#it just would not have gotten done with the time constraint

[143hyunes]

when you help them shave

includes: ot8 x gn reader

genre: domestic fluff, crack(?), sfw

synopsis: you ask your bf if you can help him shave

warnings: implied established relationship, use of nicknames like baby; babe, lots of kissing, suggestive (lee know & seungmin), mention of blood in han's part, extreme **fluff**

wordcount: 2.5k

a/n: i saw a similar hc a while back, so i was hesitating whether i should upload this for the longest time (i've had this in the drafts since January 😭), my version is different from that one though, i can't believe i'm finally posting this. anyways i hope you like this <33 as always reblogs and feedback appreciated !!

CHAN

Days off with Chan were always eventful. Today was one such day and he was in a playful mood. The razor was in your right hand while you held onto his chin, in order to glide the razor easily across his jaw and cheeks. But Chan had other plans, you yelped out in surprise when he pulled your waist against his naked torso, the razor dropping from your hands, luckily the razor was not near his face and he didn’t get hurt. “Christopher! You could’ve seriously gotten hurt, please don’t do that again.”

“Yes ma’am!” He cheekily exclaimed, saluting you. When his hands went back to your waist again, you gave him a glare.

“What? Can’t I be close to my baby?” He said matter of factly. You sighed, you loved his cute antics, the way he was always seeking out your touch even when asleep, if he could he would never leave your side. “Okay, ok, I guess we can compromise.”

You led him out to your shared bedroom, setting the glass with water and shaving cream on the floor. When he sat down, he guided you to sit down on his lap. After you had settled on his lap, you started your handiwork on his face again. 

“All done.” You say grinning, satisfied with your work. “Finally.” He says before pulling you in for a kiss, the kiss is soft, tender and unhurried.

Both of you stop to take a breathe but don’t pull away from each other, almost sharing the same air. “I love you.” His sudden admission makes you blush. “Like I really, really love you.” He enunciated, nuzzling into your neck.

“Then will you make breakfast and do the dishes today?” He giggles.

“Anything for you baby.”

LEE KNOW

Your boyfriend’s insistence on not keeping a straight face was getting troublesome, you had been trying to shave his face for the past half an hour. He kept making goofy, semi scary expressions, you didn’t know how he could have so much control over his features. “Lee Minho, you’re really going to get hurt and ruin your shirt and it won’t be an accident.”

“I won’t hesitate to resort to violence.” You warn him again.

That seemed to make him stop but you should’ve known better, his hand had sneaked around you to get the bottle of the shaving foam. You dodged just in time but his attacks didn’t stop after his failed attempt. He finally managed to get the foam on your face. “You’re such a brat.” You scoffed.

You had to restrain him, that’s the only way you could get work done. Your left hand held both of his wrists behind his back while you used the right to shave his face, you tried to finish as quickly as possible because he could easily break free from your “constraints”. He played along though and was surprisingly cooperative. “Damn, babe I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff.”

“Shut up.” You knew you would not hear the end of it and soon his friends would also start teasing you. After you were done, you playfully, lightly slapped his right cheek. He sent you a skittish glare before caressing your neck and leaning in. You thought he would kiss you but he pulled away at the last moment. 

“Ugh,, you’re such a menace.”

“You know you love it.” You begrudgingly agree, giving his lips a chaste kiss.

CHANGBIN

“Bin, Bin!” You slowly shake his shoulders.”Don't fall asleep on me when I’m shaving your face.” You say while cupping his face, he leans into your touch giving your palm a soft kiss.

“Mhm hmm.” He hums.

You dutifully start shaving the side of his jaw again, when you clean the razor of the foam on it, you feel soft curly hair and hot breathe on your neck as he lays his head down on your shoulder.”Oh my baby is really tired, isn’t he?” You coo, your fingers massaging his scalp and he only lets out a cute grunt still laying on your shoulder. 

“Tell you what, if you let me finish shaving your face, I’ll make pancakes with chocolate chips for you.” That seems to wake him up and he obediently faces you. You laugh at his antics, the way to his heart was truly through food. 

You quickly shave the remaining hairs on his face and give him kisses all over his face. You watch as he snuggles back into the sheets, he looks so cute and endearing, you just want to bite him.

You make the pancake batter and add chocolate chips to it. You flip the last pancake and add it to the stack. Pouring his favourite apple juice into a glass, you take it and the plate of pancakes to him, you knock on the door to wake him up. He gives you a smile that you would kill for. 

His takes his first bite and smiles up at you again. “Really delicious, babe.” he says his mouthful of the pancake, he lifts his fork up for you to taste your creation. He always does this, sharing his food and feeding it to you too. 

After he’s done eating, he convinces you to take a nap with him. You can never resist him and the way his arms around you make you feel warm and safe. Slumber soon finds the both of you as you cuddle.

HYUNJIN

Hyunjin’s leaning against the wash basin, lowering his body so you can easily shave his face, he holds onto your waist for support. His hands are rubbing small circles on your waist and he’s humming along to one of your favourite songs that plays from the bluetooth speaker. Quiet nights like this where you have his undivided attention make you so giddy. 

Hyunjin always liked to hold intense eye contact, something that made you very shy at the start of you guys’ relationship, it still flusters you. His intense gaze on you right now was making your cheeks heat up, you’re always curious as to why he does that, so you decide to ask him right now.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” you meekly ask him, the scrutiny of his gaze making you timid. 

“Nothing, you just look so cute while you’re concentrating on something.”

That makes you stop, your blush deepening at his confession. “But you always look at me like that.”

He seems to ponder over his next words, his lips and eyebrows quirking up, making him all the more endearing. A stray strand of hair falls into his face and you tuck it behind his ear, cupping his face. 

“It’s because I love you, I’m trying to commit your face to my memory, so you’re there even when I close my eyes.” He finally answers.

Sometimes you feel overwhelmed by the love he has for you, this feeling making you feel full, akin to having a meal with your loved ones where after your hunger is satiated due to the good food and the hearty conversations. 

Still cupping his face you lean in to kiss him, trying to convey your love and feelings you cannot describe through the kiss. And he understands, like he always does, both of you were so attuned to each other’s emotions and mannerisms like you were cut from the same clothe.

He breaks away from the kiss only to go back to kiss your forehead. It had become his 2nd favourite spot to kiss you, after you had let it slip one such night that you really liked forehead kisses because they made you feel loved and safe. 

HAN

Han had had a very eventful day today and you could tell from the way he was so excited to tell you all about it while you shaved his facial hair. He was a ball of energy even at the end of the day, his animated gestures making you smile.

He seemed to forget that you held a sharp razor in your hand and turned his head abruptly, you pulled your hand away but it was not soon enough.”Ow!” He yelped out in pain.

The razor had scratched his skin, making it bleed; fortunately the cut wasn’t too deep.

You remove the first aid kit from the bottom drawer, using the alcohol you clean his wound. It hurts your heart when he flinches from the sting of it, but you proceed to apply antiseptic cream to his wound, softly blowing on it, in hopes that it would hurt less.

You kiss the mole on his left cheek, you couldn’t resist it. He smiles, his thumb caressing your cheek.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve been more careful with the razor.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault babe, I should’ve been more attentive and not move around so much.” He reassured you, kissing your forehead.

“Let me kiss it better, unless it doesn’t hurt too much?” You grin cheekily.

He suddenly clutches the side of his face, acting like he’s in indescribable pain.”Oww, Y/N it hurts really bad, only my baby’s kisses can heal me now.”, he exclaims with a pout.

You giggle while kissing his soft lips, he leans into the kiss, holding your face.

Later you did each other’s skin care routine, you were of course careful of his wound, not wanting to hurt him. You spent the rest of the night watching anime cuddled up beside each other.

FELIX

Felix really liked being taken care of. The blush that creeped up his neck when you asked him if you could help him shave his face today, was indication enough. And you liked taking care of people. You were perfect for each other. 

The razor hovers just before his jaw while he looks at you with such a loving expression that it floors you. He looks so adorable even with his bed head, the sunlight streaming in through the bathroom windows, making his skin glow. The freckles on his face truly shining like constellations in the night sky. You were hit with a huge wave of love for him, you just couldn’t not kiss him, not when he looked at you like you had put up all the stars in the sky. So you did, feeling lucky to call him yours.

He smiled into your kiss, returning it with the same fervour.

“I love you, Lixie.” He only giggles, blush deepening. 

“Oh really? What a coincidence, because I love you too, baby.” His voice was deep and gravelly after the long hours of sleep and it was driving you crazy would be an understatement.

You only realise that you have shaving foam on your face when he wipes it off you, his movements delicate. You must have gotten it on you when you kissed him. 

After you were done, he made breakfast for the both of you, scrambled eggs for him and sunny side up for you. You loved how domestic all of this was and could imagine spending the rest of your days like this, basking in each other’s love. What you didn’t know was that Felix shared the same thoughts as you, already planning your future in his head.

SEUNGMIN

Seungmin was very apprehensive of the idea of you shaving his face, you were naturally clumsy and he was afraid you would abrade his skin.

“If I get hurt I’m suing you.”

“Kim Seungmin, do you want to sleep on the couch tonight?”

“No.” He says begrudgingly.

“Then you will listen to what I say.”

You gently drag the razor across his face while he stands as still as a statue. He really is afraid of you hurting him, so you decide to tease him. You flick the foam on his jaw and giggle when it lands on his hair. It looks like he has a cloud on his head, when your hand again goes to flick the foam, he grabs ahold of your wrists. “Why’re you such a brat today?”

“I just really like teasing you, Seung.” You say directly looking him in the eyes, his right hand holding onto your wrist, in between your faces. 

Releasing the grip on your hand, he leaned down, his hair touching yours and now you too, had a cloud on top of your head. “Now we’re even.”

“Hey! Not fair, you attacked when I was distracted!”

“You’re the one who started it.” He says while crossing his arms. He towered over you though it was not much, you caught him off guard when you tickled his sides. Soon enough, it turned into a tickle battle and both of you were out of breathe. 

You had no idea how it happened but he had somehow managed to cage you between his arms, your back against the glass wall of the shower. “You’re really such a brat.’ He says raising your chin with his pointer finger. “But it’s ok. I actually like it.” Before you know it, he’s leaning into kiss you. 

You don’t know how he could be so passionate with his kisses so early in the morning, his tongue fighting for dominance with yours. 

“I like being a brat for you too.”

JEONGIN

It was a lazy day in and you were cuddling with your boyfriend, when you had the idea to shave his facial hair. “Can I shave your face?” You asked as you looked up at him from where you lay on his chest. He makes a distinct sound of agreement to your question.

“Okay, let’s go.” You say pulling at his hand.

“Now? But I’m so comfortable.” He says pouting.

“What can I do to convince you?” You say nudging his side.

“Can we pleasee have Mc Donald’s for breakfast?” He asks, flashing his signature charming, dimpled smile.

“Hmm, it’s not healthy, you know that baby.”

“But-I’m also craving a hash brown. Oh what the hell, you only live once.” You say giving in.

He gives your cheek a kiss when you agree to his peculiar request.

Both of you decided to place the order after you were done shaving, since the food arrives fast. 

Jeongin was really compliant and before you knew it you were done, it was going surprisingly smoothly. He must have really wanted to eat his favourite shrimp burger.

