#like i think how they view themselves and each other is blurred with how others do

[nanatsuyu]

what makes you like kandrew so much?? what drawns you to them??

(not trying to sound rude or condescending or anything im just curious lol)

I really adore characters that bite and snarl at each other for the purpose of enrichment in their respective enclosures.

On a more serious note lol—other than the fact that I have A Type when it comes to pairings (davekat, edxizzy, amberprice, etc), I enjoy characters that have somewhat of an unhealthy codependency on one another. Which is the extremely general way of putting it. I like characters that are kind of doomed to the narrative to never really be sated by what the world has to offer, but their person makes up for that (not that they always recognize it as such or that it's entirely positive or sometimes even completely mutual). And I don't mean doomed in a "never amount to anything" way, but in that bittersweet tone where both of these characters, wherever they fall into each other on the timeline, are at a place where their lows sync up, and that harmonizing rattles something to the perceived tune of "we're the best we're ever going to get". Again, that's all really general for the vibes of why I was drawn to them. There's a bit more nuance for them (and the other pairings ofc).

I like that they have a deal that encompasses both of them trying to push the other into being a better version of themselves but they're both too stubborn/scared to move first because realised potential means you have to recognise it too. Kevin can't expect Andrew to try his best when he himself is not, and Andrew can't expect Kevin to show him his worth* if he doesn't bother to try in the first place. (Though I know their deal was labelled more as moriyama protection for Kevin, I think that kind of encompassed the idea that Andrew would be a crutch till Kevin could stand on his own if that makes sense)

Not to quote the ec but it's one of like 3 parts I would willingly print and eat:

Andrew is the kind of character I adore because he says this and he really genuinely means it. Keeping what little he has left of himself is a last ditch self preservation tactic because he can't get hurt if he has no hopes/expectations/aspirations. No one can let him down if he doesn't let them. But he's so wonderfully flawed in his own ruleset because he keeps doing just that in the hopes that maybe someone will be different this time . Like maybe this time someone will be right when they say he's worth it** like maybe Kevin is right and he can make Andrew see what he's been refusing himself.

I also love that their deal extends far past the deal itself. In the most basic of terms, it was: 'you go, I'll go.' Andrew didn't have to trust Kevin beyond that. But he gave Kevin his meds and trusted him not to abuse that. Kevin had even already promised to help him figure out a way to wean off them before if they could earlier (and I genuinely think his fear of Andrew getting off his meds early was both a kneejerk 'the game/my safety' reaction because Kevin has a lot riding on this semester too, but also because he knows he made his own promise to Andrew and he thought Andrew coming off his meds early might have been an obstacle even Kevin's stubbornness couldn't hurdle when it came to helping Andrew on his feet after). Likewise I have to imagine that very few people put their trust in Kevin with much of anything outside of Exy given his temperament and wallflower disinterest in team building extra curriculars. So for Andrew to willingly give Kevin his meds to hold onto that he's gotten violent over before probably created a very morbid sense of.. pride, I guess? Like I trust you to hold onto the thing that ruins me is so... clenches fist

There's also this rough handed care that comes with all of that. They're unforgivably honest with each other at the best of times and unnecessarily biting at wounds just to get a genuine reaction at the worst. But then they also have these quiet side/off screen moments that are unyielding in tenderness? Andrew inspecting Kevin's hand for injuries. Kevin covering for Andrew when he's sick on court. Andrew telling Kevin to trust him during a panic attack and that he'll take care of it. Kevin turning his entire attention away from the Raven's to pull Andrew up to his feet. Them smiling at each other first genuinely?? Being idiots on the court with playful mocking shoves that don't get heated?? Like you give me these two characters who make it seem as if their hearts will genuinely stop beating if they stop nipping at each other, and then show me that they're actually wrapped up in one another so tightly that they're rarely seen apart? And are burdened (affectionate) with the task of keeping the other from doing the very thing that drowns themselves?? Okay

Also a looooot of this is from my perspective on Andrew's perspective on Kevin since we're given a lot more to work with, but I genuinely think Andrew was the first to push back at Kevin and make him prove things to Andrew and himself. Kevin had maybe a couple people at most before he fled to the foxes. Like he had nothing other than his name and reputation, good and bad, when he showed up at wymack's door. I can't help but imagine some part of Andrew saw this as amusing but also rather tiresome when it came to seeing Kevin constantly shut away in hiding. He was so loud before, where is all that roar now? When Kevin left Jean, he really left his only friend behind (sorry Thea fans I know she's there I know). So here you have Andrew, offering a deal that becomes this codependency because being out of the nest alone most certainly took its toll for a while, and it sounds too good to be true but most things are. So Kevin snatches it up and then there's the trust in the meds and the constant presence (in the sense of comforting consistency in spite of any disagreements (but abandonment issues kandrew is a whole other post now innit)) and the care and it all looks a lot like what someone might call a friend. And I mean they could both say they're not friends till their dying day but they're the only ones they're still trying to fool.

I just like that they gnaw on the scraps that they snag off one another, these leftover cuts from failed attempts at love and kindness, and act as if they didn't hand the pieces to each other themselves in the bed they share.

—

*Andrew is worth more than his ability to play Exy obviously, but I'm working from the angle that these boys have a very limited vocabulary in how to express that given their upbringings lol ie: my absolute Favourite part of the ec:

Like again I have my hangups with some of the ec but this provides soooo much more context to their beef pre-canon and the history behind Andrew's failed recruitment. Not to mention Aaron internally calls out Andrew for blatantly lying to Kevin when he tells him he doesn't care. (I think Andrew probably holds a certain disdain for Kevin struggling to verbalize how he measures worth and how that might differentiate off the court, because that line between wanting to be told you're worth putting in the effort for versus being told it's because of your latent potential is most likely rather precarious. Shipping goggles on: I imagine wanting to get someone's attention whose love language was built up around Exy is a tad difficult even if Andrew does in fact hear what Kevin's trying to say. I also don't think Kevin's malicious in his inability to truly express that Andrew really could have everything and it's infuriating to watch Andrew self destruct.)

**And for me, this, coupled with the above conversation with Renee, really puts into perspective how agitated Andrew is with Kevin for squandering his potential. He thinks Kevin has zero self preservation skills when it comes to maybe not putting all his balls in the exy basket, but that's also why he's so drawn to him because he has this insatiable drive to live for this one thing? And yet he's not even giving it his all like he's asking of Andrew despite that? It'd be easy to dismiss Kevin's overzealous love of the game as gross infatuation that's bled into Andrew's life, but if he smothers Kevin's drive and doesn't encourage him to be exactly as he sees Kevin, this person who really can achieve these things, what is there for him? He wants Kevin to thrive, but Andrew also wants Kevin to be right and that he can thrive too.

[marie-m-art]

Good Animated Omens - Behind the Scenes

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the walk cycles I animated of Aziraphale and Crowley (original post here).

I'll reiterate that the character designs are @lookitsstevie's creation! I made builds in Toonboom Harmony based on their designs, and then animated the builds.

Long post under the cut, organized into four parts. Feel free to jump around or just click through the images and gifs to get an idea of the gist. (At least take a look at Part IV, where you'll see a version of Aziraphale without his jacket and a closeup of Crowley's torso!)

Hopefully this is interesting even if you don't know the first thing about animation. It's not a step-by-step-from-scratch tutorial, but it might give animators some ideas to think about when trying this software!

I'm happy to answer questions about what I cover here - comments, DM's, or ask-box questions are all fine by me. If you like any of the new gifs and want to reblog it on its own, I can make new posts for those upon request! (I'd prefer you don't reupload them, but if you do please at least credit me with a tag to my account - thank you!!)

Part I: The interface and some basics

Above is a screencap of the software interface.

In the centre is the Camera window, where all the drawing and animating is done. 

To the left, the Node View. It's a representation of how the pieces and layers that make the characters are grouped and connected to each other, which is what makes a character "build". Every piece in this window is called a node, and there are different types. Light blue "drawing nodes" contain the drawings themselves. Each drawing node usually has a green "peg" attached; the peg is used to move and rotate the drawing piece; you set a pivot point on each peg. Light grey nodes are groups that have more nodes within, and dark blue nodes are added effects (eg masks, the blur for the halo, etc).

Below, the Timeline - it's where keyframes are set and tweened. The red square dots indicate there is a new keyframe on a particular frame; the white dots indicate keyframes are on layers nested somewhere under the topmost visible layer. All the pieces of the characters can be found in the timeline and correspond to the pieces that exist in the Node View (and Camera). Typically you work with a collapsed view of the build layers in the timeline, which allows you to set keyframes on multiple layers at once.

To the right, a few tabs in this window - Tool Properties, Colour Palettes, and, shown on top here, the Library. The library is where you store your builds, so that you can bring in a fresh copy when animating a new scene. This library tab also has the Drawing Substitution window, which shows thumbnails of every drawing contained in a drawing node when that node is selected.

A second of animation is 24 frames long. Finished animation will often have keyframes on every second frame with the tweens removed, to help simulate the look and feel of traditional animation - this is known as animating "on twos", and saved time, money and paper in the old days. If you leave the tweens on, and/or have keyframes on every frame, the animation is "on ones".

My walks are on twos - it's the look I prefer.

When I say "tween" I'm specifically referring to the software feature that will automatically calculate and interpolate the path between two different poses/keys of a peg. An inbetween could be the result of using a tween, a new drawing, or both. On twos, an inbetween will look the same as any other keyframe on the timeline when you're finished - its relevance as a concept is during the process, not the end result.

Quality animation is achieved via a combination of moving/tweening pre-existing drawings using their pegs, and adding new drawings as hand-drawn inbetweens when needed. Toonboom Harmony also has nodes called "deformers": they offer a way to tween the shape of a drawing without needing to redraw inside the drawing node. (Part IV has the explanation for which pieces I used them for, and why.)

Part II: Navigating the builds

This is what their default poses with no animation look like.

Animation using builds is sometimes colloquially referred to as "puppet-style animation" because the way you can connect body parts to each other feels like making and handling a 2D digital puppet: you can connect a hand to a forearm so that they can move as a unit, and you can connect that unit to an upper arm to move the whole arm as a unit, and that arm gets connected to the torso, and so on.

