#one of the most professional looking fan games I’ve ever seen

[mimikip4744]

Help I can’t take chapter 1 of Project: Eden’s garden seriously with the way I keep misreading Tozu’s name as ‘Tofu’ I stg-

[creatingblackcharacters]

No, That’s Not ‘How Color Works’. - Whitewashing

Whitewashing, as defined by Merriam-Webster:

"to alter (something) in a way that favors, features, or caters to white people: such as a) to portray (the past) in a way that increases the prominence, relevance, or impact of white people and minimizes or misrepresents that of nonwhite people and B) to alter (an original story) by casting a white performer in a role based on a nonwhite person or fictional character"

In fandom context, we know it to include:

Making someone’s skin lighter

Making someone’s hair a thinner texture

Changing someone’s nose to be thinner

Shrinking their lips

Changing the character in their entirety to be someone else

The Normalization of Whitewashing

Remember how I mentioned last lesson that despite the nature of poorly drawn Black characters, most audiences are not turned off enough to discourage the action in professional works? Similar idea with whitewashing. Not the same- unlike the Ambiguously Brown Character, which claims to have plausible deniability, overt whitewashing is usually enough to make fans speak up! But that’s the key word here- overt! It has to be “bad enough” to make enough people speak up, but as we’ve seen many a time, “bad enough” seems to have a much higher threshold for nonblack viewership (sometimes the limit doesn’t exist!)

Some visual examples

This is a link to my personal thread on a Netflix show I was watching- Worst Ex Ever. Now, while the show itself was quite enlightening, there was something I could not get over. I thought I was going crazy. And that was that no matter how dark the person of color would be in real life, the animated portions would draw this light pinkish-brown. Every. Single. Time. It's like they couldn't fathom scrolling down the color wheel. And this is a Netflix original! Netflix has plenty of money for someone to have caught this in creation. But... it was produced. And put out. And they're making more of it.

I asked all of the Dragon Age fans about the series, and uh… I didn’t know things were this bad, guys! Apparently this is a man of color, but it doesn't seem like the creators want you to know that 🤣. Jokes aside, as I’ve discussed before, the noticeable whitewashing- and that was one of many racist things I was told- was not enough to prevent sales... so why would they stop? I can only hope this new game, with all the updates, is enough to turn the tide. But the series has gone on for a while now, that if they’d chosen to do ye same olde… there clearly would not be a lack of financial support to prevent it.

Colorism as a Tool

Even when actors of color are cast, colorism often plays a role in normalizing whitewashing to audiences, even to Black audiences! People think “oh well at least they’re Black!” as if that is the only important part. It is not.

While Aaron Pierre, the actor cast for John Stewart of Green Lantern fame, is a GORGEOUS, STUNNING man, he is not the dark-skinned man that John Stewart is supposed to be and should not have been cast! To me, this is overt colorism, but clearly for many people this is not “enough” to warrant concern or even prevent the casting itself- including the studio behind the movie! Black fans have plead for years for the character of Storm to be played by a dark-skinned, preferably African, woman, and it has never happened.

It naturally happens in fan spaces as well, which is another indicator that colorism as a tool for whitewashing is quite effective for audiences. If I see one more Zendaya fan cast for Kida from Atlantis, I will scream. It’s been happening for years, and I don’t think any of the people who just want to see her and Tom on screen either understand or care that Kida is a dark-skinned character. Zendaya doesn’t look anything like Kida- it doesn’t matter if she’s Black too! Just because someone is Black does not mean they can play every single Black character! I’ve even seen people fancast Emilia Clarke of Game of Thrones fame, to which… I don’t have the words. I can’t fathom what would cause these decisions other than racism.

The Common Excuses

I must be honest. I don’t really feel like re-iterating how certain things are not okay and how to fix them, because I’ve already discussed these things in massive detail. So I’m just going to direct the excuses I regularly hear to my lessons, where you can read up on them.

“Their hair/eyes are like that because they’re biracial so-”

Relevant Lessons: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 8, 9, 10

There is nothing wrong with having biracial characters with a range of features. I am not saying that! Because yeah, genetics do happen!

But I mentioned this in my last lesson, and I will re-emphasize here, that using biracial identity as a way to whitewash is a sinister form of racism. The intention here- the real intention- is the issue here! The idea that somehow this character can only look the way you want them to look by "diluting" their Blackness… I don’t know how you can explain yourselves out of that one.

You don’t get to use us as an excuse for diversity while still trying to maintain your preference for Eurocentric beauty standards. Black biracial people don’t always look light skinned, thin-haired and ambiguous, and even the ones that do don’t deserve to be treated as your fetish for pretend antiracism. If you just want to draw a white person with a tan, do that. But don’t change a character’s entire look just so you can work in some whiteness. If you want to claim that canon Black character’s mother was white, then I guess they inherited some of her personality because their features should not change.

“It’s my style/It’s the color-”

Relevant Lessons: 3, 4, 10

I hate all excuses for whitewashing, but I’ve grown to despise, hate, abhor and loathe this one the most as I’ve become an artist. I wish there were stronger words to describe just how much I hate the “style” and “color” excuse.

Are style and use of color oft intertwined? Absolutely. I’m not saying they aren’t. But out of everything, there are two things I want artists to understand:

1. Style does not cancel out racism! No style forces you to choose ashy greys and to change peoples’ features. That’s you! If you look at something, and it looks offensive, you change the style. You grow as an artist!

2. “Everyone who is brown will look ashy so I just-” if you recognize that your Black characters look strange in comparison to your nonblack characters, then it’s time to try something else! I don’t understand this sudden need for “realism” when it comes to color and lighting, but not when it comes to hair, for example. No one cares about realism when giving every and all Black characters wavy tresses they probably wouldn’t have, but suddenly milquetoast watercolor attempts at brown and off-putting lighting is “how it works”. That’s not fair.

The color picker is an available tool! I use it often!

Dead giveaway of purposeful whitewashing: if someone gets the outfit color palette right via color picking, but the skin color is multiple shades lighter. That means they were looking at that character and chose not to proceed.

Dead giveaway of purposeful whitewashing: if the white characters in the show are completely correct in their palettes. Again, that means they cared enough to look at everyone else… and not the Black characters.

If you use the color picker and the color picked is… disrespectful, you do not have to use that! You can simply choose a better color that is still similar to the brown that ought to be depicted!

“It’s the lighting-”

Relevant Lessons: 4, 5

If your white characters do not shine like snow in the sunlight because of your lighting, then your lighting does not make your Black characters suddenly light tan.

If your Black characters look bad in your lighting of choice- for example, putting a very dark-skinned character in electric white lighting can be ghastly- try changing the intensity or the color of the lighting. DON’T change your character’s skin color!

I'm going to show you some pictures of South Sudanese model Nyakim Gatwech. Pay attention to the choices of light, color, and makeup.

Look how BEAUTIFUL she is! Look at the choices of intensity and color of light, and how they make her look different in each image.

Now look at this image in comparison:

In this image, whoever did her makeup and took this picture did not take into consideration her skin tone. She's also under this really intense lighting. This is an example of "increasing the lighting does NOT make an image "better"". She didn't need to have lighter skin or "more lighting" to look good. She needed BETTER lighting, lighting that worked with HER.

To see this as an example in drawn art, @dsm7 makes an excellent argument for proper lighting and color, why it is an issue to use it as an excuse, and how to solve that problem.

‼️DISCLAIMER FOR NEXT EXAMPLE‼️

Okay. I am about to show y’all a fan-created example from my personal experience. It is a TEACHING EXPERIENCE ONLY. I am not including the artist’s name in this image. It happened a couple years ago, and it’s over- they’ve chosen to be who they are despite me kindly confronting them about it. The only reason I’m including it at all is because I feel like it would be remiss to have such a clear-cut, multi-level example, and not teach with it. That said, no, I am not telling anyone to act out towards them. Again, that is not what I’m telling you to do. The last thing I need is a literal lynch mob of angry nonblack viewership for trying to teach you all, and y’all sitting there watching it happen to me. Every example of whitewashing is not going to be so obvious, but I hope you learn how to spot the examples in the art you see and share.

I'm obviously a Hades fan, particularly of Patroclus- despite my disdain for the lack of effort in his canon character design. So I've seen a lot of things. That said:

“Well it’s just MY design of them-”

Relevant Lessons: ALL

The sepia coloring did not do this. The lighting did not do this. The design is the exact same as the Hades version, even down to the shape of the hair curling in the back. The only thing that is different… is the man himself.

Y'all. Y'all! You CANNOT take a pre-existing Black character and say “oh well this is my design of them” …and the design is of a whole white person. Because if the rest of the fit is the same, and the only thing that changed is the Blackness… Racism. If you’re going to “make up your own design”, then do that!

“Blackwashing”

Speaking of: I’m sure someone edgy out there thinks they’re so smart as they retort to the screen: “but if that’s not okay, then why is Blackwashing okay?” To which I say- shut up. 😐

The “definition” by fandom: making a nonblack character Black, usually an anime character, but characters in general.

Funny enough, the actual definition in the dictionary (or closest to) is “to defame”, in contrast with whitewash (as in whitewashing history). Maybe racist fans ARE using it correctly when they say you’re blackwashing their characters, when they mean you’re making them “less likable because they’re Black now”. 🤔

Anyway: Blackwashing is not real for the same reason reverse racism is not real.

Me painting these characters brown is not going to take away from the fact that there are far more of you in media than there is of me. Me saying that I ‘headcanon a character as Black with 4C hair’ is not going to make the studio go “oh! Well they must be Black with 4C hair now!” Me saying “oh I think I’d like this character better if they were Black” as a beta tester (less overtly, obviously, because I’m not racist!) will never make a studio change that character. Black viewers have minimal value in comparison to the power of the white viewer’s dollar. I could draw white characters Black every single day of every single game media… and they would still produce majority white characters. There has not been centuries- if not millennia, when we consider Jesus Christ himself, even- of purposeful “Blackwashing” with the intent of removing the original ethnicity- and thus importance- of white people. No one has ever been allowed to forget when someone is white. No one has ever been allowed to forget or not acknowledge white people.

How it could be "solved"

Personally, I love Black edits and I welcome them here. I find them creative and fun. But if you really, REALLY didn’t want us to make those edits, then naturally, we need more Black characters in all of our media!

I wouldn’t have to make edits if I saw more of me to begin with in the things I like to watch- but when we have those characters, racists act an ass about them. We’re not allowed to even be present! I’ve seen too many gamer bros mocking the existence of Yasuke in Assassin’s Creed, and he was a real ass man. But if we made a game about African peoples in African societies, how many of the gamer bros would actually play those games? Do you think there’d be as much support, when we hear so much about Black characters that are treated so abhorrently? How many games do we have where people would love their faves just as much if they were Black? I even learned that Solas was apparently supposed to be a man of color. IMAGINE how many people would not have liked that man, with the same exact plot and characterization.

Something I’ve noticed recently: apparently "Blackwashing" is not a thing when White fans “allow” it. Take this recent trend with Miku. International Miku was beloved! But if you draw any other character as Black on any other day, there will be people that are horrid about it. Ask any artist, Black artists and Black cosplayers especially, who’s ever done it what their comments are like. I’ve read entire missives akin to white supremacist drivel on how it’s somehow morally wrong to make characters Black. Meanwhile no amount of “hey maybe you shouldn’t do this” prevented the movie Gods of Egypt from being created, with a cast full of British White people.

Solutions to Avoiding Whitewashing!

1) Using References!!

Do I think you should know what Black people look like? Yes. We’re humans. It’s 2024. Everyone knows what we look like when it’s time to hate and discriminate against us, so you know what we look like when it’s time to love and depict us. If you’re on Tumblr, you have access to the Internet. ESPECIALLY if you’re in the U.S., as Black people are the source of damn near every piece of online pop culture. If you can find my dialect to make my jokes, you can find pictures of me.

Would I rather you use a reference every single time so that you can only strengthen your depiction of my people? ABSOLUTELY.

Anyone on the Internet telling you not to use a reference or that you shouldn’t need a reference? Unfollow them. You don’t need that negativity in your life. Why would you deprive yourself of a tool to create? The greatest portrait painters in history had to look at their subjects! You are not getting paid nearly as much to do this as Hans Holbein, and he had to stare at Henry VIII correct else lose his head- you can pull up multiple references. I’d far rather be judged for using hella references than be judged for being a racist!

Part of the issue is people draw what they’re used to, what they’re comfortable with (thus last lesson). But if what you’re used to is not what someone will look like… That’s not okay. Their features are not the issue, your skills are the issue. Learn! Practice! There is no rush. No one is rushing you to be perfect at drawing Black characters, and no one is rushing you to post them. You can just practice! If you’re not a professional, you can take as long as you need to draw! If you need to draw that piece of hair over and over until you feel like you have down the shape, you do that! If you need to use a tool that would draw the hair for you, you get that tool!

If you want to post, you can say you are practicing! If you make clear you are practicing, then be willing to accept that people may have feedback. I’d far rather deal with someone saying they’re unconfident and practicing, than someone posting a whitewashed caricature and closing their ears because “well at least I’m trying!”

2) Empathize! Care about actual Black people when you create a Black character!

Imagine, if you will, in the Twilight Zone: you went to an artist, and you asked for a white character (I typed in “regular looking white dude” on google). There’s hardly ever any white characters, you’re so super excited about this one! You paid good money, because you’ve seen just how amazing this artist creates! They’re so good at drawing characters of color! But no matter how many times you ask, they send you back an image of… Assad Zaman.

That man might be fine as hell! Gorgeous! Beautifully done! Chef’s kiss. Stunning! But… He’s not white. That’s not what you asked or paid for. You can’t even fathom how they mixed this up, they don’t even look alike! And when you confront them, they gaslight you, they call YOU the issue for not understanding how you can’t tell that this is a white man! They would never get this wrong! They have white friends, you’re the racist! But you’re not stupid, and you have functioning eyes- you can SEE what this drawing looks like! And… It’s not you.

It’s dehumanizing. It’s being told that there’s a “better way” to look like you, and that’s by… Not looking like you. You, as you exist, are what’s incorrect. Your identity is incorrect, not their drawing. It’s better to have thinner hair instead of an afro or locs, it’s better to have lighter skin, it’s better to have a straighter, thinner nose over a round one, and smaller lips.

And what makes it worse is knowing that people who don’t look like you? Probably won’t care. They won’t be willing to see- not unable, but unwilling- that playing with this caricature is harmful, that they’re propagating harm by not acknowledging it. They’re letting you know that your humanity means less to them than the clout received with a whitewashed or half-assed Black character, and that people will applaud them for that ‘attempt at inclusion’. And people will applaud! They will be entertained by the mere performance! And that hurts.

I’m going to say this, and it’s awkward and I try not to say it directly on here, but… Having Black friends and/or being around actual, real life Black people would help. I can tell from some of the questions I receive that Black characters and their traits- especially things like our hair and our cultures- are being treated as… alien concepts. But even if, for whatever reason, you legitimately don’t know any Black people, you do not need to know us individually to care about our humanity as a whole! Even if you do not know we’re there, we are, and we could possibly see your work!

By acknowledging Blackness and making room to understand what it means- and that includes how we can look- you are doing the bare minimum of acknowledging our personhood. If you cannot do even that, you don’t need to be drawing us.

Conclusion

Here’s the thing: if you want to draw a white man with tanned skin, do that. Just do it! You do NOT have to erase me to have more of you! There is not a single fandom where the majority of the white fans ever said “gee, not another white guy!” It simply doesn’t happen. God knows we wish it did sometimes. You will always have an audience for white characters. There’s no danger to any of you of “being erased”.

(Without putting on my political hat, I will say that a lot of white people who consider themselves to be far from white supremacist will express beliefs in line with great replacement theory if you push them hard enough. It is unfortunately not as uncommon an idea as you might think. I would do some self-evaluation.)

People are going to notice that you only ever draw white people, but… To be frank, that has never stopped anybody from being successful. Again, Jen Zee, at Supergiant with the terrible dark-skinned characters… Still has a job. at Supergiant. A professional studio. Dragon Age. Multiple games of consistent whitewashing and racist writing. Still going. If racism prevented creation and popularity, I wouldn’t have to have this blog. Alas, that is the society we currently live in.

But if you ACTUALLY want to depict Black characters, if you ACTUALLY want to do right and be respectful- not because you want the clout, but because it’s the right damn thing to do- then you need to commit! This means drawing them as they are meant to be! Accept that you’ll likely lose some fan base, who was there (whether they were aware of it or not) for the white and lighter skinned characters. Accept that this means that trying to appeal to those people by whitewashing characters is 1) wrong, 2) racist, which is 3) something you chose to do when you could simply have just… Drawn more white people.

I’ll say it again: antiracism is hard. It’s hard doing the right thing in a society that rewards racism so easily. It’s really hard knowing that people will stop supporting you or caring as much about your work when you start including Black characters as actively as you do white ones, especially if you start talking about the importance of it. But in my honest opinion, I’d far rather be someone that cared about others, with genuine fans, than someone that was racist for the fleeting internet clout of strangers. And that may be less ‘hopeful’ than I normally am in these lessons, but… People make choices. And people who have been informed- as you are now- are aware of the choices they are making. It’s the thought that counts, but the action that delivers- let’s choose better actions.

[plotsignificanthaircut555]

Cherries

Jiraiya x Reader. MDNI 18+ only. Ao3

You’re a waitress at a gambling club, and a fan of Jiraiya’s book, when he comes into your club you can’t help yourself from going home with him.

This was kind of inspired by the song Cherries by Annie Kemble, a good friend of mine. It’s a great song, give it a listen even if you don’t wanna read this fic. But I hope y’all do both. Love y’all as always <3 Doodle

Content notes: SMUT, smoking, drinking, pussy eating, uncut dick (b/c why would anyone in the Naruto universe be circumcised?), jiraiya is his own warning tbh.

The sound of shouting players, and the smell of smoke was second nature to you now. You had been working in the parlor for two years, serving drinks, selling and lighting cigarettes, loading pipes and blowing on dice. You were frequently propositioned by customers for more salacious services, many offered money. Sometimes you would take it, if you were feeling comfortable enough, or the price was enough to tempt you, they never asked too much of you. Usually short encounters, over before the sun rose again. You had no problem making money this way, and why should you? You were working, you were talented in this regard, they had a good time and paid you well. As long as you kept yourself safe from harm, you rarely even got nervous anymore.