You, however, soon realised that you had spoken too soon, as your boyfriend’s hand collided with dirty soap water and it almost spilled on you. Luckily for you his reflexes were strong and he caught the glass before it could spill on you.

“You’re such a klutz, babe.” You tch, teasing him.

“That’s not how you treat your saviour.” He haughtily replies, a lilt in his voice.

“You’re also the one who put me in harm’s way.”

“Okay, fair enough. Can we please order Mc Donald’s now?”

You go to the bedroom to find your phone and place the order. When food finally arrives, the smile on Jeongin’s face is so big that it makes you smile too. Lazy days would always be the best as long as your boyfriend was with you.

[arcadecoconut]

There's a lot of great meta about how Bells Hells never seemed to realise how powerful they became over the course of the campaign, and how this skewed perspective gave them a strange and at times hypocritical relationship to authority. There's also been a lot of discussion about how having a single-focus plot established early in the campaign was detrimental to individual character development, but I don't think I've seen much about how the single-focus plot is directly connected to their ignorance about their own power level. I think one of the key benefits of having various smaller arcs across c1 & c2 was not only that it supported individual character development better, it also gave the parties a sense of their own growing capability and power scale in the greater world. By having distinct arcs with enemies who were overcome and defeated, the PCs have concrete evidence of their own growth. Each arc follows a mini heroes journey too. For the MN, the Lorenzo and Obann arcs both involve PC characters being killed or overtaken early on, setting high stakes and establishing difficulty. Eventually, with persistence and planning, the Nein were able overcome and eventually defeat them. For Vox Machina, it's the Briarwoods, then the Chroma Conclave, then Vecna. At the start of each arc, every mission feels like an impossible task but again with persistence and planning, they conclude each arc in a stronger position - not just on their character sheet, but with concrete in-world elements too - the resources of Whitestone, key allies in powerful government positions, etc. These victories give each party a material sense of their achievement, which is mirrored by their internal acknowledgement, which is so natural it's mostly not explicitly acknowledged unless they're pointing out how they're capable of stepping up and helping more people. Bells Hells, by comparison, got very few distinct arcs. As a result, they never really achieved the same smaller victories to give them a sense of escalating power and agency over the course of the campaign. To be clear, it was possible this could have been achieved anyway, even within the constraints of the moon-plot. Defeating Otohan, defeating or flipping Lilliana, severing the alliance between the Unseelie Court and Ludinus, explicitly winning allies out of The Volition, or the Grim Verity, or Vasselheim and the Judicators - each of these could have been distinct arcs with victory conditions that would have served as markers of Bells Hells growing power. If they'd had concrete mini-goals to achieve along the way to dealing with Ludinus/Predathos, they could have taken time to focus and plan. In this way, we could have gotten larger investment into the world and NPCs. Imagine what it could have done for her personality if the party had to research Otohan’s role in the Apex War! Maybe if they needed to broker peace between the Grim Verity and Vasselheim to unite them against a greater threat, we could have seen Bells Hells establish their own authority in Exandria. Instead, all these potential villains and world building hooks ended up largely ignored or accidentally achieved along the path of some other muddy goal. By not giving the characters this sense of growth, BH and particularly Ashton and Laudna ended up with a very skewed perspective of themselves. They never realise their power grew well above average, putting them in a much more privileged position than the average Exandrian. It’s this skewed perspective - and their resulting attitudes towards various NPCs - which gave many viewers an 'ick' factor about their interactions. I also can't help but juxtapose this with exu: divergence, where the party's relationship to power (both their own and others') has been a core element. Their story has also been conducted over a very short time period in-world, yet their responses show a marked difference in awareness and empathy.

[fiivela]

I think Five's arc in season 4 is similar to Hazel's in season 1. It's a shame that Five's was less developed due to time constraints and can't be appreciated by the fandom as Hazel's was. Hazel to Agnes in 1x5: "Lately, I just… find myself goin' through the motions." That's basically Five at CIA. Agnes to Hazel: "That is so sad. I mean, everybody should have… a nest to fly to when they're tired." That's what Five got with Lila. Hazel to Cha-Cha in 1x7 (talking about the birds)... H: "Pretty sure they got it figured out." C: "And what's that?" H: "A simple life with a partner." Hazel to Five in 1x9: "I'm done with all this madness. Time to start over. You should do the same."

Nonnie you're a visionary.

I love the parallels here! I had never considered this before, but it makes me want to rewatch season 1 and then season 4 again. I feel like Hazel had a profound impact on Five and it would have been great to see him come to understand Hazel's lessons left behind in s4.

I wish that Five and Lila would have gotten stuck in the subway right at the beginning of season 4. Like instead of having Viktor be kidnapped, having the big plot twist at the end of the episode be Five and Lila getting trapped in the subway. This kind have given so much more time to expand their dynamic. I could have watched an entire spin off about the 6 years.

People were shooting at them? Show us! They found a chess board in one of the timelines? Show us! I think it would have gotten a lot more people on board.

But anyway, thank you for pointing this out, I love this take!

[shad0wvisi0n]

Caffeinated Monster

Summary: SV3 drinks coffee for the first time in order to stay up late for SV4 gaming night, but things take a twist when the power in the studio goes out and a monster hunts in the dark.

Tags: Flashing Art, Body Horror, fluff, angst with happy ending, hurt and comfort

AU Created by @b-r-i-n-g-x and @shygirl4991

ALL ART IS DONE BY BRINGX DO NOT REPOTS

Shout out to our other Assistants @merp0515 @anartisticalniche Last Chapter Main Fic

Liko tosses and turns, flashes of SV4 injury played in her head every time she closed her eyes. She sits up on the bed letting out a sigh as she runs her fingers through her hair, she turns to see Flor floating asleep next to her. With a small chuckle, she gets up and walks to the kitchen. She groans as she looks around noticing that she used up the last of the coffee last night, the lack of sleep is killing her motivation to continue her experiments. She leans against the counter confused, she never felt this way towards something she created so why was she so haunted. She looks at the front door then to her bedroom door before she makes up her mind, she changes into her usual outfit and checks the time. “It’s not too late, maybe i could pay a small visit and make sure that kid is taking care of his eye,” she knew with SV3 around she wouldn't have to worry about how 4 was doing yet something pulled her to them.

As she gets in her car she rehearses her greeting “Hey ran out of coffee and who needs to buy some when i got you guys!” she lets out a smile before dropping it. Leaning back on the car seat she couldn't understand why these events were bothering her so much, they were just subjects she invented. Just like how she ‘fixed’ Mr Puzzle, the boys were made to please that first project and that's all.  She grabs the steering wheel and stares silently at the road ahead of her, letting out a sigh as she starts the car heading to the studio. SV3 hums letting his hair free of their constraints, he walks over to the kitchen where he hears an upset SV4 in his room. 3 giggles hearing his partner as he grabs a plate from the cabinet, looking at the assortment of snacks the man grabs a couple of SV4 favorites and places them nicely on the plate.  With a hop in his step, he walks to SV4 room with the plate “Hey 4! Got you some snacks and remember not to get too into your games, last time you forgot your pain medication your powers went pretty crazy.” SV4 takes the plate with a small smile before letting out a groan “Look not my fault the boss fight was such a challenge, you know i dont back down!” SV3 shakes his as he opens the door, he turns, staring at the bandaged eye feeling a pang of guilt hit him before he leaves. 

As he closes the door behind him the doorbell rings, confused as to who would be coming over so late he walks over to the front door. He opens the door then shuts it in a panic, the person on the other side of the door was Liko. 3 looked at his face and frowned, it was close to his normal time of sleeping meaning any trace of his iconic make up was gone. He bites his lips as he awkwardly opens the door hoping Liko doesn't ask about his face, after all someone as fashionable as SV3 isn't a fan of walking around certain people with a naked face. Liko gives him an annoying look “Can feel how welcomed I am, can I come in?” SV3 moves aside to let Liko in “I’m so sorry Ms. Liko, you caught me by surprise. You don't normally come at this hour.” He follows the scientist to the kitchen where he watches her search their cabinets. Liko sighs as she peeks at SV4 room “He taking care of that eye?” Hearing the question 3 turns looking at the yellow door, he smiles softly as he nods “Yeah, he has been good at that. Only thing he isn't good at is walking around without hitting himself against everything.” 3 frowns staring at the door, if he didnt get so angry and left the studio the way he did then SV4 wouldn't have gotten hurt. SV3 felt the sting of his tears wanting to escape, Liko turned and noticed 3’s face. She leans over the counter and pats his head. “We didn't know what that place had…only one who did was Mr puzzle, you could always do what SV4 does.”  Liko lets out a chuckle, SV3 smiles at the woman's chuckle as he turns to her “SV4 really is angry at him…I just worry about him, I don't care so much about Mr puzzle. 4 just seems different now, I can't help blaming myself for this…” 

Liko lets out a sigh as she pulls back, she doesn't need to comfort him there is no need he is just an experiment. As she continued her search in the cabinet she couldn't help herself “Look, it's only part of being alive that these things happen. Science knows that I have done a lot of stupid things out of emotions…but mistakes are what helps you grow.” She grabs a bag of coffee beans and turns to show she got her prize, SV3 eyes go wide seeing the bag of coffee. He felt his stomach flip at the site, as she put the bag on the counter “Now coffee?” SV3 felt himself break into a sweat seeing the bag, he then turned looking at the yellow door. Then turning back to Liko shaking his head in a panic, she tilts her head at his reaction “You’re not a fan of coffee?” SV3 lets out a nervous chuckle as he nods “I dont have the best history of it, I’m sorry Ms. Liko but if you're going to make a cup I should excuse myself.” She watches as he gets up and runs to his room slamming it shut, she stares at the door confused before slowly turning to the yellow door. If she wanted answers it wouldn't hurt to ask, she grabs the bag of coffee and walks to 4’s door knocking on it. 

Why did she even want answers when she thinks about it, she shouldn't get herself involved in their life. They’re experiments, something to please the first project and test her knowledge. Yet here she is watching the yellow door open as she looks down at the injured man, SV4 looks annoyed before his expression changes to one of surprise “Liko?” She shows off the bag of coffee catching his attention, he looks around before stepping out of his room “Not like you to be a friendly neighbor, what do you need? More blood for a test?”  Liko’s eyes go wide as she watches 4 slowly walking trying not to trip over furniture, he sits down in the kitchen staring at her “Or are we going to throw a pity party over me being a pirate, cause if that's what we are doing save it. I get enough puppy eyes from SV3 when I'm doing things outside of my room.”  Liko shakes her head as she walks to the kitchen to start brewing the coffee, she grabs a green cup before facing SV4 “Nothing special today, well i guess i do have one question. I wasnt a fan of going shopping in the middle of the night so I thought I would come here for coffee, SV3 seemed panicked at the bag. Any idea why?” 

SV4 sighs as he grabs a cookie from the jar in front of him, he looks at it with some excitement before taking a bite “You know how you said sugar is like a battery charge for me? Well I think I learned a few weeks ago what SV3 battery charge is…and let me tell you I lost someone important that day..” He frowns, staring at a small gravestone near his room, Liko follows his gaze and stares surprised at the spot  “How did i not notice that before?” Ignoring her 4 takes another bite from his cookie “Let me tell you a story that changed us in this studio.”

