#the translation team shifted so the current translation i have is. rough. which is why i haven't finished yet

[chadsuke]

Books Read in 2023:

Who Made Me a Princess Season 1 by Plutus & Spoon (2017)

Who Made Me a Princess Season 2 by Plutus & Spoon (2019)

My Love Mix-Up! Vol. 1 by Wataru Hinekure (2019)

My Love Mix-Up! Vol. 2 by Wataru Hinekure (2020)

My Love Mix-Up! Vol. 3 by Wataru Hinekure (2020)

My Love Mix-Up! Vol. 4 by Wataru Hinekure (2020)

My Love Mix-Up! Vol. 5 by Wataru Hinekure (2021)

Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom Season 1 by Yir (2021)

Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom Season 2 by Yir (2021)

[ID: Covers of the aforementioned books. End ID.]

[avenging-criminal-bones]

Claustrophobic

Spencer x Reader

Requested?: YES

Word Count: 2264

Warnings: Mentions of unsub, guns, violence, hurt/comfort, panic attack

A/N: SORRY! I kind of got carried away with the prompt from anon

* * * * *

If there was one thing that no one on the team knew about you, it was your extreme claustrophobia. Small spaces, dark corners, the whole nine-yards would set your off in a heartbeat. Especially if you had to share the space with someone else. 

No one knows. Not even Spencer. 

Who you’ve been dating. 

For almost a year. 

It stemmed from your childhood. Your parents had both died in a house fire when you were young, seven, to be exact. So when they were no longer there to take care of you, your uncle took you in and raised you as if you were already a trouble maker. 

There was a closet in your uncle’s house about four feet high and three feet by three feet as the interior. Relatively small. Whenever you needed to be punished of have anything done, you were locked in the closet. Some nights, he would be so wasted or hyped up on weed that he’d forget about you in there, leaving you overnight to fend for your food and bathroom situation. 

For eleven years that was the only form of correction that he’d give you, until you left. You got out of there as soon as you were eighteen. 

Which is why the current case put you in a sort of predicament. You aren’t in any sort of danger, at least not immediately, but the unsub had capture you and Spencer. He locked the both of you in a dark metal box. It must have been an old shipping container, since you’d chased the perpetrator into an abandoned warehouse. 

“Y/N?” Spencer’s voice was rough. The two of you had been drugged, just now waking up from the chloroform-induced sleep. In passing, you wondered if this was going to react badly with Spencer’s previous, forced-drug abuse. “Are you in here?”

“Y-Yeah. Spence... where-”

“I don’t know.”

You feel him shift beside you, not being able to see him due to the pitch blackness of the storage container. A moment later you feel a presence directly beside you and jump slightly. “Wh-”

“Hey, hey. It’s okay. Just my hand. I’m trying to gauge how wide this box is.” His voice sounds much too composed for the current situation. “Judging by the fact that I’m six foot one and my wingspan is about that same length, combined with the unfortunate reality that about three feet of my arms cannot stretch out, I’m going to guess that we are in a three by three foot container. The metallic sounds of my nails hitting the wall,” he drums his fingers a bit to show you, “means that this is a thicker metal, which translates to: no phone service.” He pauses for a second and hears the sound of your whimpering from directly in front of him. “Y/N?”

Your anxieties have been building up since you had come to your senses just a few moments before Spencer. You didn’t want to think about the fact that you were stuck in a small, dark, damp container, much like the closet from your childhood. You didn’t want to think about how you and Spencer had a shared, limited amount of air. You didn’t want to face that reality, but Spencer wouldn’t stop talking. 

“Y/N, are you okay?” Spencer grabbed your hand, but you jerked away quickly, hyperventilating as your thoughts raced in your head. 

“I-No. I c-can’t. Spence- I can’t b-breathe. Please. Oh my- I can’t. I can’t.” Your words stutter out and they’re progressively getting more desperate. 

Spencer’s eyes furrow and he shakes his head, not that you could see the confusion written in his body language though in the darkness. 

