#playing remotely has been really tough for all of us. having even one of the players Not There just makes things very hard)

[varjopeura]

.

[redr0sewrites]

Hii!! Can I request Sevika x fem!reader who is rlly clingy, affectionate and wants to ramble and be close to Sevika all the time, but gets embarrassed and shy abt it?? Tyy!! 🩷🫶

🥀A/n: Sevika is literally sooooooo-

🥀Cw: fluff, a bit suggestive but nothing even remotely explicit!

we all know sevika has a tough persona, but when it comes to you, she practically melts

she secretly adores how affectionate you are, but never admits it!!!

when you first met, she's surprised by how genuinely sweet you are and finds herself becoming protective over you

it takes her a while to recognize that she was catching feelings for you, but once she realizes it hits her like a fucking truck

sevika is confident, but she isn't great at communicating her feelings. there is definitely a lot of mutual pining and "idiots to lovers" going down before either of you actually make a move on eachother 😭 all of silco's cronies literally had a betting pool on when you two would get together (ran and silco won 💀)

sevika is definitely the one to make the first move, she doesn't want to lose you and would probably confess rather bluntly. upon seeing you get so flustered, she almost thinks you don't reciprocate, until you shyly tell her you feel the same

once you two are official??? sevika has never been happier. she makes it her life goal to torture you (in the best ways)

teases you mercilessly about how shy and embarrassed you are around her!!! sevika loves intentionally flustering you, especially when others are around. she isn't big on pda, but sometimes she can't help but grab your face and pull you into a deep kiss, only to pull away and admire your shocked and flustered expression

LOOOTSSSS of flirting, even when you two are officially dating. petnames too, she calls you princess, doll, babe, and hon, but her favorite has to be simply using the word my in front of your name

she adores your affection! as previously stated, she is not a big fan of pda, but in private she adores how clingy you are.

sevika is a very cuddly sleeper, i said what i said. she sleeps on her stomach and hugs her pillows, but once she starts sleeping with you, she cuddles you in her sleep instead!

she gives you lots of forehead and hand kisses, she thinks theyre more meaningful

protective!!!! sevika knows you can handle yourself, but she wants you to know that she's always on your side if necessary. would absolutely defend you against anybody and is your biggest supporter. she's literally your ride or die, and is not the type to play devil's advocate whenever it comes to arguments bc she genuinely cares about your opinions

speaking of arguments, they never escalate too much. sevika is stubborn, but she's also reasonable and is pretty good at compromise. i actually think an affectionate partner would be really good for her, i hc that she doesn't have much relationship experience like at all. she grew up in the undercity and there really wasn't much opportunity for romance outside of a sexual setting, so you're like a breath of fresh air. sevika takes her time when adjusting to receiving (and giving) affection, so that may cause a bit of conflict at the start of your relationship, but once you're over those hurdles and when she fully trusts you she is a lot more affectionate

sevika is very touch starved and secretly clingy herself, but you didn't hear it from me :)

when it comes to rambling and infodumping, sevika is SUCH a good listener. she loves listening to you ramble while she works on her metal arm, and will nod along and agree with you whenever necessary. she's also pretty good at advice, although she can be a bit blunt. she's honest and tells it like it is, and is very open with you about her opinions.

loooooveeesss having you close to her so she can keep an eye on you. she wants to make sure you're safe is all, and if you wanted privacy she would totally oblige, but sevika truly loves having you around! if you also work for silco, sometimes she'll accompany you on your missions so that you won't be lonely and also bc she thinks its hot when her "cute litle girlfriend" kills people... omg what who said that!!!

you both are the epitome of "opposites attract", and sevika loves you because of it!

the familiar sound of the fromt door of your apartment unlocking alerts you to Sevika's arrival.

"Sev!" your voice comes out much more excited than you anticipated, but at the moment you couldn't care less. "your back!!!" you run up to your girlfriend, wrapping your arms around her neck and planting a kiss right om her lips. she's so tall you have to stand on tip-toes just to reach her, and your stomach flips as her familiar, booming laugh echoes around you. "i see someone missed me," Sevika chuckles, pulling away to flick you gently on the forehead.

you feel your cheeks heat up, giving her a light smack on the arm before leaning up to kiss her on the cheek again. "oh, fuck you.." you murmur, and Sevika smirks. "i can if you want me to-"

"oh, shut uuup!!" if you haven't already melted into the floor because of how embarrassed you were, you definitely would now. "how was the mission?" your desperate to change the topic, lest you burst aflame from how warm your cheeks feel. "it went smoothly," Sevika replied, sitting down at your guys' kitchen table and kicking her shoes off into a messy pile by the doorway, "but i missed my girl."

you walk over to her and kiss her on the forehead, before she tugs you in by the waistband and pulls you onto her lap. you gasp, giggling as she wraps her arms around your waist. "well, i think you'll be happy to know that your girl missed you too." Sevika hums, wrapping her metal hand around your throat and pulling you into a gentle kiss.

i am unhealthily obsessed with her SHES SOOOOOOOOO AUGHHHH

[medicetwork]

Mercs if they had modern day cellphones!

Heavy:

The screen is too small and his fingers are too big.

The screen also tends to hurt his eyes after a while but he absolutely refuses to turn down the brightness, saying it would make it even harder to see than before

His main favorite functions are video calls with Medic or his family and listening to music.

His life is complete when he discovers E-books

He can’t read them on the screen but he loves being able to clean Sasha while having his favorite book read to him

Medic:

Really doesn’t use it for much else than phone calls and the occasional google search at first

When he discovers mobile games that takes his interest though!

He becomes a candy crush mom.

Oh you have a broken arm? Wellll…You can tough it out, champ. He’s on level 7,229 right now.

He would make all the other men get Life360

Scout:

Total social media zombie(I say as if I am not one)

Surprisingly he’s very popular on apps like Twitter and Tik Tok. People think he’s hilarious!

Unfortunately somewhere along the way he says something less than respectful about something and his account gets banned

Eventually he’s on account number 6 and trying to regrow his following

It never recovers

He finds out about NFT’s

Sniper:

Mainly uses it to watch youtube and play music

His phone is always on silent and Do Not Disturb

He loves those videos where those guys go out into the middle of the woods and just start building a fucking house out of clay and sticks.

He prefers texting to calling, finding it much faster(he just like me fr)

Baffled by just how much porn he has access to now….

But he’s not complaining.

Soldier:

He doesn’t use it because he just keeps breaking his phones.

They’ve been dropped, blown up, set ablaze, dropped in water, eaten by a bread-tumor monster, eaten by Soldier(???) and run over.

Even if they didn’t get destroyed within 3 days he still wouldn’t use it for much else besides setting alarms and sending confusing group texts.

However, with each new phone he has gotten he asks Pyro for stickers and sticker bombs his phone just for fun

Has an American flag wallpaper

Pyro:

Watches a lot of Youtube!

They love art tutorials, cooking tutorials and those videos with the guys that put molten hot metal balls into water and those videos of people crushing things in Hydraulic presses

Their search history is so fucking strange:

“my little pony free episode”

“my little pony movie free”

“how to draw clouds”

“gasoline cheap prices”

They follow Scout’s pages and always send him nice comments and like his videos

Engineer:

Loves listening to music and watching movies on his phone

Eventually learns how to code and make his own apps

This is also how he discovered he could jailbreak his phone and turn it into a universal remote for his sentries

Very slow texter

Uses way more emoji’s than needed

“Hello yall 👋🏻 going to the hardware store today 🔨let me know if yall need anything while im out👋🏻🚶🏼”

His most used app is the settings app

Spy:

Of course all of his phones are burners.

He never uses one for more than one week

Loves pirating movies on it and watching them in bed

He has no contacts. No personal information and keeps his location off at all times

Likes to pretend to be different people and play around with Google and Youtube’s targeted ads and algorithms

One day he’s an 86 year old woman that’s recommended nothing but metal bands and funeral home ads

The next week he’s four years old and getting recommended Mario and Minecraft let’s play videos

He uses twitter

He’s doxxed many people on Twitter

Like Scout he has MANY banned accounts and has also hacked and stolen many accounts

…He hacked one of Scout’s accounts and got it permanently banned

Demoman:

Loves watching Top 10 videos

Also loves having so much ease and access talking to his lads

He video calls his mother often even she just nags him the whole time and keeps accidentally hanging up

Is frequently texting the other team’s Soldier and laughing at what he says back

Uses Discord and Reddit and is in many servers and communities that focus on paranormal activity, urban legends and cryptids

Actually makes his own youtube videos searching for said cryptids

Frequently comments “cringe” under Scout’s posts

[dumbasslesbi2]

Let Me Read To You ~ Chapter 1 (Agatha x Rio Bookstore AU)

Summary:

Agatha has just finished finalizing her divorce to Wanda and now has to move to a new town with her son Nicholas. When she moves in her neighbors recommend she joins the lesbian book club. However she can't help but fall for the owner of the store, Rio Vidal.