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

Few weeks ago SV4 smirks as he waves a ps1 controller “Alright, the only real way to welcome you newbie is the great crash challenge!” SV3 bounces in excitement as he watches 4 walk over to his set up, he takes out crash team racing from its case showing it before popping it in the system. SV3 takes his seat next to 4 as he grabs his controller, SV4 smirks as the character selection screen shows up “Now let's have a fair race, don't get too pouty when you lose to me!” SV3 smiles as he picks Coco as his character “I won't! This is just us hanging out right?” SV4 slowly nods, hiding that he was in fact picking this game to show off, as the race start 4 made sure to use every shortcut he knew to his advantage. SV3 eyes go wide in awe seeing how fast his new partner was “Wow you really know your way around the game huh!” SV4 leans back holding back his smile  “Eh i know i trick or two,” it was strange to think not too long ago he felt so alone. He would play these games, study them and attempt the best time in order to do videos on them.  He never noticed how he felt lonely while he wouldn't confess to it outloud, he truly needed someone he could just play games with. SV4 didn't care much for SV3, the man would talk so much about how to match yellow with green and other assortment of colors. Stuff 4 didn't care for after all why would he change out of his overalls? After a couple of rounds SV3 felt himself nodding off, he looked around the room and noticed that there wasn't a clock “Hey…SV4 what time is it?” As he selected his character 4 reached over to the bedside table, picking up his phone he causally flashes the time to SV3.  Seeing the time 3 gasp “IT’S 2AM?!” it was no wonder the man felt his eyes getting heavy, he got up from the bed making SV4 frowns “Yeah so? It’s still early, plenty of more matches can happen.”  SV3 notices the excitement that was on SV4 vanishes and now replaced with an annoyed frown, feeling guilty he looks at the kitchen. Slowly an idea came to him, SV4 energy boost is sweets perhaps his could be caffeine and it will help him keep his partner company. 

SV3 attempts to mask his exhaustion as he points to the kitchen “Oh yeah totally…so we should make coffee,Keep spirits up!” SV4 face lights up before making a face of disgust “Coffee? Meh rather have soda but hey we all have our own preferred drinks, i'm sure that box head keeps some coffee in the cabinet.” With a nod the pair head to the kitchen, SV4 takes a seat as he watches 3 look around for a cup. SV3 was feeling strangely nervous as he grabs a yellow cup, he then goes to the top cabinet grabbing a bag of mocha coffee.  As he stares at the bag his mind races, he had no idea if he would even enjoy the beverage perhaps the right path was just to go to bed. He turns to see SV4 eating pocky as he reads a game guide for a final fantasy game he is playing, remembering the face the man had was enough to give  him the answer he needed. SV3 puts everything together then watches the coffee maker brew, he had to do this to bring that smile back on SV4's face. They are partners there was no way he could let 4 down, he grabs the cup of coffee and stares at it nervously. SV4 notices the silence then turns to 3, he stares at the man’s face for a moment before letting out a sigh “You don't have to drink it, not everyone can live the gamer life like i do.” SV3 lets out a soft giggle “I want to play more, plus nothing has ever gone wrong with someone drinking coffee!” with a bright smile he chugs the cup. 

SV4 nods as he gets up from his seat “Let's go then,”  SV3 nods following his partner to the room. He was feeling good, more alert he was confident that in a few minutes he would be wide awake, as they pick their characters SV3 giggles as the screen flickers.  SV4 looks at the tv annoyed as he struggles to find the shortcuts with the flickering “The fuck is going on with my tv?” SV3 was getting more into the game as his eyes slightly glowed, the static getting worse, SV4 swears under his breath. The moment SV3 made it past the finish line the tv stopped glitching letting SV4 able to see where he was, he pouts seeing he was in fourth place “Stupid television, maybe it's time to stop given my tv is acting up.” SV3 frowns hearing the comment “What? But I drank coffee to play more!” The room lights start to flicker as the tv screen showing the game goes static, SV4 gets up looking around his room confused “SV4…we are going to play more right?” SV4 shakes his head as he stares at his tv “Don't think so, something weird is going on with the power here.” Deciding to get answers he looks annoyed at the tv knowing he will have to talk to Mr. Puzzle, SV4 lets out a long sigh as he walks to the door “Hate that i have to do this but i need to bug box head about this issue, otherwise we won't be able to game.” SV3 eye twitches as 4 leaves the room “But…we were supposed to play games together….why are you leaving me?”  SV3 started to feel his body heat up as the lights in the bedroom exploded, leaving the static on the tv being the only source of light. 

SV4 stops walking as the living room goes dark, he groans as he starts to walk again only to feel something squishy under his foot. He looks down squinting to see something moving on the floor “The fuck is that?” He bends down trying to get a closer look, only to see the normal studio floor. SV4 stands up pinching the bridge of his nose, he was officially losing it. SV3 leaving 4’s room frowns as he calls out to the man “SV4! I dont get why he is so upset,” he lets out a sigh as he walks following SV4.  He noticed that the man in front of him seemed to be on edge, SV3 wasn't sure what was going on with his partner as he looked around. Determined to help his partner out he reaches out hoping his hand on the man’s shoulder would give comfort, he smiles brightly ready to hear what's bothering the man. SV4 hears steps behind him causing him to be alert “This is starting to feel like a cheesy horror film,” he feels a hand touch him causing SV4 to speed up on his walk. He is a TV guardian he knows better than to turn around and face whatever phantom is in the studio, SV3 blinks as he sees SV4 avoiding his touch. He growls as his eyes start to glow, the color in the room to fade, slowly being replaced by a strange black ooze leaking from the walls as SV3 anger grows. 

“WHAT THE STARS!? WHY IS MY OFFICE ON FIRE!” hearing Mr Puzzle yelling, SV4 runs to the office to see Mr Puzzle's desk on fire. He sighs, closing the door and grabbing the fire extinguisher, as he extinguishes the fire from the corner of his eye he notices something green.  SV4 drops the extinguisher as he approaches the green object “Thank you…wait what are you doing over here, aren't you busy with those video games?” 4 gasp as he grabs a green cloth “This looks like…SV3 sweater?” Mr. Puzzle walks up to 4 staring at the cloth confused before the lights start to flicker, remembering why he came over in the first place 4 gives an annoyed look at his boss. “Hey boxhead the power has been acting up, get shit together i have games to play!” he puts the cloth in his pocket still staring at Mr. Puzzle. The screen flickered showing confusion “The power? Given that Liko set everything up, there is no way things could be on the fritz.” SV4 sighs as he walks towards the door waving his hand to sign at the man to follow. Mr. Puzzle screen changes filled with concern as he sees the door leaking a black liquid “SV4…step away from the door.”  SV4 takes a step back and looks at the door, he stares at the liquid before reaching for the door again. Mr puzzle panics reaching out to the guardian, it was too late as he watches SV4 open the door. They gasp seeing SV3 form, Mr. Puzzle shakes his head at the sight “How..did this happen?” SV4 was shocked seeing tentacles wrapping themself around SV3 arms and legs, slowly another one wrapped around his face covering his blue eye. 3's green eye glowing staring at the pair as he gives them a wide smile, the black liquid leaking from his eyes. SV4 couldn't stop staring at the as the man reached for him, the eyes on the tentacles open looking at him, 4 feels something drop on his feet and notice SV3 gloves were stained black. 

Mr. Puzzle runs slamming the door on SV3, he then grabs SV4's hand, making him run to the hidden door in the office.  “SV4 I need you to move and tell me what happened to SV3, there is no way Liko made a mistake creating him…right?” The door opens showing an angered expression on SV3, seeing this 4 let out an awkward laugh “heh Oh hi SV3, are you…are you in there? Remember how you said you can handle coffee?” mr. Puzzle drags SV4 as they run through the dark halfway. As they run through the hallway Mr puzzle thinks over what 4 said “You're telling me that SV3 drank coffee then turned into that?” 

SV4 shrugs “Hell do i know, shit didn't start going weird till he drank coffee! If I go over what Liko told me about sugar, it's supposed to give me a boost like an energy source. We thought coffee would be the same, but I think coffee just put him into overdrive!” the pair stop running looking around. Things were quiet, making Mr. Puzzle nervous “The fact he can use this power without stars…SV3 must have come out unstable. As much as I hate to say this given I will lose a star, we might have to kill SV3 and create a new one.”  SV4 eyes go wide looking at him “What?” Mr. Puzzle screen showed a serious expression, 4 pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs “Listen box head, I could care less about him you won't see me risking my life for the man.But, isn't killing jumping the gun, plus we don't know what those tentacles and weird black ooze is.” 

Mr. Puzzle stares at SV4 before looking away, it was best that his star stay blind to the power in his body. Things will be less hostile knowing how SV4 can be about making content, he shivers at the thought of what the man would do with those kinds of powers. Then again as he looks at 4 he lets out a small chuckle, the man is too distracted by video games he wouldn't even bother using his power. SV4 turns, giving him a strange look “Why are you chuckling at a time like this?” with a shake of his head Mr. Puzzle stands up straight showing off the height difference between the two of them “My star, i chuckle because i'm surprised you claim not to care about SV3 yet you pick a route to save him? I do have to admit it would be a shame to go out and collect more DNA for one person.”

SV4 crosses his arm “Do you see SV3 as just some replaceable tool?”

Mr. Puzzle screen flickers with a charming smile as he pats SV4 back “Of course not! SV3 is my darling star with so much…talent to bring to the channel, don't you agree? We are all just a growing happy family!” SV4 squints at the Mr.Puzzle taking in his words, only to hear something approaching them. He swears under his breath “Shut it box head..something is coming.”

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SV3 knocks on the door letting out a sigh “I wonder why he is ignoring me, also strange to see him run to Mr. Puzzle wonder if something bad happened?” As he walks to the office he hears panic in the room, worried he slowly knocks on the door. He waits for a moment as he hears footsteps approach the door, he smiles brightly when he sees SV4 open the door. He stares at the pair and notices the fear and shock on their face, he tilts his head confused. Slowly he reaches out to SV4 “Why do you look so scared?” Before he could touch his partner the door suddenly slammed in his face.  Annoyed by the rude behavior he opens the door glaring at the pair, SV4 lets an awkward laugh, catching 3’s attention “heh Oh hi SV3, are you…are you in there? Remember how you said you can handle coffee?”

He pauses confused about the comment as Mr. Puzzle drags the man away, he looks around the room then himself. The more he thought about the comment the more his head started to hurt, his vision getting blurry. He felt sick as he walked over to sit down at the desk, the energy he felt at the start was slowly fading away. After a small break he gets up determined to figure out what's going on, remembering how SV4 was still talking to him SV3 knew the only way to get answers was to get SV4 alone.  He learns the same path as the others, following the hall he sees the familiar glow of Mr. Puzzle screen. 

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SV4 takes out his cell phone and turns on the light, seeing this Mr. Puzzle takes the phone from his hand “What are you doing? The light from your phone will give us away.” 4 glares at the taller man jumping up to grab his phone “Your head is literally a television, if your big ass glowing head hasn't given it away why would my small phone light do it?” Mr. Puzzle’s screen flickers, showing an annoyed expression realizing that the smaller man had a point, he hands over the phone as SV4 smirks at him. With his phone back in his hand he turns only to see a tentacle reaching out to Mr. Puzzle, without thinking he shoves the man away.