When you want to connect two pieces, like a hand to a forearm, then you create another peg in the Node View and attach the two body parts together under that new peg. The screencaps below show the nodes that make up Aziraphale's and Crowley's entire builds inside their respective groups:

Things got a bit sloppy ... It looks extremely complicated, but once it's set up, you don't have to think about it too much when you're animating!

And I've zoomed in on the nodes that make their arms so you can see how there are pegs on top of pegs (all the green nodes), with wires connecting everything:

As I explained in Part I, new drawings are added and contained within a body part's drawing node (the light blue ones under the green ones), and the Drawing Substitution window is where you can see all the drawings that exist in a particular node. In the timeline, you set keyframes for moving the pegs, and you also choose which frame the new drawings will appear when applicable. You might have a lot of drawings stored in the nodes, but only what you set to appear in the timeline will be visible in the final animation.

You can select a body part in the camera view, and then find the corresponding layer in the Timeline or the Node View by pressing the "o" keyboard shortcut. If you select a body part by clicking on it, and then press the "b" keyboard shortcut, you will jump up to the next peg it's connected to. You can hide and unhide pieces using "d" and "a" respectively.

In the first capture above, I'm showing that the arm pieces can be moved separately or together, and you can see how the pegs in the Node View light up when I select them in the Camera window (hiding them turns them red). In the second capture, I pop down to the timeline to step back and forth between the poses - the light grey row (it appears between the rows of red dots) represents the hand's drawing node in the timeline.

Part III: Summary of animation process

In my head I imagined how their walks would differ from each other - Aziraphale bouncier but with very straight posture and limited arm movement, vs Crowley slinking and swaggering all over.

I also knew that I wanted the animation to look good for both a walking-on-the-spot version, and as a version walking across the screen (both versions are at the top of the post!).

Then I started doing some rough animation.

I set aside my finished builds for the roughs. For each character, I made a few drawing nodes and two pegs; a peg for the up-and-down upper body motion, which I tweened, and a peg for moving them across the screen. The legs and arms are drawing substitutions.

With these extremely rudimentary rough "builds", I worked out - how many frames long the walks would be, - how far the characters would move across the screen each step, - how much the upper bodies would move up and down, and - the key drawings of the legs and feet.

I didn't worry about animating clothing, hair, or Azi's arms in the rough stage. For those elements, the drawings would be spaced really close together and would be easier to figure out with tweens. (Note: this rudimentary setup would be sufficient if you want to clean up and inbetween characters by hand frame-by-frame instead of making full builds; my preference is build animation because the process is more fun for me)

Then I started working with the finished builds, using the roughs as a guide, and established the broadest motions first: the up-and-down motion in the upper bodies (I set a keyframe at the lowest point, a keyframe at the highest point, then tweened between them) and how far they'd travel across the screen. Then the feet were done.

I went back and forth between viewing them walking on the spot and walking across the screen to make sure that both versions worked. I also made sure they crossed the same amount of ground relative to each other.

After those crucial parts, I moved on to animating their arms, hair, torsos, clothing details, and finishing the legs, not necessarily in that order. I simulated twisting/rotating their torsos in 3d space by moving their waistcoats and lapels.

The first gif switches back and forth between versions (imagine a background scrolling by when they walk on the spot). The second gif is an example of bad "footslip" - they're moving at different speeds, and if you pay attention to their feet, Aziraphale appears to slip on ice while Crowley appears to slide forward on skates.

"You go too fast for me, Crowley!"

Part IV: Extras and details

Here is a version of Aziraphale's walk without his jacket, and a closeup of Crowley so you can see his swaying hips better:

One of the cool things about animating with builds is they lend themselves well to small modifications; the jacketless version took all of five minutes to make.

I'd be remiss not to include a close-up of Aziraphale's hair, the real star of the animation :) (Crowley's hair is also animated but I purposefully kept it understated since it's a much different texture.) And a closeup image of Crowley's snake tattoo:

The biggest unit for both of them are their upper bodies, which includes their pelvises. The up-and-down motion is only on one peg instead of on every single piece, which is handy because it means I can hide just that part of the animation when I want to work on the clothing details:

During the process of animation, I am often hiding then unhiding pieces like this so I can see what I'm doing.

Their clothing ended up being a lot of separate pieces, which I kept adding during animation rather than before, as it was hard to predict everything I needed. Their clothing also incorporates cutters (aka masks), and deformers (see explanation in Part I). In the next set of gifs the deformers show up as green outlines with handles and get turned on and off.

Aziraphale's torso functions as a mask for his clothing. The shape of his torso subtly changes via deformer. His lapels and waistcoat have V shapes that are masks/cutters (they cut a V shape out of those pieces); the same pieces that make the cutters also are used for the black lines of those V shapes via a special layering setup. The main shapes of his lapels are animated with deformers, and you can see how far beyond his torso shape they extend when I turn on the deformers in the second gif.

Deformers work best for shapes that change a little bit, and/or slowly. The minor shape changes in his and Crowley's clothes ended up being a great use case for deformers, because they pretty much tweened perfectly.

The reason I didn't use them on Aziraphale's legs was because those shapes change significantly between keys; I predicted I'd have to re-adjust every frame of a tweened deformer, so I drew the inbetweens by hand (halfway through, I realized I probably should have used them after all, but I was in too deep by then; hand drawing was fun though!). Deformers worked well on his bottom jacket:

Crowley's pelvis is layered above and below his thigh pieces and has a deformer. Also take a look at all the drawing substitutions for his hands:

And lastly the deformers on the hair:

Epilogue

I'm hoping the gifs all play at the same speed for everyone as they play for me. Hopefully the demo gifs are at least watchable, if not super clear... (I'll listen to feedback on the presentation of the information, for if I do similar posts in future!) Don't hesitate to ask questions about anything I covered, or about any details you noticed that I didn't elaborate on!

ko-fi.com/marieanimate

I'm shy about mentioning it, but I set up a Ko-fi account in case this post compels anyone to leave a small "tip" (but reblogging and sharing is just as good)!

Thanks for reading, and have a nice day!

[the5thcellar]

I actually think Luke is serious about A. That age gap is typically what men marry these days. I think he's crazy about her and was taking it slow after a long term break up before going official. That shows intention, planning, and wanting her. I wouldn't be surprised the official IG couple post is coming soon.

I'm just upset that they took it this far with promo. Tom and Z were meeting each other's family outside of work early on, so to say you are officially brining him to meet the fame was a bit much. Closing your eyes when she touches your face? Grade A acting. I hate that it makes me believe he was never attracted to an amazing woman like Nicola. I feel dumb for falling for it all. I hope Nicola finds a handsome guy who will love her proudly.

that's a really interesting take tbh! ive actually never considered he was serious about her in the sense of marrying - but of course this is purely based off the vibes I get and is entirely my own view.

one of the reasons i say this is because luke doesn't seem too inclined to keep a completely friendly distance between himself and nic - i heard that the QC leads india and corey were shipped really hard by fans as well and he had a gf during the whole press run - and towards the end india and corey started posing separately on carpets (i.e. no touching, no friendly hand around shoulder even during photos etc) because they wanted to emphasise that they were really just friends.

luke in contrast seems to have no qualms about blurring lines - and one of the reasons the more rabid fans kept insulting Antonia was a direct result of the fact that he kept stating his "single" status to press. I think he could have helped Antonia avoid a lot of the flak she drew by just stating that he's seeing someone. but maybe he felt it would draw even more attention to his private life and her? idk. i don't want to puzzle over his motivations because I don't believe they are too complex - I've said this many times before and I'll keep saying it - no matter how good a man seems (and I do believe Luke is very good and sweet), trying to justify anything they do is still a sure path to disappointment.

more importantly: please don't feel dumb for falling for the hope that nic and luke could be together! i really don't think they were being deliberately disingenuous - i actually think the opposite - i think they themselves are often confused about what they really are and it's just easier to define it as being great friends. it's strange but i get the feeling that they see each other as a source of potential - it's simultaneously impossible and also the easiest thing in the world for them to envision a reality where they're together - there just seems to be many barriers to it happening for real. they're comfortable living in the liminal space between great friendship and great romantic love - it definitely explains why nic said she doesn't have a relationship in her life that's anything close to what she has with luke. I think there just needs to be a decisive push for them to ever move out of this grey area. it'll have to be something massive for it to ever happen... and it's not something I hold out hope for (again, just to avoid disappointment!)

this got really long; I wish nic and luke all the best and I think they have something very special with each other. I think life has many many stops along the way and I don't think luke has found a final stop in his romantic journey with antonia - they are both very young and they don't have the vibe of "together forever" couples - if they did (since luke is such a big believer in love at first sight) - he'd have laid down a commitment a lot sooner.

again I want to emphasise that this is all MY POV - it's the vibe I get. I'm WELL AWARE I don't know these people irl. There's always criticism of how parasocial fandom and stan behaviour are but I think most fans - myself included - are very conscious of the fact that the way we perceive and interact with celebs is completely one sided. I'm also not a psychic or clairvoyant or anything of the sort. i just strangely feel a lot of things all the time and ive never been chill a day in my life 😂

sending you lots of good feelings and healing - I feel your hurt and unease and disappointment because I feel the same, but it gets easier to accept with each day that passes.

[beawake]

I cannot tell you how important all the friendships are in this show (dead boy detectives) but they are so important.

I already rambled a bit about Charles and Edwin. But also the girls.

Crystal and Niko grow close so very fast. They are very different but that doesn't matter, or maybe it does. They never look down on each other always try to support them and gently advise each other. I love them.

And Niko and Edwin are great! They're exactly what the other needs. Edwin is realistic and slightly pessimistic and repressed. Niko's openess, acceptance and optimism helps him view the world different and accept himself and his feelings. Niko is allowed to touch Edwin and he wants her touch! And Niko wants to help, she needs to be useful and make her friends happy. Edwin allowing Niko to do that with him helped her too, and then helped her (and of course Crystal also encouraged that) get back to her own life little by little (contacting her mother).