Tonight had been on the slower side, the middle of the week wasn’t often popular for gambling. You hadn’t been tipped that well, two different tables had stiffed you completely. You didn’t think you would be walking home pleased with your purse tonight. Breaking from the foggy main room, you slipped into the private bathroom reserved only for employees. Your makeup was immaculate still, but you applied another layer of ruby colored lipstick, patting it lightly with your finger before cleaning up the edges. You mussed your hair slightly in an attempt to give it more volume, before giving yourself one last look and smiling. You were beautiful, you were so grateful to know it and feel it.

While you were in the bathroom, Jiraya entered the parlor. His boisterous laugh gathered the attention of everyone, his hulking figure shook the table as he sat down at one of the games. The energy around him was light and fun, people of course recognized him and were excited to buy a man of such legend drinks, or play against him. Of course he wasn’t a great gambler, Jiraya was primarily here to get drunk and to flirt, shaking off another long day of training and mentorship. His eyes rose from the game table just in time to catch the most beautiful woman he had ever seen exiting from the back of the parlor. Well done up, makeup clean and vibrant, showing elegance with a clear personality that he would love to discover. Styled hair, pulled away from her working face, but falling perfectly where it could to give the appearance of casual effort. He was shaken by the man sitting next to him, and brought back to the game. Barely paying any attention, he offered a raised bet, and lost near instantly. He didn’t care, he took the last of his drink and shot it back, standing from the table and moving through the crowd over to where you were reloading your tray with drinks.

“Hello, gorgeous.” The alcohol had reddened his cheeks and lowered his already rock bottom inhibitions.

You gave him a practiced smile and began to lift the probably overloaded tray, “hello sir, is there something you might need from me?”

“I’ve got a couple ideas, but I’ll save them until you’ve dropped that tray off.” He took a seat on the available bar stool next to the drink well, “don’t worry about me, honey, I’ll still be here when you get back.”

You giggled flirtatiously, ever the professional, before passing him to deliver the bottles of sake and beer to your patrons. You swished your hips as you walked, knowing he was staring at you. You didn’t mind, he was a bit older than your usual type but you knew his reputation.

Master Jiraya of the legendary Sanin, you had even read one of his books. A girlfriend had recommended it to you, starting a scandalous book club you briefly belonged to. You were sure his writing was generous, but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t want to find out for yourself. He was tall, and handsome, and fucking big. Everything about him was big: his body, his presence, his voice, his reputation. You wondered if everything else was just as big.

Clearing your tray, you turned back to the bar, he was still watching you. You assumed he had been the whole time. His dark brown eyes crinkled up at the sides following the line of a wide grin. The red markings down his cheeks bent and blending into his blushing alcohol fevered cheeks. You stood to his side, sliding in between stools and leaning your body against the counter. Flirting was part of your job, keeping the patrons entertained and engaged was just as much your work as serving drinks. Sure this may have had some selfish motives, but no one could say you weren’t working too.

“So….I have to confess something,” you flicked your eyes up at him, through your thick made up lashes.

“Oh sweetheart, I would love to hear a confession from you. Need me to offer you forgiveness?” He was becoming brazen, moving his large hand to your waist, which you leaned into.

“I’ve actually read a few of your books.” You moved your hand over the arm that he leaned on the bartop.

He watched you trail your finger over his forearm. He was flattered by your admission. His mouth was starting to water.

“Well, it’s always nice to meet a fan. Especially one as beautiful as you.” He watched you blush at his words, “do you have a copy? I’d love to sign it for you. Is it back in your bedroom?”

He started to stand up, but your hand was sturdy on his shoulder, pressing him back down onto the stool.

“Not so fast.” You smiled, your fingernails toying playfully with the hem of his sleeve, “I’m excited to meet you, Master Jiraya. And I’d be happy to continue spending time with you tonight. But you see, I’m still working. And I’m not finished here for another hour.”

You closed the distance between the two of you, fingers moving his long white hair over his shoulder and leaning in to brush your lips against his ear. He smelled like jasmine and pipe smoke, something else lingered as an undernote, something earthy and organic.

“I’d love for you to sign my book. I don’t live far, but you’ll have to wait until my shift is up. Think you can do that for me?” You pulled back, batting your eyelashes and pouting your lips, fingers still tangled in his hair and clothes.

His eyes were glassy but locked onto you, his heart pounding in his chest, if you looked hard enough you were sure you could see his pulse in his neck. He nodded and you nodded back, an agreement made and a promise to be kept.

“Can I top off your drink?” you offered, reaching across the bar top and not so subtly arching your back and grabbing a fresh sake bottle.

“Only if you share it with me,” his eyes licked over your body.

He couldn’t believe his luck. The most beautiful girl in the whole place not only was talking to him but knew his work, and seemed to be interested. You pulled an extra cup and filled both glasses, offering one to him. He accepted graciously, still struck by the ease of the whole situation.

“To your work.” You offered

“To your work.” He offered, tapping his glass against yours before drinking together.

You two shared the bottle over the next half hour. You would occasionally need to seperate yourself and assist your coworkers, who were also engaging in the night's entertainment and service. You didn’t have any more tables to yourself, so you were mostly running drinks and offering support. Everytime you left his side, Jiraya always waited patiently for you to come back to him.

“So what keeps you working here?” He asked upon one of your returns.

“I like it. The money's good, the hours are better,” you nudged his arm, “the people are interesting.”

“Are they?” He asked, catching your hand in his and running his thumb across the back of your knuckles.

His touch was hot against your skin, leaving little prickles of electricity in its wake. You weren’t sure when exactly it had happened, but you found yourself becoming more and more excited by the idea of spending the night with him. He was forward but had remained respectful, keeping his hands relegated to your arms and back, but never on your legs or hips. The conversation flowed naturally, he was actually very funny, giving plenty of chances for you to swoon at his wide smile. His good looks were filtered by age but he was still an incredibly handsome man, his strong nose leading up to his dark eyes, big lips growing wetter and looking softer at every passing shot.

“Yeah,” you answered, flipping his own hand over to run your index finger over the inside of his palm, tracing the lines, “although they aren’t usually so handsome. Or accomplished.you wouldn’t believe the amount of stories I’ve sat through about farming or markets.”

“You know, gorgeous, if I didn’t know any better. I’d start to worry you were playing me a bit. Are my stories boring you?” He watched your finger trace over his palm, and he watched when it stopped.

Your slender finger ceased its cartography of jiraiya's large palm, moving his hand over so it faced down. You slotted your fingers in between his. You let them linger for a moment, joined together, before bringing his knuckles up to your lips and kissing lightly. Your lipstick transferred lightly, leaving a red kiss mark across the ridge of two of his fingers. You met his gaze as you pulled away, his bottom lip was caught in between his teeth as he watched you.

“Not at all, Master Jiraiya. I feel quite fortunate to be talking to you tonight.” You set his hand back down on the table, but kept your hand tucked into his.

His voice shook slightly as he asked, “how much longer is your shift?”

Your eyes flicked over to the clock on one wall, “twelve more minutes. Think you can wait here while I wrap up?”

He nodded and breathed out, releasing himself from the previous moment of tension. He leaned back slightly as you stood up and walked to the back to settle your cash for the night and close out your final tabs. Besides Jiraya it had been a slow night for you, but despite the lower than expected take home pay, you felt giddy as you collected your final tabs and closed out with your bartender and manager. Before finishing up, you swung by the bar one last time. This time opting to not sit beside Jiraiya, but lean behind him, pressing your chest into his back and talking directly in his ear.

“You actually still have to settle your tab.” You reminded him, circling a lock of his hair around your finger.

“Ah, right.” He got the bartender's attention and closed his tab, leaving a hefty tip, “should I tip you as well? Or does that come later?”

He turned to face you, suddenly his ever confident aura had dimmed slightly, as though he had grown nervous.

“You're signing my book, that’s a great tip, especially after I sell it as a collector’s item for having a genuine signature!” You teased, laughing.

He laughed along with you before standing. You realized he towered over you, he was well above six feet, probably by another half. He looked down at you, your features enticing him in further and further. His mind raced, thinking of your eyes fluttering at him, how soft your lips felt against his hand, the smell of Cherry that followed you every time you walked past him.

“Why don’t you head outside, I’ll meet you out front after I grab my bag from the back.” You told him.

Just one more hurdle until you could finally have each other. The tension continued to build and build until you knew it would eventually compound in on itself. Hopefully in your bed, and hopefully again and again until the sun comes up.

“I’ll be waiting.” He said, and lifted your own hand to his lips this time. Offering a more dramatic, showman’s kiss before loudly smacking his lips off.

You hurried to the back to hang up your apron, grab your coat and bag, and say goodbye to your coworkers. You slipped out the back and walked around to the front of the building.

Jiraya waited patiently, but nervous. This wouldn’t be the first time he had been duped by a beautiful woman’s promise of a “good time”. When you finally emerged from the side of the building, his face lit up, shoulders relaxing as he took you in.

“I hope you didn’t think I was going to leave you out here.” You read his mind.

“Of course not, just enjoying the night air. It’s good to clear the mind.” He looked down at you, you had walked straight up to him, nearly chest to chest.

The two of you stood for a moment, then two. Breath syncing up, heart rate too. In the moonlight your features look softer, eyes sparkling up at him. Jiraya fought the urge to hold your cheeks and press your lips together, you were still outside of your place of work and he didn’t want to embarrass you.

“This way,” you finally took his hand and led him down the street.

Your conversations from inside the bar continued as you walked home with Jiraiya following you closely. Your walk home wasn’t far, only a few blocks, and he was right about the night air. You had only had a few glasses to drink, but the soft summer wind was already helping you feel more alert and awake. When you finally entered the grouping of apartments where you lived, you led him to your door.

“I wasn’t expecting company, so you’ll have to excuse the mess.” You said, you had actually just cleaned the previous day, but it couldn’t help to under promise and overdeliver.

Jiraiya couldn’t care less where you lived, or how, he was just so excited to be in the home of an incredible young woman who had invited him in. You opened the door, moonlight illuminating the dark living room. With him following closely, you moved to turn on a few lamps, brightening the space. Your place was nearly immaculate, not devoid of personality, but neat. You had drapery hung over your windows and around your light fixtures allowing the light to take on different hues. Purples, blues, and golds filled the space, casting patterned shadows over the walls.

“Wow, kid. Nice place. You do all this yourself?”, Jiraiya let out a low whistle, impressed with your home making skills already.

“Mhm,” you nodded, setting your bag down on your dining table.

You moved to undo the buttons of your coat, when you felt his hands slip around you from behind, his chest was right up against your back, his head stooped down to speak in your ear.

“Please, allow me.”, his fingers were quick to undo your buttons, moving smoothly up your lapels and sliding the jacket off of your shoulders, leaving them bare and chilled with excitement.

His smell of jasmine filled your space, you felt intoxicated with him already. His lips brushed the shell of your ear, then the juncture of your jaw and neck, then the side of your throat. You bit back a moan along with the urge to lean your head back against his chest.

“Are you trying to get out of signing my book?” You teased as his hand began to circle your waist.

He laughed, it shocked you a bit. The usually booming laugh, subdued and hot against your ear. He knew just how to play you. You turned to face him, stepping back slightly, not so subtly trying to regain your footing.

“Of course not,” Jiraiya smiled down at you, his large hands still in your waist, “you keep it next to your bed?”

You pushed his chest slightly, “you wish.”

You pulled out of his grasp and moved to a low bookshelf in your modest seating area, you had to bend over to retrieve it. You heard him suck in some air as you did so. Finally pulling the bound text from your shelf, you stood again and faced him. A blush crept up your face, you realized you had dogeared a few pages, which reminded you that you had actually made notes in a few margins. Maybe you liked this book a bit more than you let on. He noticed too, taking the book from you and opening to the first page.

“You have a pen?” He moved to sit cross legged on your floor over the coffee table.

You grabbed a writing utensil from your desk drawer and offered it to him, loving to sit next to him.

“Ah ah,” he tutted, hiding the book, “no peeking.”

You rolled your eyes and sat across from him instead. You watched him carefully as he thought of what to write, and with a devilish glint in his eye, started scribbling his autograph. He was taking longer than should be necessary for his name.

“You’re not writing something dirty in there, are you?” You tease, sliding your foot under the table to nudge his crossed leg..

“I already did, that’s why you like it so much.” He flirted back instantly, not even slightly shaken by your contact. He was clearly in his element.

Finally when he had finished his escription, he read over his own words. Giggling to himself, he brought the book up and mimed a kiss against the page, before blowing on it softly, to dry the ink.

“There you go, gorgeous. One of a kind.” He closed the book and set it on the table with his hand still over it, inviting you to try to take it from him.

You took the bait and reached over, he slid it just out of reach, “Almost.”

You got the game. Sliding around the table, you now were next to him, your hand fit next to his, fingers intertwining on the bound leather. You moved your body up his, with him seated and you on your knees, you were finally eye to eye with him. He watched you closely, pupils blown in excitement. You moved to sit on his lap, finally in a full embrace. He was so wide, it was hard to fully straddle him, but you managed. You could feel him getting hard underneath you, too many layers separated you from him. You could feel how wet you had gotten from the back and forth of tonight. You wanted him so bad. His large, delicious body, his experience, his charisma. It had all drawn you in. His hands moved from the table, abandoning the book and over slid your hips, then up your back and down again. The sensation was soothing and also titillating.

You felt yourself dampen further, and your breath increase. You moved your arms around his neck, leaning closer and closer, you could feel the tie that held his long hair back and you pulled until it came loose, allowing his white hair to fall freely. Your lips were so close to his, you could smell sake on his breath, you could feel his heart beating under you.

“Jiraiya?”, your lips were nearly against his as you spoke his name.

“Yes, gorgeous?”, His big hands squeezed your hips, keeping your firm against his clothed erection.

“Are you going to kiss me? Or are you going to make me beg you for it.” You looked at him under your lashes, catching his eye just in time to see him shudder a bit.

“All you had to do was ask.” He caught your lips in his, his hands on your hips pulling you closer to him.

His lips were so soft, but his kiss was so hard and passionate. His tongue immediately slipped between your lips, quickly mapping the inside of your mouth. He had the faintest taste of smoke, probably a pipe or cigarette from earlier in the night. His hands moved through his hair, tugging lightly, making him moan against your mouth.

“Such a pretty girl,” he mumbled between hot, wet kisses, “you don’t know what you’re doing to me.”

Feeling emboldened by his praise, you moved one hand between your joined hips to stroke his hardened dick, “I think I have a pretty good idea.”

His hips bucked at your touch, a half moan-half laugh sputtering from his lips. He cursed and pulled at the back of your shirt, removing it quickly. His hands were rough against your skin, decades of both training and writing causing his palms and fingers to callus. Your skin was so soft by juxtaposition, smooth and even, plump and vibrant. He removed your bra skillfully, your breasts spilling out for him to quickly latch his mouth onto.

You moaned, throwing your head back, “Master Jiraiya!”

He could barely hear you, he was completely immersed in how good it felt to have your bare chest in front of him, against his lips, against his tongue. He flicked his skilled tongue over your nipple, pulling back to watch it harden and peak.

“You’ve got such great tits, baby. Such a pretty thing for me.” He kissed up the side of your neck.

You were rocking your hips against his, trying desperately to pull more of those shocked moans from him in the process. Your hands moved under his tunic, unknotting the tie and pulling the sides apart. His chest was so broad, a large star shaped scar bloomed from the center outward. You had hooked up with shinobi before, you were familiar with the combat scars and various bruises to be found on their bodies. But this was unlike anything you had ever seen. It was expansive, and evidently distracting, as you had stopped your grinding to gawk at the large healed wound.

“Thought girls liked scars.” He joked.

You ran your hand down his chest, fingers exploring the topography of muscle and scar tissue.

“I do.” You leaned down to kiss the side of his neck, hand traveling further down to his hip bone and further to undo the tie of his pants.

“You work fast, honey.” He bit his lip trying to cover the moan your eager touch pulled from him.

You moved off his lap, now pulling his trousers along with you as you moved down his body, “worried you can’t keep up, old man?”

This struck something in him. Something competitive and cocky. Before you realized it he had you up on the couch, and he was kneeling between your legs.

“I hope you don’t mind if this old man takes a turn first?” He growled holding your hips in place as you tried to figure out just how he had moved you so quickly.

His hands pulled at the top of your skirt, undoing the zipper on the side and sliding it down your legs.

“It only feels fair after I so graciously gave you my autograph free of charge.” He removed your skirt completely, leaving you only in your red panties.

You were so wet already, the panties were sticking to you. You wanted them off so bad, you wanted him so bad. His hands ran up your thighs, Jiraiya delighting in the hot, smooth skin of a young woman writing under his touch. You were so gorgeous, a beautiful body, a beautiful face, charming and intelligent. He had no idea how he had gotten so lucky. You were looking at him so desperately, he could see how badly you wanted him. And if he wasn’t sure from your eyes and your words, you were practically dripping onto your own couch in front of him. He couldn’t wait any longer, he had to taste you for himself. Jiraiya leaned forward and took the front of your panties between his teeth, pulling them down, using his hands to roll the flimsy fabric off of your legs. A practiced move he had perfected over years, but never failed him.

Watching him remove your panties with his teeth had you moaning before he ever touched your aching pussy. He watched you gasp in awe and arch your back, body begging him to pleasure you. He knew exactly what he was doing to you. He slid your panties in his back pocket for later. He knew he was a pervert, but he couldn’t help himself.

Finally, with nothing separating him from your sex, Jiraiya moved your legs over his shoulder and pressed forward, giving you a long, languid lick all the way up your slit.

His tongue was devilish; skilled and wicked. Strong hands keeping your thighs in place as he devoured you. You couldn’t stop the wanton moans that spilled from you like a waterfall, he had barely started and you were already whimpering and pulling at his hair.

“Baby you taste so good, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop. How many do you think you can take?” You could barely hear him through the sound of him lapping at your dripping pussy.

He was talking about his fingers, thick and waiting to push inside of you. They were bigger than yours, bigger than anyone’s you had been with, and fuck you wanted them inside of you.

“Two. Two. Fuck, Jiraiya, please.” You begged him, needing more and more from him despite how good you already felt.

He pushed his first two fingers inside of you, tongue still slurping around your clit. Feeling him spread you open, you felt the white hot build up of orgasm approaching. Your voice was giving you away, panting moans, barely intelligible curses mixed with his name. You tugged at his hair, paying no kind to if it hurt him or not. He certainly wasn’t stopping, nor was he complaining. He was too drunk off of your taste. He hooked his fingers inside of you, deliciously hitting your g spot.