SV4 wiggles as the tentacle wraps around him, SV3 tilts his head, the black tears still falling. SV4 notices 3’s mouth moving “Want…you.” SV4 stops wiggling as he stares at 3’s mouth, then he feels a hand grabbing his “SV4 hold on i have you!” he turns seeing Mr. Puzzle grabbing on to him as his other hand was pointing at SV3. Mr. Puzzle knew he didn't have enough power to stop SV3 completely, as his view turned to SV4 wrapped in the tentacles he knew he had to still try. SV3 attempts to pull 4 closer as Mr. Puzzle grip tightens “Ow! Puzzle just let me go, I'm not going to end up in two pieces thank you!” Realizing he is hurting SV4, his view swaps from 4 to 3 unsure about letting go “And if that thing hurts you?” 

SV4 looks at the mutated SV3, his grin borderline psychotic and yet SV4 didn't feel he was in danger. 4 looks at Mr. Puzzle with an bored expression “Cause me and him are partners, pretty sure that link we have wont let him.” Mr. Puzzle sighs letting 4’s hand go, seeing the tentacle pull 4 into a hug, SV3 purrs in excitement as he runs off with SV4. Seeing SV3 start to run Mr. Puzzle starts to chase after “Not going to let anything ruin my plan, I won't let my best star get hurt.”

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SV3 gets excited when he gets closer to the pair, the closer he gets to the pair his head starts to pound. The pain in his head causes him to pause as the room begins to spin for him, the moment he sees SV4 in front of him 3 shakes his head and smiles “SV4! I wanted to talk to you, please I want to understand what's going on.” 3 grabs his arm hoping that the man would listen to him, SV4 lets out a sigh and starts to walk towards him. Finally the chase is over, that is until Mr. Puzzle grabs SV4. The tug made SV3 look at the man confused “SV4 hold on i have you!” the television screen showed a worried expression. He frowns as tears escape his eyes “Why…i don't understand…” To his surprise SV4 walked up to him, he gasped feeling the man hug him. With a soft giggle SV3 takes 4’s hand “Thank you for trusting me…come on let's talk.” As they walk away SV3 wipes his tears, he was so confused as to why the pair were acting so strange. Suddenly the room around SV3 twisted, worried he turned to check on SV4 only to gasp seeing SV4 eyes glowing red. His partner readies his fist and attempts to attack SV3, quickly he kicks 4’s legs making him lose balance. Once he hits the Floor SV3 gets up looking around for something to hold down SV4 “Is this why you two are acting weird? Don't worry I will figure this out, I will get Ms. Liko and everything will be okay!” 

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

SV4 hums as he is carried away in the tentacle wishing he had his psp to play with, suddenly he gets tossed across the room. His back hitting the table in the kitchen “Ow…the hell just happened?”  SV3 lets out a chuckle as he slowly approaches him “Naughty…” 4 sits up ignoring the pain in his back. SV4 knew he had to keep alert in case the coffee made 3 do something else, seeing the slow moments made 4 smirk. The coffee is wearing off the exhaustion SV3 felt earlier in the day is starting to show, he was placing a big gamble on his theory. He watches SV3 move away for a moment, he turns his head to see 3 going into this room “What on earth is he thinking?” A few moments later SV4 sighs as SV3 ties him up “You know while I don't mind being tied up, WHY MUST YOU USE MY FAVORITE PLAYSTATION 2 CONTROLLER!” 

He felt panic everytime he moved, the thought that if he did the wrong move he could damage his controller had him almost holding his breath. SV3 sits in front of him staring at him, he is able to get a better look at the form that has taken over 3. SV4 notices how the man in front of him was relaxing, a good sign it let SV4 know that his controller was safe. He needed to figure out how to save his baby before 3 snaps and breaks it, he looks at the cord feeling his heart break at the knots they were in. SV3 reaches out and starts to pet him, SV4 relaxes from the contact “Don't take this as me liking the attention, i swear if you remember things after i will deny everything in this moment.” As he relaxes from the other man's touch, SV4 thinks over the situation as he looks at the knots in front of him. 

He slowly wiggles which gets SV3 to stop petting him, 4 looks up seeing if he alerted the man only to see the man falling asleep. “There you go, just let sleep take over and things will go back to normal.” Before SV3 could fall asleep Mr. Puzzle’s kick the door open holding his finger up, he glares at SV3 who wakes up growling at him as he stands “LEAVE!” SV4 could just about cry at the timing, “Don't you worry now SV4, I wouldn't let down my star after all we have a video to make tomorrow.” SV4 blinks at him before rolling his eyes “Seriously? US MAKING A VIDEO TOMORROW IS THAT IMPORTANT?!” his eyes then go wide seeing Mr. Puzzle pointing his glowing finger at his constraints “Wait dont do it, do you know how rare this controller is?” Ignoring the guardians complaints, Mr.Puzzle fires a bolt of energy at the cord of the controller. SV4 panics and attempts to throw himself out of the way, sadly the bolt was faster burning the cord off of SV4 body. 4 sits there in shock, he slowly looks down seeing the golden controller without a cord. “You're welcome!” shouted Mr.Puzzle as he kept his eyes on the growling SV3, SV4 slowly picked up the controller, a tear running down his face “I will never have something as beautiful…again” SV3 roars seeing the tear coming out of SV4 eyes, Mr. Puzzle readies himself, his hand sparking “This isn't the time SV4, the eldritch creature is about ready to attack!” 

SV4 lets out a shake breath as he gets up and walks to a drawer in the kitchen, pulling out a knife he walks back to the spot where his controller is. Mr.Puzzle keeping his eyes on SV3 quickly peeks at SV4, his screen changes into an expression of shock as he sees SV4 digging into the studio floor with the knife “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” SV4 hearing the man shout just picked up the controller and showed it to him “I’m not a monster, I'm doing a grave site for my baby. SO SHOVE IT!”  Mr. Puzzle could only stare at 4, baffled at what was going on. Annoyed at being ignored SV3 summons a tentacle to attack Mr.Puzzle, he smirks as he points at the tentacle blasting it exactly as he did SV4 controller. Since the gamer wasn't planning on helping him, Mr. Puzzle knew what he had to do as he readied his hand at SV3. The moment he was going to blast the creature, SV3 charges at him then collapses. Mr. Puzzle stands there confused about what happened, hearing SV3 hit floor 4 makes a comment as he digs “Caffeine crash..along with too much power must have drained him to sleep.” Mr. Puzzle lifts up the man, the eldritch traits are all gone. No black liquid or tentacles to see, there in his arms was a drained SV3, soundly asleep. “Your theory was right it seems, ahem good work SV4 i shall place him in the room.” As he carries SV3 the dark stains along with any other signs of the eldritch power 3 was throwing around is gone, the studio went back to normal beside a couple of broken furniture. SV4 gives the makeshift grave a sad smile “I will never forget you, ah the memories of fighting for you on ebay…good times.” 

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SV3 frowns seeing SV4 struggle against the restraints “Sorry SV4, I hope you don't mind I used the first thing I found. I really want to go get Liko to help you but…it breaks my heart to think about leaving you alone like this.” nervously, SV3 reaches out and pets 4. Seeing SV4 glaring at him with red eyes, SV3 wondered how this happened when they were playing crash. For a moment he thought the game could be cursed, as he stares at SV4, notices a flicker of something in his eyes. SV3 started to feel his eyes go heavy, shaking his head he knew he had to stay awake if he didnt what would happen to his partner. He wasn't even sure if Mr.Puzzles wasn't acting strange also, the door to the room burst open catching 3’s attention. He gets up staring at the door, surprised.  “Don't you worry now SV4, I wouldn't let down my star after all we have a video to make tomorrow.” SV3 slowly walks towards him “Mr.Puzzle im not doing anything to him, please believe me i think there is something wrong with SV4!”

Mr.Puzzles lifts up his hand firing at SV4, 3 panics as he turns towards the spot “SV4!” Once the smoke cleared up SV3 relaxed, seeing that his partner was safe. Then he noticed the constraints were now broken. “Oh no, what did you do….” SV3 was ready to face the worst, he watched ready for SV4 to attack, only 4 looked down seeing his controller broken and started to cry. Seeing that made SV3 smile slightly “He is still in there, now Mr. Puzzle, it isn't nice to just blast at people!” SV4 then gets up catching SV3 and Mr.Puzzles attention, they watch as he walks to the kitchen grabbing a knife. SV3 feels nervous seeing him with a weapon, he keeps his eyes on the man then relaxes when he sees SV4 digging a hole into the studio floor “Huh…I feel terrible that I got his controller broken, but at least some of SV4 came out for this.” Mr. Puzzle sighs then lifts his finger at SV3 catching him by surprise “W-what? Mr. Puzzle please listen to me, I didn't harm him!” As his hand starts to glow SV3 knew the only fighting chance he had was to knock him off balance, after all 3 wasn't a monster that wanted to fight his friends. SV3 charges at Mr. Puzzle hoping that he can stop the blast, only his body suddenly feels drained of energy as he slams onto the cold floor, everything going dark. 

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SV3 groans as he sits up from his bed, he looks around and sees he is tucked into bed “Did I dream that up?” The door to his room opens catching his attention, he feels himself getting panicked as he sees SV4 walk in the room. SV4 looks up from his psp and looks at SV3 surprised “Hey you're not dead, someone's been sleeping for three days really like that number hm?” SV3 relaxes letting out a giggle before it clicks, he gets up startled at the comment “Asleep for three days?! How? All I remember was…” he closed his eyes thinking over everything that happened. Given SV4 is acting normal things must have gotten fixed at some point, SV4 walks up to him with his cellphone “When you grab me i didn't notice that my phone took a photo, it will be shocking to see.” SV3 tilts his head confused “Grab you?” He looks at his partner's phone and gasps, seeing himself. He felt sick seeing the tentacles around him along with the strange dark liquid that came out of his eyes and hand. “This…can't be, you agreed to walk with me and you started acting weird…right?” SV4 frowns hearing the man's panic “No SV3, you drank coffee and became this mutated creature. You went and hunted down me and box head.” SV3 sits on the bed his hand shaking as tears threaten to escape, SV4 awkwardly looks around the room unsure what to do. SV3 reaches out to hug him only to get a gentle push “I don't do hugs, but I don't blame your reaction it was pretty surprising for us to.” 

SV3 moves himself in order to give himself a hug, he had memories of SV4 acting strange. He swore he never saw himself look like that with his reflections “What…did i do? Did I hurt you guys?” SV4 lets out a soft chuckle “Nope, you kidnapped me and tied me up with my controller which broke me. Ahem you also set box head office on fire. That was pretty funny, but you didn't hurt anyone, you just kept chasing us for some reason.” SV3 stays silent hearing SV4 before breaking down crying, unsure what to do SV4 awkwardly pats 3’s head. SV3 couldn't believe he hallucinated everything while he was tormenting his friends, how much of a monster is he?

