up to her ears. He doesn’t get close. He keeps his back touching the opposite wall so she can see his empty hands and his relaxed posture. “Is someone hurting you?” He doesn’t put any effort into inflection. It’s like offering her an unused whiteboard.

Her mouth folds in on itself. She’s trying not to talk, and he can practically map out her thought process start to finish. He told me not to tell. He said it would be bad. He doesn’t lie.

“Is there anyone else?” Andrew asks. Her hands go up to her own knees and she grips them as she shakes her head. “Don’t go home,” he says. “Hide. Scream if he comes near. Say he’s a stranger. Do you understand?”

She looks up at him with frightened dark eyes. “Yes.”

Andrew nods. He drops the skittles in her lap and walks the first few backwards steps away from her, watching her blink down at her gift.

He swivels and grits his teeth, walking all the way back to Neil’s room with his grip hard enough on the vitamin water that it should burst.

Neil’s head jerks up when he enters the room, as always, which is a problem because he’s getting stitches down the curve of his brow bone.

The doctor groans, trying to pinch the skin closed with tweezers and steady Neil’s jaw with his other hand. “Steady, please,” he reminds for the dozenth time. “I’m getting more gauze. Don’t move. I mean it.”

Neil looks affronted at being ordered around but he doesn’t say anything. He bunches the covers to his chest and watches Andrew come close, looking eons more comfortable when the doctor is out of the room.

“No sugary shit?” he asks, reaching out for the water and looking amused at the warped, sweaty label. Andrew doesn’t answer, but he sees something change in Neil’s face; he stops unscrewing the cap and looks beyond Andrew’s shoulder. “Did you kidnap a child?”

Andrew turns and sees the girl in the doorway, holding her skittles with both hands and breathing shakily, like she ran to catch up with him. “I’m not supposed to.”

“Supposed to what?” Neil asks, bewildered. Andrew frowns between them.

“She followed me.”

“From where?” Neil squints at the girl, and then his eyes settle all at once, understanding. “She was here last month.” Andrew should’ve known that Neil has an eye for victims too.

“I’m here lots,” the girl says.

“You probably shouldn’t be,” Neil says, darkly unsettled.

“I’m hiding,” she whispers. He looks unimpressed.

“Hide somewhere else.”

She quakes, holding her skittles like a weapon. “He isn’t gonna like how long I’ve been gone.”

“Who?” Neil asks sharply.

“My dad,” she whispers. Neil’s expression twists drastically. He reaches one hand out, palm up on the bed. He doesn’t even seem to be conscious of having done it.

“Do you have anywhere you can go?”

She shakes her head. “I’m not supposed to run away.”

Neil looks at Andrew meaningfully and then back at her. “Sometimes you have to run.” She watches him with her face scrunched up, and then she steps forward unevenly, crossing the room to his bedside.

“What happened to your face?”

“He didn’t run fast enough,” Andrew deadpans, and Neil gives him the least impressed look he can muster when half of his face has been numbed.

“A mean backliner hit me with a big stick.”

“She doesn’t know what a backliner is,” Andrew drawls. She looks up at him indignantly.

“Sports,” she says. “It’s a sports player.”

“Nice,” Neil says, genuinely impressed, and Andrew rolls his eyes.

The door opens, and Andrew goes to step in front of the girl a second too late. The doctor stands in the doorway holding a package of gauze, his jaw slack.

“Uhh. She yours?” he asks, looking back and forth between the frowning little girl to the frowning men with their hands flung out in front of her.

“Yeah,” Andrew says.

The doctor looks unconvinced, and he paces warily forward, moving into a crouch when he’s close enough. “What’s your name?” he asks. She juts her lip, and lifts her skittles like they’re her ID.

“Mary.”

“Okay Mary, are these your dads?” he asks, gesturing up to Andrew and Neil without looking for their reactions. His back is tense enough that Andrew can tell he’s scared to.

She looks up at them, as if confirming.“Yes.”

“Where were you before?” he asks, voice slipping from high and condescending to something more genuinely confused.

“Daycare,” she says quickly. “They dropped me off when they heard my daddy got hurt.”

The doctor opens and closes his mouth, finally looking up and flinching at Andrew’s expression.

“Okay,” he says slowly, apparently defeated. “But you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” she says, voice unusually empty for a kid who’d been walking the line of a meltdown five minutes earlier.