Notes:

Hi! Omg we're back with another series! This one may or may not be longer than the last one and we may or may not be smut in this one.

Agatha needed to leave, she needed a new place to go. She needed a place that would be safe for Nicky, her precious baby boy. She had recently been divorced by her ex wife Wanda, even though she was the toxic one. For the years they were together she had been cheating on Agatha and now basically had a whole other family that Agatha never knew about. Luckily for Agatha, Wanda wanted no custody of their child but that didn't mean the divorce went easily. Agatha said fuck it and drove. She drove and drove with Nicholas until she found a quaint place, Westview. She was able to afford a house there and since she did remote work it didn't matter where they lived. The house had everything she needed, 2 bedrooms and an office for her to work in. She couldn't have been happier with her decision.

“Hi! You must be the new neighbor, I'm Jennifer but you can just call me Jen. Do you need any help?” Jen said, walking up to Agatha who was getting boxes out of her car. “ Oh perfect! Could you please? I didn't realize how much of a pain it would be to take the boxes out of the car than putting them in. My name's Agatha” she told Jen, putting down a box to shake her hand. It was then after the handshake that Agatha heard crying in the house and ran inside to go check on Nicholas. She had already set up his playpen and let him have his tablet but of course he still wanted attention. “What's wrong my precious prince?” She asked Nicholas as she lifted him up. “Wanted Mommy” he said in-between sniffles. “Well, I'm right here, we still need to unpack baby.“ She said, kissing the crown of her son. “Hey Agatha where do you want me to put this one?” Jen asked as she entered the house. “Right here in the living room is fine for now, it's just more of Nicholas’s toys” she told her, still holding her child. “Nicholas, say hello to Jen” she told her son with a smile. “Hi Jen!” He said, giggling. “Why hello there mister. Looks like we're going to be neighbors now” Jen said, taking the small child's hand and shaking it. Nicholas couldn't help but laugh more. Agatha put him back in his play pen and unloaded the rest of the boxes. They got all of them squared away and Agatha thanked Jen for all her help. “If you ever need help just come on over, me or my wife should be home” Jen told Agatha before taking her leave. “Noted, thanks again for all the help!” Agatha said before tending back to Nicholas. 

It took Agatha a couple days to become adjusted to their new lives, she enrolled Nicholas into pre-school since he was only three and he had a tough time being away from his mother. She felt heartbroken that he was crying so often for her but the teachers reassured her that it just takes children a bit to adjust and that he’ll get used to it. She talked to Jen more and even met her wife Alice, after learning about Agatha’s situation they both recommended that she join them for the sapphic book club. Apparently the town had a famous lesbian bookstore that had a lesbian book club that met every saturday. She gave it some thought and said heck with it, she even made sure to book a babysitter for Nicholas. “I’m so happy you agreed to come with us!” Alice said as she was starting the car. “Thank you guys so much for inviting me, I really have to repay you two for all the help you’ve done for me” Agatha said as she was putting on her seatbelt. “Nonsense, everyone deserves friends and a support system” Jen said, fixing her makeup. 

As the three pulled up to the bookstore Agatha couldn’t help but admire it for a moment. It looked old and relic but in a good way, she loved the vintage look of things. “Come on girl!” Jen said to Agatha holding the door. As the three went through Agatha couldn’t help but space out and stare once again. “Rio! We got a new member, this is Agatha!” Alice said, getting the bookstore owner. “Perfect, we really need to recruit more people” Rio said, coming out from the back of the store. Agatha turned around to greet the woman but was speechless. She was absolutely stunned by the woman that appeared before her. Rio was wearing an oversized sweatshirt and some jeans with her big nerdy glasses that she always wore but Agatha couldn’t help but find her adorable. “Oh uh, hi! I’m Agatha” she said to Rio, shaking her head slightly to take herself out of her daze. Little did Agatha know that Rio was doing the exact same thing Agatha was. Rio couldn’t stop herself from checking out the total milf that Agatha was. Even though Agatha was also in casual wear just wearing a button of shirt and some jean, Rio thought Agatha was the sexiest milf she ever laid eyes on. “Hi, I’m Rio” she said, taking Agatha’s hand and kissing her knuckles. Jen and Alice couldn’t help but snicker, they kind of planned on this happening especially since Rio was a total milf lover. “Follow us to the next room, that’s where we hold our meeting, we should be all set to start” Rio said, showing Agatha over to their reading room. It was a candle lit room with a very calming vibe that Agatha couldn’t only think of as eternal and unworldly. In the room was already another woman, much older than the rest of the group. “Oh a new member, how exciting!” said the lady, already sitting down. “Lilia, this is Agatha, our newest member” Rio said as she was grabbing a book. “Hi! It’s nice to meet you” Agatha said, taking Lilia’s hand and shaking it. 

The women spent two hours talking about different sapphic books but also talked about town drama and problems in their own lives. Also complaining how homophonic the small town could be. Agatha didn’t know anything about the town before moving but she learnt that the town had deemed them as “witches” and thought of their book club as a “coven of witches”. Agatha couldn’t help but laugh at the names, being unused to such labels since she came from a big city. “Besides that though, most town folk don’t care about us and leave us alone” said Alice, giggling with Agatha. “You should have seen this town before the club and bookstore, it used to be horrible when I was growing up. Now you all can at least be yourselves” Lilia said, thinking of her olden days. “That’s why I built this bookstore as soon as I got enough from all my books,” Rio said with a chuckle. “Books? Do you write?” Agatha asked, looking over at Rio. “Yeah, my Rio Vidal if that helps” Rio said before getting up to get some snacks and drinks for the club. Agatha was starstruck, she thought Rio’s name sounded familiar. Rio was a famous sapphic author, known for writing pure lesbian smut. She had actually gotten into hot water since one of her books were being picked up by a large teen audience and many parents thought Rio was trying to turn their kids gay. Once Rio came back with the snack, the group picked up conversation again for about an hour or so before everyone deemed it time to leave. 

“Oh Agatha, can I actually talk to you before you leave?” Rio asked, winking at Jen and Alice. “We’ll be waiting in the car!” Jen said to her before Agatha could even respond. “I- oh, sure, what is it Rio?” Agatha asked, helping Rio clean up. “By any chance are you free tonight or maybe tomorrow? I would love to take a lady like you out and about” Rio said, smiling at her. “Oh! Um, I think tonight would be good, I have a babysitter for the day so I’m free right now if you wanna maybe go out?” Agatha, trying her best to maintain eye contact with Rio. “Perfect, why don’t you tell Jen and Alice while I close up shop” Rio said, hurrying to clean the store. Agatha went outside and told Jen and Alice what happened, getting an instant approval and congrats from the two. Rio was outside quickly, with a jacket on while she was locking the store. “Have a fun date you two!” Alice said before the two of them drove away. Agatha couldn’t help but blush, it only just hit her right then that she was on a date with the Rio Vidal. “So, what’s on the agenda?” Agatha asked, looking up at the woman. “I was thinking maybe a small stroll in the park and dinner? They’re both walking distance from here so up to you” Rio said, offering her arm.