“Y/N. We’re not running out of oxygen yet,” your breathing still came out in sharp pants, not relaxing by his words. “Judging by the burning alcoholic smell in my nose, and the fact that we woke up about seven minutes ago, lack of oxygen in this container, which has an area of 27 inches times three,” he works through the math in his head for a moment, “won’t be a concern for another 113 minutes.”

“No, no, no...” You whimper to yourself, murmuring no in hopes that your denial can magically open the container. “NO! I c-can’t- It’s not- Spence- it’s small... there’s no- I can’t...”

You interrupt yourself with quiet sobs, willing Spencer to understand what your problem is so you don’t have to try and explain it in your state. 

“Y/N? Are you- is this claustrophobia?” His voice is soft, trailing off at the end. He knows that panic attacks are a consistent sign of things like phobias and mental health disorders, but you’d never given him a reason to associate it to you. 

You nod your head, forgetting that he can’t see you until he repeats your name to try and prompt an answer. 

“Y-yes. I know. It’s dumb- I just... I can’t. Spence- It’s not. I just need- I can’t breathe.”

Spencer lowers his voice to a gentle lull, being careful not to startle you as he talks. “Y/N, I’m going to approach you. I’m going to rest my hand on your face, and I’m going to grab your right hand with my left, okay?”

Again, you nod first before answering him vocally, “Yeah, yes.” 

Spencer’s shoulders droop slightly, hearing the hitching in your voice mixed with the relief that you’ll let him help you. You feel a shift in the container as he switched from sitting to kneeling in front of you. He does exactly what he said he would and slowly, you sense him getting closer to you. After a moment of that, your chest heaves, your brain not allowing you to get a full breath in before it thinks you’re being attacked. His hand rests on your face then and he gently puts pressure on the back of your neck, alternating pressures with each of his fingers individually. 

“Can you feel me?” He asks gently, cooing into your ear in an attempt to calm you down. 

Not having words, you just shake your head. You don’t. You know that it’s there, but right now everything is just too much. There’s too much in your head, too many distractions running through your brain. 

Spencer reaches forward with his other hand and grabs your right hand like he said that he was going to. He places your hand over his heart, leaving his hand there when he did. 

“Y/N, you’re okay. We’re okay. I promise.”

It broke his heart to see you shattering like this. Something that Spencer had admired so, so much in you before you started dating was your fearlessness. Now it seemed like that was being torn away from you.  

Spencer rested his forehead against yours and sighed to himself as he kept his ministrations going on the back of your neck. 

Your breath hitched as you started to calm down. The hand on his chest clutched his once-nice shirt in your hand. It was wrinkled from the vice-like grip, but Spencer wouldn’t have cared. He just wants you to be okay. 

“S-Spencer, I can’t... I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe, I can’t-” Your desperate words devolved into short pants, strangled whines as you doubled over yourself, trying to find something to anchor yourself to.

“Y/N! Hey, hey, hey. Y/N it’s okay. You’re safe. You’re safe, I promise.” Spencer didn’t know what to do. His heart was breaking for you; he hated the way you were shaking so badly, and sobbing so openly. 

You sat there a few minutes with Spencer trying to calm you down. Eventually, your breathing calmed to quiet pants and hitches, and you subconsciously leaned into his hand that was cradling your face. 

You were stilled curled up, still in no position to open your eyes and look around. 

“... ‘m sorry, Spence...” You were exhausted now. There was no way you’d be able to stay awake much longer. 

“Y/N? Why are you apologizing? It’s okay to have fears. It’s okay to have crippling panic attacks. Did you know, at my niece’s birthday party last year she had a clown come?” He pauses for a second, not really expecting you to answer yet. He continues, “ Anyways, I’m deathly afraid of clowns. And this guy popped up behind me to surprise all of the children. Long story short, I had to leave early because I punched the guy in the face.”

For the first time since you two had been captured, you huffed out a short laugh. Breathlessly, you asked, “You punched a birthday clown? Oh my God, Spence.”