The doctor stands, finally, reaching for his pocket. He surveys them for a minute and then shakes his head. “I gotta make a call.”

As soon as he’s gone, the tension seeps out with him.

“You’re a little liar,” Andrew tells her. “You’ll fit in with him.” He nods towards Neil.

“Fit in?” Neil asks. “You know she’s not actually ours, right?”

“You know that doctor is checking your records as we speak, right?” Andrew replies.

“They’ll make me go back,” Mary says, voice wobbly.

“She’s not going back,” Andrew tells Neil, and Neil meets his gaze head on. They’ve never discussed having kids, but they’ve discussed what it was like to be them. They’ve discussed saving them, if they had the chance. They know where they stand on this.

Neil sighs, resigned. “Social services?”

“Fuck no.”

Neil touches his own temple, right near his head wound. He cracks one eye open and slants it at Mary.

“Your name isn’t Mary, is it?”

She shakes her head quickly.

“So much for my clean record,” Neil says. “We have to go now if we want to slip him.”

Andrew nods once and turns on the kid. “Do you want to come with us?”

“Yes,” she says immediately. “Yes please.”

“Forget that word,” Andrew says, and he tips her chin up when her face immediately ducks. “You don’t have to say it anymore.”

#so.. like this is a thing I wrote very rapidly with apparent divine inspiration and very little substance #aftg #the foxhole court #andreil #tfc fanfic #kid fic #abuse tw #prompt #mine #Anonymous #ask

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dirtycrawfish337 · 7 years ago