“So what made you pick a quiet and small town like Westview to move to?” Rio asked as they arrived at the park. “I don’t want to spoil the mood but let’s just say I unfortunately got a divorce” Agatha said, wincing hoping that Rio would still want her. “Ouch, that’s rough. If you wanna ever talk about it, I’m all ears.” Rio said, tugging on Agatha’s arm more. Agatha couldn’t help but smile at Rio’s response, it was the first time she felt actually comfortable and open with someone since the divorce. “Thank you, it’s just been rough having to raise a three year old on my own” Agatha said with a groan. “Aw I’m sorry, I bet you have a cute kid though” Rio said, smiling down at Agatha again. “The cutest, his name’s Nicholas” Agatha told her, getting her phone out to show her a picture. “Yup, I was right. Cutest kid I’ve ever seen” Rio said with a chuckle. “Thank you” Agatha said, giving Rio a kiss on the cheek. She couldn’t help herself anymore, she thought Rio was so cute laughing and the least she could do was kiss her on the cheek. Rio instantly blushed and tried to calm herself down. “Do you wanna sit at that bench? We’ve been walking for a minute” Rio asked, hoping that sitting would help her from being flustered. “Sure!” Agatha said, letting Rio take the lead. “So what made an author like yourself choose such a small town to live in?” Agatha asked, playing with Rio’s fingers. “Honestly, I got tired of the big city and wanted a break from so many people,” Rio said, still blushing. “Oh I couldn’t agree more. I just hope Nicholas doesn’t mind growing up here” Agatha said with a sigh. “He’ll be fine as long as he has you” Rio said, smiling once again at Agatha. There was a moment of quietness as the two just enjoyed each other’s company. Agatha hadn’t felt this at ease with someone else for some time now and was relishing in the feeling. “Do you wanna head over to the restaurant, it’s only a block away from here” Rio asked. “Yeah, that sounds good” Agatha said, clearing her throat to take her mind off of wanting to kiss Rio. 

As they walked to the restaurant they kept asking questions about each other, trying to get more info out of each other. As they arrived at the place, Rio held the door out like the gentleman, well gentlewoman in this case, that she was. They got situated in a booth and ate while also drinking a glass of wine each. Agatha hadn’t had a date go this well since the divorce and was scared of how much she was attracted to Rio. Rio couldn’t help but feel the same, it had been long since she had a date go this well, especially in a small town like this with such a small lesbian population. Agatha couldn’t help herself and excused herself to go to the bathroom to calm down. However, Rio decided to follow her after a minute of waiting. As soon as Rio saw it was just Agatha in the bathroom, she held her by the hips and kissed her. Agatha was taken aback for a moment but then reciprocated the kiss. They stayed like that for a minute or two before leaving the kiss. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself” Rio said with a giggle and her and Agatha’s foreheads touched. “No don’t worry, I’m happy you followed me” Agatha said, also laughing at their antics. “Making me feel like I'm in highschool” Agatha told Rio, pecking her lips. “How about I pay for the bill and we get out of here” Rio asked,swaying their bodies. “That sounds perfect, thank you” Agatha said, stealing another kiss. 

As the two walked back to Rio’s bookstore they couldn’t help but laugh and steal kisses here and there. “Let me drive you home gorgeous,” Rio said as they stopped at her bookstore. “Well, if you insist” Agatha said, giggling and kissing her cheek. “I do, come on” Rio said, taking Agatha’s hand and taking her behind the bookstore. Rio opened the passenger door for Agatha to which Agatha couldn’t help but tease her about it. “Quite the charmer I see” Agatha said, giving Rio another peck on the cheek. Rio closed the door gently as she ran over to the driver’s side. “What can I say, I can’t help myself with such a pretty lady” Rio told her, shifting the car to drive. The car ride was silent but that was only because of how much Agatha was admiring Rio. As Rio pulled up to Agatha’s home she was almost sad that their time together was ending. “I don’t know if this is too forward but can I see you tomorrow?” Rio asked, playing with the rings on her hand. “Let me ask if Jen and Alice can look after Nicholas. If they say yes then I would love nothing more but to see you tomorrow” Agatha said, taking Rio’s hand and kissing it. Rio couldn’t help but blush, “If they say no, they’re banned from book club” she said jokingly. “I wouldn’t mind if we kicked out everyone and just had it be the two of us” Agatha told Rio, winking at her. Rio short circuited and had no snarky reply, she could only blush and be flustered in her seat. Agatha reached in her purse to give her number to Rio before giving her a goodbye kiss. “Call me” she said with a wink before getting out of the car. Rio sighed a breath of relief as she started putting Agatha’s number in her cell. 

Agatha greeted her son and the babysitter. She thanked them for taking care of her son and paid them for their service. Once she was alone with her son, she sat on their couch and let out a sigh she didn’t know she was holding. She felt her phone buzz and already saw a text message from Rio. 

Hi sexy lady. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow, tonight was amazing 💚

Agatha couldn’t help but smile at the text as she was replying back with her own snarky remarks

Sexy? Have you not seen yourself honey? We’ll see what Jen and Alice say about tomorrow. Hopefully we can see each other. Tonight was perfect, can’t wait till the next time 😘💖💖

Agatha put her phone away and spent the rest of the night getting Nicky to bed while also doing her own night routine. She thought about all the kisses her and Rio shared while laying in bed, hoping that she could see Rio tomorrow . It had been less than a day and she was already falling for her. 

[pumpkinsareamazing]

Just for You. *Platonic* Capt. Price x TF141!reader

The holidays on base were usually hard—but this year felt especially hard. No one was able to even request leave due to the upcoming mission and this would be the first year you’ve spent without being remotely close to your family, and it hurt..a lot.

You sat in your barracks looking over the postcard your family sent. You should've been in that picture. It felt nice to know your family was enjoying the holidays but knowing it was without you broke your heart. Before you could think any longer you heard a firm knock on your door. You welcome the person to step inside as you set the postcard down and look at the door as it opens…

It's your captain, Price.

You quickly stand up in attention. "At ease, [Name]." He responds, looking at you "I expect you to be in the common room at 22:00, Please don't be late." He peaks down at the postcard on your bed before leaving your room, softly closing the door behind him, you wait until his boot steps fade down the hallway before sitting back down.

At 21:57 you make your way down to the common room- it is quiet, and you feel the cool breeze shiver up your spine. Once you stand near the door you see a warm- soft glow under the frame. You slowly open the door and the faint sound of "Here comes Santa Clause" plays all around, you follow it until you come across your team sitting on the couch surrounding the poorly decorated tree, and eating Christmas sugar cookies. "Hey! Ya' made it!" Gaz cheers catching the attention of the others, "come on! I saved a seat for you." He finishes his sweet before softly hitting the seat between him and Soap. You take a seat and look around the room.

Old red and green string lights hung from the ceiling-some flickering and most working, a few candles give the dark room a soft glow, and the tree is covered in ornaments, old grenades, and lights. "You like the tree? I think the grenades give it a nice touch." Soap laughs while Ghost gives him a deadpan stare. You laugh "I do, the color blends in really nicely-" you look around, "Where's the captain?" You ask. "He said he'd be back soon, not sure when but he said so." Ghost grumbles out before lifting the bottom half of his mask to take a bite of the cookie. You look in front of you at the coffee table, it has a plate on it with a single cookie on it, "tried saving you another one but a certain Scot ate it." Gaz says in a sarcastic voice while looking at soap. "Can ya' blame me? These things are good!" They start to bicker but you block them out while grabbing the cookie and taking a bite out of it immediately being reminded of home. The warm smiles, the smell of fresh gingerbread, the warm atmosphere, the laughter— the common room door opens and slams shut, you're drawn back into reality and Price is in front of you holding a wrapped box in his hands. "And for you." He says, you take the gift and slowly open it while the rest of the team opens theirs. You gasp. Inside the box was a framed photo of the team. With you in it, and next to it was a small picture of you and Price after you got accepted into his team, you stare at it, recalling the memory.

You step into the captain's temporary office. "You wanted to see me, sir?" You ask, "[name], take a seat." He says, you sit down and feel yourself shrinking at every second his eyes are on you. "You were great out there today." He states "A few tweaks and you could match with Gaz, you know that right?" He asks you. "No sir" you respond. "I want you on my team." He suddenly said. Your eyes widen "You would be a good fit and with your knowledge of the wilderness and strength you could get us out of some tough situation." You look up at him. "Yes or No, soldier?" He asked looking straight through you. "Yes," you say. You suddenly blurt out "Canltakeapicturewithyou?"

He pauses, "Excuse me?" He asks. "Can I take a picture with you?" You slowly ask, he gives you a look almost asking you why "My mom. she likes me to have photos of huge milestones in my life, you don’t have to-" he cuts you off. "We can take a picture."

You smile at the memory, remembering how proud your mom was of you, her huge smile as you show her the picture from your phone. You look back at Price from his seat on the couch. "Happy Holidays, Kid." He says smiling. "Happy Holidays to you too …Price." You smile back.