And Crystal and Charles. Oh they are messes. And even though there is lust or romantic feelings the friendship is still most important to them, blurring the lines as they are at times. They are so similar! Figuring out themselves (the others are too but think they have everything mostly figured out). I love Crystal setting boundaries, and Charles accepting them without complaint, but Crystal also pushes Charles's boundaries (different ones!) And while Charles doesn't like it he does relent cause he knows Crystal made a point. He values her and her opinions a lot, and while he can be stubborn it helps him figure out his shit. Same for Charles towards Crystal. That's what makes them work.

[artnassertia]

I am so tired of all this discourse about s8 and Sam's actions at the beginning. Because there are only two types of people. The first ones hate Sam, blame him for everything and, to be honest, I can completely understand them (I am a Samgirl myself). The second ones justify him and all his actions and for them he is white and fluffy, he did everything right.

For me, all this is nonsense and an example of how people don't know how to think wider. And it's not about some deep analysis of the character (although, of course, this is welcome), not about trying to understand whether he did right or wrong. But the fact that in general the entire beginning of the s8 is complete nonsense. And it's not about the characters, but about the script.

Yes, I think that the blame here should be shifted to the writers.

You need to understand that in a show like Supernatural there is a HUGE number of writers. Each episode is written by a separate person. And each of these writers feels, sees and understands (or doesn't understand) the character differently. And if during the series it's not so noticeable, because small things can be different. And the fact that after the fifth season we are shown very little about the characters themselves, and not about the global plot, only helps to blur this difference. Then the end of the s7 and the beginning of the s8 stand out from the general picture too much.

The writers were in a hurry. The writers needed to somehow develop the line they went along and create a conflict. And the situation was such that... there was nothing to create a conflict from. Because, looking at the development of Sam as a character all this time, the viewer understands that he, just like Dean, would do everything possible to find his brother. Those who refer to their agreement "not to look for each other" probably forgot the beginning of the fourth season, where we were clearly shown that Sam absolutely goes crazy when Dean is in danger or dead. And it would be one thing if we were shown that Sam really changed his point of view. But no, there was no development in that direction. The only thing we were shown was that Sam wants to be more independent. And this is a normal, correct desire (especially in their relationships). But NOTHING told us that he can just… forget about it. Just do nothing. Just not look for Dean. Like can you imagine that this lore freak wouldn't look for any information about what happened to Dean? They tried to make a parallel with the beginning of season six, but they didn't understand that the situation is FUNDAMENTALLY different.

Because later, in season nine, Sam changes AGAIN. He is ready to do anything for Dean again, he goes crazy again when he dies, he is ready to destroy everything in his path and sacrifice everything in order to get his brother back to him.

Then what was the beginning of season eight for? Why were we shown this? Why did Sam suddenly become a bastard then? Because of a woman? No, because the writers needed a conflict between the brothers. And they decided to do it at Sam's expense, because guess what? In this show, everything is always at his expense.

For me, their meeting in the first episode is just another proof. They haven't seen each other for a year, Sam doesn't know what happened to Dean, Dean doesn't know what's going on in the world after the Leviathans were left without a leader. But how do they greet each other? Dryly, unsentimentally, as if they haven't seen each other for only a week. Their meetings were brighter even after they haven't seen each other for a couple of hours on another case. Honestly, I think even Jensen and Jared didn't like playing this, so tasteless it was.

I don't deny that Sam could have lived a normal life this year. But only after he broke down from ignorance, after he made every effort to find out something, after he realized that he couldn't help in any way. And only then, after he can accept it, he would have hit that damn dog.

And all this is not the character's fault. It is the fault of the writers, who have given up on all the logic of Sam's development and have not found another way to implement their ideas. In addition, the further we go, the clearer it becomes that they are doing this not only with him. Only Dean remains more or less stable, the other characters change almost beyond recognition with each new season (just look at Cas' entire storyline).

I think it's just dumb to put the blame on the character here. Because if you love Sam and follow his development, you'll understand that this whole situation is completely out of his character. Not to mention Kevin, who Sam would NEVER leave alone after all they went through.

So, yeah. The writers of beginning of s8 sucks. That's all.

[dear-ao3]

Bucket!

you did encourage the camera angles, soooo

this is more opinion but there are some facts in here if you count the mild history of cameras in F1 as facts.

F1’s main problem with cameras (imo) is that they really want to “keep people in the action” which they’ve done by keeping cars in the direct center of your screen all the times, and putting cameras at sections with wider angles of view. This is nice, because the sort of limited camera angles from before made it occasionally difficult to keep track of race action.

HOWEVER

They sort of swapped to this wide, central shot style, instead of implementing it. One thing F1 did really well was letting you feel and understand the power of these cars, even through a TV screen. The camera whipped around to follow Raikkonen absolutely sending his car through Eau Rouge (absolute madlad btw) or the Schumacher brothers chasing each other through that wide right hander in Silverstone. The cars felt fast, they felt close, and a lot of that was due to the very stationary cameras relatively close to the track, and the fact that the operators didn’t seem to feel the need to adjust the zoom angle every microsecond to keep the car perfectly centered on your TVs screen. Like sure, I couldn’t see all the pretty sponsor logos, or maybe I didn’t always catch the honestly fascinating front or rear wings of the 2000s (next up on the fact list?), but that was part of the magic. The cars were screaming past so quickly you could hardly keep them in frame at all.

This started going away in the 2010s. By 2020 it was nearly gone completely, and watching races just felt sort of stagnant: no matter how fast I knew Hamilton and Vettel were throwing themselves through every corner, they always seemed to be moving at the same speed.

But things are starting to change.

New cams like the ones on front wings, on/inside driver helmets, and the saving grace of the mid-season camera development upgrades (lol), the gyro cam. These are SO COOL, and the gyro cam in particular feels FAST, I think because the mildly warped field of view makes the motion blur heavier while still keeping that crisp video quality we’ve come to expect from modern cameras, combined with the defining feature of it rolling with the horizon as the car experienced angle changes itself.

Also just angles in general, like the ones at the Monaco pool chicane and tunnel, and some of the ones at Singapore this year, they just bring back that close-to-the-track action.

Interestingly, if you go back and watch recordings from the 1970s and 80s, you’ll notice they actually had some of these. The onboard cameras back then were genuinely exciting, and I watch them all the time. I’d recommend that any F1 fan do that, even if just to see the evolution of driving styles and cars. 

I think F1 is finally listening to fans saying they liked the more stationary cameras, the wild onboards, stuff like that. You can feel the speed of the cars like back in the 2000’s and early 2010’s.

mildly considering starting a bucket blog ngl but also the anon-bucket-question is fun what do you think

BUCKET!!!!

this is really cool. i had not thought about the camera angles before but now that you mention it....yeah youre fucking RIGHT!!!! and yes the gyro camera was fucking cool i loved it it was wonderful and insane.

alternatively i like sometimes when the camera angle shows one of the cameras on the edge of the screen WHIPPING around to capture the car (tho a shame that we dont get that angle).

10/10 as usual. i patiently await more facts :)

[indecenthoney]

Hand Placement?

You ever just go with the flow when you're kissing? Not really thinking about what you're doing but enjoying the movement of your tongues as they dance around each other. The subtle moans that bounce off the walls in your quiet little room. The teeny tiny fidgets they have on your lap, unsure of what to do with themselves. It's fucking cute!

But what do you do with your hands? Well, I have some thoughts on it. A little analysis and breakdown if you will.

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

Hands on hips: (Classic)

How could you not place them there? Fucking perfect. You can rest your hands and just grip down on that thang! Ugh. Not to mention, you can just rock their hips to grind into you? Leaving them wanting more. Creating that tension. That eagerness. And if they're wearing a skirt and some panties? Well, expect a wet spot and pat yourself on the back cause you did that! Look at you go! You charmer you!

Hands on the thighs: (Spicy)

Then there's the thighs. Wow. How fucking could you? Don't play dumb. You know what you're doing? You know damn well that makes them shake! And there you are doing it. The audacity. Teasing them like that. Look at them. Look at what you did. All TEARY-EYED and DUMB. You might as well bring fucking tissues from all that they're going to make. And don't get me started on the whimpering. God. You'll have no choice BUT to stuff them!

Hands up the shirt: (Adventurous)

You're either a little daring or comfortable enough with your partner to reach into that Pandora's box of wonders! Either way, good on you! The sensation is worth losing a finger or two. Hopefully, they like you enough to not bite. The tender suppleness of their chest paired with a grope here. A pinch there. And what the hell? A little tug don't hurt nobody. Watch them melt and tingle from your touch. The sharp breathes they take from in between kisses quickly drawn back in with gasp. Fucking phenomenal. You like that, huh?

Hands cupped around their jaw: (Romantic)

My personal favorite. Yes, there is bias. Deal with it. I mean think about it! Towering over them as you lean in for a kiss. Your hands gently cupping their face. Each kiss more intense than the last. Having full control as you delve deeper into their mouth. A one-way ticket to sub-space. And all they can do is just sit there and take it. Not to mention that you're in full view. Meaning you can pull back at any time and watch their face flush from embarrassment. I know I know. It's mean. I love it!

Hands placed behind you: (The Receiving End)

How could I ever forget about the receiving end? When someone is pressed up against you. Eagerly eating your face alive. Leaning over you. So much so that you need to place your hands behind you for support. And all they do is take, take, and take. You mischievous thing. Must've teased them throughout the day. And here they are, just been dying to get a taste of you. So you sit there and watch as they happily satisfy their desires. It gets you questioning who the real mastermind of the relationship is. The dom that helps you get off or the sub that makes you throb. So neeeeeedy. Well, aren't you cute?

Hands around the throat: (Oh?)

"Aww? Is someone mad? What? Don't like being called cute? C'mon, you can do better than that. Press down a little harder, and I might even beg." Hahahah! A brat's best friend. Talking back. Leading them to dig an early grave. One moment, you're going for the throat. And the next, you're up against the wall. The shortness of breath. Pleasure taking over as you tease death. A gentle smile and laugh that mocks. Hands pressed down against your throat. Lines start to blur. Arousal and fear slowly getting mixed in the process. All while they enjoy your lips. And trace your tongue with theirs without regard for your own well-being. A filthy toy desperately trying to catch a breath.