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1-99

1. 6 songs I listen to most? Currently it's been lick by cardi b, rainbow and praying by kesha, grown ass kid by chance, big b's by young thug n chance, and like all of sza's album bc I'm still obsessed w it??2. If I could meet anyone who would it be?Oh no there are so many angels I wanna meet I can't even pick one3. Find book nearest to me pg 23, line 17?I'm sorry I'm in bed n not in reaching distance of one lmao4. What do you think about most?Probably my future5. Latest text from someone else?"WHAT"6. Sleep w or w/o clothes?Depends on how I'm feeling tbh7. Strangest talent?Turning trauma into biting sarcasm lmfao8. Girls? Boys?Girls? AMAZING Boys? Also amazing, but y'all loud lol9. Ever had a poem or song or written about me?I know of 2 poems written ab me10. Last time I played air guitar?Not sure11. Any strange phobias?Clowns and like slimy food?? Idk if those are strange but ik they make me cringe12. Ever stuck a foreign object up my nose?No, I was an advanced toddler13. Religion?Nothing concrete currently but I'm very interested in Buddhism14. If outside, what are you most likely doing?Either w friends or my dog15. Prefer to be behind the camera or in front?Behind16. Favorite band?Florence + the machine17. Last lie you told?I'm waking up at 718. Believe in karma?Definitely19. URL meaning?Lol one of my old friends came up w it and it's basically just ab loving where I'm from I guess20. Greatness weakness/strength?Taking care of everyone else before me lol21. Celebrity crush?TOO MANY22. Ever gone skinny dipping?No23. How do I vent my anger?I usually just needa rant for like 20 min straight then I don't care lol24. Own a collection?I probably have an unreasonable amount of things associated w marching band in my room25. Talking on the phone or online video chatting?Talking on the phone26. Happy w the person you've become?She's def still learning but so much better than where she used to be so yes 27. Sound I hate/love?Any type of metal scratching against another metal and I love hearing dogs run up to me28. Biggest what if?I guess if I had moved away for college? How different I may be rn? All the different ppl who may be in my life rn? 29. Believe in ghosts/aliens?Yes30. Stick your right arm out, what do you touch? Left?Right: My bedside fan. Left: The wall31. What do you smell in the air?Coffee32. Worst place I've ever been to?Probably a court house33. East or west coast?West for the culture34. Most attractive singer of opposite sex?Let's go w either miguel or frank ocean35. Meaning of life in your opinion?Doing what makes you happy for as long as you can while you're here bc at the end of it that's what you'll want, knowing you found peace and happiness for/within yourself, in my opinion36. Define artYour own creativity that makes your soul just feel right ya know? And it comes in all different forms37. Believe in luck?Eh, somewhat38. What's the weather like rn?Hot n sunny39. Time?7:54 AM40. Drive? If so, have you ever crashed?Yes and yes41. Last book you read?Not sure which one but I'm almost positive it was Mary Higgins Clark and if not it was a text book lol42. Like the smell of gasoline?Not at all43. Have any nicknames?Aimster by my parents and a few friends lol44. Last film you saw?To the bone (should prolly finish it)45. Worst injury?I've had a few bad scrapes n cuts nothing really major unless a few bad illnesses count46. Ever caught a butterfly?No but I need one to catch me47. Any obsessions rn?Just coming off of an obsession w the show ozark48. Sexual orientation?Bisexual49. Ever had a rumor spread about you?Many lol50. Believe in magic?Somewhat51. Tend to hold grudges?No I find it best to let that hurt GO52. Astrological sign?Pisces53. Save money or spend it?I wanna say save but my bank account know I'm lying54. Last thing I purchased?Soup, crackers, ice cream, n candy bars (im sick lol)55. Love or lust?Yikes that's a tough one. Both are very good but can be dangerous56. In a relationship?No57. How many relationships have you had?Real ones? Just one. I had at least 4 situationships we're just not gonna talk about lol58. Can you touch your nose w your tongue?I actually can't lol59. Where were you yesterday?The doctor, a pharmacy, popeyes, a store, and my bed mostly60. Anything pink within 10 ft of me?Yah my phone charger61. Wearing socks?Not rn62. Favorite animal?SHARKS 63. Secret weapon to get someone to like you????? Let u know when I find it??64. Where is your best friend?Prolly sleeping65. Top 5 blogs on here?I'm not sure of all of them but def check pelvicthruster and my-secret-life-as-ren for some bomb ones66. My heritage?Black??67. What was I doing at midnight last night?What I do best, sleeping68. What do you think is Satan's last name?Idk omg69. Biggest turn ons?Pretty teeth!! Being nice to me!! Slow kissing!! Neck kisses!! 70. Are you the friend of a friend you'd hope to have?Hopefully, I consider myself a pretty good friend71. There's a dog drowning on my way to work but if I'm late again I'll be fired, what do I do?Save the dog and get away from a heartless boss if they fire me after that tf??72. If given one month to live would I tell anyone n everyone, what would I do w my remaining days, and would I be afraid?Probably only close friends and family, I would want to travel any and everywhere until I couldn't anymore, and I'd be scared of all the unanswered questions ab death but I think I would have to sooner rather than later accept that I can't change what's happening and just live out my fullest life73. Can either have trust or love? Which one?Trust. In my opinion love can't exist w/o trust so74. A song that always makes me happy when I hear it?Too many omg I just rly love music75. Last 4 digits of my number?4061??76. What makes a great relationship?Trust, honesty, attraction, healthy actions from both partners, and NEVER stop doing the little things. So many relationships go to shit bc one or both stopped cherishing the other person in the relationship77. How can I win your heart?Animals!! Good music!! Genuine company!!78. Can insanity bring on more creativity?I think it can in theory, but it doesn't mean you have to be some kind of mad scientist or in an unhealthy mindset to have creativity79. Single best decision I've made in my life?Letting go of people who are no longer good for me or vice versa. Holding onto that hurt does nothing but drag you down80. What do you want written on your tombstone?I actually have a thing w quotes, meaning I have so many I LOVE, I wouldn't even know where to start81. Shoe size?10 (Switch 80 and 81 I mixed up the numbers)82. Favorite word?TOO MANY83. First thing that comes to mind hearing the word heart?Passion84. A saying you say a lot?"It be like that" (probably what's gonna actually end up on my tombstone)85. Last song I listened to?I think it was caretaker by dram and sza86. Favorite color(s)?Blue and gray87. Current desktop picture?I don't have a computer anymore so :/88. If you could press a button, making anyone explode, who would it be?There's a lotta ignorance I wanna get rid of in this world but I don't even think I could explode anyone lol89. A question you'd be scared to tell the truth on?And expose myself..I think not lmao90. Turn offs?I really don't line unnecessarily rude/mean people or anyone who speaks to you as if they're superior91. If I ate a vegetable that gave me superpowers what would it be?Hopefully mental stability tbh92. Where are your parents from?My dad's from Vackaville, California and my mom's from Abbeville, Louisiana93. If I could erase any horrible experience from my past what would it be?I could definitely get rid of a lot of painful things but I feel like I could also be a drastically different person94. Opportunity to sleep w a music celebrity of my choice, who('