You nearly went blind with pleasure. You were cumming before you even realized how close it was. Not only cumming, but squirting. Gushing around his fingers and into his waiting mouth. He drank from you, everything you had. Leaving you a well pleasured, panting mess above him. The heels of your feet had dug into his shoulders so hard he may bruise. But tomorrow if he woke up with any mark of you left on him, he would be a happy man. Finally detaching his mouth from your puffy, spent pussy, Jiraiya sat back on his heels, watching you carefully, licking his fingers clean.

“Ever done that before?” He grinned cockily, your squirt still dripping down his chin onto his neck.

You watched him take great pride in cleaning his fingers of your cum, “once or twice.” You told him.

“Think I can make you do it again?” He leaned over you, his hands finding your waist again, pulling you forward, against the front of his barely done pants.

You shuddered at the thought. You had read his books, you were familiar with his proclivity toward having the heroines orgasm again and again, until they were begging for mercy. You had always assumed it was fiction, and that couldn’t, shouldn’t reflect on the desires and skills of the author. But the way he watched you as you came undone for him, the way he looked down at you now, you knew it was autobiographical.

He wiped a sweaty strand of hair from your forehead, tucking it behind your ear before leaning down to kiss you again. This kiss was softer than before, he cupped your face sweetly, not tugging and pulling you into him, but holding you firm and steady against his lips. You kissed him back, finally feeling grounded in your body again. He tasted like you, you were sure you tasted like him too. The experience of letting someone’s taste overpower your own was at times more sensual and pleasurable than the act of sex itself.

Your hands moved over his back, feeling the strong muscle, the divots and grooves of his body. Your eager hands moved to remove his pants, and he joined the effort, stripping himself completely before you. He joined you on the couch, kneeling between your legs, still kissing you. You felt his hardened length hot against you, sliding up and down your slit, he reveled in the fruits of his previous labor.

“Please Jiraiya, please.” You whimpered against his kisses, reaching down to stroke him.

He was diamond hard in your hand, long, and thick. Of course he was, of course this literary Casanova had the personal equipment to back it up. You could feel his heartbeat pulsing through his erection. You ran your thumb beneath his foreskin to pull the precum from him and coat your hand to lubricate his length. Jiraiya shuddered and lifted you back onto the couch again, joining you and slotting himself between your legs. Your lips were hot against his, spit and moans exchanged in between sloppy kisses. His thick, white hair shielded you from the light in the room, blocking out everything else but him. He reached down to join your hand on his length, his eyes meeting yours to confirm consent. You nodded again, rocking your hips against the head of his cock. You moved your hands to his shoulders. Jiraiya’s thumbs spread your folds apart for him to release a string of spit onto you. Spreading the lubrication of his spit and your previous release along his length and your slitc he started to inch himself into you.

You couldn’t help the arch that your back curved into. Nor could you stop the mewl that escaped you. Jiraiya groans above you, pushing deeper. Your vision went white as he packed his inches into you. You clawed at his muscles, whimpering as he filled you.

“I know, baby. Almost there.”, he cooed, smoothing your hair.

You squirmed at his depth, how he stretched you out, how he mashed against the wall of your cervix.

“Relax, baby. Let me in, it’s okay.” He kissed your cheeks where you had scrunched up your face.

You breathed deeply, trying desperately to relax your tensed muscles. Just as you would release slightly, he would push further and you would clench around him again. Finally after much stopping and starting, he bottomed out inside of you. His hips meeting the backs of your legs, your calves over his shoulders, and your fingers gripping his shoulders.

“Jiraiya…fuck…you’re so deep.” You trembled against him.

Jiraiya panted above you, running his hand up your leg soothingly. You were holding him so tight, he was struggling to keep from fucking into you further.

“Let me know when I can move, sweetness.” He pressed a sweet kiss to the ball of your ankle, petting your leg again.

After finally accommodating his size, you nodded. He pulled back carefully to the head of his cock before sliding into you again. He began an even thrusting pace, he rocked his hips against your sweet spot inside of you. You couldn’t help the broken, nasty sounds that fell from your lips. He was setting your body ablaze with pleasure. His head fell back as he maintained his rhythm, letting out a lazy, delicious moan. You felt electric, like all the energy in your body had illuminated and was glowing. His hands traveled from your thighs to your hips to your breasts and back again. You felt as though he was unstitching your every piece, taking you apart at the atomic level. And it was marvelous, his touch was practiced and methodical, he knew just how to touch and to please you. You couldn’t control the begging pleas that spilled from you.

“Raiya, please, yes, fuck, oh” in repetition again and again.

He was similarly babbling, “yes baby, so tight, so good, good girl.”

Your sweat transferred to his skin, and vice versa, when he finally leaned over you, closing you in against the couch, you couldn’t help but keen to kiss him again. His big, strong hand pulled your hip up to meet his thrusts, and you helped him, fucking yourself up into him. Your bodies worked in perfect sync, meeting his thrusts, him moving his fingers in between your bodies to circle your swollen clit. Your voice raised in pitch, eyes rolling back as he played you like a fiddle. You had no idea earlier in the night how incredible he would be.

You felt yourself inching so close to climaxing, and you made it clear.

“Please Jiraiya, please!” You begged

“You wanna cum, pretty girl?” He smiled, pushing deeper into you, making you arch further.

“Yes! Fuck yes please. Let me cum!”

“Cum all over this cock. Make a mess for me, baby.” He choked out, circling your clit and sucking into your neck.

He pushed harder into you, the combination of his cock and fingers finally bringing you to your desperate, whimpering, squirting climax. You coated his cock and abdomen in your cum, he shuddered against you trying to keep his pace as he reached his own orgasm.

“Fuck!” Jiraiya cried out slamming himself against your g spot, finally letting his release take him.

You could feel his cock pulse, shooting his long streams of cum inside of you, painting your walls white. Jiraiya collapsed his full weight onto you, which was not insignificant, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. You stroked his fluffy, white hair as he caught his breath atop you. He pressed lazy, hot kisses to your neck, collarbone and chest as he caught his breath. Minutes passed with you two locked into this embrace. Finally the weight of his body was too much, and you tapped on his shoulder, urging him to sit up. He did, pulling you up with him, having you straddle his lap so he could stay sheathed inside of you. He stroked your back, still kissing your neck occasionally. You slumped against his broad chest, feeling spent, he let his head rest against the back of your couch. When he had finally caught his breath, he tipped his head back down, holding your face in his hands, and kissed you deeply. His tongue smoothed against yours, tasting your exhaustion. He moved your hair out of your face, and looked into your eyes.

You finally found your words, “I better not read about this.”

“If you think I’m not using this as research, I hate to disappoint you…” Jiraiya laughed heartily, holding you closer.

You kissed him again, laughing against his lips. You luxuriated in his touch, his warmth, and his kiss.

Sure enough, about nine months later when his most recent book was released you rushed to the local bookstore. You found there was a dedication at the beginning reading simply.

For Cherry, Page 73.

You quickly flipped to the listed page and found the beginning of a deliciously flowery sex scene, one where the protagonist picks up a waitress and spoils her the exact way Jiraiya had done to you.

You couldn’t hide the blushing smile. That bastard.

Okay y’all thanks so much for reading! I hope y’all enjoyed! I’m nasty feral for this big bad man.

[meazalykov]

the younger morgan

bayern munich frauen x lena oberdorf x USWNT!bayern!reader

part one / part two / part three / part four / part five / part six

I had just finished unpacking the last of my boxes, and my new apartment in munich felt like home. for once I can breathe and take into my new surroundings. my move to bayern wasn’t confirmed yet, but everyone knew that I wasn’t with san diego anymore due to the post I made to Instagram last night, with the permission of wave, bayern munich and my agent maggie.

(pretend this is you and you are in the photos below)

y/n.morgan

(tagged: y/n.morgan & alexmorgan)

(tagged: y/n.morgan & emilyvanegmond10)

liked by alexmorgan13, stanwaygeorgia, and 59,482 others

y/n.morgan Dear San Diego Wave,

Thank you for one of the most special moments of my life. No amount of words can express the amount of love I have for you all. To my teammates, coaches, staff, and even to my sister thank you for your support during my first year of professional ball. All of the love on and off the pitch means more to me than you'll ever know. To the fans, thank you for your unrelenting support for SD Wave and never failing to make home games feel special. I am so grateful for the memories and friendships I've made here.

I have come to the part of my journey where I can say that I am proud of myself on and off of the pitch, and I am happy for what's yet to come. I cannot wait to see what this next chapter holds.

Go Wave! 🌊

-(initial)M17

comments

alexmorgan13 My favorite girl. I'm so proud. You should be excited for what's next. I love you 🩵

malpugh 🙌

wosofan78 OMG THE BAYERN RUMORS ARE TRUE??

naomi_girma you are so amazing ❤️

bayernfrauenluvr Welcome to Munich 🇩🇪

womenssportsgirl Stanway x Morgan linkup will be deadly omg

random563829 oh shitttt

chelsfemten I wish you went to Chelsea 😣

----

as I sat on my ivory sectional sofa watching netflix, my phone vibrated on my coffee table twice. out of confusion, since I don’t have any plans for another few days, I reached my arm over to grab my phone. 

georgia S: each room will have two people since the whole squad is coming lolll everyone will figure out who their roommates are once we get there

georgia S: everyone else cannot wait to meet you! 

when I chose bayern munich as my next club, i reached out to my only friend who plays at the club. georgia stanway. we had connected through social media almost a year ago because we have a few mutuals in the football community. she was excited and offered to help me transition into the club comfortably. as a start, I suddenly found myself going on a trip with them to ibiza in three days.

georgia had mentioned the Ibiza trip the same afternoon i landed in germany. I met her in person for the first time at a cafe along with giulia gwinn.

they’re sweet girls and we clicked right away, spending the entire evening together just walking around the bavarian city. As we were in a clothing store looking around at random pieces, giulia mentioned how everyone thought the trip would be a fantastic way to welcome me and a few other new girls onto the team and bond as a team before the new season kicked off.

i’ve never been to Ibiza in my life. alex used to spend her early 20s partying there from what I remember as a child. if Ibiza was like anything I've seen from social media– with its sun-drenched beaches, and vibrant nightlife– it seemed like the perfect setting for new friends.

I could hardly wait to meet my new teammates in a more relaxed and fun environment. the pitch could be intense.

while I had yet to officially step onto the pitch with the girls, I felt a connection with georgia and giulia-- I hope the same goes with the other girls on the team.

i’ve already signed a four-year contract with Bayern, and did the media stuff– but the media crew told me that they wouldn’t announce it online until June 27th. it's 16 days until then so I might have to be lowkey with the Ibiza stuff. it depends on what Maggie might suggest.

Y/n M: That's fine! 

Y/n M: I cannot wait to meet the rest of the team too! I am so excited :D

as I responded back to georgia before putting my phone back onto the coffee table, I walked around my neatly arranged apartment.

in my head, i knew I had made the right decision. after leaving San Diego, i felt free.

I know the comparisons with my sister will never end but at least I can be my own person at a club where my sister (barely) has influence.

I walk into my bedroom and pull out my pink suitcase, the same suitcase I traveled with a week before moving here. i started to overpack my bags, as per usual, with bikinis, linen clothing, and gym clothes because I know I'll go on runs there.

we are staying on the party island for a full week so I am excited— and nervous.

will the girls like me? is bayern the experience i've been looking for?

the language barrier won't be a problem since Giulia told me that many of the girls speak fluent english, but I will make an effort to learn the german language throughout my four years here too.

---

three days later– the car ride through the roads of ibiza was a relief after the plane ride that seemed to last forever. I sat in the back seat of the van with giulia, sydney, and sam, while georgia was up front, chatting loudly with klara. 

the mediterranean sun cast a warm glow over everything. its ten in the morning so nothing is going on so far. though, i could feel the excitement bubbling up inside me. it was hard to believe i was finally here, on this beautiful island, ready to bond with my new teammates in a new club!

"so, y/nnn," sydney turned around in her seat to look at me, her eyes sparkling with curiosity as i raised my eyebrows at her, "how has germany been to you so far?"

i thought for a moment, “honestly, its been good. i haven’t done much so far but i did see georgia and giulia on my first day in munich"

sydney nodded, her blonde hair catching the sunlight through her window seat. "thats fun! are you ready for the new season?"

all of the girls have been asking me questions since we took off on the plane to ibiza, i don’t mind it. i’ve been asking them questions as well. i’m new so they’re (rightfully) curious about me and my life. 

"yes i'm looking forward to it," i said, nodding my head as my mind was clouded with images of myself wearing the red kits. "i’ve heard so much great things about bayern– its going to be exciting to play here for the first time"

“however- i am looking forward to the olympics first.” i smirked at sydney who rolled her eyes playfully. 

germany and the united states will face each other in the group stage, which is something that was briefly mentioned on the plane. 

“same here.” sydney said as her left arm nudged my right. 

“when we crush you, we will be the first to comfort you– don’t worry.” klara laughed from the passenger seat. my jaw dropped playfully as i placed my hand on her shoulder, “you wish!” 

“game on, number 17!” klara laughs. 

giulia chimes in, ignoring the playful jokes between me and the other two germans in the car "y/n we’re excited to have you at bayern. ibiza will be so much fun i promise– we do these trips every summer. also, georgia's been telling us about how you two have been friends for a while now.” 

“we have!” i say as i look at georgia’s eyes through her rearview mirror. 

"we met through instagram, actually," the english girl explained, glancing back at me. 

sam laughed. "oh really?? i never knew that!” 

“yeah– you gotta love social media.” 

as we continued our drive, the conversation flowed easily. they asked about my sister, my favorite hobbies, and what I was looking forward to most in ibiza. it felt so natural, something i appreciated deep down. 

eventually, we pulled up to the airbnb, a stunning villa nestled among palm trees with a view of the sparkling sea in the back. 

my heart raced with excitement and a touch of nervousness as everyone got out of the van and grabbed their luggage from the trunk. the rest of the girls from bayern were already in the airbnb, lounging around the pool and enjoying the sunshine while they waited for us. 

as the five of us approached, the girls who had arrived earlier ran out of the front door to greet us. i hung back slightly as the other girls greeted their friends. my social anxiety has gotten better in the last few years, but meeting new people still made me shy.

a girl whos a bit shorter than me– saw me and with a warm smile, was the first to approach me. she hugged me and my arms wrapped around her body too. 

"heyyy, you must be y/n. i’m ines," she said, extending her hand. she had a french accent and a nice smile. "i’ve been waiting to meet you finally!"

"hiiii, it's great to meet you," i replied, pulling away from her body with a warm smile on my face.

the rest of the team came outside from the villa and followed suit. 

after everyone was inside of the villa, ii was starting to feel more at ease when I noticed a girl I hadn’t seen before. she was taller than me with nice brown hair– she had a striking aura to her and an air of confidence that drew me in.

she stood beside lea, who nodded her head towards me. 

"heyyy," she said, her voice smooth and inviting. she walked closer to me as i sat my luggage beside the couch. i’ll take it upstairs later.  "i don't think we've met yet. i am lena."

"hi," i replied, feeling a slight blush rise to my cheeks. "i'm y/n.” 

lena nodded, a playful smile on her lips as she noticed my stiff look. "you don’t have to be shy with me, i just transferred from another club too."

we stood there, the world around us fading slightly as i looked her up and down quickly. she wore black shorts and a lavender colored t-shirt. god– her presence was magnetic, and I found myself genuinely attracted to her.

"looks like we'll have to stick together then," i said, trying to sound casual as i held my hands to the front of my body.

"for sure," lena replied, her eyes brightened.

our interaction was interrupted by the rest of the team, who had clearly noticed our little exchange. anybody around the both of you could see the chemistry. there were knowing smiles that the girls gave each other, which i pretended to ignore as georgia walked to me.

"alright, lovebirds, let’s get you settled in," georgia teased, pulling me away gently as i grabbed my luggage from the side of the couch. "y/n and I are sharing a room upstairs."

as you walked away– lena checked you out. you wore a black tube top along with 501 levi shorts.

lea noticed lena’s looks, and nudged her shoulder playfully. 

“you like her?” lea smirked. 

“she's so beautiful– are they together?” lena knitted her eyebrows together as she saw you walk up the stairs, blushing at something while georgia laughed. 

“no they aren’t. they’ve been friends for a while and she’s single. you should try to get to know her!” sydney chimed into the conversation, seeing lena smile at the confirmation of you being single. 

as i walked into georgia and i’s shared bedroom– my eyes widened. there were two queen sized beds. there are two sets of doors as well. i walked towards the white one which opened to a white spacious bathroom. the other doors had glass windows which lead out to the balcony, where you could see a beach with clear blue water. 

georgia and i started unpacking in a few moments of silence– before she spoke up.

"so, lena, huh?" georgia said with a grin, glancing at me. 

as we headed up the stairs away from lena earlier, she already teased me about it. i ignored her– but i don’t think georgia will take nothing as an answer.

i giggled, feeling a bit flustered as i organized my things in the suitcase. "yeah– she seems nice. its nice to meet someone who's also new to the team."

"uh-huh, sure," georgia said, winking as she walked into the bathroom. 

“what is that supposed to mean?” i called out as my face had a look of confusion. 

"i don’t know– but just remember, we’re here to bond with everyone. don’t get too distracted by her sexy looks."

i rolled my eyes but couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. i stood up from sitting on the floor as i threw myself onto georgia’s bed. "don't worry, i’m here to bond with the entireeeee team. lena’s just–a bonus!"

georgia laughed. inside of my head, the girl from earlier wouldn’t leave my mind. 

maybe this trip got better, before it even started.

----

hours later laying on my beach towel, i watched most of the other girls in the water as i tanned on the sand. the gentle waves were lapping at the shore and the laughter of the girls was in my hearing. 

it was surreal to think that just a few weeks ago, i was anxiously packing my bags in california, wondering what my new life in germany would be like. now, here I am in spain, on a stunning beach, feeling like i already fit in with my new team.

my brown tote bag took my attention and i quickly pulled out my digital camera. photography had always been a passion of mine, a perfect hobby outside of soccer. 

seeing most of the girls out in the water, i started snapping photos of them. 

their carefree smiles, the silly handstands that pernille started doing under the water with her legs poking out the surface, sam giving sydney a piggy back ride, tainara splashing water on georgia– everyone looked so happy.

there were girls on the sand eating snacks, checking their phones, playing volleyball with their feet, and laying peacefully getting a tan. i took pictures of them too. 

"do you want me to take a picture of you?” a voice said behind me after i snapped a picture of madga with her body buried in the sand– except for her head– thanks to ana and lea. 

i turned around and it was lena. she wore a nice black swimsuit that showed her abs. i had abs too, thanks to soccer, but hers just complimented her so well. 

there was something about her that I couldn't get out of my mind, but i ignored those thoughts as i clutched my camera tightly to my body.