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

That's about it tbh! Something to think about as you get hot and heavy. There are probably more that you can do with your hands, but just haven't thought about it much.

If you ever plan to make out, you might wanna show them this and have them pick from the menu! Who knows? Maybe they want to be the one pushing their tongue down your mouth while you take it <3

[moirindeclermont]

Day 25 of our BridgertonS3 Polin Kinktober arrives with a train full of... lingerie and teasing!

Also, thanks to everyone who voted in the poll The weekly prompt on here and on Threads was the winner. I'm thinking of making a list of prompts (with your contribution) and extracting the lucky four for November. What do you think? Let me know!

But for now... let's enjoy this episode (also a modern!au)!

The weekends Pen goes shopping with her friends (who are not Eloise) are the worst for him.

Not because he misses her - he does, still - but because he knows they will go into some lingerie shop, pick some outrageous set or something she knows Colin likes, and then he has to pass the entire evening in a semi state, waiting for the moment they come back at home and he can finally observe her in all her beauty.

Pen did not have a thing for lingerie before him. He likes to think this little indulgence she concedes herself from time to time is because of him and how he literally goes crazy every time he sees a piece of lingerie on her.

So, yeah, he hates those weekends, but secretly, he can't wait, the desire and lust making themselves know the moment she goes out and they will see each other in the evening at the pub. He even has to rub one in the shower because he can't seem to function otherwise.

At the pub, he and his friends are the first to arrive. Pen always comes later, going home and changing into whatever torturing device she has chosen for him. After some time, he sees her in the corner of his eye, entering the pub. Colin gulps. Pen has a beautiful green skirt that arrives mid-thigh, a black camisole and a black and green corset over it. Under the skirt, he can see the black fishnets and the heels at her feet.

Most importantly, he can see they arrive just where the skirt starts, leaving him with the impression—confirmed once Pen is situated—that they are sustained with garters, leaving a tantalizing inch of white, creamy skin for him to lose his mind.

Pen kisses him, ignoring the "bleah" of their friends - as if they haven't done the same with their respective s.o., and then they quickly engage in conversation. Colin has to take a moment. Or several.

The camisole has some buttons open, leaving him with a perfect view of her breasts pushed up from the corset. She laughs at something John said, and Colin is so hard in his pants it is almost uncomfortable. The rest of the evening is a blur as Pen keeps teasing him, pushing his hand on her thighs, drawing his attention to her tits, licking her lips. By the time they go home, he is sure he is walking funny and grateful she waited for everyone to get up before they did it themselves.

The walk home is good, mainly because the fresh air makes him more lucid. Barely, though. The moment they step home, he helps her remove the coat, and he can't help but grope her bum.

"Go in our bedroom, Colin... I'll arrive in a minute."

He almost runs to the bedroom, causing Pen to laugh at his eagerness. He sits on the edge of the bed when Pen arrives, doing a little catwalk that has immediate consequences for him.

She has removed just the camisole, so now he has the most gorgeous view ever. Pen knows. She is teasing him still. She sits on his lap and kisses him deeply. "Hello, gorgeous," she says to him as he grabs her bum.

He goes down to her knees, expecting to feel her garters, then skin and then her thong or slip - whatever is fine with him - but instead, it's just skin and skin until he feels the garter belt. Fuck. Is she?

She is smirking. Fuck.

She stands up, removing the skirt and he can see her pu5sy bare. She turns around, so he can see her bum as well, and he curses out loud this time.

"Did you remove it just now?" he asks, breathless.

She doesn't answer, just goes near him, open his zips and takes his lenght out of his boxers, giving a pump for good measure.

Then she stay above him, ready for the next part.

"No, Colin. I was bare the entire time. Since I've arrived at the pub, I wanted you to put a finger on me. I was hoping..." and she lowers herself slowly, the tip now touching her soaked entrance, "I was hoping you would take me on your lap so that you could fxck me slowly."

She lowers even further until she is sitting on him again.

"Naughty girl, in front of our friends?" he lightly spanked her ass, making her moan. She nods, starting to move up and down on his dick.

He assists her effort with his hands, guiding the movements as he looks at her breasts, now bouncing. She smiles at him, clearly enjoying herself, and then, with a quick movement, she snaps the hooks, and the corset falls, leaving her in heels and garters. He grunts at that vision, and with a swift motion, he picks her up, turns them around, puts Pen on the bed, lifts her legs up and then drives in her again, causing her to gasp loudly.

From there, it takes only a few minutes for both of them to irgasm, both to be aroused to last long. He collapses on her side, kissing her deeply.

"You are going to kill me one day," he says. She smiles at him, love clear on her face, as she removes the garters. Colin stops her.

"Give me ten minute to recover, I'm going to fuck you again with those on."

Pen doesn't answer. She simply lies down on her side, lifts a leg, making it rest on his stomach, and then starts to rub it on him slowly.

He curses again.

"Ok, make it five minutes," causing her to laugh at him before kissing him, full of love.

[talaok]

enjoy the view!!! Omg !!! It’s incredible and the addition of Tommy was such a sexy choice!! Also I caught that mention of Tommy having a wife, and now I’m wondering, do Joel and wifey sometimes have both of them watch?? And do they enjoy watching Tommy and his wife sometimes?? Sorry your story made me insane on a Tuesday morning

Oh babe you got me thinking a lot of thots

(Enjoy the view)

__ __ __

First of all, yes, of course sometimes they both watch.

You were hesitant at first to bring it up, being that you had only ever let Tommy watch, but then you became really good friends with his wife, and when the conversation came up she said she was down, so one thing led to another and you tried once, and then twice and then... it kind of becomes a regular thing.

You live really close by, so you invite each other over a lot, and of course most times things end up getting heated.

At first, it's only you and Joel being watched, but then Tommy and the wife get curious about how it feels so you try it, and they too, find out about how hot it is.

Only, of course, Joel is never able to keep his hands to himself and needs to at least make you come with his fingers to get through it, murmuring stuff like "Look at you, getting all worked up, watchin' my brother fuck his own wife" and "don't you worry, babydoll, your turn will come real soon"

And from then on lines start to get blurred...

Like sometimes Joel and Tommy will watch while you and his wife make out, or maybe eat each other out, until they cave in and have to get in there and fuck you themselves.

Or those times when Tommy and Joel will act like teenagers and fuck you or eat you out right next to each other- you and Tommy's wife will look at each other as you laugh at your husbands competing to see who can make you come faster.

Yeah anyway... uhm- I could write a whole book about this couple

[crisiscutie]

I have been thinking about my writing style lately.

More in particular, my reader inserts. So, as those who had been following my blog for a while already know, I don't write traditional reader inserts, mostly. Rather, I craft characters with semi-defined personalities, defined backstories/dynamics with who they're shipped with (and sometimes even include physical traits) tailored to each prompt, be they my own or a prompt that was requested. I always love to experiment with different dynamics, settings or whatever could be interesting and strange.

And then, I write those characters from a second person point of view, calling them "X Darling" in a meta context. I honestly hate using Y/N, or seeing _. And I don't even like using the term "Reader". I like to think of these darlings like player characters in a game, like avatars designed to explore and interact with the world. There’s enough flexibility and ambiguity to let readers project what/whomever if they choose, but yet, each Darling is crafted to be a distinct “avatar” for navigating these specific stories.

While I have no intention of changing this style of mine because it makes writing enjoyable for me, it also makes me wonder about how readers feel about stories like this? I've seen intense discussions on twitter about what truly is and isn't a "reader insert".

And judging from what I see, I think little of my works would appeal to these folks, not that I actually care. It really makes me question what exactly those who expect a pure reader insert are looking for? Like I know the darlings I write mayhaps blur the lines between reader and OC, but I don’t think even a typical reader insert could ever be fully accurate to a reader's true self. The writer doesn’t know you and every other potential person reading their fic personally, after all. So how can every single characteristic of yourself be accounted for? I definitely understand the annoyance when there are actual names given to the supposed insert. I guess this all really comes down to how each person immerses themselves in a story.

For me, I write/read like this because I’m more interested in exploring different perspectives and worldviews than just inserting myself into the story. I also really don't want to deal with a blank slate. Give this character some backstory, some characteristics, some mission! Maybe it’s a bit unconventional, but that’s what makes it exciting for me.

My final thoughts is that maybe it's time for fanfic communities to redefine ""reader insert" in some way? Perhaps we need distinct sub-categories within it, or maybe it’s simpler to call stories with semi-defined characters a second-person POV story??? I don't know.

Rant out.

[3hks]

I write fanfics but I was wondering if you could give some tips for writing angst? Or like just how to write angst in general

Thanks in advance if you do

-anon

Yes, of course! I LOVE angst so much, so thank you for asking! There's a lot of different types of angst, so I'll briefly go over several and give you some advice on how to make it hurt!

First of all, let's talk about the two different types of angst briefly (I'm sure there are more, but I think these two categories cover most of them!). In the first half, I'll roughly cover the internal/emotional one, which is pretty much a one-man-show for angst!

Let's start with the emotions involved with this group. There are a few key feelings--besides depression--that you'll want to be able to utilize because they are the foundation of good angst!

Emptiness: Not necessarily sad, but it's emotion where there's nothing except for a hint of melancholy and perhaps loneliness or a lack of fulfillment.

Numbness: In all honesty, numbness is essentially the same as emptiness but it's usually the result of another emotion. (Grief, shock, stress, etc.)

Regret/Guilt: This hurts A LOT. The feeling of regret for something you did/didn't do is incomparable. Painful reflections, agonizing over a sorrowful mistake, and being forced to accept it knowing there's no going back is absolutely HEARTBREAKING--which is why it makes good angst!

Loneliness: Being isolated and/or feeling alone makes one feel disconnected from everyone else. This is a common factor in depression.

Self-Hate: A traditional one; nothing hurts more than seeing a character beat themselves up when they shouldn't.

Despair: The feeling of excessive hopelessness leaves your character feeling powerless and in a metaphorical sense, drowning.

Internal angst can create highly pensive situations while involving one person! Thus, first person point of view or third person limited (to the character) is the best option because focuses and highlights the character. Not to mention, thoughts are crucial to angst for it offers insight to their person and obviously, first person is the best at accomplishing that goal, but third person limited can also achieve a similar effect!