[bealtesharrisonmacca]

When I’m up against the wall Paul, you’ll find I’m at my best

McLennon

Setting: get back sessions/recording of the Let it be album

Paul McCartney x John Lennon

Word count: 1276

Warnings: smut!, slight swearing, mclennon smut

It’s been a tense couple of days. The group is having a hard time coping with all their feuds. John and Paul are constantly bickering at each other while George and Ringo are left unseen.

Paul seems to be the one attempting to take charge so that they can make their album.

John is pretty frustrated, considering he and Paul haven’t been even remotely close enough lately. Of course with Yoko around all the time it’s not easy getting some time for just the two of them.

Although, Yoko isn’t the only reason they haven’t been engaging in anything special, but Paul sure thinks so.

He’s been growing out his beard recently, and he knows how good he looks. Wearing black turtlenecks and suits to match his "grown up" look. He looks amazing and not only does he know it, he knows that John knows it too.

Paul has caught John eyeing him a few times when he thought he wasn’t looking.

One day John and Paul are just playfully talking about what to do with the album and such. They often have talks like this but this time there is something unspoken between them.

Then suddenly John says “When I’m up against the wall Paul, you’ll find I’m at my best.”

The words hung in the air.

Paul is surprised at Johns remark but he scoffs it off considering they’re not only in front of a lot of people, they are also on camera. But he wanted to push John against the wall right there and then.

John can tell he hit a spark for Paul by saying something so risky yet so innocent for everyone else.

~

Johns comment from earlier stayed with Paul throughout the day.

The idea of having John up against a wall really spoke to him. He felt his pants tighten around his crotch as his bulge grew bigger. He wasn’t visibly turned on but his mind was racing with unholy thoughts.

He was constantly looking over at John when they were playing, attempting to assure himself that John was on the same page he was.

It had been such a long time for them both.

John felt Paul’s eyes on him as he was strumming the guitar. He thought that maybe, Paul wanted him as much as he wanted Paul. He knew he couldn’t resist that sexy beard of his.

Imagining them kissing and Paul’s beard itches against Johns cheeks. Oh how bad John wanted to jump up from his chair and take Paul in his arms and kiss him passionately.

All throughout the rest of the day the pair of them were making eye contact every few seconds. The tension grew larger between them. It used to be an aggravated tension but it was soon turning very seksual.

Paul sat playing the piano while John was packing up his guitar.

George and Ringo and the rest of the crew had left only a few minutes earlier. Yoko was the only one still there.

“That damn Yoko” Paul thought to himself. Maybe he had read too much into the situation. Maybe John was just slow at gathering his things and maybe he was just going to leave with Yoko.

But before Paul could spiral further down that path he heard John tell Yoko to leave because he wanted to go over a few lyrics and ideas with Paul.

Yoko left soon after and then there they were. John and Paul, finally alone.

Paul got up from the piano and began walking towards John, whose back was turned to him. John heard Paul’s footsteps getting closer, and the knot in his stomach tightening with suspense.

Then, John felt Paul’s hands lightly tough his back. Stroking carefully as John turned to face him.

“Care to tell me what that comment you made earlier meant, love?” Paul asked with a smirk across his face. And before John could muster up a response Paul pushed him harshly against the wall behind him. “Because I think you wanted something like this didn’t you eh?”

Paul’s hand travelling up to Johns chin while the other held him in place.

John let out a slight groan as Paul pushed his lips against his. Ramming Johns body even harder into the wall.

The bulge in Paul’s pants pressed into Johns as their kiss grew more passionate. Moans escaping them both as their clothed cocks rubbed against each other.

As foreseen by John, Paul’s beard felt incredibly good to tough and feel.

Their lips parted for a few seconds, giving them time to look into each other eyes and admire the closeness they had.

It didn’t take long before Paul started pulling off Johns shirt. The chilly room making his nipples hard. Paul then went on to remove his own shit and trousers, leaving him in his boxers.

John started unbuckling his belt as Paul watches eagerly. They were both hard as fuck and it showed.

Paul slid a hand to the brim of Johns boxers and pulled them down in a swift motion. Removing his own soon after.

“Let’s see how good you really are against this wall then love, turn around for me yeh”

John turned his back to Paul again, exposing his ass to him. Paul leaned forward and his hand went around Johns neck and into his mouth.

“Suck” Paul exclaimed. “Don’t want yer asshole hurtin too bad now do we?”

And so he did, he sucked Pauls fingers until they were plenty wet with John’s spit.

Paul drew back his hand but stopping right at John lower back. He bent John even further towards a 90 degree angle, but not fully.

Without warning Paul pushed a finger inside him. John let out a loud moan at the sharp pain. Although it quickly turned into pleasure as Paul’s finger moved more rapidly.

He suddenly added another finger and started stretching John out.

John let out moan after moan, the feeling he had been yearning for so long was finally coming to him. He felt Paul getting impatient to fuck him.

“Please Paul, Please fuck me!” John was practically shouting. And before John could muster out anything else Paul slammed into him. His hard cock thrusting deep inside of him.

John’s face was being pushed harshly into the wall and it caused him to shout even louder, but he loved every second of it. They both did.

One of Paul’s hands went to John’s hair tugging roughly, the other went to John dick as he starter jerking him off.

John’s senses were flying and the overstimulation was almost too much to bear.

Paul’s picked up his pace slamming even faster and harder into John now that he had adjusted properly. All the while still jerking off John.

They were letting out loud moans as they both felt their orgasms approaching.

Paul pulled John’s hair ruthlessly as he started coming undone. His cum shooting into John. That was the final straw for John as he came in Paul’s grip.

They were now moaning messes, attempting to gather themselves. John turned to Paul and their lips intertwined once again.

“Yer so fucking good at that Paulie”

“Well you weren’t half bad either John, I reckon we could do this again” Paul smirked.

Paul started getting dress when John grabbed him and pushed him to the wall.

“Next time we’ll se how good you do” John let the words hang as he left the studio, leaving Paul very horny yet again.

~

Hope this was enjoyable, I wrote this when I was half asleep😅

[eretzyisrael]

The Palestinians like to say that they engage in "sumud," steadfastness, an adherence to the land that they characterize as resistance.

The unstated implication - which is explicit in many Arabic articles - is that the Jewish presence on the land is an aberration of history. In this worldview, the Jews will inevitably eventually be driven out like the Romans, Byzantines or (especially) Crusaders. They are outside interlopers who will flee when things get tough, like the French in Algeria. 

 Arabs believe their own propaganda of the frightened, colonialist Jew who really wants to live in Europe or America and will run away at the first sign of trouble. One reason they love the absurd theory that Jews are really Khazars is because they are not threatened by European colonists - but they are very afraid of indigenous Jews who would fight to the death for their land.

Israel hasn't helped dispel this worldview. In every war, Israel never pressed its advantage to destroy its enemies; every war ended with a negotiated settlement of some sort. The Arabs looked at these settlements as capitulation to their might, and as proof that the Jews really aren't there permanently. After all, if the tables were turned, the Arabs wouldn't stop their wars until the Jews were all gone. Israel's desire for peace with its neighbors, rather than conquest, is seen as weak. 

Worse, after the previous Gaza wars, Israel always stopped and left Hamas in place. The impression given was that Israel did not have the stomach to really fight, that domestic and international pressure was more important to Israel than winning decisively. 

This was the major factor that prompted Sinwar to plan October 7. He knew there would be a bloody backlash but his own study of the Israeli psyche, colored through his own antisemitism, was that Israel would relent under world pressure when Hamas would ensure many civilian casualties.

What Sinwar and the Arab world did not count on was Israel's own "sumud."

The word is actually Biblical. "Tzamad" means "to fasten" or "to bind." (Interestingly, it is often used to describe Israelites' joining idol worshipping cults.) 

Both sides got their opponents completely wrong. October 7 showed Israelis that the conflict with Gaza was not "manageable." And the events after October 7 showed the terrorists that Jews were not running away. 

To the West, most wars are not existential. They erupt and they eventually end without much change in the status quo. Even wars the West is involved in happen thousands of miles from where their populations live, so they are remote - almost like playing video games. And like everyone else, they project their own worldview on everyone else. 

Just like the Arabs, the Western world didn't account for Israel's determination. Its "sumud." Yes, October 7 was horrible, sure, we sympathize, but the Jews will get over it - its just like a big bus bombing. 

The world didn't really get it, which is why the international community thought that Israel would act the way it acted in previous wars.  Israel tried to tell everyone that this was different, that Israel is not messing around, that Hamas must never be allowed to threaten Israel again. 