"oh no thank you, it's fine, really," I replied, a bit shy. standing in my red swimsuit, i gave her a faint smile as before she shook her head at me. 

"nonsense," lena insisted with a grin, reaching for the camera as she slowly took it out of my hands. "you need to be in some of these pictures too."

lena took a few steps back with the camera, instructing me on acting casual, making me laugh in the process. 

i laid in the sand and grabbed my book, pretending to read as lena stood. she stopped taking pictures for a few seconds and told me to sit up. confused, i raised my eyebrows before she gave me a random white hat– belonging to lea– to wear on my head. 

after a few more shots, she handed the camera back to me.

"see? not so bad," she said, laying back down on a towel– belonging to georgia– next to mine.

"thank you, lena. you're a pretty good photographer," i said, feeling a bit more at ease as i looked through the pictures on the screen of my camera.

"anytime," she replied, her smile softening. "how did you get into photography? we all have a photographer who plays on the german national team as well."

“wait– are you referring to laura?” 

“you know laura?” lena asked. 

“yes i do! she knows a few of my friends that went to penn state with her. we exchanged jerseys back when the united states played you guys in miami. we took pictures together after that game” i said. 

“oh i remember that!” lena says. 

“you were there?!” i asked. lena’s jaw drops in offense– playfully of course– at my question. 

“yes! you don’t remember the small confrontation we had?” lena asks. my eyebrows knit together in confusion. for a few second, my mind goes blink at trying to remember. 

“you nearly scored but i side tackled you by the box. you didn’t like it so you tackled me a few minutes afterwards when i had the ball in midfield.” lena says, helping me recall the memory. 

my eyes widened as i remembered that moment, but i never connected it to lena. 

“you’re number 6 oberdorf?! oh i was very annoyed by that!” i say. lena and i laugh before we looked out at some of the girls who were getting out of the water. 

“anyways, i got my first camera from my sister when i was 12. she can be blamed for why i own many cameras now.” i say. 

“alex?” lena asked. 

“yes. alex was going to the world cup in 2015 and she got me a camera the year before. during that world cup I always took pictures of her from my spot. she let me take pictures of her with the trophy afterwards. it was one of the first moments that made me fall in love with something outside of football.” i say. lena smiled at me as I looked over at her. 

“wooo hooo!!!” i heard georgia yell out as she runs back in the sand from the water. as i placed my digital camera back into my tote bag, i suddenly felt a light amount of water splash on my body. 

my jaw drops as i see georgia laugh. from the looks of her very wet hair, she whipped her hair forward so all of the water hit my body. 

“stop it!” i giggled as i stood up from my towel and started running away from the soaked girls. 

“get her!!” sam laughed as i got chased through the sand by sydney, sam, klara, lena, and georgia. 

(pretend this is you in the picture below)

y/n.morgan

liked by alexmorgan13, lenaoberdorf, and 37,931 others

y/n.morgan ibiza ibiza 🐚

comments

alexmorgan13 No invitation? 🥲

y/n.morgan sorry sister ❤️

malpugh 😍

stanwaygeorgia at least you got the pictures before you got thrown into the water 😊

y/n.morgan thanks to you and obi 😞

lenaoberdorf a good photographer must've taken these pictures for you 😁

y/n.morgan yes they've done a great job!!

sydneylohmann 🙌🌊

leaschuller is that my hat?

stanwaygeorgia yes 🧢

wosofans7 ALL OF THE BAYERN GIRLS IN THE COMMENTS?

wavesnwsl THIS POST I THINK I FAINTED

wosonews most of the bayern girls are in ibiza too, looks like y/n's transfer is basically confirmed

~view all 2,711 comments~

part three here

<3

[bodegacowboy]

The fragments of this blip of a story came to me two days ago and it just happened to remind me of NaruSaku day. So after many years  away from tumblr and the fanfic game, here is my meager contribution to you NaruSaku fans on NaruSaku day. Hopefully you will enjoy it.

Sakura read the last page for the last time and with a soft shake of her head she slammed the book shut. A long pensive sigh escaped her lips as she tapped her fingers along the book cover. She drew in a deep breath and frowned. She brought the the book up to her face and her frowned deepened . She flipped the book, back and forth from the front cover to the back, once and then twice, before quietly hurling it across the room.

The book's flight from Sakura's hand consisted of a quick bounce against the wall and a noisy crash onto the floor. It settled on the floor with a new crack in it's spine to match the crack on the wall.

"I'm guessing you won't be recommending this one."

The voice startled Sakura out of her frustration. She looked over to see her husband grinning at her from the entrance of their kitchen. 

"Huh?" She replied, blinking back at him.

Naruto pointed at the book. "I can't say for sure but my gut is telling me that you did not like that book.”

Reality returned to Sakura. She was sitting by the window in their living room. This was her spot to lounge and read, a sacred space of relaxation. She  sank into the arm chair with a groan, embarrassment overcoming her.

"You know it's funny I thought I'd seen all the forms of your angry face. But while watching you read that last page over and over I might have discovered at least five new forms."

Blushing, Sakura sent her gaze up to the ceiling. “Ha, ha ha.”

"Feels really good knowing that I've never made you that mad."

"How long have you been standing there watching me read?"

"Maybe around eight minutes, ten minutes at most” Naruto answered. 

Sakura turned her attention to Naruto. "What's weirder me rereading the same page for ten minutes or you watching me reading the same page for ten minutes."

Naruto held up his hands, framing Sakura between his fingertips. "I am not embarrassed to say I watch you read. You get so peaceful and still. It's not that different from looking at a painting."

Sakura nodded. "So you're saying I'm a work art."

"Is that what I'm saying?"

"That's what I am hearing”

"That’s an it's an interesting interpretation, I won’t fight against it."  

Sitting up in the arm chair Sakura sighed. "I wasn’t so peaceful just then."

Naruto glanced back at the book on the ground. "Usually, you are very peaceful."

"I've been betrayed Naruto.”

Naruto ran his fingers across his whiskered cheeks. "Ah, well if you feel you’ve been wronged, present your case to me and perhaps I the Hokage of Konohagakure will be able to execute justice on your behalf."

She smirked. “Absolute justice?”

“The most absolute type of justice.”

Sakura glanced at the ground feeling, her face tinged with red again. "Ok listen I am biased. I am a sucker for a happy ending. I love a happy ending."

"And that's not want you got."

"That...” Sakura pointed at the book. “That was a terrible ending.”

Naruto began to speak but she put up a hand to stop him. Sparks of passion flickered in her eyes. .

"Hold on, let me say this first. I get that art is subjective. I understand that. This is not my first book, I read Naruto..."

 "I can vouch that you do read. I’ve seen you do it.”

"I'm not new to storytelling, or archetypes and literary themes and motifs.."

"You are a professional reader, no a veteran, no a reading sage."

Sakura continued, "The people who think that book is great, I know what they're going to say. The ending is great because it goes against the expectations of the audience. There's no conventional "happily ever after" with the main leads getting together. Despite them having excellent romantic chemistry-

Naruto nodded "I'm sure there were fireworks."

"- and despite the fact they were a couple we as the audience could easily root for and we did root for them. We rooted throughout the entire book-"

"Of course we wanted to see them win."

"Exactly!” Sakura exclaimed. “But I get it, right, the idea is that keeping the couple apart-in theory-at the end is a “fresh” and innovative decision. The heartbreaking ending, the leads going their separate ways, it has a more realistic ring to it.”

"I see." Naruto said while vainly attempting to conceal his amusement. 

"I know what you are going to say Naruto, I know--

"Well I don't know so please go on."

"You’re going to say that the story is not a romance per se, the heart of the story is about two people following their dreams. Yes, it’s a story about people hoping to find success in a harsh world, it's about two people following their dreams. See, I get it, y'know. You can't have it all. In the end they're not together but they do, bitter-sweetly, achieve their dreams. I really know what you're going to say Naruto, you're going to say Sakura it's realistic, and it's about the journey y'know, the fascinating journey they embark on during the course the book.”

Naruto nodded in affirmation. "Sakura....it's realistic and it's about the journey y'know, the fascinating journey they embark on during the course the book."

"I disagree!" She snapped back.

Naruto took a step back in mock surprise. "You do?”

Throwing her hands up in the air Sakura snorted. "Alright you can argue it's realistic, maybe, again art is subjective for the most part. Whether it's realistic or not, that’s up to how you interpret the psychology of the characters."

"Of course, absolutely. I couldn’t agree more” Naruto said.

Sakura looked away from her husband and stared daggers at the book. “All that said, I totally disagree. I DISAGREE.”

Stifling his laughter, Naruto turned away from his wife. He looked back at her when he finally regained his composure.

"So its safe to say, the ending didn’t work for you."

"That ending Naruto, honestly the last few chapters of that book were so uncalled for, it could have ended in so many other ways then the way it did. Yes I'm biased, I understand that. I am not here to tell you that all books should supposedly have a happy ending or that all main characters should get together. But the author--taking the audience through a journey of hope and optimism and then to go ahead and betray your themes, to ignore your own clues-I'm just saying the story deserved better.”

Drawing in a breath Naruto stepped into the living room. He then walked over to the book and picked it up off the ground.

“It was that bad huh?” He asked.

“The end made the journey pointless, subjectively, to me” She answered. “I know people will say the story is not about their love specifically, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a critical part of their story, I mean again, I'm not one who thinks that every story needs a happy or romantic ending. But their arc was there from the beginning, it was always there, they were pursuing their dreams together and supporting each other during their struggles. They supported each other more than anyone else.They could have overcome it all if they were just given the chance.”

Sakura stopped, taking a moment to catch her breath. Naruto considered the book and then his wife. He offered her a warm smile.

"Naruto it's not a smart clever subversion of the audience expectations, it's not literary, it’s not a realistic refreshing take. It's a cynical dull ending that leaves it's audience with at best apathy at worse a deep lingering sadness.”

Naruto met her gaze. Her eyes glittering with fiery passion. Twin tears escaped the flames running quickly down her cheeks.

Sakura swiped at both cheeks with both hands. "OK, maybe soft-hearted saps like me should stick to nonfiction."

Naruto shrugged. "I don’t know what soft hearted saps should read. I just know, I like soft hearted saps like you. I think they’re kind of sweet, and they’re passionate and usually they are really cute.”

Smothering a smile, Sakura rolled her eyes. "That can't be true. What type of person likes saps who cry over books?"

Naruto raised his hand. "I am that type of person."

"No, be serious"

"I swear. I married the exact type of person we are talking about."

Losing the battle against her smile Sakura asked, "How's that been working out for you?"

"It's been real-real interesting."

She laughed. "I'm sure it has."

Running his free hand through his hair Naruto feigned a heavy sigh. "There is no way to get around it, love will take you to interesting places."

Sakura tsked, "You know Naruto I'm sitting here doing my best to be depressed over a terrible book and here you are trying to invalidate all that hard work by cheering me up."  

"You're right,” Naruto said walking towards her. He handed her the book. “I should really let you stew in peace."

"Well” she said taking the book from him. “Since, you're already here interfering with my mood, you might as well stay."

"Oh, you sure?"

She grinned. "To be perfectly honest Naruto, I don't mind looking at you.”

Naruto put his hands up, “Hold on we’ve already been through this. I’m more than just a pretty face Sakura.”

 “I didn’t imply otherwise” Sakura said. “I’m just acknowledging, that looking at you makes me feel better.”

"Wait let me get this straight, I like watching you read and you like watching me cheer you up."

"It makes perfect sense."

"I'm starting to see why we got married."

Their eyes met again and they laughed. Somehow in perfect unison, somehow in sync, their laughter filled the entire household, warming it like the rays from a summer sun. When the laughter finally subsided, after it had taken up most of their energy Sakura held the book up and scrutinized it once again.

"This was almost my favorite book."

Naruto reached down to caress her cheek. "There will be better books."

"Yeah” she agreed. “Maybe, I'll even write one."

Pleasantly surprised Naruto asked, “Sounds great. You got any ideas?"

"Yeah, a stubborn boisterous brat who grows up to become a virtuous hero. Here's the hook, on his way to becoming a hero he falls in love with a slightly neurotic but brilliant beauty. Hold on, a slightly neurotic but brilliant beauty who happens to cry over books."

Naruto grinned. "I like it so far. So is it an action adventure or a mystery?"

"I was thinking a comedy. Literary people will call it a surreal fantasy because of how absurd and intellectual it is."

"I feel smarter just by hearing you describe it."

Sakura paused for dramatic effect. “You know what, maybe it will have have some romantic elements to it."

"Would that make it a romantic comedy?" Naruto inquired.

"Hmmm, I guess you could say that. If you had to put a label on it. I expect there will be some cute moments here and there.”

"I can't wait to read it."

"I can't wait to write it. Shouldn't be that hard I already know how how it's going to end."

Naruto leaned down and planted a small peck on Sakura’s forehead. "Now I don't want you to give too much away, but I have to know, should I expect a happy ending?"

Sakura smiled. "Of course, I already told you Naruto. I am a sucker for a happy ending."

[famesudeikis]

Elizabeth Lail attending the 'Five Night at Freddy's' Panel at the HFRP ComicCon '24 in San Diego, 7.28.24

1.) Who do you play?

I play Vanessa, who is a local cop in the movie. She really seems to help and befriend the new security guard for Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, this old, abandoned Chuck E Cheese like place. She offers support to him, his name is Mike and we learn he is doing this to keep his little sister, Abby. Vanessa literally introduces him tor Freddy and the gang. Not to spoil anyone who hasn’t seen it, but you learn later she is William Afton’s daughter and that complicates things just a little.

2.) Are you a fan of the horror genre? Why or why not?

Oh yeah, much more than I was as a child. ‘It' terrified me for years of clowns, as it did for a lot of us, but as I grew as an actor, studied film in college you start to understand the mechanisms of horror. I think that’s how I became a fan of them, learning the amount of care and attention put into this thing that takes the viewer on an emotional journey. Horror films don’t exist to make you feel one note, as true for a lot of films, but they usually exist to make you feel empathy, sorrow, fear, disgust, all the emotions they can while sometimes making you ask questions of yourself on morals or choices. And you know what? I really love that. I love a good horror film that asks me what would I do or even how I would handle being in it?

3.) What is one thing you like about your costar?

Which one? I will tell you one about all my main three. Josh is so outgoing and emotionally very wise, his ability to read people or match them when necessary is always on point. So, his emotional intelligence. Piper was so nice to have on set, it was refreshing to have this kid who could really be professional and on point when the cameras rolled but when not on, she was a kid. This kid would be the one to chill a tense set with her imaginative play or funny jokes. So probably her professionality that was beyond even her adult costars, Matthew is incredible, we had only that one specific scene together but like I have a hard time relegating the same person acted in that very pointed scene and was this very sweet, funny guy- off. Matthew’s talent that made us all want to rise in our own performances.  

4.) What do you think is most challenging about working on a horror/thriller film?

Well for something like Freddy’s, it’s selling the lore of it and doing it well. I think for horror or thrillers the story must sell right? There is always the story of how the villain or whatever the antagonist may be, even exists. I feel like the burden comes from the fact you have to hit the tone right on whatever that may be. We couldn’t do Freddy’s and then go half assed on incorporating important pieces to the game or the lore to why these huge animatronics come to life. It’s completely having this built in fanbase believing you know what you are messing with and looking forward to seeing their favorite pieces of it incorporated, that is the burden. Even when the critics hate it, reminding yourself you don’t make it for them, you made it for the fans.  

5.) Did you ever play the original Five Nights at Freddy's games?

Not before taking the role. Once I got signed, I started playing the first one up to four on occasion just so I’d get the concepts. Since filming I’ve played security breach and help wanted with help admittedly. I have not met a single person not terrified of the games. Like if you described this game to anyone, they would be like ‘Oh that doesn’t sound scary’, then they play it and they quickly learn. Even my partner the other day was terrified playing the daycare scene. It’s funny what hits different people and scares them in it. I mean it’s built to scare you; it incorporates jumpscares and familiar but creepy looks for a reason. To this day I can’t look at an air duct and not give it a second glance on whether balloon boy can fit and be scurrying in it to get me.

6.) If you were put into the situations your character gets into, how do you think you'd handle it?

I would have had to tell Mike. I can’t see a world where I didn’t. Maybe it’s reflection and my own current life bleeding into that answer. Like I would not dance around it, ‘I know this is your only chance at a job but man this should not be it. Go to the next town and find something’ I’d be much more protective and vocal about it all.

7.) What do you like most about acting in general, but especially in this type of film?

Getting to bring to life something that has had such thought and care put into it. See this thing breathe that was just a screenwriter’s fantasy or something that sparked their interest enough to put passion into a script for. Then the other hands that touch it, like producers and directors, how they see it and how you can be a part of this team that makes it come to life. Think that is my answer in and out the genre.  

 8.) If you could direct your own horror film, what would the premise be?

Oh, this is a tough question, I like it though. I like the premises of generational curses; you see them occasionally in films like ‘The Fog’ but I like this concept of setting things right or healing old wounds where you don’t walk away with a happy ending. Like in the movie I just mentioned, someone is lost to the present to heal the curse of the island and you feel in the end what was lost, and it leaves you conflicted of was it worth it? I don’t think I like horror stories with happy endings.

@sudcikis

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

An Introduction to a New Project

Well, this is a change of pace, isn’t it?

Hello one and all! Whether you’re a previous follower of my blog, are not a follower but still actively sought out this post, or just came across it by sheer accident somehow, I welcome you to my very first screenshot Let’s Play!

What’s a screenshot Let’s Play? Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like: a Let’s Play, but done through text and (most importantly) screenshots instead of recording a video. I’ve watched Let’s Plays for as long as I can remember, even wanted to be a Let’s Player at one point- I’ve long since left behind that particular idea, since I have neither the time nor resources to record full-on YouTube videos of gameplay. Still, the idea of playing through and commentating on the experience at the same time- it’s continued to pique my interest, even to this day.

Then, just within the past week, I discovered screenshot Let’s Plays. Specifically, I found one such playthrough of the infamous Pokémon ROM hack Pokémon Snakewood (the less said the better, this isn’t about them), posted by Rainbow Chara X (which can be found here, if you’re curious about reading it yourself) on the PokéCommunity forums. The format of a Let’s Play using screenshots had me by the neck immediately- it was fascinating. I enjoyed reading it, and it was because I enjoyed reading it that I had an idea.