Spencer’s shoulders finally dropped, the tension releasing as he saw that you were slowly getting better. “Yeah, it was a catastrophe in itself.”

Reaching over, you grabbed Spencer’s hand off of his chest and held it close to your face. You snuggled up to him, ignoring the fact that he is your co-worker and this is wrong. 

“Spencer?”

“Yes, Y/N?”

You sigh slightly before asking your question. “Is the team going to come for us?”

“Oh, sweetheart... Of course. Yes. They will come for us.” 

Spencer squeezed your hand in an attempt at reassurance. He could tell that your eyelids were drooping and that you were fighting to stay awake after your panic attack. 

“Get some rest, Y/N. I’ll wake you up when you need to be alert, okay?” His voice is soft as he speaks to you. 

Your eyes were finally closing, you hadn’t even responded to his request before you were drifting. 

The sound of gun shots hitting the side of the container wakes you up quickly, jerking you out of your sleeping state. 

“Spencer?!” You exclaim, sitting up fast as you tried to adjust to the darkness to look at your teammate. 

“I’m here, I’m right here.” His hand finds yours again and he subtly tugs your closer to him, trying to keep you out of harms way of a stray bullet. 

More gunshots follow, the sound of them hitting the space around you too loud, causing you to throw your hands over your ears. 

You only pull them away when you feel a hard flinch from beside you. From Spencer. 

“Spencer..? Spence?” You flip around fast, seeing his pained face. 

You can see him. 

You shouldn’t be able to see him. You were in an enclosed space... A box... No windows. 

Except for the inch-wide hole right in front of Spencer. 

The whole from the bullet. 

That was lodged in his arm. 

Spencer’s arm. 

“No... No, no, no. NO!” Without thinking, you press against the wound in his shoulder. Too close to his clavicle. Too close to him. It’s second nature to you, but even so, you whisper sorries to him ever minute for causing him pain. 

Distantly, you notice that the gunfire had died down. The only sounds now were your dry sobs and Spencer’s labored breathing. His pained groans. Because he was shot.

“Spencer, please. Please, please stay with me. Stay with me damn it. Spence!” You can’t even tell what you were saying anymore, you just knew that you were stringing pleas from your lips to your boyfriend. 

His blood was all over your hands, spilling onto the ground. He was shaking as he reached up to grab your arm. 

“Y/N... It’s okay. I’m- It’s fine.” You chose to ignore how he didn’t say that he was fine. “It’s okay. Do you h-hear that? It’s Hotch and JJ. I’m okay.”

Suddenly, you feel even worse about the anxieties from a few hours ago. Compared to this, it seemed even less important and relevant than it had then. 

“I don’t... I don’t-” You break off, covering your mouth to keep in a louder sob. Thinking, you realize that if he wants to think that the help is here, then you need to let him. In the chance that he doesn’t-

NO. You will not think about that. 

“Yeah, Spence. I hear them. They’re rounding the corner now.” 

Your tears fall openly now, with Spencer holding your hand and the dim light from the middle of the day shining through that small hole. That tiny hole that might have decided your boyfriend’s fate. 

Sure enough though, your boss runs into view of the hole and you almost let out a sob of relief. Keeping the pressure on Spencer’s shoulder, you feel him tense beneath you. “Stay awake, Reid. You stay awake. Hear me?”

He nods his head weakly just as Hotch opens the lid. Immediately, you stand up and he helps you up before sending medics in to help Spencer. As soon as you’re out of the confinements, you collapse to the ground, the reality of the situation finally hitting you. 

You knew you’d have to tell the team about your claustrophobia when it was reported in the debrief, but for now, you didn’t have any worries other than Spencer. 

You knew he was going to be okay as soon as you sat in the back of the ambulance with him and he started spewing off facts about the likelihood of a gunshot wound to the left arm below any arteries was to do any serious damage. According to him, the number was low, so you knew that if he slept it off and got the bullet removed in time, he would be just fine. 