This is the steadfastness that Israelis have. 

Because the media and world governments don't get this, they look at Israel as going overboard. They want to restrain Israel because they cannot relate to how Israelis feel after October 7. And they simply could not imagine that Israel could prevail against entrenched underground terrorist armies. That creativity and innovation is also a feature of Jewish steadfastness.

Jewish life has been centered around Israel and Jerusalem for thousands of years, and the long diaspora didn't weaken that, although internal Israeli politics made people temporarily minimize that past of their consciousness.

Hamas re-awakened the Jews' sumud.

[starrrling]

TASK 001 : THE NEWS.

It is with a heavy heart that I write to inform you of our dear Richard's passing.

→ Reece Starling receives her invitation to Richard's funeral.

tw: domestic abuse mention

When the letter arrived, Reece was alone in her apartment—which is to say the apartment that she shared with Jack, who was or had been her boyfriend, at least until half an hour ago, when he hurled the tv remote at her face and left—and she’s holding a wet washcloth up to her bloody nose and thinking nothing other than I should probably leave. 

And as for where she’d actually go, well—she supposed she’d burn that bridge when she got to it. It was New York, so family—meaning those that are entitled to breathe down one’s neck—was everywhere, but how many places could Reece really go to crash without feeling guilty, or judged, or—at best—a little bit too fucking embarassed for the whole thing to seem so funny, right now? There was Alison, with those eyes that Reece could already imagine wordlessly announcing that Alison told Reece so; there was Dante, who could probably crush Jack’s skull with his pinky finger; there was Richard, who Reese swore to never appear to again in this state, as this girl. 

Fuck. She sniffled against the coppery tang of her own blood; her lower lip trembled. King of the Hill was still playing at a low volume from the television. Her bruised eye throbbed, and she wondered fleetingly if she would at least look sort of tough and hot to a stranger. 

And then the courier came with the letter from Mrs. Tristan, addressed in elegant, even cursive to one Reece Starling. Reece had wiped her hands off on her shirt before accepting the envelope, but the pads of her thumbs still left rust-colored stains behind on the paper, precise whirlpools of dark red. Apparently, Reece’s change of address had made it up to the Woodrow House—Alison, she guessed vaguely. See how long that address lasted. 

Reece’s own grim, self-involved thoughts about her impermanent address and how she got herself here kept her too distracted to wonder what the letter was actually for, so the opening line—it is with a heavy heart that I write to you today—hit her like a gut punch; she read those words and the world opened up around her in to something so much wider and worse, beyond all of her own bullshit, back to the bedrock, back to real loss. 

—our dear Richard has passed away. 

And who knew that Dick could die, right? Who knew? Not Reece; she didn’t even know how old he was. The words smudged to a blur beyond her bruised eye and she felt a stream of something hot and wet striping down her face; she wondered if she was crying, crying through her half-closed eye, until she remembered that her nose was bleeding, because Jack had made her nose bleed. 

At a loss, Reece started laughing alone in the quiet while the King of the Hill credits rolled, because, really, what the fuck else could she do? 

At least I know I’ll have a place to stay for the weekend. That thought echoes over Reece's quieter, more persistent internal refrain: I could really use a drink.

[chibrary]

today in chontent: july 30th

source: motorsport.com & twitter series: 2014, karting

In 2014, Jules wrote a series of columns for Motorsport.com following his quest within F1:

"Starting today, Jules Bianchi will guide the readers of JA on F1 on a unique journey of discovery of Formula 1, as seen through the eyes of one of the best young driving talents on the world motorsport scene. Jules has been a driver with the Marussia F1 Team for a year and a half, fulfilling one of his boyhood dreams, to drive at the pinnacle of the sport. He has another dream to fulfill, one with a red tone to it; to drive for the famous Scuderia Ferrari. Since 2009 Jules has been part of the Ferrari Driver Academy and a few weeks ago he was called in to an official test at Silverstone for the Maranello team."

His first article was posted in July 2014, titled "Voyage to the centre of Formula 1":

Jules Bianchi writes: “Realizing your dreams is one of the most beautiful things that can happen to a person and I am happy to have fulfilled the biggest dream, which is to drive in F1. I have been dreaming of it since I was a kid but only when I started racing single seaters did I realize that my hopes could become a reality. If you had told me this would happen, when I was 13 years old, I would not have believed you.

But I’ve done it and I’m half way through my second season in the top category and I want to try to take all of you behind the scenes and show you my life and my journey, to show you what it means to be part of this special world, which seems so remote and unattainable.

Let's start by saying that to race in Formula 1 is something that gives me a lot of excitement: this is the first word that comes to mind. The second is professionalism: if you want to excel you have to be professional in every little detail and that is true for us drivers as much as for all those who work in the various roles. It 's something that I realized immediately; right from the first time I was able to see up close how Ferrari operates. Even at Marussia, although the scale of the operation is certainly different from the Scuderia, the level of professionalism is really high.

Ours is a very tough sport, where if you do not always give 100%, whatever the circumstances, you risk falling behind straight away. This means that you always need the utmost concentration, both when working on the track and when you are free from specific commitments, because you can never back off. This is why ' if I have to choose a third word to associate with Formula 1 I would say tiredness: not only physical - to drive these cars is not exactly a breeze and to do this job you have to work a lot on athletic training, even during the race weekend - but, more important, mental tiredness.

I never get bored by the routine; it 's true that the Grand Prix weekend is a bit like a theatre show, which you repeat in exactly he same format every time, in nineteen different venues. But I don’t mind this repetition at all.

The two-week summer break comes at just the right time. We’ve been on the go, travelling the world, pretty much since the end of January, when I started driving in the winter tests. But now we can kick back a little and try to recharge the batteries for the second half of the season.

In the last few races I could really see our guys in the pit garages beginning to feel fatigued and I too cannot wait to get a rest. I'm not planning anything special, not even to celebrate my 25th birthday on August 3; a few days at home in Geneva with the family and then a little sunshine with friends at the beach somewhere, but not to some far distant place with more time zone changes - I’ve had plenty of that already and more lies in wait for me from late August to late November.

When I have some free time I like to play sports with my friends. I always try to organize a small competition, either karts or playing squash or football: this is what I will be up to before restarting the engines at Spa, where we’ll race in the Belgian Grand Prix.

Of course I have some time now to think about what has happened in this first part of the season because it is not that you can completely clear Formula 1 out of your head, even on vacation.

I'm happy with how things have gone so far: we have made a big step forward compared to last year and you can begin to see the results. The points finish in Monte Carlo, with ninth place was definitely the best moment and it was important to be able to get into Q2 twice (the second part of qualifying for the top 16 cars) in Silverstone and a few days ago at the Hungaroring: it means that we are approaching the core group even though the distance is still quite wide.

The worst day? That’s an easy one - Sunday in Montreal where I was unable to complete even the first lap, boy what a shame ..

Another beautiful moment was the Silverstone test with Ferrari. Putting on those scarlet overalls with the Prancing Horse on the chest is always an unbelievable feeling, as is climbing into the cockpit. I’ve done it before but the emotion is very powerful, very beautiful.

For me Ferrari is like a second family and to drive full time with that Prancing Horse remains my goal, my ultimate dream.

Will I ever get to realize that dream? I don’t know. But given that I have fulfilled my first goal of driving in F1, why not aspire to fulfilling the even bigger dream?

Until next time..

Jules

[thrandilf]

I'm willing to read most shadowpeach fics even if they are pretty ooc (I have a limit of ooc, but it's pretty wide) but fics I can't read are ones where macaque is just now in modern times meeting wukong. Like I'm sorry, but macaque would be a completely different person if he never met wukong. So wildly different that a macaque acting like macaque breaks my suspension of belief, and a macaque acting like he should in that scenario isn't my macaque anymore by any metric (might as well be an OC)

I sat here for a bit wondering how to say that I haven't actually found any Shadowpeach fics I like that I haven't written myself without sounding horridly self absorbed/picky but it's where I'm at

To be clear, I've only been in fandom for a few months and I haven't looked all that hard, I'm sure out of the 8k or so on ao3 there are absolute gems, just haven't found em. I'm open to recs! but I'm in fandom for characterization and specific dynamics which drew me to the characters in the first place, so you've got the biggest lead on me for not being picky/coming off as judgy, anon hahaha

In that circumstance you laid out I'd also wonder who Wukong would even be. He's influenced by his past relationships just as much, even if he isn't as overt about it as Macaque/he's had a wider range of influence since Macaque is more Wukong centered than vice versa, it would still be Different.