SV4 sighs looking at the photo “Would it make you feel better if i tell you, this only happens after you drank coffee?  I think your body isn't a fan of it and well this happens.” he stares at the photo before turning to SV3. The man kept crying into his hands showing no signs of stopping anytime soon, SV4 sighs as he scoots closer to SV3 giving his head another pat. SV3 looks up to SV4 as he wipes his tears attempting to hold back the rest of his tears, he lets out an awkward chuckle “I must look gross and weird without make up huh?” SV4 giggles and shakes his head “Nah you still look good, hell you slayed the eldritch look too.” They both laugh as they continue talking about the event and planning their rematch. -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Present day Liko stared at SV4 in shock, how could something this huge happen and no one bothered to tell her. She watches as SV4 places a small flower on the grave “I was never the same after that,” ignoring SV4 being sad at his makeshift grave Liko asks the question on her mind “Why did no one tell me about this?”  SV4 steps away from the grave and pouts at Liko “Heartless of you to not show empathy over my loss, but to answer you Puzzle said not to talk about it.” Hearing this she nods chugging her coffee, after cleaning her cup she marches to the front door. SV4 slowly follows after her as he watches her reach for the door “Where is the fire?” “I need to go to my lab and see what is causing this,” she turns and smiles softly at SV4 “Thank you for this information, take care of that eye cause those bandages are coming off real soon!” With that she leaves the building, SV4 frowns as he turns, staring at 3’s door. He walks over to open the door, he hums as he enters the room closing the door behind him “SV3 i know your not sleeping, i think we have shared a bed enough times that i would know easy.” SV3 slowly gets up wiping his tears, seeing this SV4 runs over to 3’s side hugging him “Hey hey you're okay, is this because of the coffee?”  SV3 wraps his arms around SV4 crying, they hold each other for a few moments before 3 pulls away “I’m scared to be that monster again, just the smell makes me worry…” 

SV4 gives a soft smile to 3 “Well if it happens again i have your back, as long as we are together coffee can't turn you into a monster!” SV3 slowly smiles before patting the spot next to him “Can you stay the night?” 4 nods as he gets up from the bed, he looks at the time and lets out a dramatic sigh “Gee i guess i could clear my busy gaming time for you,” SV3 chuckles as he watches 4 head out of the room “Hey 4…how did you know I needed you?” SV4 stops walking as places his hand to his chest “I just had a feeling, after all Liko mentioned you freaked out seeing coffee. What kind of partner would I be if I didn't come over? Now let me grab a ds and we can play some games till we sleep.” SV3 blushes as he watches 4 leave the room, he touches his face “oh gosh why did my face get so warm again…” he flops on the bed then looks at the spot next to him with a soft smile “I hope this cold doesn't stop SV4 from sleeping over…” 

[opbackgrounds]

thoughts on no lambast for season 2 of OPLA?

I assume you meant Alabasta there, and while I’m glad that the material that is getting covered has time to breathe, Netflix insisting on only 8 episode seasons is going to really bite them in the ass. They were gifted a series with a ridiculous amount of content (as much as I hate that word) baked into it, with big story arcs having their clear beginnings, middles, and ends, and they’re flushing the natural story structure down the toilet because guys in suits have mathematically analyzed the exact amount of time to the second a person is willing to binge watch tv, and that just feels gross.

If they had given season 1 10 episodes like was initially planned they could have gotten through Loguetown and given Arlong Park the time it deserved. Maybe then we could have gotten through Alabasta this season, but ideally it should get 10 episodes as well. But Jaya and Skypiea could easily be done in 6 or 7 episodes, so how are they going to split up season 3 (assuming there is a season 3)? Netflix seems to be doing a lot of split seasons with their big shows, so will they do Alabasta and then Skypiea after a break? That doesn’t feel right to me either, and it’s so immensely irritating that they’ve gone this route. It would be much better to let shorter sagas have shorter episode counts, but that’s not how corporations work.

To be clear: I think it can be satisfying if they’re able to elevate Wapol and Mr. 3 as villains like they were able to elevate Kuro and Buggy. The extra time will help with that. Honestly, half the reason Arlong didn’t work as well as he could have was due to time constraints. Imagine if the Garp nonsense was on Loguetown and those precious minutes added back to Arlong Park? So much have been improved if they didn’t have to rush.

I wish they’d just shell out the cash for extra episodes. Season 1 proved there’s an audience for the series, and I hate that studio interference is fucking with the natural structure of the story arcs.

[apptrans]

Since I deleted my social media that actually had our wedding photos, I’m going to make a post here to celebrate.

I was going to delete Hinge on November 1st, 2022. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I spent from 1pm-10pm working a job that was not fulfilling, hardly celebrating the holiday at all. I came home and went on Hinge. I had already been super fed up with online dating/being ghosted/that whole thing, so I told myself that I was going to hit the “ten likes a day” they give you for the free version and delete the app the next day if nothing happened. Then, I saw Wolf’s profile.

Having studied music industry for my bachelor’s degree, I am pretty particular when it comes to people saying they are “good at singing”. But holy fuck. One of Wolf’s prompts had a video of him singing and he could actually sing. Another prompt said that he wanted to go to school for music industry at the exact same school I graduated from. Yet another said that he loved to explore abandoned things, something that I have always had a passion for and haven’t done much since I didn’t want to do it alone. I was blown away. If there is any version of “love at first sight: dating app edition”, this was it. So I sent him the first rose I had ever sent out on Hinge (and my last) with a message saying “Who the hell are you and where did you come from. I love so much about your profile and would love to get to know you”. I stayed up for another half hour (at this point, it was nearing midnight) and was pretty disappointed that I hadn’t gotten a response at all to it. With that, I went to bed, again with the intention to delete the app the next day.

At 6:01AM, I got a response from Wolf. But me being me, I didn’t wake up until hours later. After hearing his side of things, Wolf tells me he was excitedly anxious, hoping that I wasn’t one of those typical guys on Hinge who sends one message and then never responds. Obviously I responded when I woke up, and that started a very long string of messages, soon to be texts, that never ended. I knew that I wanted to meet up with him. However, having been in my first semester of grad school on top of working retail full-time, I knew that it would take a little bit for us to meet up. I also knew that most guys on dating apps want an immediate date in mind or else they lose interest, so I was nervous this would be a put-off for him. I can’t recall the exact words, but Wolf told me that I “was worth the wait”. We met in person for the first time on November 5th, 2022.

While I won’t give the specific details since that’s something I want special just for Wolf and I, the date went very, very well. Most people look better in their pictures than they do in person. Wolf already was incredibly attractive in his pictures and in person- I can’t even begin to describe how I felt. I was shy making eye contact with him because he was (and is!) so good-looking. The date lasted hours, many of which we spent in my car just talking about music.

Needless to say, we never went a day without talking to each other. I remember wanting to not seem overeager, so I waited maybe three days after that to see him again. To my recollection, besides times when I have been gone for work or on a weekend trip with friends, we haven’t spent a day apart since. We knew we were each other’s person within the first month. I remember within a couple of weeks of us knowing each other, Wolf sent me a post about this music festival in Vegas happening months from then. I didn’t even hesitate to say yes and buy tickets to it. In retrospect, probably a really crazy thing to do, but it worked. To this day that was the longest trip we’ve taken together (mostly because the economy sucks and we’re both college students, so we’re super broke).

Flash forward a bit of time, we got married on June 22nd, 2024. For many reasons, (financial constraints being the main one) we eloped in NYC and didn’t have anyone there besides our officiant and photographer(s). I wouldn’t have it any other way. It was so us to do it that way. While I could end this on a more negative note due to the current administration, I won’t. The point of this post is to celebrate what we’ve been able to do. We are two trans guys who were able to have a gay wedding and be in love despite what's going on in this world. Is it tough? Absolutely. But we have each other and we have the support of so, so many people. Thank you to whoever has read this to the end. This is the very short version of our love story, but I wanted to at least get something out there.

@3deifiedart

[onlycosmere]

Cosmere/Magic the Gathering

'What IP do you most want to see in Magic the Gathering?' Thunderwoodd: Stormlight Archive!

thyfoolish1: Brandon said they reached out to him and he was excited and ready to go but they haven't gotten back to him. I think this was Dragonsteel last year. So there is hope.

Egi_: Even after the shitshow with the free book he gave them on the condition it wouldn't be commercialized and then WotC commercialized it?

Brandon Sanderson: I knew what I was getting into working with a big corporation. Like the proverbial frog giving a ride to a scorpion, I don't see justification for complaint regarding the eventual sting. I love the game, and the designers, so that's really my metric. As a note, everyone I worked with on the narrative team was wonderful.

I don't want a passing secret lair of five cards; I am interested in a full-blown set, so with that constraint, I wouldn't foresee a Stormlight or Mistborn crossover until one of several things happens:

1) They burn through the bigger properties that match MTG's vibe like LOTR did. Fantasy, or science fantasy, properties that feel legit as a big expansions. As mentioned in this thread alone, there is a pretty deep mine there. Dune, Witcher, Elder Scrolls, Arcane/LoL, Westeros (if they're feeling spicy.) A hobbit set is all but inevitable as well.

Considering they'd be unwise to put these sorts of things out too quickly, and should really give them time to breathe, we're looking at ten years easily before they're out of larger fish to fry. Stormlight is big for a book series, but without any shows/films/games, I'd suspect it doesn't have the casual word-of-mouth reach their marketing team looks for to justify the extra expense of licensing fees.

2) Said bigger properties decide they aren't interested, leaving things popular but without media representation. If they ever decided to experiment with a book-only series, I suspect I'd be very high on the list to approach.

3) Cosmere gets one of said media properties, something I'm actively trying to accomplish--but it is slow going, as I'm in the fortunate position of being able to be very picky about partners, and prefer to take my time.

I've made it clear to them that if a large-scale set were in the, ahem, cards, I'd be willing to make frequent trips to Seattle to be part of the design team on said set.

awakenedjunkofigure: If any author deserves the pick of the litter for production companies, it's absolutely you. Can't wait to see what your books would look like on-screen!!

Brandon Sanderson: Well, the answer to what they'd look like on screen is "Expensive," which a part of the problem...

schloopers: Any large consideration in your mind for spoilers versus fully representing a world or story?

Stormlight you’d of course want all 10 Orders, so spoilers are far as those are concerned are a given.

But maybe a legendary creature “Iron Eyes” instead of any spoiler specific proper names?

I ask because I have so far gotten one friend in the playgroup to start reading, and a couple full sets would for sure help in garnering interest, but I would worry for the story beats getting too greatly revealed out of context.

I don’t know, maybe it’s just unavoidable. I’ve had several Dr. Who episodes “spoiled” for me through that set.

Brandon Sanderson:  This is something I haven't given a lot of thought toward, but I perhaps should be mulling it over. You make a good point.

Thunderwoodd: Woah! Can’t believe you responded. Huge fan! And I loved your commander cube! Saw it on Game Knights right after I finished Rhythm of War.

Curious, do you think the Radiant orders could correspond to guilds or color wedges?

Brandon Sanderson: Yes, I've done thought experiments on that, and think guilds could actively work for them without too much trouble. Problem is, would we want a Stormlight set or just a Knights Radiant set, because ten guilds for ten orders is already a high demand. It might be better to make a wedge set, but the problem there is that the Radiants are actively all colors, so it would be hard to cut out any save black. (Willshaper individuality and artistic expression could be green red instead of red black, for example.) So maybe five four-color wedges? I think the lore could support this, and be something that MTG has had trouble conveying without the expansive worldbuilding an entire book series could provide.

Radiants and sapient spren (all but black, to indicate the inherent selfless Radiant cause)

Human Nations (all but green, to indicate triumph over nature, which is an antagonist on Roshar.)

Singers (All but blue, to indicate the lack of ability to plan for the future, dearth of scholars, and onset of madness in the fused.)

Non-sapient Spren and wildlife (All but white, to indicate lack of overriding societal structures.)

Secret Societies (All but red, indicting the deliberate and conscious planning of these groups.)