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ara-la · 7 years ago

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In an Empire, there are no Citizens, only Subjects

PART’S PERSPECTIVE: In an Empire, there are no Citizens, only Subjects (From Turning The Tide, Vol. 17 #1, Spring 2004)

by Michael Novick, Anti-Racist Action-Los Angeles/People Against Racist Terror (ARA-LA/PART)

The process of anointing a new figurehead as President of the United States and “ruler of the free world” is well underway. Surely at this late date, no illusions could possibly remain about the circumscribed nature of this process. Yet somehow, George W. Bush yanking our chains seems to be sufficient to get enough people dancing like marionettes while the powers-that-be continue to pull the strings.

The latest illusion was that the legions of cyber-democracy would put the forces of peace and justice in the driver’s seat. But the front-runner status Internet fundraising conferred on Howard Dean over the more sharply critical candidacies of Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton vanished like the morning mist as the first “real world” votes were taken and the corporate media focused their, and our, attention on the Democratic Party primaries. “Electability” became the order of the day – defined as whether a candidate appeared “Presidential,” meaning manly and capable of running the Empire.

The “choice” quickly narrowed to two, then one, an inevitability given the nature of the corporate media spectacle, the federal system and the party apparatus. Not surprisingly, Anybody-But-Bush turns out to be All-But-Bush – a new JFK for those who have forgotten that the original JFK won by running as a more effective and sophisticated Cold Warrior than Ike and Dick Nixon, and as a go-slow supporter of states’-rights over civil rights.

Bush and Kerry are literally as well as figuratively members of the same club, Yale’s Skull and Bones. Bush has governed and will run so far to the right, that Kerry had to make only the briefest feint towards populism in the primaries and will not budge off “center” in the general election.

This uniformity reflects not merely political tactics, but the definitive strategy of the ruling elites, for whom acceptable political and economic options continue to narrow drastically. Now “touch-screen” voting is calling the legitimacy of even that limited suffrage into question in a way beyond any previous mechanism of ballot box stuffing, media manipulation or electoral fraud or coercion.

Yet this very marginalizing of even the most timid dissent from the Empire should serve to alert us to the actual political, economic and environmental crisis in which the Empire finds itself and to which it has subjected us. Their crisis must be our opportunity, an opportunity to break with illusions and self-imposed blindness, and to face reality.

In an Empire, there are no citizens, only subjects. Imperial ‘democracy’ is simply a mechanism for obtaining the consent of the privileged, the oppressed and the exploited to live a while longer under the thumb of the oppressors and exploiters. Another world is not only possible – it is necessary for species and planetary survival.

Forty years ago, Malcolm X said that he saw no American dream, but an American nightmare; that he was not an American, but a victim of Americanism. Today, unchecked, that nightmare has become a reality not only in "America," but also around the planet. The victims of “Americanism,” of what Dick Cheney calls the “non-negotiable” American Way Of Life, extend from the melting polar ice caps to the AIDS orphans of Africa; from the apartheid wall in Palestine to the militarized border between the US and Mexico to the 2.2 million prisoners inside the US; from the clear-cut forests to occupied Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Empire based on settler colonialism, land theft, slavery and genocide in America is extending itself ever more seamlessly across the planet, penetrating and privatizing the water, the land, and even plant, animal and human life itself. As Bush’s budgets make clear, the Empire state can maintain itself and the profitability of its corporate sponsors only by looting the rest of the world and our own future. And with global warming and “Peak oil” threatening the viability of industrialism itself, with the Pentagon predicting resource wars over food and water, and with education for the young, retirement for the aging Baby-Boomers, and medical care for all rapidly becoming unaffordable, that future looks increasingly bleak.

But that’s only half the picture. One of the problems with identifying with and as the oppressor is that when the end is near for the oppressor, it starts to look like the end of the world.

But the overdue end of the Empire is in fact the birth pangs of something new. Across the globe, resistance is growing, and new ways of living, new forms of organization and social cohesion are being born.