Fic of them in early or pre brotherhood would be really interesting! Or in this AU- a Macaque full out reincarnation would be fascinating if LBD hadn't brought him back. Like, that could be interesting, but their history is such a core part, even as obscured as some of it is to us right now, that I'd have a hard time trying to untangle it and make it feel like them. It would still have to be History on Wukong's end for me or too many pieces are gone from the jenga tower yfm

I'm also someone who writes canon compliant or adjacent stuff Most of the time, where I like to extrapolate and kind of take the edges of the picture and expand, like a degree removed from canon/plausible, but not putting people in totally different worlds or altering major canon events. Hell, I don't even make OCs for fics unless my arm is twisted by necessity (my novel length tdp fic has some OCs because I needed more characters for the mains to meet in the world/filling in vacuums left by foreign leaders being killed, said OCs are still as minor as I can make them while being hopefully interesting and serving their purpose)

However, I know that a majority of fandom really loves totally new AUs in other worlds/making OCs (LMK fandom is especially OC heavy which was a surprise to me) and that's its own writing exercise/source of fun, it's just one I've never had a desire to read or write. Canon for me is fun to explore more of canon potential, not to fuel something seemingly unrelated

As I said, I'm picky. I typically don't even read modern AUs for fantasy characters, it just so happens that LMK works so well that I love the futuristic world and get my magic meets technology kicks in canon, otherwise I wouldn't have anything written in remotely modern day within the past few years. LMK got me back into it

So I hear you about characterization/I probably sound like I live a stifled existence but I just thrive by being as close to canon as I can while playing with it, my most fun is different from others on the fan spectrum

And all this isn't to say that I feel like an expert in characterizing Macaque and Wukong- they're tough cases to crack. They're challenging. They both have their facades and levels of jadedness and sincerity. LMK requires flat out studying to really nail anyone I've found, even characters I feel more confident in writing- and that challenge is part of the draw for me too!

[sneakyscarab]

my one-a-day streak has been broken, my career is over! orz

not that i was remotely expecting to have kept up that pace for almost the entire series, and Unconnected Marketeers gave me good reason to take it slow and try more runs that usual. but thats spoilers innit :P

nina's thoughts on Touhou 18 - Unconnected Marketeers

if you recall my last post about Wily Beast and Weakest Creature, youll know that i said it felt like touhou games needed to really do something big to stand out this many games deep. well, i think ZUN had the same idea, cause Unconnected Marketeers definitely stands out, with one of the coolest new systems in the series. UM does something really fresh, integrating roguelite elements into the gameplay in a simple but pretty effective way through Ability Cards.

heres the rundown. before you start a run, in addition to choosing your character you also pick an 'ability card' to start with. throughout the stages of UM, enemies drop money tokens instead of the typical blue point items, and at the end of each stage after defeating the boss they open trade with you and offer a selection of Ability Cards to buy with your money: a handful of gaurenteed basic cards (a 1up, a bomb, extra power, etc), the stage boss's signature card, and then 3 random ability cards selected from a pool of about 50 cards. ability cards come in 4 varieties: active cards, equipment cards, passive cards, and item cards. all the categories are pretty self-explanatory by the name, except equipment cards, which are like extra weapon options that are added on top of what you have. once you buy a card for the first time, its permanently unlocked to be selected as a starting card in future runs.

every ability card is based on a character from the series, which is a really cool way of using the huge cast that touhou has (sadly its mostly playable characters and final/extra stage bosses, so no Wriggle card as far as im aware v_v). its really cute seeing how certain characters abilities are translated to card form, like Koishi's card that makes it so enemies dont kill you if you collide with them, or Lily White's card that literally summons her as a micro-boss and gives you a good item if you beat her. i haven't unlocked them all, and i think some of them are unlocked by completing certain things, like a second card for each playable character that only unlocks when you beat the game with them. i might keep playing just to see what other cool cards there are, especially since the cards themselves give a lot more replay value than usual. you even unlock the ability to use 2 starting cards after your first clear.

since the ability cards add so much variety to the gameplay, the player character selection is kept pretty simple to not overcomplicate things. we have Reimu and Marisa as usual, as well as Sanae and Sakuya (im glad they ironed out their differences and are able to coexist now :P). Reimu, Marisa, and Sanae all play exactly as they have the last couple games, but Sakuya actually goes back to her roots and uses a modernized version of her weird B set from PCB, which im glad returned since it was a really cool one. if you need a refresher, thats the one where her throwing knives are angled left or right based on your movement, and focusing locks the angle in place. in addition, now vertical movement also influences the knife pattern, with downward movement increasing spread while upward tightens it. its tough to master, but you feel like a beast when you make it work for you. i got my 1cc with Sanae, but i might keep playing and go for runs with the other characters too.

as for the new characters, if youre familiar with the cast of Unconnected Marketeers you already know who im about to be talking about. thats right, Momoyo Himemushi, baby! lets go! another bug-type youkai so soon after Eternity Larva, and for the first time she's Not a stage 1 boss! she's actually the strongest enemy in the game, lurking at the end of the extra stage to fight only the most powerful players. Momoyo is based on the Oomukade youkai, a massive centipede who lives in the mountains and eats serpents and dragons, with the only weakness that can pierce its exoskeletal armour being human saliva. shes strong as hell and basically the coolest ever, totally not biased at all. shes got her sick minecraft gold pickaxe and shovel to dig up tasty gemstones, and doesnt hesitate to beat the tar out of anyone who tries taking her stuff. shes even got some bonus gender spiciness, using 'ore' for herself instead of most characters 'watashi'. im glad we finally got our justice for bug youkai, with the most badass centipede lady you'll probably ever see.

the final boss Chimata is pretty neat. shes a god of special event marketplaces, so anytime you go to a convention and find some cool stuff in the dealers room you have her to thank. she has a really wild design, with a patchwork rainbow dress with a matching headband, and a white cloak with the cloudy sky on the inside trim, representing a lunar rainbow and the market that takes place under its light. its pretty sick, but probably absolute hell for fanartists lmao.

my third choice of the new characters would be Takane. shes a yamawaro (mountain kappa) with forest-related powers, and like the river kappa theyve become entrepeneurs and inventors in Gensokyo. Takane has some hilarious interactions with the main characters, especially Sakuya who literally is just there to buy cards, where she engages in a boss fight to protect the protags from stealing her ability cards, but after the fight ends and she finds out that youre a paying customer her demeanor completely flips and she starts hyping up her wares lol.

Unconnected Marketeers is really fun! its great to see such a unique and innovative entry for a series thats 18 games in, without overturning the base gameplay loop that the fans are there for (glares at game series being re-invented as an open world walking simulators). interestingly the Ability Cards, while being the main plot instigator, are kept around in the end, so it seems like its set up to be more than just a one-off mechanic. from what ive heard of touhou 19 i dont think they're there, but 19 is also a non-standard touhou for other reasons, so its up in the air. either way, whether the ability cards are a one-time thing or an evolution, theyre great fun and add a lot of interesting variety to the gameplay, and fit in pretty naturally to the gameplay loop touhou already had going for it. take all that good gameplay stuff and add on to that we finally get respect for bug youkai with Momoyo, and UM is up there in the top echelons of touhous. lets go bugs!!!! we win these!!!

[meltingpenguins]

Dead by Daylight is a mean-spirited sociopsychological experiment

YMMV, but this is not entirely tongue-in-cheek.

There's a lot of games that are frustrating and taxing. But games like 'Getting Over It' have the reward of being able to tell the game to go fuck itself whenever one did get to a new, remotely safe area, as short as this satisfaction may last.

Other games have frustrating elements in the form of tedious quests, tough, multi-phase bosses or brain-wrangling puzzles. But for the most part, they all reward you in a way appropriate for the hassle.

Dead By Daylight? Not so much.

What are the 'rewards' that supposedly reflect how well you did?

Bloodpoints (and pips)

Iri Shards

Achievements

However, are these rewards in practice? Answer, of course, is 'No'.