Four color signpost uncommons would be WILD, even with hybrid mana. So I can see the design team balking. This (four color guild set) is almost certainly something they've explored and specifically decided not to do.

mediocreattbest: It’s crazy coming onto this post to say “any cosmere set!” And then see you actually replying. Out of curiosity, would you prefer just a stormlight set or a cosmere-wide set? I’d love to see characters through their stories (like we had with the LotR set)

Brandon Sanderson: I'd prefer Stormlight or Mistborn alone, as the planets themselves are so much a part of the stories.

[fast-moon]

"Agatha All Along" and "PvP" vs. "Co-op" writing styles

Agatha All Along (née Coven of Chaos) is the show that, when announced, seemed like a hastily-concocted attempt to keep riding on the success of Wandavision and its break-out supporting characters, leaving everyone wondering, "But... what would they actually do?"

I really should have had more faith in Jac Schaeffer.

A frustration I have with certain writers, Steven Moffat in Doctor Who and Sherlock being a prime example of this, is when the writer feels like they're competing against their audience. I could call this the "PvP" form of writing: The audience is a newbie, and the author is a level 100 Dark Knight who immediately slaughters the noobs to show his dominance.

The author has an adversarial opinion of the audience, and their goal is to keep the audience guessing as long as possible. But also makes sure that none of those guesses are ever correct, because that means the audience has "beaten" the author. The author claims "victory" over them when they get to "the reveal" and no one had guessed it correctly.

This is usually done by feeding the audience red herrings, and leaving out a crucial piece of information that is only known by the main character, until it's time for the reveal. Either that or the overarching mystery is simply never solved at all, aside from the main character indicating they've gotten it all figured out but there's no time to explain.

Contrast that to how Jac Schaeffer handled Wandavision and Agatha All Along. These were written under the view that the audience is a partner in this story. The "co-op" form of writing. The audience is a newbie, and the author is a level 100 Dark Knight, and the author takes the noob under their wing and guides them through how the game is played until the noob gets it. The author is victorious once the noob doesn't need their help anymore and can figure it out for themselves.

This is usually done by feeding the audience breadcrumbs. Characters behave with consistency before the full reveal, but because not all the information is available to the audience yet, there are noticeable "quirks" to characters' behavior to clue in the audience that not all is what it seems. All the necessary pieces are given to the audience in plain sight, and if the audience is able to put them together before they're completely revealed, the final reveal is more of a congratulations for a job well done.

Sometimes I see complaints that if it's at all possible to guess the "twist" before it happens, then the story is "too predictable". But I'd argue that being at least somewhat predictable is a good thing to have in a story. It means the characters and world are behaving in a consistent way.

Contrast to the "PvP" manner of writing, where the characters "break all the rules" to solve their problems in unexpected ways. But I find this significantly less interesting, because it means the characters don't actually have to be innovative. Characters who have to devise solutions while working within the constraints of their universe are much more compelling than ones who effectively win with cheat codes.

And so that's why I really have to hand it to Jac Schaeffer. She gave us a twist in episode 7 that was wholly consistent with everything we'd seen up until that point, but then forced us to completely re-contextualize everything we just watched.

And then just to show off, in episode 8 she did it again.

I do hope that she continues to have a hand in the Vision Quest series, since I heard that project has since been passed to a different show lead. But if it means that Schaeffer has instead been given the green light to rescue Wanda from what Michael Waldron's PvP writing did to her in Multiverse of Madness, then maybe there truly will be glory at the end.

[the-lavender-clown]

Gonna update the timeline for my tmnt iteration and have Donnie and Raph with the EPF for a year so that way they would have started and gotten a decent bit into their training to become operatives

Donnie having more of an aptitude for stealth and computer work causing her to be trained in hacking a variety of devices, building and deconstructing surveillance tech on a time constraint, being able to place tech ranging from bugs to bombs unseen and effectively. She trains directly under Stockman for much of the tech aspect

Raph being trained to direct his rage into fighting. Just being an unstoppable and untiring battering ram. His endurance is a primary focus. Train him to fight at least 90% peak performance for as long as possible and then some

The twins not seeing each other for days (once or twice a week) sometimes because of them for using Raph to fight for days on end and Donnie going from one intensive test to the next without a wink of sleep. It’s also important to teach them how to suppress their physical needs such as sleep to get the job done and done well

Or else…

Leo is also primarily trained in fighting like Raph but is focused more towards ending a fight as quickly as possible. Speed is his focus

Mikey is the all rounder. He’s supposed to be able to see, anticipate, and cover any weaknesses or compromises to the team. He’s trained to keep them all together and functioning

Of course besides all that they are often all together to train to fight as a team. Whether that be different duos, just three of them, or all together. They must be prepared for any possible type of fight and pairing

[wenellyb]

I’m going to be controversial and say a big moment is maybe a break up but not in like bucktommy bones 🤪 way but in a way that if something happens to Bobby I don’t think he’ll be in a the headspace for a relationship 😭😭 but then in season 8 we see Tommy be there for him in the most smallest ways and worms his way back in (he’s not doing it on purpose he’s accepted the break up but buck is still a friend whose grieving so he’s there for him) and buck is like actually no dick really will help me get through grief what was I thinking and they get back together.

Hi Anon!!! I don't mind the headcanon as long as it's not done in a hateful way.

I don't think something will happen to Bobby because 911 is not the kind of show that kills off their Mains, they might do it with side characters but I'm not sure this is where they're heading. But yeah something big is probably going to happen.

If it does happen, your theory might be right about Buck not being in the roght headspace.

The problem with this season being so short is that we obviously missed some scenes due to time constraints so we don’t know how long Buck and Tommy have been together. I would agree with your theory if they had just gotten together (just a couple of months).

But if Buck and Tommy have been together for some time, Tommy would be there for Buck, no matter what he's going through.

The scene with Bobby let me think that Buck and Tommy are serious and have been together for a little longer that what we may think.

TL:DR: Headcanon accepted but I think it will depend on how long they have been dating.

As long as they get back together, I'm good! This is a drama series after all.

[sixth-light]

Love your Wheel of Time posts on the impact of Jordan's time in the Citadel on his understanding of the world. Have gotten to book 13, the Black Tower focused sections- do you think if Jordan has survived to write that book, the Black Tower would have its own version of gay-for-the-stay pillow friends?

Hmm, interesting. In general I am very reluctant to give dead authors credit for stuff they never got a chance to do. You see a lot of this around for example Terry Pratchett, where people are pretty quick to claim he would have taken X or Y opinion (also an opinion they hold) due to the generally progressive trajectory of his work.

And, like, maybe he would have! And maybe Jordan would have had gay Asha'man! You can certainly see a more openly queer trend in the parts of the series he wrote as it went on, though still under certain pretty strict constraints. I think ultimately I'm less interested in the question of whether people might one day have done those things had they lived longer, and more in where they fit into the wider picture of queer representation in fiction. I think it would be utterly wrong to say Jordan would never have represented queer men in the text of his work, and it seems likely on the balance of things had he done so, it would have been similar to the way he represented queer women. (I would be remiss if I didn't note there's been plenty of discussion about how the subtext of WoT resonates for a lot of queer men - even if it's not as explicit as for the women, there's not nothing there!)

But I think it would also be wrong to say he certainly would have. That door is shut. All we get for sure is the knowledge of what he did write for publication when he wrote it, and the knowledge that he was willing to be a lot more frank in his personal notes and worldbuilding material about sexuality than he was in his actual work - which was not because SFF of the time made it impossible to depict queer men. Not doing so was the choice he made when he had the choice. That's not meant as a judgement on him or a declaration he should have done it differently; it's just the reality of what he did.

Now, if the question is "how would Jordan have depicted gay men had he been willing to do so" then yeah, 100% we would have seen Asha'man hooking up because there were no women, that seems to have been his baseline understanding of homosexuality (see also Shalon having an affair with Ailil because her husband was somewhere else). In fact, I suspect the whole thing he set up with wives/girlfriends accompanying men to the Black Tower was to avoid having to write the Asha'man sleeping with each other! It's kind of noticeable that in absolutely none of Jordan's societies that we see significant depictions of (i.e. I'm not counting places like Shara) are there ANY celibate/separatist male groups. Even the Whitecloaks, unlike some of their historical inspirations, have no expectation of celibacy or avoidance of relationships with women.

No-homo-ing his way towards greater involvement of women in society is the most Robert-Jordan-esque thing RJ could have done as a writer. You kind of have to respect it.

[kristailine]

Tekken 8 storymode thoughts/rant/review

Obviously will contain spoilers

But I have to say that

Surprisingly, I really liked Tekken 8's story (which is something I really didn't expect. I was preparing to gaslight myself that I liked the story because I was expecting a mid plot. But I can definitely say that I genuinely enjoyed this installment's storymode)

I'm going to remove my kazujun stan lens for this review

Jin has always been an after thought to me. The only time I care about him is if it's connected either to Kazuya or Jun (as a kazujun shipper). But the way he was written in Tekken 8 added layers to him and developed his character well. Don't get me wrong though, IT WOULD NEVER REALLY ERASE THE FUCKED UP SHIT THEY DID WITH TK5-7, but Tekken 8 was sweeping up some of the garbage left behind.

I always joke about Jin and his war crimes. Obviously, waging war is bad irl, but this is fiction okay. Anyway, Tekken 8 somehow managed to make me really feel like Jin didn't want to wage war. It was more of a result of his own self deprecation. Add to this, he was already suicidal before he took over the Zaibatsu, but after Tk6, he just really sulked into the idea of having to carry his sins and let it define him for the rest of his life.

The way they turned Jin from this guy who's hopeless and is submerged in his own hatred towards his bloodline and himself to this guy who finally acknowledges that all of the bad things are a part of who he is, but it doesn't have to be who he completely is, was really really really written decently. This whole character development with Jin instantly makes Tekken 8 on par, if not equal to, Tekken 4 story writing. And I was really impressed and blown away with how they unfolded the development. Because I really didn't want the romanticization of all his past mistakes, and his allies just cheering him on. Instead, his allies actually acknowledge JIN AS A DEVIL literally and figuratively (e.g Hwoa saying Jin has those dope-ass powers, Leroy asking Jin who is he, Xiaoyu saying she isn't scared of Jin despite the devil look), but they all believed in the chance they gave him to atone for everything he's done wrong.

I wish we could've gotten more about the history of the devil gene. It's still a very vague concept, and I was kinda expecting Tekken 8 to answer most of the questions about it, but still no.

Although as a Jun stan, I'm upset she never really appeared in the real world, I have to say that I really like how they still kept going with Jun's persona as a mysterious woman. If you see a previous post of mine, I have always been scared that Tekken 8 would finally be the franchise who would ruin Jun's character, but they played safe with it. She's still as mysterious as ever, but they allowed her to show more of her kindheartedness.

Like I said, I really wish we could've gotten more. I wish we could've also got to explore Kazuya's perspective. It's been like 6 consecutive games, and we still haven't had a storymode that focuses on Kazuya's character (always the one sided villain). Although, I understand why they couldn't do it (maybe because of budget constraints, and it would really diminish and compress the quality of Jin's char dev if they're gonna focus on both of them). I'm assuming at least that we get Tekken 9 and have it shine a spotlight on Kaz.

Overall, I really liked it. It gets an 8/10 for me!