Next, there's the romantic/platonic type of angst. This not only relies on the emotions and thoughts of the characters, but is also subjective to the situation they're in, which means there's more freedom to explore around! Again, let's look at some emotions that are commonly used!

Hate: Hate is frequently found in problematic and/or toxic romance tropes. Sometimes it could be one-sided hate, where one resents the other, but the other holds absolutely no hate, and sometimes it's mutual animosity.

Fear: This fear is typically along the lines of being afraid of rejection, so much so that it feels difficult to make a decision and progress forward. Fear can easily delve into anxiety.

Longing: Unrequited love hurts a lot, but it doesn't always have to be one-sided. Both sides pining for each other unbeknownst to them also makes a good story.

Grief: The loss of a loved one is hard to cope with yet relatable, generating a lot of empathy and empathy from your readers

Hesitation: In particular, when the ship or close friends are hesitant to get close. This could be due to outside factors, fear of opening up, or self-doubt.

Additionally, the emotions I listed in the previous division still applies here! Contrary to the internal angst, this type works better when both perspectives are written to fully demonstrate their current circumstances and dynamic. Third person is recommended!

But on top of emotions, the situation matters a lot too, so I'll quickly go over some examples of situations that can induce angst!

Anxiety/Panic attacks: This includes a lot of intrusive, scattered, and overwhelming thoughts. Description-wise, make sure to focus on their senses! (Ex: Breathing: heaving, struggling to breath, etc.) Chest/heart: tightening up, pounding loudly, etc.) Eyesight: Blurring, unfocused, etc. Hearing: Too loud, drowned out, etc.)

Final Messages: Did your character die or leave? Their final messages matter a LOT. After all, that's they last thing they're remember by. Sometimes these messages are kind, but they can also reveal confessions (love, regret, mistakes) that hurt, and they can even completely change how your character views themselves and the world.

Misunderstandings: Misunderstandings can go from innocent mistakes to detrimental oversights. Many romantic slow-burns incorporate this tool, as a matter of fact!

Coping: For the most part, it's good if someone's able to cope with a devastating situation, but sometimes these can be quite painful. For example, maybe a character's coping mechanism is to avoid all topics of their previous love, preventing them from facing the issue head-on.

In conclusion, writing angst involves a lot of aspects! From start to end, there will be a huge mix of emotions and thoughts. It may be hard to figure everything out, but try your best to apply your past experiences and do what you think fits the best!

Happy writing~

3hks <3

[markerofthemidnight]

Abstracted Heart, Mind and Soul

Art I kinda pushed out of an AU/concept that I need someone to write for me because I have too many WIPs.

I call this the “Abstraction AU” (unrelated to the Amazing Digital Circus, but does share some similarities), and here’s how it works:

The Basics

Inspired by Core Suppressions from Lobotomy Corporation

Basically, whenever one of the three undergoes extreme stress, they “Abstract” into one of these forms

The Headspace basically stops working the way it’s supposed to until the transformation is reversed: the way it’s affected depends on who’s Abstracting

The transformation only wears off once the side passes out: which sounds like it would result in a big boss fight or something

BUT, luckily for them, since Abstracting is basically letting out all your emotions and strength and fighting with all you’ve got, it is EXHAUSTING

so once it’s happened they’re typically not conscious for any more than an hour

Contrary to what you might guess at first, the side is still “themselves” while Abstracting: it’s just difficult to tell since the stress that causes the transformation also makes them act irrational and overly violent

Despite this, post-transformation, the side typically doesn’t have memories of what happened during the fight… until a few hours after waking up

It can happen to the same person more than once, but to Abstract for the first time you have to be pushed PARTICULARLY far

After that it gets a bit easier for it to happen again, like you’ve given into your inner monster

To further emphasise that, they all get “battle scars” from their first time Abstracting that stay with them for the rest of their lives

And to go into what the first time abstracting was like for each individual:

Heart

Abstraction is usually caused by intense stress.

While this is still true in Heart’s case, since being emotional is his job description, he needs to be pushed further than the others in order to Abstract

(because if that wasn’t the case, he would Abstract all the time)

Anyways, his first time probably came after days on end of extreme trauma

Specifically, trauma that neither Mind nor Soul did anything to try and stop

He likely Abstracted out of view from the others, and they didn’t even notice until Soul was like “wait why isn’t my trident working”

As Heart is… the heart of the Headspace, when he Abstracts, magic stops working there

His design was obviously based off of biblically accurate angels, as well as a Beholder from DND but without eyes so it would look like a heart

You’d think he’d be biased towards Mind while like that, but no- he goes after Soul.

He expected Mind to ignore him, but Soul? It’s his job to make sure things are alright with him, so why’d he just abandon him?

Even without the benefit of the Trident, though, I imagine Abstracted Heart wouldn’t be all too difficult for them to take down if they really tried their best, so he goes down rather quickly

After he wakes up, his head’s basically just in one big blur for a while until the memories start to come back

Then he just starts shaking and hugging them while constantly muttering apologies (even though he still has EVERY RIGHT to be mad)

”Battle scars” take the form of purple(-er) wings, fangs and a halo

Mind

Mind’s is a pretty different case

While his was also caused by days of repeated trauma, as Abstractions tend to be, his problem is that he kept trying to bottle it up and only started to show even the tiniest cracks just before the transformation

(after all, I don’t think they’d take a chance like that again after what happened with Heart)

He likely Abstracted right in front of Heart and Soul

His design was based off of UFOs, obviously, as well as a brain and spine. The eyelashes are meant to look like the sun’s rays

When he Abstracts, all laws of physics in the Headspace basically stop working and the place gets even weirder than normal

Despite having the advantage of Soul’s trident this time, taking him down is a lot harder since he’s metal: the key is to tire him out

When he wakes up after the fact, he’s even more of an asshole than usual, but mainly because he’s still tired and stressed

He gets all quiet once the memories start to come back to him though, like he feels bad about attacking them so violently but doesn’t really know how to express it

”Battle scars” take the form of rhombus-shaped pupils and back spikes

Soul

If you’re a time loop fan, then Soul Abstracting is typically what restarts the loop

He was designed to be the most humanoid to show that he was the closest to Whole, with three heads because… you know why

When he Abstracts, he fuses with his trident, the Headspace becomes black and white, and starts slowly to fall apart

Heart and Mind do not stand a CHANCE in this fight, hence why his Abstraction is inevitably what restarts the loop

However, if by some chance they lasted long enough for things to go back to normal, I imagine Soul would be… surprisingly nice after going back to normal

It’s like finally letting it all out made him calm down a bit. He’s still pretty awkward around them, but better than you might think

Even when the memories come back, sure he kinda shuts himself in for a bit and avoids talking about it, but he’s not as closed off as Mind is

Battle scars take the form of his right eye becoming normal (as in not identical to his left eye as seen in the art), and the left side of his face being covered in black (to match his face in his Abstracted form)

[manias-wordcount]

View of Paradise (Satoru Gojo x Reader) PART TWELVE

[𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙇𝙄𝙀 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘾𝙃𝙊𝘾𝙊𝙇𝘼𝙏𝙀 𝙁𝘼𝘾𝙏𝙊𝙍𝙔 𝘼𝙐]

𝗔/𝗡: 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗹𝗼𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗶𝗺 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗸𝗶𝗱𝘀 (𝘀𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝘂𝗸𝗶 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝘂𝗸𝗶 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘁 (𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗟𝗢𝗟) 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗛𝗔𝗛)

𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗽: 𝗨𝗶 𝗨𝗶 𝗩𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗱: 𝗬𝘂𝗸𝗶 𝗩𝗮𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗮 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝘁: 𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗼 𝗠𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗲: 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗽𝗲𝗶

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁: 𝗼𝗻𝗲 || 𝘁𝘄𝗼 || 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 || 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 || 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲 || 𝘀𝗶𝘅 || 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 || 𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 || 𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗲 || 𝘁𝗲𝗻 || 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 || 𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲 || 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻 || 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻 || 𝗳𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻 || 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲…

𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚? ⇒ 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙧?

𝙗𝙪𝙮 𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙚?

If yesterday felt like a blur, then today surely feels like a dream.

  Your brother was barely able to get a word out when the two of you came crashing through the front door yesterday afternoon. Your parents were still at work due to the time and only your grandparents were in the house to witness you and your brother nearly fall all over each other as you both scrambled inside. Speaking of your brother, it took him nearly two minutes for him to stop the wild retelling of what happened at the diner. And it took your grandparents a good couple of tries to finally wrench out what Yuuta was trying to tell them. And then it took passing the golden ticket around for everyone to stare at and read for it to click in everyone’s minds.

  Yuuta had found it- Yuuta had found the last golden ticket.

  A couple of hours later, your parents come shambling through the front door themselves. They’re tired and exhausted and want nothing more than a quiet night with their family. But the second they had stepped in through the doorway, they were met with an unfamiliar sight. Your once bedridden grandparents- up and moving. Grandma Utahime was in the kitchen, trying to see if she could do something to make the taste of cabbage soup special this time around. Grandpa Aibara trying to teach you and Grandma Shoko how to do his old favorite dance (something Grandma Shoko was more than reluctant to try). And Grandpa Kusakabe standing with Yuuta, giving him a hard time about a nice girl in his class named Rika. 

  Naturally, everyone began to clamor around your parents the second they walked in. And Yuuta struggled once again to tell the story of how he got the ticket before giving up and just showing it to your parents. To say that they were taken aback with excitement was an understatement. Your mother nearly squealed like a child when she saw the ticket. And your father was quick to scoop you and your brother up and spin you around like he used to. Though you believe the fact that the news was currently playing the story about how the ticket that was found just last night was found to be a fake truly helped seal the deal on everyone’s good feelings. Justice had prevailed in your eyes. Your brother had found it- the last golden ticket.

  Though it was only after your family had all settled back down and Grandpa Kusakabe asked to see the ticket for the umpteenth time in a row did you actually think about reading the rest of the text that sat below the giant “MR. GOJO’S GOLDEN TICKET.” And so you peered over his shoulder and read off the rest of the words on the ticket for everyone to hear.