Silently, you mouth ‘I love you’ to Reid, him already knowing it was coming. He said it back before falling into a deep, adrenaline-crash sleep, you tucking your head right next to him and doing the same thing, hoping for a better tomorrow. 

[justimajin]

A Wilting Rose╰ Part 3 ╮

➺ Pairing: Jimin x Reader

➺ Genre: Angst & Fluff

↳ (4.3k) Actor and Actress AU

➺ Summary: The world of acting can be best described with three words - dark, invasive and inhumane. Talent, although heavily required, isn’t focused upon in comparison to the juicy gossip and various rumors that can be spread. This is why even you - an extremely talented actress - fall prey to the chops of the acting world and find yourself in a down whirling spiral with no escape. Desperately needing to get back up on your two feet once again, it seems like your best bet is a newcomer to the industry, who has yet to understand the ways of your fallen world.

➺ Warnings: some swearing

➺ Moodboard Prologue Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

You actually hate mornings. 

Despise, detest and certaintly hate the stupid shining sun that wrenches your eyelids open, the annoying birds that seem to love perching on your balconey to plunge your ears into another eardrum exploding song and the fact that you wake up semi-dead - looking like a disaster just hit you in the face. 

Kim Namjoon loves mornings. 

The shining sun feels warm to him, encasing around him like a comfortable blanket and keeping him snug. The song the birds sing is sweet and gentle, making him pluck pieces of bread for them and encouraging them to sing more often. He looks refreshed and rejuvenated, prepared for whatever the day throws at him. 

Min Yoongi is a mix. 

He wants work to be done accordingly and on time but cannot wrap his mind around having to lose precious hours of sleep. He views the sun as being a potential prop for his sets, birds accompanying them to create a perfect illusion of atmosphere and he most certainly wants everything to look specifically detailed without any flaws. 

Pairing a person that loves mornings and a person that will use everything in his capability to get the correct atmosphere to manage a semi-dead person that hates mornings is a horrible idea. 

You are woken up at six (YES SIX) in the morning and told to head to the dressing room immediately to be styled. You protest and complain, whining when Jungkook has to drag you outside and then shield you away from reporters, they’re absurd flashes only blinding your freshly awakened eyes. You frown when Namjoon greets you, a knowing smile on his lips when he shifts food towards you and you grumble while grabbing a sandwich, stuffing your face immediately. You glare at Yoongi who only smirks when he sees you walk in, keeping himself awake with an iced americano but getting amused with having you arrive on time. 

You can’t wait for this day to be over. 

“Y/N! Hold still!” The words tug you out instantly and you raise your arms, groaning. 

“I have been standing here for an hour. Can’t you hurry up?!” You glare at the stylist and her eyes waver, attempting to tie the pink ribbon around your waist faster. 

“I-I’m sorry, Mr. Min has given me specific instructions for the costume and I’m required to follow them.” She stretches out a sheet of light blue silk, draping it over your shoulders until it flows all the way down to your feet. 

“Of course he has.” You audibly exhale, still keeping your arms raised. The stylist hurriedly secures the long delicate skirt around your waist and tugs on it to ensure it wasn’t difficult to walk in. 

A knock resonates on the door, “How much longer?” His voice is rough and irritated, patience running out thin. 

“Almost done Sir! Just doing some adjustments!” The stylist replies, struggling to put the pearl beads in your curled hair. 

“Get a chair, will you?” You say, causing her to reply with a soft “oh!” before quickly grabbing one and threading the remaining beads into your hair. 

“Just one more…” She whispers, before quickly climbing down. “You’re all set Y/N! Have a look!” She gestures you towards the mirror and you wave her off, struggling to move with the sheer weight following you as you make your way over. Your tired eyes land on the reflection before you and they immediately freeze, glancing at who exactly was before you. 