More things I kinda didn't like:

- Where the hell is Yoshimitsu???? He appears in the tournament and then goes Bye Felicia once Kazuya absorbed Azazel LMAOOOOO. His bio about investigating the Mishima bloodline and whatever didn't really reflect on the storymode :<<

- Nina and Steve.... Uhhh.... We already had them in Tk 7, and I was at least expecting that they would continue it in Tk 8

- The Asuka Kazama erasure.... She's just treated as another one of the side characters at this point. I fear she's just only in the game now because of Lili. She's very underdeveloped and underutilized and I feel so sad about it :<<

Tekken has a very interesting set of characters with amazing dynamics and chemistry with everyone else. It has a huge amount of lore to explore as well. And they could really do better by exploring and developing most of the characters. Here's to hoping we get a story expansion DLC not just for the main story, but also for the other beloved characters in the game.

[sharpexgoodwin]

I do think Tim’s decision to wrap up the show was a good decision especially with the strikes happening at the moment. However, I feel like there was still so much more stories to tell with the characters and so much more that they could have done if we got another season.

Some things I wished we could have seen this season and if we got a season 5:

A prom episode: I would’ve loved to see how rina, madlyn, seblos asked each other to prom. I feel like prom episodes always bring some sort of drama as well so that would be interesting to see how that played out!

More focus on Ricky’s future: I wish we got more of a focus on Ricky deciding what he wanted to do in the future. We did get a little in season 4 but i felt like it was a bit rushed. I was really happy with how they handled Kourtney’s college storyline this season though!

Kourtney and Jet: I understand this season has already so much going on so it was hard to flesh out Jetney but if we did get a season 5, I would’ve loved to see them more and their dynamic.

Boys and Back and Just Wanna Be With You: I feel ROBBED !! I wish we could’ve gotten these performances this season. I feel like they had plans to preform them but because of time constraints they couldn’t. Also Jet mentions the place he felt the happiest was preforming the Boys and Back with Ricky, it would’ve been nice to see the moment he told he realised that and not just have it told to us.

Emmy: if we got a season 5, I would’ve loved for us to learn more about Emmy. She was so funny this season !!

Maddox and Jet: same as the last point. As Maddox said in episode 406 they just got here and I wish we could’ve learned more about the both of them and even regarding Jet why did he get expelled? How’s their home life?

I loved season four so so so much!! I believe they wrapped it up the best they could as well! I just want more of the wildcats on my screen. I hope we get a movie/spin-off or something !!

[inhumanresourcesmkg]

(1) New Email

Hello,

As per our previous email, this is a courtesy reminder that the application deadline for the Home Office is May 30th, 2025, 12:00 PM PDT. That is exactly two weeks away from the time of this writing. As we rapidly approach the cutoff, we would like to address a few things.

First, we would like to reiterate that there will be no extension period, no exceptions. The end date is set in stone. We understand that deadlines are commonly extended in this genre of roleplay, but due to schedule constraints and all four of the mods having full time jobs that they have scheduled around, we cannot afford to bump the start date back any later than it already will be. Please plan accordingly to ensure that we receive your resume on time. Any resumes received after the deadline will not be considered for the roster.

Secondly, please be sure to give your apps a once-over before submitting. We are NOT going to reject an app for simple typos or grammatical errors, so please do not panic if you are reading over your app after submission and saw that you used the wrong "your", for example.

However, it is good practice to ensure that you've tagged for/avoided mod triggers (can be found on the mod page; thank you to everyone who has already done so!). We have received more than one submission where mod triggers were a significant part of the character's narrative.

We understand that such themes might come up in the background, as a minor detail, but it is unfavorable to put the mods in a position where one or more of our triggers are going to be an unavoidable part of the roleplay (especially since large plot beats are often revealed via lore items, which are posted for everyone to see OOC, so there is no way to "opt out" for mods and players alike). We apologize if the distinction between "avoiding" and "tagging for" triggers was unclear on our part; hopefully this helps to clarify.

Additionally, we advise a comb-over of your apps to ensure that they are time period compliant. Given the ambiguity of the world being set in 199X, there is some leeway here. To use real-world examples, if your character got a job at the newly opened Einstein Bros Bagels (est 1995), we are not going to split hairs if their work experience includes being an extra in the music video for Aerosmith's I Don't Want to Miss a Thing (1998). But if your character works with DoorDash and sends in their resume through Indeed.com, that will not fly.

(Of course, you are free to use made up brands etc and do not have to adhere to pre-existing ones to begin with. However, please make sure the technology, brand output etc are generally consistent with the late 90s.)

Also, to clarify a question we've gotten a few times about lore items: we would advise censoring or omitting your character's name from the items in question, if applicable. It can be as simple as a sharpie redaction or a conveniently-positioned stain. A lore item does not have to contain your character's name (or text for that matter) at all. But if you do go that route, it would be best to omit your character's name, at least for the app.

That said, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to management.

Thank you, and happy Friday!

-FI Management

EDIT: to clarify, your app will NOT be automatically stricken from consideration if you have your oc's name in the lore items! If you are accepted, we would simply ask you to edit/tailor the item accordingly before chapter one. We just want to avoid a situation where you are specifically making an item TO reveal your character's name. Thank you!

[ag-updates-and-archives]

L.S. Dunes’ Anthony Green and Travis Stever Talk “Magick” For New Sophomore Album ‘Violet’ [Q&A] | THE NOISE

photos: Moe Horta

Since their captivating debut at Chicago's Riot Fest in 2022 and the release of their exhilarating first album, Past Lives, L.S. Dunes has evolved into something truly magical. Born during COVID chaos and shaped by challenging time constraints, they have consistently defied the odds, expanding their fanbase with each new breathtaking track. They have become not just an exciting but an essential supergroup – featuring members of My Chemical Romance, Thursday, Coheed And Cambria and more – a journey we've all been a part of and can take pride in.

By any measure, the band's latest album, Violet, once again helmed by Grammy-nominated producer Will Yip, lives up to the legacy they continue to build. In many ways, it opens up an opportunity to rediscover L.S. Dunes in a different light. Where Past Lives takes its oxygen from the thrill of frenzy and impulsiveness, Violet breathes deeper with a more open and expansive palette. Whether it lives in the confident and steady pulse of a song like "Machines," in the rousing lyrical empowerment of "Paper Tigers," or in the way that "Forgiveness" forges itself as an anthem for love and unconditional acceptance in the face of our personal failures, this is a body of work that not only offers hindsight but also instills hope and a sense of magic. And isn't that what the world needs more of?

The Noise had the opportunity to chat further with frontman Anthony Green and guitarist Travis Stever about the magic of the album as well as maintaining a healthy work-life-balance shredding alongside fellow self-proclaimed “workaholics,” guitarist Frank Iero, drummer Tucker Rule, and bassist Tim Payne. 

Violet feels like a shift from Past Lives in terms of sound in some aspects. How would you describe the musical progression between these two albums?

ANTHONY GREEN: My perspective of it is so narrow from my vantage point, and I see a growth relative to our personal relationship growth. When we were writing and putting together Past Lives, we were figuring out how we operated creatively, and you got to hear that in real-time on Violet. With this album, I can't really speak to what other people would have experienced while listening to the first one, but I know that on this record, it feels like we know each other better, and I hope that comes across.

TRAVIS STEVER: I absolutely agree with everything he said. We also got to be around each other.

Anthony: Oh yeah. 

Travis: I mean, it's like a whole different language you speak when we're together. I have video footage that I was going through to kind of remember some of the stuff that we did, also to try and remember parts. But just looking at it, we had this one part that we were working on in Violet – okay, and I'm working on it, Frank's across, you can't even see him, but you see Anthony behind, and he's doing this smile. He's doing this smile and dancing, but then I hit this bum note, and he's all of a sudden, like, [makes cringe face].

Anthony: Haha, yeah, I remember. [laughing]

Travis: But you didn't mean it! The best part is that you did not even mean it! It's just the natural language of music that when something happens, it's inevitable, and I died laughing because I was like, "I would have done the same thing." We were like-

Anthony: You were just trying stuff out. 

Travis: Yeah, I was trying stuff out, but we had gotten somewhere where we were all excited with the melody, and he had already done some vocal melodies; it was just this exciting moment. And it was like, “That's how you work.” There are things, such as body language and everything that goes together in the studio. I mean, I love Past Lives, I love how it came about. There's some beauty to creating art like that, which was something new for all of us. It was like painting a wall from a distance. But this was doing it together.

Anthony, the lyrics on Past Lives were profoundly personal. As you know, many of the lyrics on all of the projects you have worked on together and individually feel like lyricism is a crucial aspect of the music. How do the themes of Violet compare to those on the debut album? Are you exploring new emotional territories or continuing from where you left off?

Anthony: Well, thanks for saying that stuff about the lyrics. I think that when I was writing Past Lives, I was sort of just kind of, you know, you're like “I can't help making things sort of autobiographical.” And I try really hard even when I intend to write a song where I'm like, "Okay, this is from someone else's vantage point, or this is about this story.” Or even there's been songs where I'm like, "This is inspired by a movie or something, and it still ends up becoming autobiographical.” There's my narcissistic nature or something, and how it just goes that way. But I feel like this stuff that came out for Past Lives, I was running and gunning in my life at that time, and it all kind of came out like that. There was stuff that even after it got written, I was like, "Whoa." I was desperate for connection at that point in my life, and when we were writing Violet, I really wanted to make sure that there was intention behind the songs and that there weren't these cliffs that you drop off of, you know?

I feel like this antenna when I'm working, and after a while, when you're tuned to a certain frequency that's very negative, you find yourself in this loop. So this record for me was a lot of trying to break out of that loop and find silver linings in the worst, most destructive aspects of the things I've created in my life to keep moving forward.

Let’s circle back for a second about band chemistry, working through the pandemic, and now working together post-pandemic, which feels silly to say because I feel like the world is still kind of burning. But anyway, with Past Lives being your debut, how has chemistry within the band evolved since then? You went from working on an album during a global pandemic to now having free reign once restrictions were lifted. How has the way you've worked together changed, and in what ways have you all bonded as a band to create this stronger cohesion in Violet? 

Travis: I don't know if this answers your question, but it was very clear from the moment that we were all in the same room that no matter what, if we started playing any melody, then we were all off to the races. It's very hard to find that in a group of people where everybody's not afraid to jump in and start creating together, and that's what we have. That's the one [thing] I've never experienced with this band where there's no hesitation in starting to create when we're around each other. You know what I mean? We can lean on each other if one person's pretty burnt out.

For instance, I remember coming back from Australia and meeting up on the last Dunes tour, and everybody was working on something in sound check. I just felt so burnt out, and I didn't know if I could do it, and they all comforted me and made me feel like I was safe to hold out, wait for it, and then they worked on it. And when I came in to work on it, it was like, "Oh, wow, I could just jump right in. It'll be okay. I'm okay here. I'm not like failing everyone, right?” When we give each other that, probably because of what we've been through before it, not throwing shade at any of the other bands we're part of or anything like that. It's just we grew up playing music. We have a maturity that hopefully, or I assume, we all bring to this, that I don't know, it's just it makes a different kind of scenario coming into it that perhaps it's hard to even bring to the other things we're part of because we're so used to the roles. But we can come here and say, “Oh, this is how we started this, and this is what we do for each other,” the trust thing, you know, we do that for each other. So, how has that differed? It's gotten better, consistently better, and even in the distance, like from the long-distance writing, it's constantly happening. We've already been doing that, and I know [Anthony] already has millions of melodies, everything that we send, and that's what we do.