Imperial globalization has meant, willy-nilly, a leveling and interconnection of economic enterprises and conditions all over the world. At the height of Imperial power and arrogance, its internal contradictions are simultaneously exposed as never before. Even as the Bush regime arrogates to itself dominion over Afghanistan and Iraq, not a single spark but a dozen, a hundred, alight in Argentina, in Brazil and Bolivia, Colombia and Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Haiti. Everywhere the Empire tries to set its booted heel down on the people, more rise up, communicating, sharing, coordinating, teaching and learning from each other’s successes, and from past failures.

What’s more, such struggles are taking place on a political and social terrain increasingly akin to that within the metropole of the Empire itself, and they will inevitably be infectious here as well. What are the lessons we can take from Argentina and Venezuela, from Durban and Port Au Prince, from Fallouja and Gaza? That the oppressed are not powerless or defeated. Far from it!

The oppressed, in struggle for liberation, are ultimately irrepressible. All the wealth and power of the oppressors and exploiters, of the parasitic, necrotic Empire, comes from the people and the planet. As we rise up and resist, as we fight back, we change the balance of forces. We weaken the mighty military-industrial-prison machine that holds us down, and strengthen the creative powers, solidarity and sovereignty that can lift us up.

Who leads that struggle and revives our sense of possibility, of hope for the future? It is women and young people, it is the indigenous people colonized for half a millennium, it is Africans on the continent and dispersed to the Americas in the genocidal system of slavery and the slave "trade." Capitalism and colonialism creates its own executioners and pall-bearers.

In Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Cuba, in different ways and different stages, the off spring of the indigenous, the African and the settler are struggling against the Empire. The same is true in Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil, and in Central America and Mexico. Imperialism’s military-economic plans for international domination, Plan Colombia and Plan Puebla Panama, are met with and indeed foster international resistance. Indigenous women, landless rural workers, urban street youth are creating new and vital international grassroots networks and social organisms.

Privilege, defeatism and illusions have prevented this process from developing as rapidly or as clearly inside the borders of the settler colony, but it has begun. Increasingly, movements inside this country are recognizing that we all live inside the same Empire, and that our fates are intertwined. People inside the U.S. are studying the Zapatista consultas of the Maya in Mexico, the Bolivarian Circles in Venezuela, the autonomist labor movement of Argentina for ways to understand the world more clearly and to organize for action more effectively.

Europeans and people of European descent are set in motion by the resistance to occupation in Iraq or Palestine. African communities in the Diaspora are learning hard lessons about neo-colonialism from struggles on the Continent, in Congo, Zimbabwe, South Africa and elsewhere. Women in Black, women care-givers, trafficked women in the global sex-slave trade are uniting across the lines of colonizer, colonized and neo-colony.

But to really learn these lessons requires sacrifice and commitment, as well as self-criticism. The class struggle, the anti-colonial struggle, goes on within each of us, among other arenas. The question, “Which side are you on?” is not answered once and for all, but addressed anew each day and in each decision. That's because privileges are always relative, and because privileges are a mechanism of discipline based on internalizing the oppressors’ definitions and expectations, on responding to the oppressors’ system of rewards and punishments. Building and maintaining solidarity and unity means consciously upholding sovereignty and self-determination for the oppressed.

It means breaking, over and over, as often as necessary, the easy illusions, the identification with and as the oppressor. It means replacing the habits of command and dictation with the conscious, alert attention to the voices and needs of the common people. It means opposing, exposing, and uprooting white supremacy and colonialism. De-colonization is a vital, strategic necessity not only for the colonized but also for everyone born into the colonizing society and system.

Any advance requires risk and the possibility or even necessity of loss, pain and defeat. Victories are collective, and sometimes multi-generational. Sacrifices are experienced individually no matter what our support system or fellowship. Class consciousness, identification with the interests of the masses of humanity and of life on the planet, is something to strive for, to reinforce by experiencing life and comradeship in a new way. It is inevitably uneven, incomplete, and achieved collectively and mutually.

We must be open to and open in struggle. This requires not merely “trust,” but also risk. We cannot be afraid to make mistakes, to screw up, to get burned. We cannot berate ourselves for letting ourselves or others down, because it is the unavoidable consequence of taking risks. Wallowing in it, in guilt and despair, is another seductive and comfortable form of privilege.