Your entire body is adorned in a simple white dress, layers and layers of blue silk wrapping around your arms and torso until they drape down to your similar white coloured skirt. Bright pink ribbons cover the majority of your torso and fall down delicately at the seams of your dress near where your blue gloved hands are. Your hair has been stretched out into curls, reaching out all the way to your knees and acts like a cape behind your back. Your face isn’t caked up in make-up like it usually is, instead a minimal amount is used to make you seem almost like a younger version of yourself. 

You don’t recognize yourself. 

But then it hits you. 

You’re not Y/N. 

You’re the princess. 

“This...this is the costume?” You quietly whisper but the stylist hears you, nodding with a bright smile. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? You look so pretty Y/N!” 

You’re still staring at the person looking back at you in the mirror with pursed lips, her youthful features and innocent eyes making you believe her ghost had actually come back from the dead. 

“The main set is almost done! Bring the actors out!” You hear Yoongi’s voice from outside the dressing room walls and the stylist carefully places her hands on your arms. 

“Y/N, we need to get going.” She says softly and instantly your eyes flicker, feet slowly backing away from the mirror until you completely turn away. 

You shrug her hands off, “Don’t touch me.” 

Turning towards the door, you latch onto the handle, not even turning back once. 

You had forgotten the amount of chaos that takes place through filming a single scene. People are running around and yelling at the top of their lungs, rushing to either set up props or to prep actors before a scene. Yoongi is moving promptly through all these sections, ensuring everyone is on track and that the scene can be captured without any mistakes. 

You’re greeted to Namjoon waiting for you with a script, already going through the details of the first scene. “It serves as the introduction of the princess, she’s freely walking through the gates singing a sweet song and heads towards the palace. Once she enters, the discussion of her becoming queen of the kingdom is done by the council but she constantly gets undermined about her ability.” 

“Look like I’m in the shower singing. Listen to a bunch of old geezers chat. Got it.” You retort and Namjoon chuckles at your translation. 

Your eyes roam around, “Is Jimin not in this scene?” 

“Oh he comes during the palace meeting as one of the guards. I think…” Namjoon flips through the script quickly, pointing to one line, “Ah! You don’t know each other yet but interest sparks!” 

“What kind of interest?” 

“Just like you noticing him because you haven’t seen him before. He turns out to be the General of the army and one of the kingdom’s best warriors!”

“Ugh, so predictable.” 

Namjoon suddenly closes the script, suddenly looking at you intensely, “Look Y/N, I know it’s been a while since you’ve acted but just take it easy an-” 

“I know how to act Namjoon.” You hiss, “This is my profession for god’s sake. I know what I’m doing.”

Namjoon frowns, looking away from you with a sigh, “Alright then. Good luck.” 

You head towards the front of the stage and position yourself in the middle of the long hallway - the very one that leads up to the princess’s corridors. The walls have been painted with a mercury white, gold specks and swirls on the nearby pillars to show the elegance of the kingdom. 

You look up to see Yoongi smirking at you, clearly satisfied with how you look and then telling his cameraman to get the film rolling, “Remember to act like a kid. I want to a pretty and nice princess alright?”

You roll your eyes, humming as you carefully pick up your skirt in your hands, preparing to walk. The background music soon plays and you hear a huge “Action!” which propels you to thread through the hallway gracefully, pretending like the song was captivating you. 

It looks spectacular - the grand set behind you, the enchanting dress moving along the hallway and the song portraying your character's sweet exterior perfectly. 

“CUT!” 

You blink your eyes, looking up from the ground to see an absolutely pissed off Min Yoongi, “Does this look like nap time to you? Why do you look so fucking disinterested?!” 

You frown, looking at him like he was insane. 

Disinterested? 

Your expressions were completely on point, you even batted your lashes at one point to look like the idiotic princess! 

“ROLL AGAIN!” Yoongi shouts, causing you to walk over to the same spot again with a huff. 

The set is ready, the song plays and you move. 

It’s breathtaking, the song tunes pulling you around as you even add in a twirl this time, batting your lashes more and slowly walki-

“CUT!” 

What? 