That's great to hear.

Travis: That's my take on growing, you know?

Anthony: Maturity was a cool word that stood out to me. We were saying that whatever our intentions were in building this – it was like how people get together to have a club, how people will play sports, or like a group of dads getting together to play music. Most of the challenges have come from, like, "Okay, how do we share this with the world? How do we make this more than just like, what it is for us and allow other people in and do it like a band,” you know, maybe like a real band. And getting to know each other, getting to have each other's back in situations where it's like, "Yeah, we're gonna do a tour. We're gonna do things." Ultimately, I think that, at the core, we want each other to be happy. Because we know if we're happy or taken care of, we're gonna make something really fun together. Having that be the nucleus, everything's built around it, and it makes it very challenging, and again, this doesn't bring anything that other projects are lacking. I just think that this is a new thing that exists outside of certain pressures that we all have, you know?

Travis: Well said, that's it.

There's a lot of instability in the industry right now, where artistic expression feels more like a survival tool than a form of catharsis. So many artists seem pressured to release music just to get by. What do you think about this shift?

Anthony: I think with this project, we all cross-pollinate with whatever else we're working on, you know? I know that as soon as I'm done writing a Dunes song, it keeps your creative muscles strong and to have something where you can always just express yourself and know that there's a bunch of people that are gonna be like, "Fuck yeah, that's sick."

Travis: It's interesting, and watching him answer that and say it like that, I just can't wait to work on new stuff. 

Yeah?!

Travis: Already! That's what's hilarious. It's like, we get together and work on stuff in the room together, but also, like, work on all the things that we have already, you know, like, there's --

Anthony: There's a bit of enabled workaholism in this group. 

Travis: Oh yes, totally.

Anthony: All of us, I think, are like dealing with different, you know – I've definitely had my experiences with, like, compulsion and addiction and all that stuff. And I think a lot of it for me has been finding things you can put that same energy into that aren't as destructive. And, like, there's a little bit of workaholism in us that probably isn’t healthy. But we’re wrangling it in together as a group. When you like what you do, it can be very challenging to know when to stop.

What did you learn from making Past Lives that influenced the creation of Violet? Were there things you wanted to do differently this time around?

Travis: I don't think we had – we weren't like, “We have to do it this way.” There were intentions just to be together, and we were able to do that. I know that Anthony shares this, too. The goal was that eventually, hopefully, we could be in a room for a few days and have some fresh, brand-new ideas. There were road maps for songs already there and some ideas that were more spur of the moment.

Anthony: Not all the structural changes, though. The dropout in “Violet.”

Travis: Yeah! 

Anthony: Us all in the room talking about that and then trying it out at different lengths. Like, where does it feel? And I remember at first I was like, "It just doesn't feel right there," yeah. We had to listen to it and, like, settle into it.

Travis: Absolutely. So I kind of am going to go against what I'm like, I'm going to agree with Anthony. I mean, even the beginning of the album, the song, “Like Magick,” that's a song that Anthony had sitting around. He was just plucking and singing that melody over and over, and it just got in our heads, and we were like, "We need to use that," and it became a band song. And that happened with our 2022 record. But you know I kind of contradict myself by saying that that can happen from a distance, but there's like this, this beauty of it happening in person.

Right. 

Travis: That we hadn't experienced yet together. 

Anthony: We also hadn't written where we knew each other creatively, but we're just sending files back and forth, and before writing Violet we got to experience playing all of the songs live and seeing how that evolved, and adding parts. There were times when sitting in practice, where you would jam on something, and Tuck would start playing, and we could all tell our creative sense, our navigational sense as a group towards whatever we like creatively, is very strong. It's weird, you go to capture that, and it's like you can capture that so many different ways, but it's almost like grabbing this flow state that's so great, and trying to then limit it, putting in a structure, putting in a boundary, and just kind of kill everything but the littlest spark about it. Then you get all these little sparks together, and it's like, it represents something that represents the song. But like, I don't know, I'm like, not trying to talk shit on any of our other projects, but even just in playing the songs that we recorded for this record live now, I'm like, "Oh, I could have done this. I could have done that…”

Travis: Yeah, we can do it! Like, that's the cool thing.

Anthony: Playing “Machines” live, I was like, "Oh my god." And we're still evolving and growing. I feel like this is just the foundation of what we're able to experiment and do together. Everybody sort of trusts each other to bring their own freakiness too. I don't ever have to worry, "Okay, we need to work on this." Like, I'll think of something I need to work on or want to write something, and I want to push myself. I know Travis is doing the same thing with everything he plays. Everybody brings that energy to push themselves.

It sounds like that evolution just happened very naturally. 

Anthony: Yeah, definitely. It's like when you're like, I just need a haircut. I don't know exactly what I gotta do, but it's gotta just-

Gotta be different.

Anthony and Travis: Gotta be different!

Is there a specific concept or theme you focused on for Violet that differs from Past Lives? How did you build on the foundation of your debut album?

Anthony: Lyrically, I think magic was something I thought about a lot, magic and light and the idea of what magic is and what feels like magic and how the concept of mysticism in music gets strangled out. Where putting a record out and making a recording even – like, back in the day, there were people that when they started recording music, people were like, “Fuck, no, you can't do that to the listening experience.” And we experience that now with every kind of thing that comes up, I don't know. I just think that the music alchemizing your pain and suffering into something tangible and giving hope is something that I wanted to think about when we were writing this album. The idea is that it can be therapeutic. 

Are there any tracks on Violet that stand out to you personally? I loved the intro track "Like Magick," midway point "Machines," and "Holograms."

Travis: Oh, so many songs on the record right now are my favorite! I can’t pick.

What about you, Anthony?

Anthony: I've been listening to "Violet" so much, and I started trying to play it on acoustic; it's such a good song; it's so good. We also were practicing it, and you know, I sing the majority of the stuff on the record live or on the record, but like, Frank will sing with me, and like, he sings with me on that live, and I'm excited to play that. I don't know, I can't pick a favorite, honestly. This sounds so stupid, but for every one of these songs, I had this experience writing and crafting with this group, where I was so personally invested in every little part of it that it was such a joy to be a part of all the steps, watching everything get created, even from the sidelines, when they were working out musical stuff. I was like, "Okay, cool. I could fill something in, cool here. I can give this space here." I can't pick a favorite, you know?

And that's okay. They're all your favorites!

Travis: Oh yeah, it's always subject to change.

Anthony: "Like Magick" is cool, just because it gives me this charge where whenever I'm with the group where I have something and where they're like, "Hey, I want to work on this. It's an idea that I was messing with,” and they take it and make it cool, that always makes me feel really good.

How do you hope Violet will be received by your fans, especially those who followed you since Past Lives and throughout your separate work? Is there a particular message or feeling you want them to take away from this album?

Anthony: I've honestly divorced myself from the outcome.

Yeah? 

Anthony: Yeah. 

That's probably the healthiest thing to do.

Travis: I think that's the healthiest thing you can do. It's the healthiest thing any of us can do. Are we gonna look? Yeah, we're gonna see what people say.

Anthony: I have this faith that the people who have been so supportive up until now truly want you to have harmony within what you're doing. So I know that that's there, and I have faith in that, but for the better of myself, I find all my victory in just having the record be something the whole band could put our hands in a circle and go, "Woooo!" And then sharing it with the world is, like, it's like, a big bonus, you know?

Travis: Yeah. I agree.

Anthony: I hope, I always hope, like, if I'm cooking something for somebody, like, I hope they enjoy it. I hope they enjoy it as much as I do. But this is kind of a different scenario, I guess. It's hard to say.

How do you plan to bring the album's energy to the stage? What can fans expect from your live shows this time around? Are there any songs that you're super excited to perform live for people?

Travis: Yeah, we already started working on a couple of them that we'll be doing out on tour with Rise Against in Europe, and we have some headlining shows out there in the UK and Europe. I imagine once we're out there, I'd say that we already have five or six of the ten songs ready to play live, and then we'll work on the other four. Frank was writing us all yesterday about "You Deserve To Be Haunted" and even trying to mess with that, which would be a seventh that we would already have ready.

Anthony: We started playing that "Fatal Deluxe" song on the Rise Against tour, too, and that song, oh my gosh, is my favorite. It was my favorite song to play in the set; we closed the set with it, and that song was transformative for me. It takes me someplace else; I feel confident when I play that. Something about that, everything about that song, it just is so fun to play. The same thing happened when we started playing "Machines," and I got lost in it every time; you know, it took me somewhere. Yeah, it's cool.

Travis: "Fatal Deluxe" is something Anthony mentioned before; that's a good example of us taking a song and adding a whole new ending. Something that maybe we'd be like, "Oh, we wish we did this in the studio," but that's what's cool, as a band, we'll take things like that, and we'll add it to the live set. So that's what's cool about once we're all together and we're on tour, we'll start working out these little nuances, and people that come to our shows will start to see them evolve as they come to the show.

How do you see the future of L.S. Dunes? Are there specific directions you're excited to explore next? Is there something that you feel the need to just accomplish with this project other than just make fucking great music?

Travis: I mean, I think that's just it. To continue to make music with them.

Anthony: Yeah, that's it. I mean, like I said, everybody gets to kind of witness our club of dads who don't get together to play music together, you know what I mean? As long as we can maintain the nucleus of how much fun it is just to be together, make music together, let each other explore, and keep it growing. I hate looking into the future with anything too much, you know?

The future should be a surprise.

Anthony: Yeah, and I feel really lucky to be a part of this. Like really lucky, like, every day of my life, even when the shit is happening with it, where there is the hardest shit that we go through with it. I'm still just so grateful to be participating. I know that music is healing, and there's this other aspect to it, so just throwing it out there, you're just participating. No outcome is needed to keep us apart from caring about each other and nurturing each other's strengths personally and professionally; that's my goal. We can make another ten records. We can make one record, whatever there is, just as long as we stay loving and supportive as a unit; who knows?

Author: Alessandra Rincon January 30, 2025

[star3synth]

hey so i’ve gotten a few comments asking about commissions so i want to make an official post addressing the topic.

i am not currently offerring commissions or paid work in any capacity. additionally, i do not plan on doing so in the forseeable future.

this is due to a few reasons:

1) first of all, i am currently a full-time university student who has a stem-focused major, and i also participate in extracurricular activities along with that. i simply do not have the time to spend on longer projects that take more effort.

2) i do art as a casual hobby. even though i do focus on improving my art, the main focus for me is doing art because i enjoy it. because of this my art looks more simple even though i have done art for years, and my capacity to make more complex art is limited. i simply don’t think my art is at a point where i would feel okay with charging people to make it.

3) related to the point directly above, i really just make art to have fun and enjoyment. i fear that having constraints/ deadlines related to commissions would make art way more of an obligation to me and way less of a fun hobby and would cause me to burn out and lose interest quickly. i have had this happen to me before with other things in my life, and i really value making art, so it is a high priority to me that history does not repeat itself.

4) i just straight up don’t want to lol i feel like that should also be a valid reason

however, i am comfortable with requests for art. if you want me to draw something specific, either message me or put a submission in my inbox and i will be happy to consider making it :)(as long as the request is appropriate and within reason ofc)