  "Greetings to you, the lucky finder of this Golden Ticket, from Mr Satoru Gojo! I shake you warmly by the hand! Tremendous things are in store for you! Many wonderful surprises await you! For now, I do invite you to come to my factory and be my guest for one whole day - you and all others who are lucky enough to find my Golden Tickets. I, Satoru Gojo, will conduct you around the factory myself, showing you everything that there is to see, and afterward, when it is time to leave, you will be escorted home by a procession of large trucks. These trucks, I can tell you are good, you will be loaded with enough delicious eatables to last you and your entire household for many years. If, at any time thereafter, you should run out of supplies, you have only to come back to the factory and show this Golden Ticket, and I shall be happy to refill your cupboard with whatever you want. " In this way, you will be able to keep yourself supplied with tasty morsels for the rest of your life. But this is by no means the most exciting thing that will happen on the day of your visit. I am preparing other surprises that are even more marvelous and even more fantastic for you and for all my beloved Golden Ticket holders - mystic and marvelous surprises that will entice, delight, intrigue, astonish and perplex you beyond measure. In your wildest dreams you could not imagine such things could happen to you! Just wait and see! And now, here are your instructions: the day I have chosen for the visit is the first day of the month of OCTOBER. On this day, and on no other, you must come to the factory gates at ten o'clock sharp in the morning. Don't be late! And you are allowed to bring one member of your own family to ensure that you don't get into mischief. One more thing - be certain to have this ticket with you, otherwise you will not be admitted.

  The text was lengthy and the font size consistently got comically smaller as Mr. Gojo crammed in more and more seemingly meaningless rambles. Luckily, you were almost able to read all of it in one go. However, towards the end, you did have to tap out and ask your brother to take over for you so you could give your eyes and mouth a break. But it was only when Yuuta had stopped reading with about three or four sentences left did you all realize a glaring issue.

  The ticket was good for the first of October. And today? Well, today was Yuuta’s birthday- September 30th. 

  The ticket was due for tomorrow. And your family had only realized this a little after nine o’clock at night. 

  At that, Yuuta quickly announced that he wanted to take you (as he should, in your opinion), while your Grandpa Aibara made a big fuss about falling onto his knees and pretending to beg your brother for the chance. But he was barely able to do so before your brother was snatched up by your dad as he and Grandpa Kusakabe mentioned something about shining shoes and finding a clean shirt. At the same time, you, your mother, and your grandmothers begin tearing up every single box of old clothes you four could find until you manage to find something semi-decent to wear to the opportunity of a lifetime. Before you knew it, things were a whirlwind in your house. Ironing clothes, washing faces, scrubbing out the occasional stain- the whole nine yards. And it was only sometime after midnight that you were finally, finally able to crawl into bed. 

  But that brings you to now… standing in front of the large Gojo Candy Factory Gates with four other families at 9:57 in the morning. On October 1st.

  In your opinion, everything happened fast. Way too fast. You barely got to process the fact that your brother actually found a ticket when it happened. But now, you’re already dressed in your mother’s modest but flattering sweater dress that she wore to a wedding seven years ago and donning the pair of tights you had with the least amount of rips in them. And your brother was wearing… someone’s old sweater that clearly shrunk over the years. But the two of you were warm and standing side by side in front of those magnificent gates and that’s all that matters. Right? 

  Your stomach turns and you start to wish that you had enough time to eat something this morning. Things were in just such a rush and it was hard to focus considering your brother found a golden ticket, you realized that you had a shift today at work that you were ultimately going to no-show for, and…oh yeah. Your previously bedridden grandparents had suddenly found the strength to walk after years and years of not being able to. 

  But it’s far too late to worry or think about any of that now. It’s far too late for just about anything now. Still, Yuuta squeezes your hand and looks up to you nervously. The same feeling must be in his stomach. And you have no choice but to look back at him and smile as if everything was alright. But honestly, you’re not sure.

  Right now, things were dead silent outside of the factory. Except for the occasional camera shutter and news reporter talking about the situation to both their cameras and the gigantic crowd of people who had gathered from far and wide, of course. Your parents and grandparents were somewhere in the crowd. They wrapped themselves up with blankets to replace the coats they didn’t have and stood and joined the people who had already gathered. You’re thankful for their presence, but you’re too anxious to turn and look for them at the moment. You swear you’ll lose yourself in your nerves if you look behind you, so you don’t. Instead, you continue to face out and peer at the factory behind the metal gates. Though for a moment, your eyes flicker to the watch on your wrist. It was Grandma Utahime’s at one point. Old, but not broken. It read 9:58 AM on its face. So you licked your lips and tore your gaze away.

  You’re beginning to discover just how impatient of a person you actually are. Especially when you’re face to face with the very thing you deem to be the problem. Last night as you were trying to sleep, your brother kept you up with his whispers. And as much as you wanted to, you couldn’t be too mad at him. He told you all his fears when the two of you were alone and your clothes for the next day were as freshly pressed as your family could manage on such short notice and a tight budget. But Yuuta had told you how he was scared that the ticket wasn’t real. How he was scared that the two of you might show up to the gate today with someone already standing in the spot for the fifth ticket holder. 

  But Yuuta also told you about Mr. Geto. How Mr. Geto said he wanted to give Yuuta a present for his birthday- the candy bar he found the ticket in. How Mr. Geto told him that because the present he received ended up being so big and so grand, Yuuta now owed him a favor. But all he had to do was remember as much as he could about every single thing he saw in the factory and tell Mr. Geto all about it the next time they saw each other. 

  Yuuta told you that you had interrupted before he could promise Mr. Geto that he would do all that for him. But when he was mulling it over in his head and saying it out loud to you, he was unsure. Coupled with all the things Nanami had alluded to, it felt like there was more to the story than you and your brother could accurately piece together at the moment. 

  But you’re his big sister. So you couldn’t allow yourself to join in on his fears. You had to be strong. So you were strong for him. Even if it meant lying about your own anxieties and fears.  That led to you telling him how you know in your heart that the ticket he found was real. That led to you telling him how you know for a fact that he found that ticket because he deserved it. But that also led to you telling him how he should listen to Nanami’s words and you’ll take care of whatever was happening with Mr. Geto. Because Mr. Geto was a stranger and Nanami was not. Because Nanami wouldn’t steer you or your brother wrong. But Mr. Geto might.

  But that was what you said last night. Truthfully, if your brother looked at you right now and told you that he was scared, you’d probably say “Me too.”

  But he didn’t say anything. So you didn’t say anything. Instead, you glanced at your watch once more. 9:59 AM and counting. You turned your attention to the sight in front of you.

  The factory gates- in fact, the factory itself looks so different now that you’re not looking at it from onto a hill in the dark of the night (or while running as fast as you could past it). The realization of what you’re seeing and what is about to happen makes you antsy. The gate in front of you looked fancy and expensive. It was a shiny black metal that stretched tall, tall, tall, and rounded out its end with not-so-round pointed peaks. On each side of the gate stood a brick foundation that separated the metal gate from metal fencing of what looked like the same material. And that fencing wrapped around the entire front side of the factory- stretching about a good mile or so. But you know that mile pales in comparison to the fencing you’ve seen on the sides of the factory. 

  Yuuta told you how he once tried to walk the entire perimeter a long, long time ago. But he had given up after almost an hour of walking since he had even begun to find where the factory grounds would end.

  But that’s just the perimeter. You know the real magic is what happens on the inside. Though admittedly, you feel that the factory has lost some of its charm now that it’s daytime. The fact that it’s an overcast, somewhat chilly day doesn’t help do anything to bring the childlike wondrous feeling you were hoping to experience. But the factory is big. And it is grand. 

  It’s also a bit depressing from where you stood. 

  Because on the other side of the gate, the factory stood silently and appeared almost aged and lonely. It looked to be completely made of a dark and intimidating metal. Tall towers and spires and pipes all colored the same foreboding gray. They spilled white smoke into the sky. Fluffy, pretty white smoke. The type one could mistake for clouds if you aren’t careful. Though the clouds being that innocent white shape and color still allowed for the setting to look horribly monotone. A sight that you found to be much more tolerable when being admired under the stars. At least the moon was able to make the exterior walls look more white and shiny than gray and well…gray. No wonder this factory was built out of the way, and way beyond city limits. Even the large mural on the side that spelled out the Gojo Candy logo in fancy, white lettering and a painted blue background did little to make the factory look more inviting. Though surprisingly, it didn’t make you any less curious. 

  Maybe it was because of all the neatly placed trucks just outside of the factory. Lined up and looking ready to receive packages of candy to be distributed to people all over the world despite no one reportedly ever being seen going in or out of the factory. Ever. Or maybe it was because of that white smoke. A symbol of progress. A symbol of life inside that seemingly metal prison. A symbol that someone was inside and that candy was being made and that dreams were about to come true (or rather, taste buds were about to become really, really happy).

  One more glance at your watch. 10:00 AM on the dot. This old thing of yours must be correct because as soon as you spied it, a wave of murmurs broke through the crowd. It was time. And everyone knew it.

  But the issue was, no one knew exactly what was going to happen. At least, nobody out here. And for a while, nobody was going to know. 

  Because nothing happened. At least, nothing at first. 

  So you licked at your lips and turned your eyes to the factory once more. But your eyes landed on one particular spot- the front entrance. At least, you could only assume it was the front entrance. It had large, heavy-looking doors that were the same look as the rest of the factory except for the fanciful carvings of a few decorative cursive G’s here and there. You thought it was a relatively pretty design for a somewhat, not-so-pretty factory. But then again, you haven’t seen very many factories in your lifetime. So perhaps you’re setting the bar too low, especially considering you’re almost half sure Gojo Candy has been around for just about twenty years? Plenty of time to make it not an eyesore. Even if no one has even been inside it before.

  Still, there wasn’t too much you could say that you loved about this place now that you were looking at it in good lighting and with all the time in the world. And you suppose that there are far worse grievances to have at the moment. Especially since you seem to be one of ten people who actually get a chance to see what’s on the inside today.

  You chanced another look at your watch while murmurs still continued on behind you. Still 10:00 AM? You clicked your tongue while your brother hummed thoughtfully beside you.