Get up, clean up, make amends and move on. Risk also means there are no sure or easy answers, no script or bible that will tell us what to do or guarantee how things will turn out. Whether you believe in “god” or “history,” it will only help those who help themselves.

Malcolm X said something else 40 years ago. “It will be either the ballot or the bullet.” Malcolm was a tremendous leader of the oppressed and downtrodden people with a global vision and impact, but, standing on his shoulders, we can see more now.

The ballot IS a bullet – pointed at us ... Enfranchisement and disenfranchisement work like two blades of a scissors...

First, the ballot IS a bullet – pointed at us. The system uses your electoral participation to sustain itself. Enfranchisement and disenfranchisement work like two blades of a scissors, and it’s our rulers with their fingers in the slots, calling the shots, and using both blades to cut to their pattern.

Vote if you must, but recognize that the options occasionally and briefly available in the periphery of the empire, an Aristide, Chavez or Lula, will never be offered here so long as our struggle is confined to the electoral arena. Electoral options emerge only when the people have already advanced their struggle through direct action and constant resistance to a point where the rulers are prepared to make some concessions within the system in order to preserve their power (and even there, it’s purely tactical and circumscribed, and usually temporary, until the necessary coercive force and local puppets can be mustered, as in Chile, Granada or recently Haiti).

Second, the struggle is not defined only by those two alternatives of the ballot or the bullet – electoral reform or armed struggle. Malcolm's dictum, “By any means necessary,” which avoided that dichotomy of methods to achieve liberation, was a wiser and fuller expression of Malcolm’s thinking.

“The ballot or the bullet” was Malcolm’s warning to the oppressor, a threat that if Black people were not granted their rights and citizenship, violence would ensue. As such it was a kind of echo of Kennedy’s statement, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.”

Today we understand that the revolutionary transformation of society is not only inevitable, but also desirable and essential. Everyone must contribute to that revolutionary transformation by every righteous means within our power. Everything we do today must pre-configure the better world we hope to live in tomorrow. Dick Cheney was right when he said “The American Way Of Life is non-negotiable” – because it is genocidal, ecocidal, and ultimately suicidal. If our rejection of that way of life is thorough-going, with no compromise, no sell-out, no deals, then a variety of tactics to achieve our strategic and political goals will become evident.

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symbianosgames · 8 years ago

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Deep Dive is an ongoing Gamasutra series with the goal of shedding light on specific design, art, or technical features within a video game, in order to show how seemingly simple, fundamental design decisions aren't really that simple at all.

Check out earlier installments, including creating believable crowds in Planet Coaster, evolving stealth detection in Shadow Tactics, and designing dynamic audio for destructible environments in Rainbow Six: Siege.

Lucid Trips is made by an indie team of four people that started as a free time project of two of the founders from the German VR Nerds Collective, Nico and Sara. Both have a Communication Design background and got into VR and Unity due to the Rift DK1.

With Julian and Basti joining the group they got support on the coding side, and a team that was capable of adapting the rough prototype to the rapidly changing hardware was formed. Lucid Trips is the first game the team has released on Steam. The style was developed as a fusion of our motion design background and the deep connection to art of the creatives leading the group.

Locomotion in VR is still a topic that is far from being sophisticatedly solved. We tried our own approach to (hyper)naturally and most intuitively move as a bodiless consciousness in virtual space even before the question of VR movement was all over the place.

The concept of locomotion of Lucid Trips has similarities with the movement of astronauts in outer space who have jetpacks attached to their wrists. Your body hovers over the ground and you alternately use your hands to move forward. Think of your body as sitting on a hover board like in the movie Back to the Future.

Though the project is still in early access, using the hand-walking method doesn’t have many difficulties with regards to motion sickness. As soon as the player develops a feeling of how the avatar reacts to the unknown surrounding, he can move around very intuitively. All movement is skill based and develops over time.

Every real-world movement is followed by a predictable movement in VR that relates to the added force. As these actions are done while your whole wrist is in movement and not only your fingers, the brain seems to be less confused by the triggered moves.

Inspired by Lucid Dreams

Lucid dreams are dreams in which you are aware that you're actually dreaming. The dream to fly is deeply rooted in the history of mankind such as being weightless and able to see perspectives like a bird. Lucid Trips immerses you to intuitively experience a whole other consciousness. As soon as you figured out how your new body reacts to the surrounding you have a very intimate and meditative experience as an undefined being in a surreal realm.