I may not have video recording/editing software, but I do have a Tumblr blog and enough time to take screenshots as I play a game and at least write about my experiences as if I was doing a Let’s Play. Besides- I enjoy writing, and I think I’m pretty good at it too (I mean, I did write an entire Danganronpa fan story, which anyone reading who’s interested should totally check out if given the chance, more info in this post)-

Shameless plugs aside, I have decided to do my own screenshot Let’s Play, needless to say. And what better game to start out with than with one from the same source material as the one featured in the playthrough that inspired me to do this? But this one’s no ROM hack, no- it’s a full-on fan game. None other than:

Pokémon Reborn! If you’ve never heard of this game, allow me to regale you with the game’s synopsis (as told by its very own website):

Black smog and acidic water garnish crumbling structures along the city skyline. Alleys fester with disaster and crime amidst the metropolis, a blemish over the once-vibrant region. Reborn City is ready for a hero.

Pokémon Reborn is an Emerald-styled downloadable game featuring all content through Generation 7. Experience a never-before-seen layer of strategy with the all-original Field Effects, using the terrain to outplay and overwhelm your opponent! Collect, train and battle with all 807 Pokemon available in-game and take on Gym Leaders of all 18 types as you fight to restore Reborn to prosperity!

I love Pokémon, played it ever since I was a little kid, and I’m certainly no stranger to its fan game scene- if I love something enough, I consume and/or make fan content of it (like Danganronpa). I even had plans to make a fan game of my own- which I might still do, if/when I get enough time and motivation. I’ve played Pokémon fan games before, mostly Pokémon Insurgence, and I’ve looked into Pokémon Reborn in the past, but only now have I finally decided to play it as well.

And you all, however many are perceiving this post now or in the future, get to come along for the ride! I can’t promise a regular schedule for updates, I am a college student with other responsibilities (and hyperfixations) to focus on, but I can assure anyone who’s listening that when I do update, they will be filled with some amount of comedic value.

So sit back, grab a snack and/or a drink, and follow me as we have some completely normal, totally professional, and non-scuffed adventures in Reborn City!

You don't have to wait long, either- the first part will be sent out at some point soon after this is posted, so be on the lookout for that!

FUTURE EDIT: it's over here actually

[the-firebird69]

Hulk Hogan Cosplay In Fan Expo Dallas Comic Con

Kanye is off trying to mock me I'll tell you it's pretty hard and our friend here says it's really hard to mock any professional wrestler that he act zany and crazy and out there I said it too I'm like one of the most conservative and you can't quite mock me turns out to be advertising for what could be one of the best ideas i've ever heard in my life. That in the beer and he says I might wanna step it up a little so my people know I'm not a complete **** make a more expensive one in addition to this one and continue making the original Real-American beer And it would be more like a regular label it wouldn't have the image except maybe a smaller one that looks more like a classic label with probably be like an inch tall in a photo negative and it'll be embossed stuff they said that's nice.. That's my people and it really is pretty nice. There'll be a decent beer can reflect on the same theme but a little bit more quality and some gold on it and it'll be a nicer brew and I know how to make a real nice one it's a good idea because the less expensive one would sell better because they taste the expensive one and say we're still drinking it and the expensive one is going to be very nice I know how to brew And extremely well and German beers are world famous. And they would knock it out it's amazing this idea I had it myself but I heard him talking about it someone could jump up and do it make tons and I'm selling so much of it is really hurting california buys more of this than anyone in Earth they had these ideas to send huge huge containers of it and I'm doing it and they come back and we refill them takes all day to fill them up. Then I empty like half of that that they're giant vats The containers don't go in a truck no they do so really it's like a milk truck full and it doesn't empty a vat or half one but they're big I mean these things it's it's a tanker coming to fill up your facility that's some crazy stuff and we ship it warm we try we do cool it though we don't cool the all the way down just the way 70 and we get there and they start to cool it and we test it. It is a huge operation now huge you told me how it would work now our guys are getting the idea I got to get the idea whiskies and things like that. I like this idea

MAN CAVE It would be for that or other fighting arena it's like a sumo idea but you would have AWWF and WWE wrestler costumes was sumo they have headgear and you'd have to have it with this they said you can cover the face and it's a mask it's kind of like a leather mask but it's not leather and we know what the material is it's kind of sturdy and it would look like our face they have my beard on it that would be a big hit and we would have to have 100 andre in the big show the rock and all sorts of characters and we can get together and design these and there could be an undergarment and an outer one for doing all sorts of crazy maneuvers you can tap out it might work in Vegas typical gamble and their friends and it'll get a little rough and then our friend here has accepted the match he was saying Star Trek we can do that too we have those funny batons we do the sumo there's a couple other things that they do boxing with huge gloves and the casino can be the man cave we could have living room set up for horse races and sports games and you sit there with your friends and your crew or if you're a loner you come in and you make a group with loaners then you gamble against each other and I've seen it but the domain cave That the man gave its informal and everybody can jump in there sit down have a beer have a hamburger or a steak and cigar and some wine have you a woman sit with you and drink the mixed drinks and embed on things wilmington wimbledon and big horse races hockey games and he says wrestling I've never heard that before and you'll find out how it goes you're supposed to have a winner and it really does not happen that way it's kind of like MMA and you're just trying to make it look really cool it's like a massively dangerous and hugely powerful people look into it and finally figured out yeah I got back into it too many people call me a wimp and people get into it and they'll figure out it's real that's kinda cool we have these matches in Vegas and one of the rules is you can't gamble on it but the gamble over MMA and a lot Sometimes it's really past it but I'm doing all the meaning of wild on you I mean This is a very intense sport then he was saying what am I gonna do in Hulkamania goes wild on me we're gonna get it the idea is bad is dangerous but really it's out of hand anyway no if you can gamble the use of weapons will be restricted I will we should do it

Hulk Hogan You think this is a great idea and all of it and he's sending a lot of beer his brewing more beer than he can brew and he's open breweries and on the West Coast tons of them no he's using a 4 or 5 and they're pretty big we're in the process of acquiring three breweries but we don't have them yet they're in the upper Midwest and yeah the water is an issue there's a way to take it out of there and it starts flowing you take it out of the middle not the top or bottom and he was right on. We'd like to get involved in that but we don't have a huge brewery in the Midwest it's three or four medium-sized ones and they're far away from each other but if we started them up now we'd have a reputation by the time this thing hits it's war profiteering but they're the ones who would be paying. Twice. So he says we would have to own the names of the businesses we buy or acquire and that's true it would be ideal and in this case. The thing to do. We're going to try and purchase one at least tomorrow on a Monday that is and they know about it and they are a certain group and we would send it to their area And we are okay with that. Other beers will follow but they're already brand names. And Hulk Hogan has a winner everybody likes it and we put up our post and the sales went through the roof. It's just like you said is trucking it out there it's not too far they have these huge vats that they put it in and they empty one a day and it's like half a tanker truck no it's like four tanker trucks and they clean it every time I mean these people are serious they only have like two types of beer yeah so that's a lot of beer we are thinking about putting a place out there and our vats are twice as big and we'd have like 10 to start and we pipe it in and yeah that's to go to a smaller one and keep it cool but I'll tell you what that is an intense system that they have you should see how much beer that is and they don't charge that much it's about a dollar a beer and they like it 'cause they just hand you a dollar it doesn't make you think and stuff. We are going to try and get involved so if you want us to build a facility and have us ship you our brand of beer we know what person it is and what the area is we will set you up currently that beer company makes five different beers and we would set it up with 5 vats is there so huge and train people and train plumbers as well and then there's like three or four vats for hard alcohol and there would have to be bats for fruit juices to mix with it and we do have a couple fruit juice companies and it stays pretty good and then there's other mixers things you mix it with but still that would be ideal and the cost of the place is not cheap it's millions about 70 million and Tommy Allen is going to call says he has the money. And he knows which one we're talking about and the son is interested because it's only got one brewery or brew house is not true And  it has 4 or 5 in the Midwest and they have two or three on the outside of it those are very big they only conserve two or three city areas at a regular volume and right now they're serving two but that's the upper Midwest and they'll close soon. It's not Pabst Blue Ribbon they're pretty good it's not the one that Trump wants and it's not any of the big brand names it's not true it might be Michelob. We really have not sold that many beers lately and our son and daughter say wouldn't that make you the winner VJA because it says Michelob light for the winner. You know just as a side note. Kinda smiling 'cause it's kinda funny michelob was one of the beers our son and Dodger liked and I drank too much daughter not Dodger and they drank a bit much but it tasted good and then it kinda like faded away it came back a little bit with nickel world light and faded away again so we like to do this and we wanna set up a meeting and we're not sure how to know we know and we wanna bring in a vat so we're gonna go ahead and do it and we'll have to network and he says today is Saturday and it's a good time to do that and they have they call them a certain thing it's not a bar it's not megaplex Not a good guess and not close brewhouse no paupers beerhouse no the big vat no it's much beer as the eye can see and then you'll probably never get it. Brewers pub no it's a big bar there's a lot of good food that's fast and a lot of beer and a lot of people go there it's their own beer brand they're gonna love it it's way down South in Hulk Hogan is not down there but he is in the he's in the middle somewhere with the rest of them are and he's sending tons of beer by the way they're brewing a ton he gets the idea try and be useful and food is very useful and they can't do it they have a hard time brewing as well and he knows about it he says this is what it's like we do need to do something. So our son says I have a great idea because that might not stick too well except the food and it's sometimes hard to explain to them because we're building the food so we're making it and they want to sit there threatening us but wine is another but really you could be a broker for kit cars and start selling them tomorrow and he says why don't they do that and says I can't get any of them to do it none of them have any balls none of them and you guys have teams to copy them and he leans forward and says you're right this is how it goes. It really is so he says we have a few we like and we know about that one and they think they can handle it. Those are ones you like so they even drive those. This is stopping a **** **** and pay attention they can't drive that one either so they're they're talking about I said everyone has one of those they said the Corvette's nice it's not as fast as it can go but it's easy to make to go fast and it's safer than most so we can make a kit and people have done that for centuries before Corvette was even here on Earth and he's laughing because you're saying some weird stuff and it's also strange this is like 12 beers and then looking at real American beer label. And Corky is saying he's coming at me bring it bro. Then really you wanna buy this beer

YOIU WANT TO BUY THIS BEER CORKS.......AND YELL AT THE HULK HOGAN IMAGE,,,BRING IT BRO BRING IT BRO....BRING IT BRO

And really that little skit already happened but it might happen again. So they're probably by the beer and tac will go around about kit cars we have so many of these stupid chassis and he says it might be a good deal so he's gonna look into it it's kind of a heavier end of things they really can't brew their own beer either but you know they can find us to do it but where we can't get the car out there at all and we can probably get beer out there. It's pretty pleased and he says we're gonna have to do it my burial cell and for Christ sake don't put A put that up there and he says he has to in sells beer. He started before he started again and he says different stuff but.

OR ......THATS RIGHT HULK WE USE YOU. NEED IT TOO. NOW.  AND DRINKU UP I SAY BG SAYS

WE SAY IT LIKE THIS. MORE OK CNT GET ENOUGH. AND NNOW. SEND IT. T HEY DO.  WE LIKE. AND  BRING IT OK BRO BRING IT  MORE...HAHAHAHAH.

OK and a Corky said it is in LA right now it says LA county is downtown LA believe it or not and he's not near El Pollo loco he's near where our son was when he had like his first good meal at the market and he's in a restaurant a small and having a Hulk Hogan yeah they're far reaching it's not a keg it's A It's a can. So he's making tons of beer this guy's making beer we have a few breweries that are smaller they would not be big enough to supply him with like an hour of beer no it's like a day for what he's doing so we could call him up see if he wants us to brew it. The longer trip but we have a milk trucks too and that's what they use. So he's kind of interested and we have like 20 of those that's 20 days of his current volume. And he knows how to reach us sorta so that would be good we'll get those going we're looking for people to man those right now to clean them up and get them cleaned up and going and start a couple bruise of our own and we can sell those we get some orders and we'll sell that. And right now

Thor Freya

Olympus

We're in charge here but this is an idea. To be a broker and he'd sell to dealers and he wants to do it. The Corvette's a great idea and came from these guys cause they can drive it and sun was saying it too. Alien is a race car the saline is a race car the John Cena is a race car they go over 900 miles an hour the Corvette kit would be extremely fast probably about four or 500 mph and faster than the stock Corvette lighter but it would have a real cage and be safer so they want them now. And they're gonna bother Hulk Hogan and I hope he knows where we are release the phone number. And our son says I have no idea we're we're somewhere near the Pontiac plants. According them off you can say it on the radio He says I really don't want to do that but okay

We're going ahead now and thinking knows how to contact us.

Thor Freya

We're really gonna be into this we hear there's a stitch boat design and he can't seem to get it anywhere 'cause nobody will put it in there. I'd have to claim it's mine and there's so many people would buy it and I'll tell you what it's a way to survive and he says the stitch boat is very simple and fun and there's a bunch of there's a few designs out there and you could of course change it but really it's a basic principle and we don't have to say the design if you can make one and I think I'm going to make one I know how to design and engineer it the pieces are not as flexible as it sounds it says doesn't have to be and you don't run it as far and it's like these bays like two foot bays and you run a straight piece and you might have a couple days where it's kind of not as straight but there has to be a some kind of something you can do with there I need to think for a minute of it's not gonna be straight kinda straight let me ask somebody

ric flair

There's one or two designs that have it when you spin across on the inside bottom you're going at the scene and the scene is not necessarily straight it could be curved too but you can infill it because the curve is not humongous with the melding material and he says he doesn't like it but he's going to test it and on bigger boats you can practically put it flat and it fills it with like an 8th of an inch and the melody material hardens to metal. you could put a closure piece in and you could melt that to it but the edge has to be wide somehow and the sun says you could clip it and do it but that's there's no point to that unless you put bracing to each of the clip points or you could take like a two by one inch piece and clip it and use the melody material under it and then put a piece along it if there's a big gap of like half an inch or one inch so he's easy idea and it's not too hard and really it is not. Take the piece so it's another angle and you put it along the 2 inch vertical edge and you just use self tapping screws and the melding material and it's all done it says that's pretty smart and it goes where did you get that I said from the stitch boat that I designed originally and you'll probably put the pieces close to the bottom as possible and with the vertical angle along the vertical angle of the first piece so he gets that and it's all melted together and then you tie the clip in the end of it with a clip to the truss now he's interested and says it's a very simple mechanism because you can use the glue and it's true that's Rick Flair. Us to bring stuff out there to you guys. And there might be a lot of that because the max are in the factories and we are too they run a few of them but not many but they actually will be out there later and we will be too. That's not why it's because you're not sending anything.

Thor Freya

We need this stuff pretty quick like now so we're gonna see if our guys can get it together but really we get this this is gonna be tense. For Corvette kid online and I don't see any.

Hulk Hogan They're very close but you can make the kid different and not a replica.

We want to get this project going we have others first the sewer and water was spoke about and we need people now. Other big one to launch right now

Olympus

[captainfightingflower]

The Tee K.O. 2 avatars are so unfathomably ugly to the point where it feels like everyone’s praising them ironically.

How do people find the Tee K.O. 2 avatars CUTE?!? Are we looking at the same bunch of avatars?? I’ve never seen a piece of official media adapt character designs this fucking ATROCIOUSLY in my life! They’re violently inaccurate, incredibly uncanny, and don’t even respect their origin game’s source material. It feels like reading the reviews for the Mulan remake with how disjointed the praises are to the actual product. Did you guys actually SEE the avatars, or are you just saying that you did so Jackbox Games can get your precious games on time that you keep pestering them to release immediately?

I’ve seen people compair this to Super Smash Brothers, and that’s probably the most brutal insult i’ve ever seen someone hurl at that franchise. That game respects each characters, they adapt each character to perfection, being in that game is a thing of pride. The only one i’d really complain is inaccurate to their source material is Samus, but that’s it! Tee K.O. 2 is a fucking travesty where everybody looks like they were drawn by an amateur artist for their fan game, and i’m pretty sure if any of my characters were represented in a professional project like how Tee K.O. 2 did it; i’d instantly wanna dissociate from the entire thing all together!

This entire pack is just an officially licensed fangame, that’s it, you can not convince my brain that this is anything but a fangame that just so happens to be published by Jackbox Games. I’m honestly starting to believe that i’m being pranked, because how can anybody in their right mind unironically call these things CUTE?!? That’s what’s fucking getting me. There’s no way people fucking like this, there’s absolutely zero redeeming qualities about their design adaptions and i cannot wrap my brain around anybody genuinely liking these as anything more than a fucking joke.

If you like them: HOW?!?! Tell me, tell Fighting Flower, why do you like these design adaptions?! What’s cute about them?!? What looks good about them??%! WHAT’S EVEN ACCURATE ABOUT THEM?!?! HOW, HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM?!? WHAT’S ALLURING YOU TO THESE AFFRONTS TO GOD?!?!?!?!?!

Nothing against you personally for liking them, i just can’t understand anybody actually liking these frankly terrible designs. I’m more surprised how nobody feels as offended about it as i do. I hate these designs, because at a fundamental level: they’re just bad. Not badly drawn, just bad. You can say you like them, but they aren’t good adaptions of character designs, that’s just the factual truth: they aren’t good. Show this to any professional art teacher and they’d think you were playing a prank on them. It’s practically reaching bootleg levels of awful. These don’t feel authorised, these don’t feel official, they are BAD.

I could write an ENTIRE VIDEO ASSAY about how these design adaptions FAIL AWFULLY at being good adaptions. I could go on and on about how these things should’ve never left the drafts! I bet you even i could depict them better, and i ain’t even a professional! And i’m not claiming that ‘cause i think i’m more talented than them, i’m only saying that to show how BAD those adaptions are! That a fucking hobbyist can better adapt character designs to a game’s design philosophy than a group of PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS!

I hope the pack gets stolen like the movie Foodfight! and the staff is forced to start over from scratch, or at least put that thing in the damn oven and delay it to next year! It’s so unbaked, i bet you they don’t even HAVE drafts. They thought the first thing they could and chuck it in there, because it sure damn feels like it!

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this Week #112 (Year 3/Week 8):

2 directed by Canadian Sarah Polley:

🍿 Women Talking, her latest acclaimed story, about mass raping at an isolated Mennonite community, and the women who must decide if they stay in the remote community or leave.

I am looking for women-made movies (I've already seen 21 this year that were directed by women), and I’m sympathetic to the cause. I also hate religion and the patriarchy in equal measures. But this drama was a talky stage play, and except for the satisfying happy ending, left me unmoved. The score was by Hildur Guðnadóttir.