“Are you even listening to what I’m saying?! You look like someone’s forcing you to walk!” 

You furrow your brows, “What do you mean?! I’m doing it perfectly, I’m walking around like a princess and making the scene look like a masterpiece!” 

Yoongi shakes his head and laughs to himself, “A masterpiece, you say? You’re making my eyes bleed out.” He turns to the camera man, “Roll again!” 

You attempt again, adding a wistful smile and squinting your eyes dramatically in order to satisfy the demonic director currently watching you. It looks good, you appear to be caught up in a daze, subtle expressions slowly coming out and you just know that you can do thi-

“CUT!”

You drop your arms down, clenching your fists as you glare at your director who doesn’t even say anything. He just stares at you for a minute, before shaking his head and letting out a huge sigh. His assistant promptly leans over and whispers closely in his ear, causing his eyes to flash and soon he’s once more guiding the entire ensemble of crew members with his authoritative tone, “The actors for the next scene are ready! Let’s move onto the next set.” His team nods and quickly gets into action, lining everyone’s into their correct positions as you simply stand there with your glare still latched onto the director. 

You march over to him, not really caring if you end up stepping on your own dress, “Did you get my shot?” 

“No.” He states, flipping through the pages of the next scene’s script, “Prepare yourself for the next scene, then we’ll get back to shooting your solo scene once you can actually put some effort into it.” 

Your jaw drops, reading to let out a stream of colorful words for the man but a warm hand suddenly lands on your shoulder, “Y/N? They’re waiting for you.” 

Your eyes land onto Namjoon, who gives you a gentle smile but you just shrug his hand off your shoulder and walk to the next set on your own. 

You’ve been in this industry for years. This is the work you do best and the work no one else can vouch for. 

You’re one of the finest actors this generation has ever seen and they’re lucky enough to be watching you act. 

Gritting your teeth, you try to focus again. After all, the princess is supposed to be listening in on the conversation and thankfully you don’t have any dialogue for this scene, but that doesn’t mean she should look like she’s on the verge of murdering someone. 

Looking around you, you see various men dressed in clothing similar to yours - colors of blue and white as a way to represent the royal guards and the army. The set is designed to be like a giant throne room, with sparkling diamonds, gold crafted walls and a long red carpet leading to the golden throne at the end of the room. There’s an old man seated on it, looking quite heavy and stroking his long grey beard, who is to play your father as you stand next to the actor playing your mother. 

The camera gets ready and you try to conceal the tiredness already reigning through your shoulders and arms thanks to the weight of your dress. Your ‘mother’ smiles at you and you nod, having worked with her in a previous movie and discovering she wasn’t as unpleasant as some actors would turn out to be. 

The guards all huddle up into a single line before your father and they look extremely ordinary in the least - typical royal uniforms paired with the stiff smiles at being in the mere presence of your father. However, that’s when the last guard arrives and suddenly all of the boredom is being sucked out of your eyes. 

He’s not dressed like the rest of them, but rather he wears a wolf’s skin over his shoulders and it covers the dark blue royal clothing he wears underneath. A bronze sword is sealed away and tightly knitted to the side of his hip, the same intricate details your kingdom was designed with being present onto it. His hair is a bright blue shade, parted to the side when you can see his intense eyes locked onto the throne - black and cold. 

Your mother speaks up, snapping you out of your trained gaze on him with her words, “Looks like the lead actor has arrived.” 

You widen your eyes, turning your head abruptly to look at him once more, “That’s Jimin?” 

“Of course, didn’t you meet him already Y/N?” 

“I did…” You did meet him, however the Park Jimin you met was the newbie - an innocent and naive boy who looked like he was going to disappear underneath your rader if you stared at him any longer, his questions seeming more like common sense to you and his willingness to agree with everyone making you want to roll your eyes. 

But this. 

This isn’t Park Jimin. 

His gaze is fixated on the throne, staring at the King with his head held up high and his stance excluding power. 

This is the General. 

“ACTION!” 