Triggering Movement

For moving around fluently and avoiding motion sickness it is crucial to have an understanding of the mechanics going on in the brain while experiencing motion and adapt to what is comfortable. On regular 2D games with gamepad you hit a button to execute a movement repeatedly, which is a bit similar to sitting in a car or other cockpit in the real world. That’s contrary to independent locomotion in the real world where for every action you do with your own body there has to be added a certain force of which we are mostly familiar with triggered response and acceleration.

As we can assume the outcome of our added force, our brain predicts the next movement and acceleration fairly well and we feel fine doing so. We made a similar observation with our hand walking technique when people got used to the controls and movements started to become very tactile and precise. The invention of solid and affordable roomscale systems like the HTC Vive brought us a huge step forward to the potential of direct, realistic and fully immersive interaction while being close to moves you would do in reality.

In the very popular title Job Simulator from Owlchemy Labs you can experience that phenomenon of realism through interactivity. If you want to naturally move forward, you use your legs for doing so and techniques like redirected walking, where the game tricks the user into running in circles while they think they’re going straight, help a bit with not hitting walls. More clunky approaches that are often used are the Teleportation Mechanic or Omnidirectional Treadmills.

Capturing and transferring the players motion directly to his avatar definitely enhances immersion. There are different motion tracking methods available but most are very complex and expensive. Even if these systems get more and more advanced and affordable, we are still facing the currently very well known problem of locomotion in VR - being limited by the real world space around you.

New approach on Movement in VR

The concept of Lucid Trips completely avoids these problems by creating a living room friendly experience in which the use of legs is eliminated but the player does a very natural and physical movement through virtual space. Apart from the head, the avatar only consists of two limbs, which represent the arms and hands of the player. He is able to walk, climb, jump, and glide with them. Imagine your body consisting only of hands, arms, chest and head. With the use of inverse kinematics (IK) it is possible to transfer the movement of the real arm to the virtual arm when using hand motion controllers.

In early development we used the Oculus Rift DK1 and Razer Hydra, which at the time delivered precise data. At that time there was no expectation at all that something like the setup we used would be anywhere near to release for consumers. So we focused on pushing immersion as far as possible and worked on a full body installation with a kind of hammock that keeps you standing or kneeling in a 30 degree forward angle.

We were also working on a quadrocopter based wind feedback that is directly linked to the avatars moving speed and direction to give more realistic feedback and feeling of movement and acceleration.

Since the summer of 2014, we switched from the wired Razer Hydra to the wireless PlayStation Move controllers in combination with the Rift DK2 and collected feedback while demoing at art and game events. Since the summer of 2015 we have been working with the HTC Vive devkits - we couldn’t believe our luck when Valve and HTC announced that they were producing exactly they setup we we needed for consumers.

From that time on we decided to completely focus on building a version of Lucid Trips that is suitable for public release.

Adjustments through Playtesting

As we opened up play testing to a constantly growing number of enthusiast and VR newbies we learned that we had to implement a lot more comfort mechanics than we thought. As in the beginning our avatar had a realistic gravity and the user could just start to walk and run forward, jump off the ground, spread their arms and fly. Players were even able to do loops. One can guess that even if we ourselves were feeling totally fine with this some playtesters weren’t at all.

We implemented some specific features that minimise the potential of nausea drastically. We altered the environment to have a very low gravity that makes large and frequent up and down movements not possible until wanted. These movements challenged the vestibular sense a lot and therefore easily lead to sickness. To stabilise the gaze we added localised particles in the player’s view and a vignetting that reacts to certain, especially unwanted, moves in backwards or sidewards directions - both can be adjusted through the comfort level on the touchpad from one to seven.

After 3 years of prototyping and iteration the user is now able to seamlessly switch from walking to jumping, flying or climbing, which lets him explore the magic environments on the artistically designed dreamplanet in Lucid Trips moving around completely free. It opens up a whole other possibility of perception of the virtual worlds in terms of space and dimensions.

Our current Early Access release is on Steam. We are also playtesting and developing with the Rift and Touch controllers and are targeting a release on Oculus as soon as we reach the full release state. A version for Playstation VR is also planned but as we are a small team all additional platform releases depend on how the game will perform through Early Access and the response of the community.

#IFTTT #Blogger

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