(PS. I don’t watch SNL anymore, but this film popped on their recent ‘Big Hollywood Quiz’ sketch).

🍿 Fortunately, while looking for other movies she did, I discovered Stories we tell, her 2012 documentary. It explores her own personal story, how she found out that she was born from an extramarital affair her outgoing mother had with another man. Deservedly, this film is now considered to be one of the 10 best Canadian films. For a while, I thought that the reenactments lasted a bit too long, not realizing that the whole movie was “reconstructed”, and played out by professional actors. The final sentence, after the credits, was the real bombshell. 9/10. (Photo Above).

So now I want to see the documentary ‘51 Birch Street‘, but I can’t find a copy!

🍿

"Maycomb was a tired old town – even in 1932 when I first knew it – that summer I was six years old."

Re-watching the fantastic To kill a mockingbird, a classic message movie about racism in a small town, as much as it is a story of a single dad's love of his children. (Photo above). Atticus Finch’s deep voice, Robert Duval’s debut as the blond, mute Boo Radley, and the little girl who played ‘Scout’ and who at 10 became the youngest to ever being nominated for the Oscars. 10/10.

🍿

2 with young Keira Knightley:

🍿 Atonement, a lush, very British upper-class period drama with the magnificent 12-year-old Saoirse Ronan, in her breakthrough role, and with Keira Knightley’s gorgeous green dress. 7/10.

🍿 First watch: Bend it like Beckham. Made by Gurinder Chadha, a female British-Indian director, and tells of a girl from an Sikh-Indian family who wants to play soccer. But otherwise predictable.

🍿

My first superhero movie ever! Superman Awakens, by brothers Stavros & Antonis Fylladitis. It’s a fan-made CGI short, done in game-changing Unreal Engine 5.

🍿

2 by British documenterian Lucy Walker:

🍿 How to change your mind, a new 4-part series with Michael Pollan, describing his insights into the psychedelic drugs LSD, Psilocybin, MDMA and mescaline as well as their uses in psychedelic therapy. Obviously, I loved it. Especially, the few interpretations of actual trips, f. ex. on Episode 1, starting at 12:00, with Albert Hofmann’s 4/19/43 bicycle trip. 7/10.  🍿 “...I never imagined I’d become a work of art”..

Her 2010 Waste Land started as a standard documentary about Brazilian artist Vik Muniz exploring the world’s largest landfill outside Rio, and the people who rummage through the trash to find any reusable material. But it ended as an incredibly moving tribute to some of the humble “Catadores” who live at the favelas of the very bottom of society. Especially later, as he creates large portraits of them made of the garbage they collected, and their reactions to seeing themselves becoming ‘objet d'art’. (The 2020 Tunisian film 'The Man Who Sold His Skin' dealt with similar themes.)

100% Tomato score - Best film of the week!

🍿  

“...All you needed was some minding...”

Re-watching The quiet Girl, one of my most cherished film experiences from last year. (Photo Above). A tremendously restrained masterpiece, simple and moving. It’s about a sad and lonely 9-year-old girl with no voice who discovers kindness for the first time when she is send away to spend the summer with some distant relatives. Part of the recent Gaelic-language Irish film renaissance.

Catherine Clinch, the little girl is so beauteous, I can see her becoming the 2032 Revlon Girl. 10/10.

🍿  

Suddenly, Last Summer, the third of Tennessee Williams’s talky plays adapted to the screen in the 50′s. Heavy hitters all around: Joseph Mankiewicz, Gore Vidal, Montgomery Clift as Dr. Cukrowicz ... An unconvincing melodrama about crazed old rich Katharine Hepburn who want to get Elizabeth Taylor, her niece, lobotomized and about her unseen dead son “Sebastian” who used the niece to “procure” Italian boys, because he was insanely homosexual. But with so much euphemism and cover ups, it was hard to figure out what was really happening. 3/10.

🍿

The new Anna Kendrick film Alice, darling started as a shallow girl’s flick, but turned into a terrific and ominous thriller. The directorial debut from Bill Nighy’s daughter tells of a woman who’s being emotionally abused by a manipulating boyfriend. It was slow to unfold, and the gaslighting, subtle coercion and power games hinted that tense violence will follow. Fortunately it ended a pure psychological play. 6/10. 

🍿

The Japanese Tora-San teledrama is the world’s longest-running film series which starred a single actor. In 48 installments released between 1969 and 1995, it featured an archetype of bumbling, goofy and lovable traveling salesman, like Mr. Bean or Monsieur Hulot. He’s always looking for a woman to marry, but always ends up alone, and still optimistic. Tora-san, the Good Samaritan is the 7th in the low-brow series. Here he falls for Hanako, a feeble-minded young girl. My first, and probably the only, bite of this apple.

🍿    

David Bowie X 3:

🍿 Moonage Daydream, the first “officially-authorized” biography from the Bowie estate. Uses many of the 5 millions video clips and photographs from his private collections, and as such it is textually rich, psychedelic and arbitrary. He was a visual chameleon and a style trailblazer, but he had to suffer from decades of inane questioning by clueless interviewers. Not cohesive, but the music was great. 5/10.

🍿 John Landis made some classic comedies (’Trading Places’, ‘Three Amigos’. ‘Coming to America’), but also lots of worthless schlock (which was the name of his first feature). Into the Night belong to the latter. It’s a horribly-directed, disjointed “Black Comedy” flop which has zero laughs in it. It’s notable only for having about 30 cameos by other film-makers, including Bowie. 2/10.

🍿 Bowie’s first film role was in the artsy 1969 short The Image. A young artist is haunted by the boy he just finished painting. Strictly for Bowie fans?

🍿

The best in the world, an interesting local documentary analyzing the claim that Copenhagen is one the world’s best “big” cities. Digs into historic reels showing the the growth and politics of the city and warns about market trends that can make it exclusive to the “haves”. 8/10.

🍿

2 by Petra Epperlein + 2 about Hitler:

🍿 For 50 years I was perversely abhorred by Hitler the figure. So the new documentary The Meaning of Hitler, based on the 1978 study by Sebastian Haffner, was of interest to me. What is fascinating about fascism? How did the Nazis manage to seduce the imagination of so many? Why is it coming back Post-2016? Barbarism is utterly human and Hitler’s presence is everywhere again. 7/10.

🍿 Karl Marx City is a personal dive into her own history: She returns to her previous hometown of Chemnitz in East Germany in order to discover why did her father hung himself years ago. In the process she documents the Stasi omnipotent power as an all-seeing, all-knowing surveilling tool. Unfortunately, she tells the story about herself in the third-person, which makes it incredulous.

🍿 “... Really, Michael. How much weed were you smoking on a daily bases?...”

Bill Plympton’s disastrous live action feature Hitler’s Folly was the truly worst film of the week. It’s hard to imagine what prompted the genial creator of ‘Your Face’ to come up with this inane, insane alternative history mockumentary that imagines World War 2 as Hitler's unfulfilled career as an animator. It’s a 1-gag joke-concept, like ‘Life of Brian’ or ‘Zelig’ but without any saving grace. Plympton’s Folley indeed. 1/10.

🍿

I started watching Kieślowski’s 1979 Camera Buff, but unfortunately I took a break after an hour, and when I returned later, the copy of the free streamer I was using disappeared. Ouch.

🍿    

I didn't realize that Don Hertzfeldt is so young X 3:

🍿 Billy's Balloon, his minimalist 1998 short about a stick-figure toddler being molested by a red balloon. Inexplicable.

🍿 It's Such a Beautiful Day, Hertzfeldt first feature. Hallucinatory and experimental animation about the same figure-stick “Bill” who suffers for various real and existential ailments, and tries to figure out his life, stream-of-conscience style.

🍿 All this because I was re-watching his World of tomorrow once again. I’m sure that it is the spontaneous voice of 4-year-old Emily Prime which endears this movie to me.

🍿       

2 more shorts:

🍿 Seven minutes in the Warsaw ghetto, a bleak, impressionistic Danish short about a boy who tries to retrieve a carrot he finds on the ground. Porcelain doll puppets with cracked faces and a dark vision with no comfortable explanation. Recommended.

🍿 Rocks just wanna rock out: An Object at Rest (2015), a philosophical animation by Seth Boyden.

🍿        

Throw-back to the art project:  

David Bowie Adora.

🍿

(My complete movie list is here)

[yakiswifey]

Chapter 1

NOTES FOR THE READERS:

ok so i know this is clearly an aggressive yaki au but it doesnt have to be this was just the direction i started to go in. This is something I found in my docs and I’d like to share the concept with everyone. Yes, this is enemies to lovers. Anytime you see a separation between paragraphs this is POV shifting from you to Kyk. My inbox is OPEN, if anyone has requests.

“Congratulations, you made the team”

You’ll never forget the day you made it to what you consider the dream team, all your hard work paying off in the end. The day you opened up the letter signed to you announcing the news you had been waiting for. The sense of accomplishment flooded through you, pleased with yourself for once. All your friends and family deemed you lucky and were proud of you. You made a promise to yourself to not get distracted along the way. The sound of the fan running in your studio apartment, just arriving back from checking the mail. Your eyes lit up upon the sight of seeing the application addressed to you, as much as you wanted to scream you held composure. That whole night you could hardly sleep knowing what the future held for you, time passed slowly than within an instant you were starting your very first game on the team.

The air in the locker room felt hot and sticky, shouting could be heard from outside as you laced up your shoes for your first game. You were a freshman on the college volleyball team, another new face and considered a pester for your older teammates. You checked yourself out in the mirror before stumbling out onto the gym nervously, you felt like a baby giraffe using its legs for the first time. “Get it together…” You told yourself. Your talents were undeniable and you deserved your spot on the team, regardless of the anxious thoughts that ran through your mind. A deep breath filled your lungs and left in a moment's release, hands slightly shaky and clammy. People lined the rows, eagerly awaiting the game to start while everybody cheered for their favorite players and teams. Standing up straight for a sense of false confidence, you stood in your position ready. You could feel one pair of eyes in particular latching onto you, who? No other than your team captain, of course. Kim Yeon-Koung, one of the best volleyball players in the world was staring directly into your soul as if already displeased with you. Her eyes were piercing like a hawk and her eyebrows furrowed together as she had only one goal in mind, winning.

Yaki moved with grace across the gym, seemingly every time the ball came her way she could score a point. No matter who she was up against her expertise and professionalism shined through, she remained a true force to be reckoned with. You always admired how she made it look so easy, nearly effortless when it came to doing what she loved. As the game continued on, the focused look she had only left her face when it was time to celebrate. Her charming smile could switch off to an intimidating death stare towards the opposing team within an instant, that was the competitive nature about her. She was magnetic to you even if you knew it was wrong, you didn’t want to be right. She was so attractive it was easy to look past her defensive and stern demeanor. There has been a time too many when Yaki had gotten onto you, whether it was for hitting the ball in the wrong direction or simply not playing exactly how she wanted you to. When it had become game time she turned ruthless, at times she even hurt you and your other teammate’s feelings.

Regardless… She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

“Hit the ball, idiot!”

Somehow you managed to lose your train of thought midgame, the ball flew right by you and hit the floor allowing your opponents to gain a point. Yaki threw her hands up in the air, muttering curse words under her breath. Nothing made her angrier than when we royally screwed up, especially a mistake made by a younger teammate. Her attitude could shift from sweet to seeing red within an instant. You cuffed your face with your hands, wiping off some sweat. Pure humiliation and shame sent a shock through your body, knocking you back down to Earth once again. You wanted to run or hide, anywhere away from everyone else but you couldn’t. Yaki took a deep breath and made a “come here” motion with her hands and you knew all her wrath was about to be released upon you. You made your walk of shame towards her, keeping your posture as stiff and tall as you could in an attempt to not display your guilt.

“Are you kidding me? I’m not losing because of you. Get it together, Y/n.”

“Im sorry I-”

“I don’t care, that will not ever happen again.”

She scoffed and fixed her position, making sure to scrunch her face up enough to express her disdain for you. You hated that you could never defend yourself with her, as much as you knew you were in the wrong. Everyone held their places and the game continued, this time you were going to prove yourself. The winning team served the ball and this time your eyes were hyperfocused on it. One of your teammates hit the ball to the other side but the defense knocked it back over to you, this was your chance and you took it. You slammed the ball with your palm as hard as you could, your opponents scurried over to defend but they were no match. You scored a point, quickly recovering from your hiccup earlier. You threw your hands up and cheered with the team, a big smile covered Yaki’s face. Nothing made you happier than when she was proud of you. She always managed to shift your emotions, hitting every notch on the spectrum from anger to butterflies fluttering around in your tummy.

Both teams were now even and whichever team scores will be the winner. Yaki gave a quick pep talk, assuring everyone we could have this. Regardless of her rough exterior, she was an amazing coach and you knew that. You respected her even though you knew she saw you as an ant. Every time she switched from being angry to happy with you it tugged at your heartstrings, leaving you absolutely hopeless. You doubted she even acknowledged your existence sometimes but the high was enough to keep you confident for the remainder of the game. Your team served the ball and thus came the usual back and forth of the two teams. This one was tough since everyone was fighting for a win, footsteps squeaked across the floor as everyone shouted at each other. Sure enough, Yaki hit the ball and made it land smack across the floor. The team huddled together to give everyone a joyous embrace, Yakis hand graced your back before pulling away. Being within her presence never lasted long enough.

You hunched over on a cold metal bench, sweat running down your back and neck. The stench of gungy knee pads and sopping uniforms filled the air. Bodysprays and deodorant attempted to mask the hazardous scent. Your gaze stayed on the worn blue tiles along the locker room floor. The scuffle and rummaging of tennis shoes and lockers flinging open, cheering and laughter layered over. You grabbed a soft cotton towel and headed to the showers, a curtain covered the cubicles. You whipped the curtain open impatiently and began taking your clothes off, hanging them over the steel rod above you. Soapy suds and a thick lather coated your body, a holy cleanse after the intense game you endured. Hot water hit your back as your mind recalled Yaki lecturing you, the way her eyes seemingly filled with hatred and resentment. Though the game was won, your mind ate at your flaws and faults.

Never good enough.

You turned the faucet off and began to dry off, wrapping a separate towel in your hair. You felt clean and fresh, ready to go home and pass out. Upon leaving, you saw the girls all huddled around Yaki as she rambled. Laughter and giggles from everyone eating up one of her elaborate storytimes, admittedly she was funny. Looks and a good sense of humor, she had everything. You picked up your duffel bag and let it slouch over your shoulder before heading towards the door. It was obvious how a few girls just wanted brownie points with the captain, some kept their distance because they couldn’t stand her. At the moment you weren’t sure where you and Yaki stood until she called your name out just before you could leave. She stood up and cut her storytime short, feet scuffling over towards you. She cleaned up well as you could smell her musky perfume lingering from her body as she moved closer.

“Let’s talk.”

She pulled you out for some privacy, her hand resting on your shoulder.

You nodded your head in obedience, ready for whatever criticism she was about to give you.

“How did you not see it coming? I’ve never seen you freeze up like that before.”

Her hands cupped the air in frustration, the concept of it being your first game and never playing in front of that many people never occurred in her mind. Even though you knew, who was really distracting you at the moment. You paused, your eyes pointed at the ground as you tried to come up with an excuse. You felt the heat of Yaki’s intimidating glare on you, looking you up and down in pity.

“I made a mistake, there is no excuse for it and I’ll admit that. It won’t happen again but stop acting as you weren’t in my position before.”

“Because I wasn’t, I was much better than you at your age.”

She cocked a sly grin and tilted her head, she thought herself hilarious and cute. However, you found nothing funny about the situation. Your mind raced with a hundred scenarios where Yaki could have passed the ball to a better spot or times when she let her close friends off the hook when they messed up yet got onto you for the slightest mistake. Your eyes wanted to jolt all the way to the back of your brain but you didn’t wanna come off too rude to your senior. You smacked your teeth together and said nothing, the both of you making eye contact. The air grew quiet and tense as she knew you weren’t saying how you truly felt. Either way, she felt as though it was the perfect time to listen to the sound of her voice yet again.

“Practice tomorrow morning, eight o clock. Be there, your career depends on it.”

══════════════════

Yaki switched into a shirt and shorts to assess her daily wine down, It had been a long day after all. Every day is a long day for an athlete, the body was in good shape but the mind remained heavy sometimes. She lives alone, on the days she isn’t busy she is usually staying out of the public eye. Her notoriety had sparked in recent years especially despite being well known for a long time now. Yaki, let out a big yawn before collapsing in bed and turning on something to watch, presumably her usual drama. The apartment was quiet but tidy and kept. For the most part, she was content with living alone but it does get lonely. The difference between going from loud cheering crowds to silence is hard to adjust to. Every night she did a quick rundown on what the teammates need to improve, at the end of the list was you. There was never a moment where Yaki doubted your talent, it was your focus that came into question.

What is that girl always thinking about?

Yaki sighed after closing her laptop. Silence, darkness then came the tossing and turning. Reaching over to the other side of the end table she grabbed her phone and opened up her socials, scrolling to see if anyone has posted anything new. She paused and clicked her tongue, feeling nosey enough to search up your name. You both followed each other but never interacted much, things were always friendly if they weren’t tense. Admittedly, she knew you were the easiest to get a reaction out of. The way you pulled yourself away from her was noticeable, whether you meant to or not.

══════════════════

[female-buckets]

Elena Delle Donne on finding acceptance as a lesbian in the WNBA

Elena Delle Donne, 32, is a professional basketball player for the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, who were swept in the first round of the 2022 playoffs. She helped the team win its first championship in 2019; is a three-time starting all-star, two-time MVP, and rookie of the year; and has won Olympic gold for the United States.

Stepping way back, can you talk about when you first got the bug, when you first realized that you were really good at the game and really loved it?

I first started playing because I have an older brother — three years older — and, really, whatever sport he was doing, I just wanted to do it, too, and be able to play with him and his friends. And I was able to hold my own. And then, the moment I knew I was really good was when I started playing AAU basketball and traveling. I mean, in travel ball, our team was good, and I’d been good on the team, but to go to the nationals and then see all the different 10-year-olds across the country and feel like I was one of the best, that was a little bit shocking, I think, to both me and my family.

Also, basketball helped me get a little bit more comfortable in my body because it was the only place where I felt my height was a good thing. I was definitely always much taller than the boys and the girls in my grade. And when I was young it was really hard. You deal with some mean comments from kids. Feeling like you’re different isn’t always the greatest thing as a kid. I don’t know exactly when I hit 6-5, but in high school I was definitely in the 6-foot range. So when I got to the basketball court, it was like, “Oh my goodness, this height is a good thing, actually — and there’s other really tall people.” So I think I found not just a love in basketball, but a comfort in it, too, where I could really be myself and be celebrated for being different.