  Taking the chance, you decided to peer a little extra hard at the front entrance once more. Perhaps all you needed was to have a little more hope and faith to make time go by faster (and make whatever was supposed to happen, happen). But you quickly realize that you’re not able to see just about anything. Not even an inch of movement or life happening around those doors. And it’s really no surprise either.

  The factory itself was built quite far away from where the gate and fencing began. And so between the front and the gate was a large, stone courtyard. You could imagine all the candy trucks driving through this courtyard and out of these gates that stood in front of you with great ease. But you could also imagine a man- a world-famous chocolatier, even- peeking out of the front entrance as he watched the candy truck go by.

  You couldn’t think of a face or description or just about anything to paint a picture of this person in your mind. But you could imagine the fact that there was someone behind this empire. Someone brought all these people here today. Someone just gave your brother the chance of a lifetime. Someone had put in the long hours and did their best to-

  CREEAAAAAKKK!

  You sucked in a large breath. At the same time, it sounded like the crowd behind you did too. Because suddenly, one of the large doors of the front entrance groaned to life. And slowly, but surely… it opened.

  It’s so far away from where you’re standing. So, so, so far it would seem. And yet, you could hear the creak of the big, wide, loud thing oh so easily. The groan of a door that has either seen too much or too little use. At least, that is what you’ve deemed the cause to be. It sounds much like the doors in your own home. And in a way, that makes the daunting thing seem a little less scary than before.

  But it still doesn’t settle every single one of your nerves. Not even close. Because from behind that large door stood a man. A man who, soon enough, began to make his way towards you. Towards all of you.

  He laid his feet down purposely across the old cobblestone courtyard. One foot in front of the other. And for the entirety of his approach, no voice reached above a meager murmur from the crowd. You, your brother, and the other ticket holders and chaperones were at a loss for words as you watched the man from afar. At first, it was because you were surprised by how slowly he walked towards the gates. Couldn’t he see that there was a crowd waiting to get a peek inside of the very doors he just emerged from? Couldn’t he tell that there were five very eager children waiting for their once-in-a-lifetime chance to go behind those very same doors as well? You wanted to frown. But something told you to hold in line- and you’re very glad you did. Because not too soon after those thoughts entered your mind did you realize the reason for the man’s slow approach. Or rather, the two reasons.

  The dark, curved handle cane in his right hand. And the slight jerk of his gait coming from the right side of his body- the telltale sign of a limp. 

  You must have noticed around the same time as the rest of the crowd because the impatient murmur swiftly ceased as the man came closer into view. No one dared to rush the gentleman who seemed to be moving as fast as he could towards you. No one wanted to be the one to ruin everything just to have things move a little more quickly than they would have otherwise. At least, you know you wouldn’t want to. In fact, your heart ached for this man. Was he your escort for the day? An assistant of sorts? No, that can’t be right. You’ve been around the sun long enough to hear all the rumors about Mr. Gojo and what goes on in his factory. As far as you’re concerned, there’s supposed to be no one in there but Mr. Gojo himself. 

  So who was this guy supposed to be? The groundskeeper? No, that couldn’t be right either. Because now that he was closer, you were able to make out some of his more prominent features outside of the limp.

  He had on a nice pair of dress shoes, a dark pair of slacks, and a large, expensive-looking woolen overcoat. It was the type of coat that you would see fathers and grandfathers wear during the Sunday brunch hour at the diner. Right down to the color of it too. Although funnily enough, you continued to have trouble telling what color it was, even as the man hobbled closer. It was too rich of a color to be black or gray. But was it purple? Was it blue? You couldn’t tell. All you knew was that you found yourself liking the color. Whatever it was. 

  But you also noticed that despite the limp in his leg and the resulting bad posture that came from it, the man seemed to have once been extremely tall. But judging by the tuffs of pure white hair peaking out from beneath his black top hat, you can only imagine that the time in which he was in his prime must have been long, long ago. Maybe it was an injury that took away this old man’s imposing stature. Or perhaps he had just weathered along with his age. 

  Either way, watching the old man approach felt like watching a few of the regulars come and go in the diner. They were also older men. Men who shuffled slowly and limped to and fro just like this. Men whose wrinkled and sun-marked skin proved them at least worthy of some patience and kindness as they struggled to keep on with the rest of the world. Men who always seemed to-

  …

  You squinted your eyes and looked a little closer. 

  The man who was approaching had a limp, poor posture, and white hair. 

  But he did not have wrinkles. Nor did he have age spots. Or anything else that you would assume a man your grandparent’s age would have on their skin. 

  …

  What…?

  But at that point, he stopped. Almost like he sensed the question bubbling up in your mind, he froze. And then he took a deep breath in and out, placing both hands and his cane in front of him. He was a good couple of feet away from the large metal gate that separated the rest of the world from him. And you couldn’t make out much of his expression due to the pair of dark-tinted sunglasses adorning his face. It struck you as odd- it wasn’t a particularly sunny day. You didn’t think there would be much of a need for anyone to wear sunglasses. 

  But that was none of your business. For he was the man on the other side of the gate. The man with hair as white as snow yet skin as smooth and as clear as milk. The man who had just hobbled over to greet you and the others started right beside you. The man, who was now opening his mouth and beginning to speak:

    “Well?” The stranger said in a loud, clear voice that rang across the crowd. It was different than you thought it would have sounded. Confident. Purposeful. Dare you even say, warm a little bit charming. You’re not quite sure yet. Though you suppose you’re still reeling from the shock that you can’t seem to tell just how old the man was. Then again, you imagined you could and would find out soon.  “I suppose you’d like to come in now?”

  At his question, you subconsciously pulled a sour face. Of course, you would like to. I’m sure everyone who gathered here would like to come in as well. But before you or just about anyone else could do anything, a voice spoke up. 

  “Why yes, sir.” It’s overly sweet, dripping with practiced niceness from lessons that don’t seem to work out too well. But from the few words you spoke, you detected an accent- a posh one you could only recognize as belonging to the second winner of the golden tickets. The girl with the rich parents and the factory of their own. “We would love to come in! Now if you don’t mind…”

  You looked over at her when she talked and you were able to look just in time to see the fake grin on her face melt down to a more impatient look. As much as you remember disliking the girl, you couldn’t blame her. You’re starting to feel the same way she did. But the man behind the gate just clicked his tongue and shook his head at the little girl’s words.

  “If I don’t mind? Well, you’re late now- all of you. It’s four minutes past the hour.” The man stated simply before cocking his head. Even from afar, you could see his lips form into a puzzled frown. “Why haven’t you opened the gate then?”

  At his question you balk. And judging by how stiff your brother went right next to you, you can only imagine that he is processing the same emotions as you did. When the two of you arrived at the gate, you were busy thanking your lucky stars that you just so happened to live within walking distance (well, about two or so miles if you cut through enough people’s backyards and use all of your brother’s shortcuts in the book) from the very factory that the ticket winners were supposed to report to. The first, original, and only Gojo Candy Factory despite its nearly twenty years of history and worldwide presence. But by the time you managed to pull your brother through the crowd of grabby hands and make your way towards the front where a row of policemen were there to help you past a meager little barricade, you found that you and your brother were the last to arrive. And with only minutes to spare.

  And not once did you ever think about reaching out and touching the gate…

  But luckily, someone else did.

  “I already tried! Damn thing won’t open” It’s another girl’s voice. It’s as young as the first’s girls voice, and judging from the confident and strong way she spoke, you could only assume this was the girl who won the third ticket. From what you caught of her interview after she had won, she struck you as the type of girl who would go and face any challenge head-on. Even if that challenge involved touching the gate of a building that clearly isn’t yours. “Aren’t you supposed to have a key? Can’t you unlock it? Why haven’t you opened the gate?”

  But before the little girl could even finish speaking, the man on the other side of the gate threw his head back and let out a loud laugh at the sky. The type that sprouted from your belly and bubbled up until it was out in the open for all to hear and enjoy. And it was a joyous sound- that man’s laughter. It was as if he had heard the funniest joke you could think of. But it caught just about everyone off guard with how suddenly it happened. You found yourself almost joining in quietly because it took you by such surprise. But just as quickly as it started, the man’s laughter ceased.

  “No, no,” He said to himself, a smile playing on his lips. “That won’t do.”

  His shoulders still shook silently, like the thought of what must have made him laugh was still lingering in his ears. You were only just vaguely aware of the whispers behind you that were starting to grow in volume. People had the same questions as you regarding this man and his behavior. People had the same wishes as you regarding the delay of…well, whatever this was supposed to be. But the man seemed to pay no mind to the whispers.

  Perhaps he couldn’t hear them. Or perhaps he just didn’t care.

  Instead of addressing the girl or the crowd or the whispers any further, the man just clicked his tongue and slowly turned his head, as if surveying the crowd. His gaze seemed slow and deliberate. As if he had a lot on his mind and so much time. Behind you, the whispers grew louder. Only some voices refused to speak in whispers anymore. Some returned to a normal volume. Some spoke in volumes even greater than that. Grumbles mixed with mumbles. Scoffs trampled over huffs and puffs of frustration. A news reporter some ways behind you on your left began getting a play-by-play on what was happening while the man from behind the gate still took his sweet time with whatever he was doing. 

  At the same time, you heard some of the other winners and their chaperones speak amongst themselves. A young boy’s voice spoke about how he was bored and wanted to go home. When a motherly voice responded to him saying how they would not go home after all this trouble, the boy only shot back about how he clearly didn’t bring enough video games to deal with this. One of the girls made a complaint about the time this was taking too before turning to ask whoever she was with to make time go faster.  And another boy mentioned how he was getting nervous and hungry and he didn’t like that he was being kept from the thing that he wanted most.

  But to be honest, you were a bit busy focusing on your brother.

  Somewhere amidst all the weird and silent confusion, your brother had begun squeezing your hand tight. Something you noticed he was doing a lot more recently. When your eyes peered down to look at him, you saw that the tips of his ears were red and he had refused to meet your eyes. He was still holding on to some of those nerves from last night. Hell, you were too. But it seemed like all this deliberation was only adding to your brother’s fears. 