Let's start with achievements:

Achievements come in various flavours throughout the gaming world (in order of satisfaction):

Rewarding skillfull and creative playing

Changing gameplay for a specific outcome, in a way that is NOT hindering the progress

Changing gameplay for a specific outcome, in a way that IS hindering the progress

Playing the game

DbD seems to have only achievements of the lowest two ranks. Even achievements that at first glance look as if they reward skillfull playing often come with a requirement that turns it into slogging, dreary work that's more counterproductive to playing the game than it is making things interesting. Most commonly seems to be the 'in one match' caveat (or similar expressions) that will only add to the frustration due to something that would have been doable often now requires the stars to align.

The other kind of achievements DbD offers boils down to plain grinding.

So here we have a 'reward' that isn't really a reward, but one source of frustration without fitting payoff.

Next point: Iri Shards.

This one is another 'just play the game' reward that yet still comes with a high level of frustration: Various content creators have done the math on how useless shards are, and how massive the grind is if you actually want to use shards to buy outfits or characters.

So, another 'reward' that isn't one.

And now, for the worst offender: BloodPoints and Pips

BP are the only thing in the game that are made out to reflect how well you did. Or do they?

There's constant arguing whether the game is killer or survivor sided. I'd say it's neither. It's scumbag sided.

What is the most surefire way to gain the highest amount of BP and pips? Play scummy as killer. Trying to play skilfull and fair won't give you as high a payoff as slugging, tunneling and camping. Similar on survivor side: you get more points for endangering your fellow teammates and/or throwing them under the bus than for playing well (an example is unhooking under the killers nose, making a run for it, and then immediately coming back to do the same thing with the tunneled teammate)

And the game seems to be designed to have this happen, as if to increase the toll playing it might take on the player.

Be it mechanics already in the game that could very well counter camping etc being handwaved by the devs as not applicable. And no explanation why (e.g. there's several elements that take into account how close someone's to a hook and what they are doing. To the point it even influences the pip calculation. But making it so that if you camp you get a de-buff is impossible somehow)

There's update after update that seems intended to make the game more obnoxious, less fun and less fair for all sides, all while the devs claim that they are only reacting to community feedback.

Leaving the community wonder just what part is meant. Cause even people that stouthearted defend camping etc are baffled.

Therefore, one really has to wonder if Dead By Daylight is nothing but a malicious psychological experiment meant to test for how long pointless, pretentious rewards like bloodpoints will keep someone playing, even if the frustration, anger and tediousness are taking a genuine toll on someone's health.

[enbycrip]

Trying to do more creative stuff in the coming year, so here’s a ten minute pencil sketch of one of my NPCs from my Vampire: the Requiem forum game. It’s been a good couple of years since I’ve done any art of humans, so I’m actually pretty pleased with it, though I’m not quite sure I’ve caught him quite right - a bit too suspicious for a rather sweet man!

It’s not good, but…that’s okay? I’ve not done it for a long time?

The whole thing about AI art has made me think about this a bit more. I feel part of the reason these things become so popular is because we take “art” as something you should only do if you are “good” at it. Like too many other creative pursuits - writing, art, singing, playing music. We treat them as though they are something one can either do or not.

But they’re not gifts from the gods. They’re skills with actual techniques we can learn, and practice - and practice almost invariably improves our output, whether we make an effort to learn formal techniques or not. And whatever the “objective” quality of our output - they’re ways of being *human*. Of communicating our perspectives, ideas, emotions. Of processing our experiences. Of discovering things about ourselves.

I’m not remotely denigrating artists who use digital techniques - I played around with some basic ones at the beginning of the year, and it was tough and enjoyable, very much like other kinds of art! All media of art are valid. I think I personally get a bit more therapeutically from working in more tactile traditional kinds of art, but that’s very much a personal thing for me. I can even absolutely see how AI output could be used creatively as part of a process of making art.

What honestly really pisses me off is how AI is being used. In a world with a decent UBI, so many more people would have time and energy to pursue creativity for what it’s actually for - communication, therapeutic benefits, perspective, personal expression, and even *sheer enjoyment*. Instead everyone is getting constantly pushed to turn hobbies into a “side hustle” because wages are insufficient to live on,

Producing art or craft work in a consumerist world is the opposite of relaxing or therapeutic; it’s incredibly stressful, and mostly involves massively underpaying yourself for the amount of work it takes to create something because people are used to paying for mass-produced items. Lots of disabled folks like myself come under the same stresses, with the additional ones of disableist ideas of “well if you can do embroidery/macrame/sketching/running RPGs why aren’t you doing that for a living instead of scrounging on benefits”? For the exact reason why we can’t do other jobs full-time, habitually; the ability to do something occasionally for people who are not going to sanction us hugely for variations in quality does not mean the ability to do it 40+ hours per week to high professional standards.

Capitalism is such a toxic ideology. It’s killing us. And the biosphere we depend on.

[black-arcana]

Watch: EVANESCENCE Joined By P.O.D.'s SONNY SANDOVAL For 'Bring Me To Life' Performance At 2024 SONIC TEMPLE Festival

P.O.D. frontman Sonny Sandoval joined EVANESCENCE on stage Thursday (May 16) at the Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival at the Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio to perform the latter band's breakthrough 2003 hit "Bring Me To Life". Video footage of his appearance can be seen below.

In a recent interview with Canada's iHeart Radio, EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee reflected on "Bring Me To Life", which featured guest vocals from Paul McCoy of 12 STONES. She said: "When we first did the song, I didn't wanna do the rap. That was like a concession kind of a thing with the label, trying to find a place for us. And LINKIN PARK was hot on the radio at the time. That was part of their [the label's] calculation of what was gonna help break a female through. And it was hard for me, actually. I got to write it. I was a part of it, like all of it, Paul was wonderful — still wonderful. But it was something that I like had an internal struggle with. But all these years later, with just — I don't want to use the word 'success', 'cause it's deeper than that, but the life that that song has had and all of these live shows, now that we're at this point now, 20 years later, and playing festivals with so many… It's just really, really, really an amazing gift to have our big song be a duet, because whenever we're out with somebody who's even remotely kind of in the realm of that would fit that voice, we get to have them up on our set. So that's been this really fun guest finale moment a lot. And even if the person isn't like the most famous person — it's cool when that happens — but when it's not, too, it just changes the energy of the song and is this easy, plug-in, really fun… I don't know. I don't know if that's the answer you were looking for, but I've gotten to a point where I'm super grateful that we have that song for that reason. The crowd goes nuts and everybody knows it, so it's super fun to have it be a collab."

Back in February 2022, EVANESCENCE's music video for "Bring Me To Life" surpassed one billion views on YouTube. The Philipp Stölzl-directed clip, which was uploaded to YouTube in December of 2009, was filmed in Romania in January 2003. It features Amy in a night gown and barefoot, in her room, inside a tall building in the city at night. The rest of the band is playing on a higher floor of the building.

The album version of "Bring Me to Life" was included on the soundtrack of superhero film "Daredevil".

In 2021, Amy spoke to Germany's Sonic Seducer about the lyrical inspiration for "Bring Me To Life". The song reached No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was EVANESCENCE's first U.K. No. 1 single.

"I remember what I wrote 'Bring Me To Life' about, because I wrote it about my current husband before we were married," she said. "There was this moment — I was in a tough place and in a bad relationship. And my husband now, Josh, at the time was just a friend and a person that I barely knew; it was maybe the third or fourth time we'd ever met. And we went in to go grab a seat at a restaurant while our friends parked the car. And we sat across from each other, and he looked at me and he just said, 'So, are you happy?' And it took me so off guard, and I just felt like it pierced my heart, because I felt like I had been pretending really well, and it was, like, somebody could see through me. And then that whole first verse came out of it: 'How can you see into my eyes, like open doors.' It really made me feel and recognize the sense of yearning that I had to get to a better place. And it really kind of set me out on a journey. And it's amazing that that became the song, the first song that broke us on to the scene and made everyone hear of us, because it was about something — I don't know — something so personal that I was recognizing in my life."

In March 2021, Lee told Alternative Press that EVANESCENCE's original record label Wind Up threatened not to release the group's debut album, "Fallen", if she and her bandmates didn't add a male voice to lead single "Bring Me To Life" to make it more palatable for radio.

"Fallen" sold 17 million copies and won two Grammys, including "Best Rock Performance" for "Bring Me To Life".

EVANESCENCE's latest album, "The Bitter Truth", arrived in March 2021 via BMG. It was EVANESCENCE's first album of original music in ten years.