You’ve spoken about the importance of visibility — both the visibility as a female athlete and visibility of being different.

I think it’s huge that we have a bunch of different role models out there for kids to be able to look up to and maybe connect with something that they are feeling. As a kid, I was obsessed with Sheryl Swoopes and Michael Jordan, being two of the greatest players to ever play the game. But I was also confused about my sexual orientation for a while, too. I never had gay role models that I could really look up to, and there weren’t really books or commercials or any of that showing gay couples. That wasn’t around when I was younger. So it was a very confusing feeling trying to figure out, “Is something wrong with me? What is this? Do I need to push this aside? This is not good.”

So for me, being tall and being gay and being a female athlete, all those things, it’s just so important that there’s more of a diverse visibility of role models. I actually didn’t feel that comfortable until college when I was able to just go and be myself and start exploring. And then when I got to the WNBA, I was like, “My goodness, this is the most incredible accepting league that I’ve ever seen!” I felt just so safe and comforted in this league, in the W. And not just with players who were out, but also fans and how pride was so celebrated. It was something I had never experienced before.

You must hear from fans all the time. Do you have stories that stay with you?

I have a lot of fans who are in the LGBT community who have thanked me for just being so open on social media about my marriage and love with my wife, Amanda. I’ve even had parents say, like, “Because you’ve shown your love with Amanda, it’s really helped me to figure out how to go about my child coming out to me.” I love to hear that. Unfortunately, I feel like with human nature, you almost just have to see more things, yourself, to understand, so I think it is very important to show our life and that our love for one another should be celebrated. Hopefully it can help others to understand or others who are struggling just to be comfortable being who they are.

Do you also get blowback?

A long time ago I decided not to read all the comments and not to get caught up in that because social media can be a great tool where you can connect with people and share your life and your story, but it can also be negative and hurtful because people get this powerful voice when they can hide behind a screen. So I’m sure, yes, I get pretty tough comments here and there, but I try just not to even pay attention to it. And the love that I receive from fans is way bigger than a couple trolls here and there.

This reminds me a little of when you were transitioning to UConn as the number one recruit out of high school and then decided [the first week of summer training] to go home for family reasons — having to make that decision as an 18-year-old, and having it be so public, with people you don’t even know commenting and criticizing.

That was really tough, especially because I was younger, and I hadn’t really developed the tough skin, so to speak, of not paying attention to what people are saying about me. But luckily, my parents, especially my mom, kind of shielded me from that when I made the decision to come back home and do something else.

People are going to say what they want to say, but it was the greatest decision I ever could have made, and my path happened the way it was supposed to happen. And I ended up back where I belong and back in this basketball journey. But I needed to take that massive step in order to find who I was outside of basketball: Who was Elena the person? For so long I defined myself as Elena the basketball player and used that to shield me from other things in life. You can never just be one thing. And I realized the importance of ways to not burn out and to develop other interests off the court and to be multifaceted. So it was crucial for me to explore all that, especially at that point in my life.

You’ve talked about the influence of your older sister, Lizzie, who is blind and deaf, and has cerebral palsy and autism, calling her the bravest person you know.

Yeah. I mean, she’s taught me more than any person in my life. And she can’t speak. So it really puts into perspective how much she’s able to communicate. I think the biggest thing for me is just seeing the things that doctors have said over the years about what she can’t do: She can’t do this, can’t do that. And then she blew [past] their expectations and did far more. At a young age they told my parents that she would never be able to lift her head, let alone walk, wouldn’t have the strength to do that. And she’s not only lifted her head, but she’s still walking. She’s just so strong, even after she’s had over 30 surgeries in her life. And a lot of times they would say, “Oh, it’s going to be a three-month recovery.” And in two weeks: Boom, she was back to her normal self. So it just has taught me a ton about not allowing self-pity and all those things to affect you from achieving what you truly can. That we’re way more capable than we even understand. A lot of times we get stuck on these expectations that are put on us. And I’ve learned from Lizzie to crush those barriers. And create your own path.

You’re now one of, I think it will be, 10 WNBA players ever with a signature shoe.

I think right now it’s only three active players with them right now: me, Stewie [Breanna Stewart] and, I believe, Candace Parker. So again, visibility and women’s sports, I think signature shoes are a huge part of that. And I’m hoping this just slams the door open for many players in the league. I feel like this is a big next step to show that these huge companies believe in us, are putting money behind it to develop these shoes, market these shoes, have them out there. And hopefully that gets other companies to come on board with the league and continue to pour in their investment. More brands are jumping on board and investing, though obviously more need to come. But I do think the league has grown tremendously and the visibility has been so much better. You see more of our games now on TV.

I even notice being out and about that way more people are noticing me and stopping me and asking about the Mystics. I’m like, “This is a great sign.” Because before I could be pretty incognito. My height gives me away here and there, but I just feel like there’s so many more people who know about our league and who are supporting and watching because it’s available.

You’ve talked about the fact that 50 percent of girls leave sports during puberty. How do you think about why that happens and what can be done to change it?

A large reason for it is just that helpless feeling of being, "Well, where is this going to take me? I don’t see professional sports. I don’t see the benefits of putting my time into this.” Another big reason is also period poverty. And not being able to have the access to products that they need in order to still be able to compete when they’re on their period. And then also a lack of women coaches out there, too. So I think there’s just a lot of different variables that go into it. So we have to pour into the grassroots programs that support young athletes. Because even if you don’t go on to be a professional athlete, sports develop people, develop their leadership skills, how to work with a team, how to be motivated and try to achieve a goal, or even how to deal with loss.

Speaking about the league and gender parity, you’ve said that men come up to you and just assume that they could beat you in basketball because you’re a woman. How often does it happen? And what’s your reaction?

It happens a decent amount; we’ll be in the airport or something, and it’ll be like, “Hey, you want to go one-on-one?”It’s just annoying. And it’s funny because the NBA guys respect our game so much, respect our level of play so much. So when you see a high school has-been come up to you like, “Yeah, I could beat you one-on-one.” It’s like, “All right, let’s not do this.”But it has lessened during my time in the league, and I’m hoping it’s because of opportunities to watch us and be like, “Yeah. No, I couldn’t beat her in one-on-one.” Or “I couldn’t stand a chance on that team.”

You’ve been vocal in urging the Biden administration to figure out a way to bring home fellow WNBA player Brittney Griner. How has her ordeal reverberated in the WNBA? And what is the thinking on how she’s been valued by the administration, and how much of that is a gender issue?

It’s just been heartbreaking to see this happen to such a sweet, incredible, caring, giving person. BG, if you meet her, she changes you because of how sweet and caring she is. The first thing she always asks me is, “How’s Lizzie?” For her to be going through this and for so long now, it’s hard to even wrap your head around it.

I think the part that was really frustrating to us all amongst the league was knowing that the administration waited so long to meet with Brittney’s wife. Like, why did that have to take so long? That was concerning to me that if you can’t even take that meeting, what are you doing to get her home? As a collective, we’ve just been trying to do the most we can to continue to talk about Brittney, and to hopefully give her some hope that we are trying whatever we can do to get her home. But hopefully something will come about and she’ll finally come home and be with her family.

If you can point to one thing you’ve learned, advice to live by, what would you say?

I guess I would just say run your own race. I think sometimes we get caught up in what other people think we should be doing, or we get caught up in judgment or comparison of what others are doing. And the bottom line is, you have to just run your own race and do what’s best for you. And you’re the only person who can steer that. Guide that and know that.

[ijustwant2write]

Causing A Fuss-Anthony Bridgerton x Reader

(GIF credit to @hvitserkk​)

Masterlist

Requested by @elennox03 : Can you write an imagine where Anthony’s wife is pregnant and she’s at the very end of her pregnancy and he is trying to make her stay in bed and rest but she refuses and she’s somewhere in the house and she goes into labor and Anthony freaks out and then after the baby is born a little cute dad Anthony fluff?

Characters: Anthony Bridgerton x Reader, Hyacinth Bridgerton x Reader (sister-in-law), Violet Bridgerton x Reader (mother-in-law)

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name

Warnings: Pregnancy side effects, labour, mention of blood, fluff fluff fluff

                                     *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Anthony's strides were quick as he explored the house, desperately seeking his wife. Members of staff were ambushed with questions, startled by his tone. When he didn't get the answer he wanted, he would huff and storm off again. Where was his beloved? She wasn't where she was supposed to be.

(Y/N) laid back on the sofa as Hyacinth fanned her, the pregnant woman also fanning herself. She was just too hot, she was tired and her feet felt like they had been hit with a hammer. Her shoes were on the floor, it was far too painful to be wearing them.

"Thank you so much darling." (Y/N) said to her sister-in-law.

"Is it really that bad?" Hyacinth asked.

(Y/N) wanted to say yes. Despite pregnancy being an extraordinary feeling, the emotions and connections you made with your unborn child were confusing, there were quite a few downsides; the sickness, the tiredness, not being able to fit into your dresses or shoes, as well as feeling every single type of emotion everyday. But after seeing the young girls scared face, she knew she couldn't be entirely truthful.

"No, of course not." (Y/N) smiled, sitting up slightly."It can just get a little tiring sometimes. Have you ever held a baby?"

She nodded.

"It was heavier than you imagined, hm? Well, my baby is a little heavy right now. But they will be here soon."

"I'm very excited to meet them. I can't wait to be an auntie!"

(Y/N) melted at that."You'll be an amazing auntie."

"Here you are." Anthony entered the room, relieved to see (Y/N), until he saw what state she was in."What is wrong? Hyacinth, why didn't you fetch for me sooner?"

Anthony rushed to his wife's side, snatching the fan from his sister and fanning his wife. (Y/N) was irritated whenever Anthony was like this, it was sweet that he cared, but her fuse was short. She was resting, not bed ridden.

"I am not returning to bed Anthony. I do not wish to bicker with you." (Y/N) made it clear."I am just hot, that is all."

"The doctor advised that you stay in bed for most of the day-"

"Anthony, I cannot stay cooped up all day, laying down and doing nothing. I would go simply mad. And I have spoken to friends who are or have been pregnant, none of them did that."

"They are not professionally trained."

"That doctor has never carried a baby."

"(Y/N) said it isn't that heavy." Hyacinth spoke up.

Anthony slowly turned his head to his sister. "This is a matter for the grown ups. Go and...play somewhere."

Hyacinth knew better than to argue with Anthony, rolling her eyes before leaving. (Y/N) pursed her lips at her husband's behaviour.

"Did I ever mention how amazing you are with children?"

Anthony smirked."Well, it's a bit late to be getting lessons on childcare, isn't it?"

(Y/N) giggled, taking Anthony's hand and placing it on her bump. Anthony loved touching her growing bump. It had been strange to see his wife changing shape before his eyes. He was so used to her body having run his hands over every angle, seeing it every day from the time they were married. But it made him fall even more in love with her, if that was even possible. Anthony could write a hundred pages expressing his love for his wife, and it would still never be enough.

"I still can't believe we're having a baby." he breathed out.

(Y/N) scoffed."Are you saying I've always looked like this?"

Anthony laughed."Of course not. But no matter how much you talk about such a thing, no matter how much preparation you do, it just seems surreal."

(Y/N) hummed in response, putting her hand on top of his."I've loved carrying them, but it is time for them to come out into the world."

"Still not saying whether it's a boy or girl?"

(Y/N) shook her head."I just don't feel one way about it. Not that I care about that, as long as they're healthy."

"I still say boy."

"You would."

"You just said you didn't care."

"I don't."

"(Y/N), please can you just promise me one thing?"

"Anthony, I am not staying in bed-"

"Stay by my side as much as possible. The baby is due soon and I want to ensure you are safe when the time comes."

"Oh, Anthony, I'm with you for a majority of the day anyway."

"I know but, if there are moments where I am not present, I want to have a sound mind that you are in safe hands, such as family or a member of staff."

"Well, you know I'm not going to be leaving the house, much to my annoyance. So I will be guarded all day and night."

"You're making it sound like you're a prisoner."

"I'm just being dramatic. I just want to meet our child now."

"Well, I can't deny either of those statements."

Anthony wasn't exaggerating when he said he wanted (Y/N) beside him at all times. From then on, they were seen with each other anywhere they went in the house. Anthony didn't go out as much as he did, and he instructed there always be staff in every room and corridor. She didn't mind it, however, as her due date grew closer, the more nervous she became. Unfortunately, that meant her temper was shorter, she became more snappy and tired, and she didn't want everyone constantly reminding her that she was about to give birth. (Y/N) tried so hard to not take it out on her husband, but because he was the one always beside her, he was the only person she could lash out at.

"Anthony, I'm sorry but I just need a few moments alone. I'll return soon, just...let me calm down. I'm sorry." she apologised as she walked away from him, having screamed about how frustrated she was.

She didn't hide her deep breathing as she waddled down the corridors, passing by staff that worryingly watched her. (Y/N) wanted to calm her heart rate, try and clear her mind. Feeling too many eyes on her, (Y/N) escaped into the nearest room, slamming the door shut behind her.

"(Y/N)?" Hyacinth said behind her.

(Y/N) sighed. Would she ever be alone again?

"What are you doing in my playroom? I thought you would be with Anthony."

She was playing with her dolls, three propped up in mini chairs, as was she, as they indulged in an imaginary afternoon tea. (Y/N) couldn't help but smile at that, envisioning her child playing in this room.

"Sorry darling, I just...I needed some time away from the grown ups."

"Oh, alright. Would you like to join us for tea?" she gestured to the chair beside her, causing (Y/N) to laugh.

"I don't think I would fit in that chair, even if I wasn't with child. I'll take the rocking chair. You carry on darling, I'm sorry for the interruption."

Her aching feet carried her to the chair, cautiously lowering down onto it. She rocked her heels back and forth, though did so slowly in case it caused any nausea. Hyacinth continued her game as if (Y/N) wasn't there, but kept her voice quiet to be respectful. (Y/N) closed her eyes, finally feeling the stress lift for just a moment when a jolt of pain in her stomach startled her. It made her let out a cry, clutching onto her bump as she leaned forward. Hyacinth jumped at the sudden noise, suddenly frightened at the way (Y/N) sounded and looked.

(Y/N)'s breathing got faster and deeper, yelling out as an unbearable feeling coursed through her. Her hands wrapped around her torso, willing the feeling to stop. A shocked noise escaped her when she felt herself go wet in the chair, liquid dripping down her legs.

"Hyacinth, get Anthony!" (Y/N) groaned, thankful a staff member rushed in. Hyacinth didn't have to be told twice, running as quickly as she could to fetch her brother. She had never seen anyone in such a state, no one had ever mentioned this pain when having a baby. Tears were in her eyes as she finally found Anthony, who was standing with her two other brothers at the staircase.

"Hyacinth, what's wrong?" Benedict was the first to notice the little girl running towards him.

She immediately grabbed Anthony's hand, gripping tightly onto it."Quickly!"

"What's happened?" Anthony asked her her fretting.

"(Y/N)'s having the baby!"

A second of silence passed before Anthony sprinted in the direction his sister came from. He only had to follow the sound of screaming to find his wife. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen, she was meant to be upstairs in a comfortable position, surrounded by women staff that were prepared. He halted in the doorway when he saw her clutching onto the servant's arm as she struggled to stand from the chair. He snapped an order at another servant who followed him. The doctor had to get here as soon as possible, and the other students needed to prepare immediately.

"It's alright my love, I'm here. The doctor is on his way." Anthony reassured her as he took her other arm.

"I'm in so much pain Anthony." she wept."I can't do it, I can't do it, I don't have control over my own body. I'm frightened!"

Anthony's heart was shattering into a million pieces seeing his wife like this. He couldn't do anything to help. He couldn't ease the pain. If he could, he would take all of the pain she had and endure it himself. Anthony was a mix of emotions; fear for his wife, excitement to meet his child, terrified at (Y/N)'a reactions and noises. It was all too much, nothing would have prepared him for this.

"Anthony, you must leave!" Violet suddenly appeared.

"Mama, I can't leave her-"

"You wouldn’t want to see this Anthony. Go wait for the doctor, we all know what we’re doing here.”

Anthony knew of the steps to take in this event, it was not proper for a man to be present during the ordeal of birthing. But the love for (Y/N) was urging him to stay and protect her, that was what he was supposed to do as a husband, not abandon her. They went through everything together. Now he was being told to leave because of societies rules.

Benedict and Colin were able to pull away Anthony easier than they thought, due to him being frozen and confused about what he should do. He only registered that (Y/N) was calling for him after they left the room. Fighting against his brothers hold, he ignored their please for him to stop. They didn’t understand. They weren’t married, they had no idea what it was like to be bonded with someone in this way. However, he knew they were right, he had to stay away. All he could do now was help her from outside of the room.

“Where is the doctor?!” he demanded to know from the nearest servant.

“H-he has b-been called upon, Lord Bridgerton.” they stuttered.

“As soon as he arrives, he is to be brought here, quickly! Gather pillows, as many as you can, and blankets, we must ensure my wife is as comfortable as she can be. She should have been giving birth in a bed!”

Benedict and Colin stood back in silence, shocked by the quick turn around in their brother’s behaviour. They didn’t dare say anything in case they were snapped at. 

(Y/N) was clinging onto Violet’s hand as she screamed, hating the way her body had taken over and she couldn’t take back control. Violet remained calm, knowing that (Y/N) could do this. She had birthed all of her children with no complications, she knew how much women had to endure, so Violet was equipped with the necessary grit and vigour to help her daughter-in-law. (Y/N) was grateful to have Violet there.

A gruelling eight hours passed, filled with (Y/N) screaming, crying, cursing, pleading and begging for Anthony. It took every ounce of his willpower to not dash back to her, he would never forgive himself for this. He wished he could change the rules so he could be beside her. He paced with a strong drink in his hand for those eight hours, his brothers sitting down, trying to support him. However, it was getting late, and they found themselves struggling to keep their eyes open. Anthony had got rid of his jacket, sleeves rolled up and shirt buttons undone as he got warm, fretting over what was happening to (Y/N). 

“Lord Bridgerton!” a servant exclaimed as they entered the room, trying to stay composed. 

The men perked up, suddenly awake. Anthony noticed the servant was smiling, which made him relieved.“What is it?”

“Lady Bridgerton has given birth.”