  “Yuuta,” You whispered to him before squeezing his hand back. You turned your head towards him and offered him as comforting of a smile as you could muster. Years of being a waitress as made you good at things like these. But years of being his older sister? It damn made you perfect and knowing what he needed and when. “It’ll be okay. Just watch, alright? It’ll all be okay. ”

  Yuuta hesitated, but eventually, he gave up and nodded before looking up at you to say something. But whatever words he had instantly died in his throat as his gaze caught on to something in front of him. You didn’t catch on right away. In fact, it was only a few seconds later when you realized how eerily quiet the crowd had grown once more that you decided to look into your brother’s sudden change in behavior and followed his gaze.

  And there, in front of you, stood the man with the white hair and the top hat and the dark overcoat. Only this time, your vision of him was not obscured. Not by distance. And not by the dark pair of sunglasses donning his face either. Because right now, he was close enough that you could make out the fact that the man had seemingly no imperfections visible whatever so ever. Because right now, he was close enough that you could see the bright, brilliant blue color of his eyes peering over the rims of his glasses.

  And that’s when you truly realized why you were close enough to see him- that man with the joyous laugh and brilliantly white hair- in this way. He had closed the distance between himself and the crowd. He had closed the distance between himself and the winners of the golden tickets. He had closed the distance between himself and your brother. And you. But most importantly: He was standing with you and your brother, on the other side- your side- of the gate. 

  On the other side of the locked gate. 

  And now?

  “Well, young man?” 

  He was leaning down, down, down to meet your brother at eye level. Kneeling on one knee, he settled a mere foot away from Yuuta, before offering up a ridiculously pretty, blinding white smile full of a sort secrets and stories. Secrets and stories just begging to be told. But ones you’re not so sure they ever would receive such a luxury. But what do you know? Well, after this encounter, you’ve found that you’re quite sure of one thing, at least.

  “Why don’t you give it a try?”

  You’re not sure you know anything at all.

[ferret-the-overseer]

so camera angles in F1 right

In case you don’t know this about me, I’m a mild film/cam passionista, and I have opinions sometimes okay.

F1’s main problem with cameras (imo) is that they really want to “keep people in the action” which they’ve done by keeping cars in the direct center of your screen all the times, and putting cameras at sections with wider angles of view. This is nice, because the sort of limited camera angles from before made it occasionally difficult to keep track of race action.

HOWEVER

They sort of swapped to this wide, central shot style, instead of implementing it. One thing F1 did really well was letting you feel and understand the power of these cars, even through a TV screen. The camera whipped around to follow Raikkonen absolutely sending his car through Eau Rouge (absolute madlad btw) or the Schumacher brothers chasing each other through that wide right hander in Silverstone. The cars felt fast, they felt close, and a lot of that was due to the very stationary cameras relatively close to the track, and the fact that the operators didn’t seem to feel the need to adjust the zoom angle every microsecond to keep the car perfectly centered on your TVs screen. Like sure, I couldn’t see all the pretty sponsor logos, or maybe I didn’t always catch the honestly fascinating front or rear wings of the 2000s (next up on the fact list?), but that was part of the magic. The cars were screaming past so quickly you could hardly keep them in frame at all.

This started going away in the 2010s. By 2020 it was nearly gone completely, and watching races just felt sort of stagnant: no matter how fast I knew Hamilton and Vettel were throwing themselves through every corner, they always seemed to be moving at the same speed.

But things are starting to change.

New cams like the ones on front wings, on/inside driver helmets, and the saving grace of the mid-season camera development upgrades (lol), the gyro cam. These are SO COOL, and the gyro cam in particular feels FAST, I think because the mildly warped field of view makes the motion blur heavier while still keeping that crisp video quality we’ve come to expect from modern cameras, combined with the defining feature of it rolling with the horizon as the car experienced angle changes itself.

Also just angles in general, like the ones at the Monaco pool chicane and tunnel, and some of the ones at Singapore this year, they just bring back that close-to-the-track action.

Interestingly, if you go back and watch recordings from the 1970s and 80s, you’ll notice they actually had some of these. The onboard cameras back then were genuinely exciting, and I watch them all the time. I’d recommend that any F1 fan do that, even if just to see the evolution of driving styles and cars. 

I think F1 is finally listening to fans saying they liked the more stationary cameras, the wild onboards, stuff like that. You can feel the speed of the cars like back in the 2000’s and early 2010’s.

[nalyra-dreaming]

re: the scenes happening outside of Louis' knowledge, I think about this a lot! Another example's the shot of Lestat in s2e6 in front of the vanity mirror. Though it's possible that this (along w/ the scenes of the coven scheming, Estelle & Celeste visiting Roget etc) is Armand's memory, because ofc he was far more aware of these events than he's letting on! The rehearsal scene could be a glimpse into his memory too imho (albeit not one he's admitting to out loud!) or it's Louis' visualization of how he imagines it going down.

Even in s1 there were scenes that couldn't have been direct memories. The lamplighter guy getting killed in ep1 is presumably Louis' visualization based on educated guesswork, as is the shot of dumpster!stat grabbing the rat in ep7 - the latter wasn't described aloud to Daniel, we just saw the vision popping into Louis' head in the moment imho. The scene w/ Santiago in their apartment might've been the same; an impression Louis pieced together after the fact, not a true memory. It could even be a fake memory Armand placed in his head, bc as you said, stealing her diaries right then would be a dumb move & Claudia would've noticed. (Armand likely had many opportunities to discreetly peruse the diaries himself lol.)

Loumand's POVs blur into each other a bit in s2, this is probably a sign of Armand's control over the narrative. I'm sure most of what we see is Louis' memory and broadly true, but it's hard to know things aren't being altered (e.g. the ep6 cafe scene feels...wrong) or strategically removed.

Not sure about the ep5 telepathic convo, but either way I'm comforted Rolin was grilled about it beforehand. That indicates they have an explanation in mind & weren't just being careless!

Anyways I'll stop talking now, this one really ran away with me, sorry! I just find this such a fascinating topic.

No! All good, it is a very interesting and fascinating topic :)

I agree, there are a lot of scenes where the "tale" becomes very apparent, but the POV is muddied waters, so to say.

I think ultimately we will have to see how the shifts in the narrative play out from hereon - how will the cues we already got come into play in the upcoming seasons. I do think there are a lot already, and I do get why they wouldn't talk about them, nor lock themselves into a certain way of doing it all (the variety of cues Sam mentioned wrt the trial, for example).

It will be very interesting to see how the POVs.... hold up to "reality" as well, because there will be some rather interesting characters coming in now - and these characters shaped the view on other characters in turn.

I'm not quite ready to talk about it, but I think... there will be some interesting shifts and ... well, parallels coming in soon. We'll see.

But yes, very fascinating topic^^

And always on my mind when I rewatch, because there's just sooooooo many hints they put in.

[emicat1159]

Part 2 of my au story :)

(I don't really know what to say here so yeah, hope it's good and do tell me what you all think :3)

Agata's sixth sense has never failed her yet, a gift passed down through the generations of her family as her mother always told her, Agata had always been in the right place at the right time, to either narrowly avoid disasters, or to witness wonders. It is no wonder then, that on that day, her senses told her to leave the cities. Agata was not to die alongside humanity.

As of today, her time is spent trekking into the remains of a once bustling city, its inhabitants long lost to their fates. Before the events that led up to the capital looking the way it now does, the citizens would've enjoyed a life of relative peace, society making use of electronics, while some could make use of technology through the powers of their spirits. Each person had a force inside of them, a spirit, a soul. That, with some practice could be channeled towards an object in order to manipulate it. The efficiency of this depending on the strength of their soul, and the stronger your soul, the more you could achieve. Those powerful enough could power full buildings with their souls.

Agata never had an issue with using these abilities herself, her bloodline throughout history proving itself to have abilities rarely seen among humanity.

They, of course, kept that to themselves.

She walks through the long abandoned city, buildings collapsed from a lack of maintenance. its inhabitants long gone- believing themselves to be too close to the impact zone of the blasts that littered the country's capital. She assumes, correctly, those people met their ends when they found themselves with no place better to go, succumbing to hunger or dehydration. The other towns and cities fell to a similar fate, perhaps more to the explosive side of things rather than the destructive energies that were released alongside the calamity that brought the major cities to rubble.

Agata looks up. The sky is grey with thick clouds, the sun barred from reaching the ground down beneath them. Silhouettes of dead trees and skyscrapers black against the backdrop behind them. No birds grace the sky with their songs..

'I wonder if I'll ever get to see the sun again..' she thinks to herself solemnly. She walks on.

Remnants of old offices, bakeries, and a library pass her by as the target building comes into view. An old store.

Today Agata is scavenging for supplies; food, medicines, undamaged batteries, bottled water, cables and maybe even clothes.

She enters the building through a collapsed wall towards the back, careful to avoid broken glass and loose tiles as to not fall. Using her powers she switches on her flashlight to illuminate the dark corridor, energy tingling at her fingertips a soft, warm feeling. Old advertisements litter the ground and cling desperately to the walls, blurred letters momentarily lightened up by the flickering glow of her light.

Agata wanders the aisles of this old store, old packages of what she thinks could've been food are littered across the floor.

'Smells rancid, ew..'

Her first stop is the canned food section, their contents can last for years as long as the containers are not damaged, oh how she misses the taste of fresh food- her mother's cooking...

Never mind that now.

Unfortunately, the shelves are empty, she sighs to herself, 'looks like someone already went through this whole place a long while ago'

Standing up from her crouched position, she swipes her long, unkempt light-brown hair out of her face, her blue eyes scanning the almost empty shelves of the store, anything left behind most likely far past edible.

'I don't feel like taking any chances...'

Agata finds the other items on her list relatively quickly after that, a small amount still left behind.

She coughs as her feet kick up dust into the air as she retreats back to where she entered the building from, careful as to not run into any shattered glass while making her way through the front doors. The skies outside were dark, the sun blocked out by thick layers of dust-filled clouds, a light breeze met her face. Its cold.

She walks through the exit. And sees three winged figures.

I ended up changing a lot of what the plot was gonna be, so I tried to explain how her world works 'n stuff.. soooooooooo