[doesntseeyourbeauty]

👻 helloooo, happy friday, the 13th fellow witch!!! :) 👻

I think the basic ones are so cute too though, and mine are very basic too for now. I'm hoping to have more free time so I can dedicate myself to it a little more. OMG, yes, I'm also a big fan of their bracelets!!!!! heart eyes for both of them!! 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

yes, I think it'll be!!! I have to find the time and the will to do them! hehe I've been so exhausted lately it's been hard doing anything. yeah... i could go somewhere else, but I'll wait! ^^ YES, I'M SO EXCITED ELIZABETH, IT'S MY FIRST TAYLOR CONCERT! :')

ooooh, I hope you're all having fun watching the concert movie!!!!! 🤍

aaaah, that's tough, but it must also be so nice living somewhere like that! I sometimes feel so claustrophobic in the city.

oh, I'm also crazy obsessed in love with twilight, still to this day. hehehe I'm glad you also understand that! awww long live is the cutest song to ever exist!

It does!!! There's no one else who can write anything remotely similar to hers and I think that is so incredible!!! We see so many songs that are so similar in so many different way nowadays everywhere, but there isn't really any that can be mistaken for hers. She's such a genius, a whole genre, so unique!!

Having siblings can be a challenge, but it's also so wonderful!

oh, that's amazing!!! wow I saw your pic of her and she's the cutest dog!!!! It makes me so happy you did that. hehe I can relate, my cat would also eat all the cat food in the house in one sitting if i allowed it. :p

I'll give it a listen, I've heard some beabadoobee songs and I really enjoyed them. ah, I've also been very much obsessively listening to that Olivia song!

Have a wonderful weekend!

hiiiiiiiiii!! happy Friday the 13th 🔮 to my fellow witch!! :))

I just don’t have a lot of time for more intricate ones, but let me tell you, if I could work from home, I would definitely make cooler ones! Mine are all pretty much just pony beads and alphabet beads 😂😂 right like their talent like????? I’m constantly in awe of coco and jen’s talent in making bracelets 🤍

IT’LL BE YOUR FIRST?? omg you are going to have the BEST TIME!!!! Taylor has gone above and beyond with the eras tour and I’m so excited you’ll get to see it for your first Taylor show! I love that you’ll get to see her go through the eras (well except debut but we aren’t gonna talk about that one 🙃) rather than just having highlights of certain songs on a tour that’s focused on an album.

our showing isn’t until 7:30 PDT but I’m super excited bc we’re all gonna get ready together! I actually ended up driving about 4 hours to see the movie with my friends (I recently moved for my job and used to live like 20 minutes away from them lol) so I’m tired but pumped at the same time!

It is but I actually went from a big city to a more rural area back in August! I lived south of Portland for the last 7 years but moved back to the town my family lives in because I got a better job than what I had previously. I will say one perk about the small town is that it has the BEST taco truck ever so I can’t complain much! Yeah being back in the city I used to be in has been wild because I’ve forgotten how busy it gets and how bad traffic can be!

SAME! I recently saw where someone has been making the twilight saga but with muppets and let me tell you, it was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time!! Long Live is such a sweet song and I legit cried when Taylor played it at my eras tour show!

yes!!! Taylor has cultivated her sound over the years and turned it into something that is so uniquely her! She also has been working with a lot of the same people over the years so it just makes it all sound so much more consistent (like Jack, Liz Rose and more recently Aaron Dessner)!

It can be! Sometimes it’s wild because my older brother and I can get mistaken for a couple (even though he’s very openly gay) and it’s always so funny when people realize we’re siblings! Mind you this happened recently too at our favourite taco truck 😂😂

she’s the absolute sweetest girl in the whole world and I’m so lucky to be her mom! Oh let me tell you, Kayla cannot be left alone around food sometimes. Once I was eating chicken nuggets and she straight up took one from my plate when I wasn’t paying attention. She has also stolen fries out of my hand when I wasn’t looking. The joys of having a rescue who was a street dog 😂 Winnie is much more well behaved in that sense but she’s definitely a talker! She’s half Siamese and loves to just talk at anyone who’ll listen to her!

I love Bea! She has this amazing sound and I really love her voice (I’m also just a damn sucker for anything that sounds like her music)! Plus she’s someone that Taylor likes as well, since she opened for the eras tour for like 12 shows, and taylor dedicated our song to Bea at her first opening show!

I LOVE GUTS SO MUCH LIKE ITS UNREAL!!!! I love sour but I feel like you could really feel the teenage angst in guts (which is my favvvvvvvv). I’m such a sucker for any music that sounds remotely like paramore - which Olivia does sound like!

I Hope you have the loveliest of weekends and I can’t wait to talk to you more soon! 🤍🤍🤍

[average-guy-reviews]

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

"Ethan Hunt and the IMF team must track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity if it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than the mission -- not even the lives of those he cares about most."

30 years is a long time in the movie business, and it is even longer in an actor's career. Yet nearly 30 years ago, Tom Cruise brought Ethan Hunt to the big screen in the first Mission Impossible film. At the age of 34 he launched an action franchise with enormous potential. It could have gone either way and, to be fair, the reception for the MI films has not always been positive or enthusiastic. But here we are 27 years later with the first part of the end of the franchise, and we are left to ponder the merits of what has become a cinematic juggernaut. Does it still have the power to thrill all these years later?

Simply put? Yes, yes it does. I had no doubt that Cruise was always going to try to make the best films he could to round out this series, but will does not always produce quality. This time, however, it has. This is a film made by people that really understand the characters and the world they inhabit. I absolutely imagine that the director, Christopher McQuarrie, had fun trying to wrangle the cast into line. I suspect he didn't always get his way though....but when working with a main cast that has lived these characters for so long, I'm sure he was more than happy for their input. Either way, he has done a great job creating what may be the best film in the franchise so far. I'll need to rewatch them all to double check though....it's a tough life.

Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg, reprising their roles as Luther and Benji, are on fine form as Hunt's sidekicks. That may be an unfair descriptive though. They are very much central to the films and have formed a solid part of the emotional core of what makes this franchise as good as it is. The chemistry between the two is always fun to watch, and it feels like they have a lot of fun working together.

Hayley Atwell joins the cast as Grace. A potential antagonist to Cruise she brings a seemingly naive, yet thoroughly world worn, charm to the character. I am a fan of Atwell's work within the MCU, and it is very cool to see her keeping up the action, all the while creating a character so different to Captain Carter. I don't know right now if she'll be back for the last film, but based on this, I really hope she will.

Every M:I movie needs a bad guy. Sadly, it's sometimes the lacklustre baddy that lets down the film. Not this time. Esai Morales, as Gabriel, has a link to Hunt's past and an evil plan in place. He is a suave, controlled, somewhat charming, villain with whom you feel no emotional connection. That's not a bad thing at all. It's very clear you're not supposed to be able to relate to him, and Morales nails that with his entire performance. His use of non-verbal communication is almost masterful, and he is simply brilliant here. Along with Morales we have Pom Klementieff as the threatening 'muscle', and this is such a refreshing thing to see. I only know her as Mantis in the MCU where she is a naive, emotional, alien that comes across as mostly harmless. Here she kicks butt and genuinely comes across as a danger, and someone that you can not take even remotely lightly. I love it.

I might be a little biased here, but Cruise is utterly brilliant as Ethan Hunt. Watching him the character has evolved over the years is paet.of what makes him so fascinating in the role. One of the things I like so much about the way Cruise plays him is that there is no pretence about him being this young, almost invulnerable, super spy anymore. The character makes mistakes and misses things he would never have years ago. He's not as fast as he used to be and he's just not as strong or spry as he once was. Again, this not a bad thing and certainly not a remonstration against the actor. If anything I applaud him for aging the character appropriately. It's something that is sometimes lacking in movies. Here Tom Cruise nails his performance and I am genuinely excited to see part two to see how Ethan's journey will end.

Overall, this is an outstanding movie and is easily the top film in a franchise that has some damn fine movies in it. Knowing this was a Part One I did sit through the credits. I'll tell ya now you don't need to. There aren't any mid, or post, credits scenes setting up the next film. Honestly, I don't think it needed it anyway, but it's just a heads up so you don't have to sit through the credits. Now, I have struggled with scoring this. If the M:I filmd were the only films ever the it's an easy 10/10, but they're not and while it is a damn fine film...................fuck it......it's getting the 10/10. It deserves it, and I legitimately cannot wait for part two. Go see this immediately.