Anthony didn’t need to hear anything else. He instantly ran to where his poor wife had been in labour. Hyacinth would never step foot in that room again. He pushed past anyone that got in his way, halting at the open doors to the playroom. The first thing he saw was blood, a lot of it, alarmed at the sight. But as he entered the room, it was forgotten about when he saw (Y/N)’s grin aimed at the baby wriggling around in her arms. His steps were slow as he approached, scared that he would disturb the peace that had finally fallen in this room. 

“Anthony.” (Y/N) breathed out, clearly exhausted. 

“I’m sorry.” was all Anthony could manage, eyes still fixed on his child. 

“For what?”

“For not being here.”

“You’re here now, and I understand darling. Now come meet your son.”

Anthony’s eyes widened.“I-I have a son? We have a baby boy?”

The doctor who had been crouched beside (Y/N) smiled at the Lord, standing to give the couple their space.“Yes, Lord Bridgerton, you’re now a father and have a son, who is very healthy, just like his mother.”

Violet also backed away, beaming down at her eldest son. She had never imagined him married and settled down so quickly, she expected to have many more years of her son fooling around with women not of a certain standard. Once (Y/N) waltzed in, Violet had seen a change in Anthony, and hope was restored in the Viscount.

“He’s finally here.” (Y/N) smiled as Anthony sat beside her.

“He really is.” one of his arms wrapped around her shoulders, whilst the other supported her arms holding the baby.“You’re amazing. You did this (Y/N).”

“We did it.”

“No, no, you did this all by yourself. I’ll be with you every time form now on.”

“Every time? How many are you planning to have?”

He chuckled.“We’ll discuss that later.”

(Y/N) giggled, gently kissing the top of their baby’s forehead. Anthony couldn’t stop smiling, repeating (Y/N)’s actions to her. He had never envisioned this, he didn’t want to be trapped in this life at first. He had so many responsibilities dumped on him after his father died, he wanted to make sure his family was secure and have the freedom for himself; until he met (Y/N), and suddenly, he could see his entire future planned in front of him with this woman. He never fathomed that his heart could give anymore love for anyone else in this world, and he had been proven wrong. (Y/N) was the love of his life, as was his son, and he would protect and cherish them for the rest of his life. 

[thevikingwoman]

Feedback, criticism, reviews and creator distance

Something has been on my mind for awhile on the topic of feedback and creators, especially in the spaces of fanfics and smaller original creative works, especially in interactive fiction. 

I mash these together, because many IFs are hobby or side projects, or at least one person efforts. For both fanfics and IFs, there is also usually an element of interaction with the creator and for IFs, especially on tumblr, it tends to happen in a “fannish” way. 

I have a very long post under the cut, but TL;DR: no creator ever owes you anything and no feedback should be unsolicited.

First however, lets talk about reviews - what are they and who are they for? Reviews are opinions. If you review a book or movie, your audience is other people who might go spend time on this media. The purpose of a review is to inform others. It’s not a way to deliver feedback to the creator - usually by the time you get to reviews, the piece of media is done. It’s not something that’s particularly useful in fandom or for most IFs: most are free or free-ish (for IFs), and it’s simply easy to back out if you don’t like something. Positive based rec lists are more useful: you are drawing attention to something good, not sparing someone from the latest MCU flop. 

Next, there’s criticism  - there’s a couple of different things that can fall under this umbrella. It can be a more academic review (a criticism of classical novel as canonical literature), it can be a criticism on why something is undesirable to spend time on (games with lootboxes). It can also be directed feedback on things that don’t work in a piece of media. For the latter, I will shove it under feedback, because it’s purpose is the same. 

Now, on to feedback. 

 Feedback is first and foremost meant to be actionable. You give feedback on something because you want to change it, because maybe you’re good at something, or perhaps because you’re noticing something the creator missed. 

the thing is though: feedback is usually solicited. A fanfic writer can ask for beta reader feedback. A novelist will get editor feedback. My friend might ask me for feedback on their letter of complaint to the HOA. 

Now, you can also leave feedback unsolicited. This can take the form of leaving feedback in the comment of a fic or sending it to an IF creators ask box. 

the thing is though - after the creator has put something out in the world, they’ve already asked for feedback from the people they want feedback from. They’re not looking for feedback from bypassers. They’re not looking for “criticism”. They might not even be looking to correct spelling mistakes. 

But, viking!! Don’t they want to be better? Anyone should want to be better. 

They probably do. I want to be a better writer. (Or maybe they don’t, and they just want to have fun, and that’s valid). But do you know where they want to improve? do you know know what they’re looking for feedback on? do you know what is deliberate choice, and what is an oversight? Unless the creator has directly told you: “Internet stranger, can you please give me some feedback and my pacing,” you don’t know shit. Maybe the pacing is intentional. Maybe they’re working on nailing character voices and they don’t care about pacing. 

In short - why do you think you’re uniquely qualified to give feedback to this creator? this is not a school assignment, you’re not their teacher. 

but, viking!! I’m a professional editor! 

I suggest you go work with your clients. (I highly doubt a professional would not get this whole rant)

still with me?

Now, lets get to creator distance - as I mentioned at the start, this is mostly relevant for fanfic and IF and how those two ways of fandom interactions overlaps. Many IF creators hang out in fandom related spaces, or close to their own fandom. It’s also something I’ve seen authors do, both here on tumblr for a few and mostly on twitter. It’s clearly fun for authors and writers to engage with their fans! 

but sometimes I see this lack of distance. Asks get too personal. Demanding. Straight up weird. 

I think sometimes, people forget both that the person on the other end is another person, but also that they do, in fact, own their own creation. Just because they interact with the fandom, doesn’t mean they’re part of it. The barrier between fan and creator can become blurry, but it doesn’t mean it’s not there. 

Just this morning I saw an ask to IF (which I don’t play), begging the creator to make some side characters romancable. And I get it, the author gives people access to them by answering asks (you’re not emailing c/o Penguin Publishing), but there’s something audacious about asks like that, which essentially tells the author how to write their story. Here it’s where all of the above fits in - this unsolicited commentary - please do this, is no different than unsolicited feedback or “criticism”. Not wanted, or needed. 

It’s not a collaborative story. 

I’ve seen many asks like this, or asks telling authors they’re doing something wrong and in the end they simply assume the author needs to be told how to write their story. 

Think about this for a bit. 

Maybe a story element doesn’t work for you, maybe you would like to see something different. There’s no one preventing you from closing the book, hitting the back button. 

I sometimes wonder what people hope to achieve with this type of feedback or suggestions. Maybe they think they’re helping? But mostly it comes off as weird and entitled. I hope anyone assumes the author knows what they want and how to achieve it. And if the author doesn’t - see above. They probably have someone they can ask - betas, editors, friends, playtesters. 

Creators and authors don’t owe you their explanations either, they don’t owe defending their creative choices. Do you like their storytelling? Do you trust them? 

I think creators too need to think of their own distance. Stand by your choices. Reserve a little mystery. Because I see this too; authors getting too involved with their own fandom or their own critics. It’s natural to want to defend, especially with good reason ( here is why I choose these story elements), but in the end I do believe creators need to do create a little distance. 

I think it’s so hard, especially with a small medium which relies heavily in many ways on fandom interactions like IFs, and where many people come from fandom. As a fanfic writer, I love talking to other fanfic writers, but here I have no need for mystery, though I still think the solicited feeback clause applies. 

I think all of this is increased by the general access everyone has to everybody. I can @ tweet famous actors and authors and the vice president. it’s a strange world and there’s a balance that few have found. Both as fans and creators. 

(and yes, if you’re a creator - study Neil Gaiman’s responses. He engages lovingly, supporting, funny. And keeps some mystery around his creations when needed) 

[ad-hawkeye]

HI HELLO MY OTOME BLOG IS A SIDEBLOG SO I AM COMING IN ANON FORM ALSO I HAVEN'T REACHED OUT BEFORE HI!!! THE ARTEM IS ACE HEADCANONS ARE MY EVERYTHING. MY ASEXUAL AND ARTEM STAN ASS LOVES EVERY SECOND OF THIS.

Fr I thought I never thought too hard ab why I headcanon him as ace bc I headcanon almost every character I like as ace (bc I can) but maybe that's why I was so attracted to Artem when I started the game? Like maybe that's why I became such a hardcore stan?

Because the vibes are SO THERE. I say this as a professional ace-spec vibe reader. You also mentioned in the tags of one of the posts that you headcanon him as grey romantic AND I ABSOLUTELY AGREE THE SIGNS AND THE VIBES ARE ALL THERE I LOVE THIS HEADCANON.

I think the most endearing thing for the aces is that he's always just so respectful and sweet and awkward and not pushy at all, as previously stated by other posts. I like to read stories or play otome games and rewrite scenes in my mind to take out any pushiness or sexual implications bc it makes me uncomfy and with Artem I don't have to rewrite it in my mind because he's already ideal. Like he is absolutely the kind of guy to be the most respectful and accepting ever about his partner being ace-spec even if he isn't. And that is so refreshing compared to almost every other otome guy I've read (and I've played a GOOD amount of otome games) where if I were to make a "reasons blank wouldn't date me" thing they would all be "I'm asexual and he's horny" so maybe the reason we gravitate towards Artem is the feeling that he would truly accept us? I don't even self insert in otome games but whenever there's sexual implication there's still that like, painful moment of realizing that the world at large isn't made for a-specs I guess??? And I've never not once had that with Artem. Sorry if that got too deep💀

ALSO SORRY THIS IS SO LONG I'M A HUGE FAN OF YOUR CONTENT AS AN ARTEM STAN THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO❤️❤️❤️

!!! HI ANON!!! 💖 oh my gosh we are kindred spirits right down to our otome blogs being our side blogs </3 which. my apologies to anyone reading this for not following back or sending asks. i promise the limitations of a side blog are my sole reason!!

but oh my god YES, i am totally the same with ace headcanons. it isn’t even intentional! it’s just the way i think. i think i was initially drawn to artem because in the first few main story chaps he doesn’t actually do much besides invite her to join nxx and then stand there looking at her awkwardly sometimes.

his personal story locked me in with the advice book and introduction to his soft side. i do have a slight bias for tot’s personal stories and cards over the main story, though, simply bc the main story (by design) can’t “pick a side”, tends to not get mentioned in other stories, and sometimes feels like it was written by a different writing team?

regardless, i’m so happy to hear you agree on the gray-romantic take!!!! i specifically picked gray-romantic over demiromantic because while this is the first time he’s been romantically attracted to someone, he fell for her before there was any notable emotional connection. mc would fit the demi label a bit better me thinks hehe.

as for artem and the ace crack they stashed inside of him, you make really, REALLY good points here. holy shit, actually. i think you nailed it. i never realized JUST how often other otome games made me feel uncomfortable or left feeling like i was ‘different’. same goes for real life, i suppose. hasn’t happened while reading artem’s route though. even the cards with shameless.. er, fan service. they tend to, from what i’ve seen, play artem as the “whatever you want/whatever makes you comfortable” kind of guy, so your point holds really strong.

getting fully personal here, but i think about this a lot. tot is a popular otome game and even though there would be like. rioting in the streets if one of the boys wasn’t sexually attracted to the mc (which in itself is another depressing reminder of how different i am), it doesn’t really change the already released stories that we love. and it ultimately doesn’t matter what artem winds up being - bc like you said, ace vibes aside, artem being “respectful and accepting about his partner being ace-spec even if he isn’t” is genuinely just. such an accurate take. i can’t believe i haven’t thought of it from this perspective before. you’re so right. 

even on the flip side. if he was ace i could see him communicating with a non-ace partner about that whole situation and i just. man. i’ve called artem the antithesis to your typical otome boy as a joke before, and you know. maybe i was onto something, maybe this was the true ace crack all along HAHA.

OH MY GOSH DON’T APOLOGIZE AT ALL!!!! this was such a good read and it makes me so happy to know i’m not the only one in fandom like this 😭 😭 like i know i said this before, but i never actually intended on mentioning this hc bc i was unsure of how people would respond, especially since we all like this game for different reasons and i wanted to respect that, so i’m genuinely like. really really moved and happy HAHA!! i swear i’m gonna cry or something ;; 

AND AAA now you’re gonna REALLY make me cry, thank you for the kind words!!! i’m so happy people like my silly little rambles :’’] sincerely hope you have a wonderful day, anon!!! def feel free to message me anytime !! 💖💖💖

[finalfantasyix]

Meet The Team Working On A Final Fantasy 9 Remake You’ll Never Get To Play

Final Fantasy 9: Memoria Project is a fan homage like nothing we've ever seen before. “It is no secret that fan projects get shut down all the time,” Dan Eder tells us about Final Fantasy 9: Memoria Project, a fan-driven love letter to the classic JRPG. It isn’t aiming to be a playable remake of the epic adventure though - instead, it’s an aesthetic homage to its timeless world and characters.

It’s somewhat anomalous in the world of community creations, but Eder wants to use this distinct identity to craft something truly special, even if many obstacles stand in the way of making it a reality. But the team keeps moving forward: “Without a doubt, some of the most frequent comments we get from naysayers is ‘have fun with it while it lasts’ or ‘cease and desist incoming’”, Eder explains. “People are understandably skeptical of the longevity potential of yet another passion project. The key difference is that, unlike those projects, Memoria is essentially an elaborate piece of fan art, nothing more - it will have no actual gameplay, will never be released to the public, and is nothing more than a ‘what-if’ scenario. [It’s] no different from any other fan-made piece of artwork. We have never, and will never, make a single dollar out of this project, and are basically doing this for the personal gratification of the fans.”

The genesis of Memoria Project dates all the way back to Eder’s younger years, with dreams of a potential FF9 remake entering his imagination soon after the original game’s launch. That’s no great surprise - millions still regard Final Fantasy 9 as the series’ finest hour. “While it's true that the project really started to pick up steam a few months ago, it wouldn't be a stretch to say I've been planning it since high school,” Eder explains. “I remember scribbling ‘FF9 remake’ on my notepad during classes and writing imaginary new features and battle system mechanics, starting online petitions to remake FF9 for the PS2, sketching drawings depicting scenes from the ‘FF9 sequel’ and whatnot. I could confidently say that my life would probably have been completely different had my older brother not borrowed this game from his friend in the summer of 2000.

“As a non-native English speaker who had never played an RPG up until that point, my first playthrough was a challenging experience to say the least, and I can honestly say that I understood literally nothing of what was going on the first time I finished the game (how I even managed to beat it is a mystery in and of itself). It didn't really matter to me though, since I was absolutely enamored with the incredible cast of characters, jaw-dropping FMV sequences, mesmerizing music, thrilling gameplay, and just the overall atmosphere and charm it exuded at every step. My unconditional love for this game persisted throughout my entire childhood and adult life, and it is one of the central reasons why I chose to become a 3D character artist in the video game industry. In short, this project is my way of thanking this game for everything it has done for me over the past 21 years.”

Eder’s passion for this game can be found across several industry professionals who grew up with games like this and wanted to replicate them, or create something entirely unique to live up to their brilliance. This is very much how Memoria Project found its feet, beginning life as a trivial side activity before blossoming into something infinitely more ambitious. It still has a long way to go, but there’s little urgency to reach the finish line, so the team can take their time and just enjoy the nostalgic indulgence of it all.

“Memoria actually started unofficially as a side project when I reached out to Colin Valek [of] Sucker Punch Studios in early 2020 after I came across his fanart of an environment from FF7,” Eder says. “I had already modeled Princess Garnet, and thought it could be a fun idea to combine our talents to reimagine the opening area of Alexandria. Initially, it was progressing at a snail's pace - we were slowly chipping away at it for over a year without making a lot of progress. While Colin continued modeling the buildings, I created another character - Vivi.”

This glacial pace received a resurgence of sorts in January when the Alexandria scene was finally complete, with Eder and company finally being able to see how much potential the project had if it was opened up to a larger range of creators. “When I posted that WIP screenshot, the response from fellow FF fans was overwhelmingly positive, more than we could have imagined,” Eder remembers. “Very quickly, other people from the gaming industry started reaching out - environment artists, animators, riggers, concept artists. That's when I decided to turn this side project into a full-fledged modern reimagining of the original game, while always making sure to emphasize the fact that this is a non-playable proof-of-concept, since we never have any intention of doing anything to violate Square Enix's copyright. Four months after officially announcing the project, we've grown from a couple of FF fanboys to a huge team of over 20 industry veterans working collaboratively to honor this masterpiece, fueled by our love and adoration for the source material.”

Now, the project has over 20 developers from Sucker Punch, Ubisoft, Rare, Unbroken Studios, and more all diving into this labour of love in their spare time, with composers and voice actors also contributing their talents to help make this glimpse into the world of Final Fantasy 9 worth celebrating. But Eder is aware of being overly enthusiastic, knowing that fan projects like this often doom themselves by undertaking something that isn’t feasible with so few resources.

“One of the most common traps for these kinds of fan projects is being overly ambitious,” Eder says. “Since all of us are actively working in the video game industry, we understand the importance of milestones, short term goals, and taking things one step at a time. For now, we are focusing our efforts on the opening sequence of the game, which mainly revolves around Vivi and his exploration of Alexandria. Where we go from here is still being discussed, but one thing I can say for sure is that Vivi will not be the only main character we're planning to include.” I’m told that Memoria is aiming to look indistinguishable - at least from a graphics perspective - from something you’d see in a triple-A blockbuster, and it seems the team has the pedigree to back that claim up.

Visuals are the entire point after all, since turning this project into a playable piece of media would require far more resources to create. By narrowing its focus, Memoria is able to deliver something special while also hopefully avoiding the ire of Square Enix. “The fact that this is a non-playable project definitely makes it easier for us to tailor the experience in a way that would truly allow the audience to be fully immersed in the world without having to worry about technical limitations,” Eder tells me. “Creating actual functional gameplay is a completely different ball game, one that we never had any intention of even discussing given the copyright limitations. This gives us a lot of leeway with how we are going to portray the world of Gaia in terms of character interaction, camera movement, [and] scene transitions. We have a lot of cool plans for the near future - please look forward to it!”

As for the sad truth of fan projects like this often being wiped from existence by publishers throwing out cease and desist letters, Eder is confident that Memoria occupies a niche where this won’t happen. It’s not a commercial or even playable product - it’s a piece of fan art, albeit an endlessly elaborate one. If the tides were to change, Eder believes companies should welcome the enthusiasm for experiences like this.

“If I were to be completely honest, I think it could be a potentially brilliant decision by Square Enix to do something wildly unexpected and invest in a project like this,” Eder states. “There's a considerable amount of hype, talent, motivation, and pure, unadulterated passion behind it. It's not something I would expect, but I think it could be incredibly helpful in regaining some of the trust and reverence that this legendary company was known for during its golden years.”

(source)