Your eyes flutter, sinking back into your character when you stop letting your thoughts run loose. “Princess! Come forth.” 

You walk closer to the throne, your mother keeping a hand on you as your father grins, “As you all know my daughter will be coming of age soon and it is important to find a suitable man for her hand in marriage.” 

Your mother steps forward, “I would like to speak on behalf of my daughter.” 

The King nods and your mother continues, “The princess wishes to learn the way of the kingdom so she may take over your throne one day, Your Majesty.” 

The King frowns, “Why would she desire such a thing?” 

“The princess is the heir to the throne and therefore has the direct right to rule as Queen one day. Her future husband will become the new King, so she will bestow the knowledge she learns onto her husband so he may become a suitable ruler by her side just as his Majesty is.” 

“Hmm.” The King strokes his long curly beard, glancing at his Queen before looking back to his own council. 

“What is the verdict on such a matter?” 

One man walks out from beside the throne, having a grey beard and matching cloak just like the King, “The princess’s desire is foolish, your Majesty, she is incapable of handling this kingdom as graciously as you have done so.” 

“She will be denied the right, if this kingdom is to prosper.” Another man says, stepping ahead as well. 

“It is best to bestow the honor on a noble man.” 

Your furrow your brows, wondering how the princess can simply sit back and listen to all these complaints about herself. 

The King sits there, stroking his beard as he listens to his council’s opinion before his eyes move back to his Queen. 

The Queen does not back down, “The princess can be a capable ruler contrary to your beliefs council, she is in need of a mentor who can help perfect those skills.”

The King contemplates for a moment, before he clears his throat, “Listening to all these thoughts, my final decision has been made.” The King stands up, facing his men, “The princess must be granted with a mentor. If she can prove herself to be a noble ruler, then my throne will be passed down onto her instead of her future husband.” 

“I would like one of my guards to teach her of the kingdom and become her mentor.” He stands up, “Who shall it be?” 

Immediately all the guards roar, “Me, your Majesty!” “I will!” “I can honor this wish, my King!” 

You roll your eyes, cringing at how much wonderful liberty the princess gets - choosing from a sea of men that just want to satisfy her King. 

Heavy footsteps move forward. 

“Bestow this responsibility on me, your Majesty.” 

The voices all die out when the King’s best man steps up to the task, whispers echoing through as he kneels down before the throne. 

“General Park wants the honor?” “The general is never interested in such things!” “Is he trying to get in more favor of the King?” 

The King smiles to the point of smirking, a dark glint in his eyes, “Then so be it. General Park shall do the honor of teaching my daughter!” 

Although disheartened, the men cheer for their General who bows down in front of his King. 

That’s when his eyes meet yours. 

It’s borderline cheesy - he declares he wants to train you in front of your father and then searches for your eyes. However, in that single second that Jimin glances over to you, you can read hundreds of messages coming across from his eyes. It isn’t just simple interest, it’s so much more and as the princess, you’re required to show the same feeling back with your eyes. 

But you can’t seem to muster anything up. 

“CUT!” 

The scene stops as murmurs echo through among the fellow actors, Yoongi’s glare coming right at you and Jimin. He walks over to you, a dark seething aura following alongside him. From the corner of your eye, you can see that Jimin doesn’t have the same powerful stance anymore, but rather it deflates back into his naive self. 

“Alright, listen up you two.” He turns to Jimin first, “You’re doing a great job newbie, I want to see more of your stuff but keep it toned down and don’t exaggerate too much.” Yoongi says the words with barely an ounce of emotion and yet Jimin instantly beams at it, a huge relieved smile on his face that you would have never witnessed if you were still acting in the same scene. 

“And you.” He suddenly turns to you, a fiery glare in his eyes, “You’re doing everything wrong, the emotion isn’t right and the innocence the princess has is coming off as too stiff. You seriously have to work on this otherwise I won’t hesitate to have you replaced.” Your brows furrow and you’re instantly ready to give Yoongi a piece of your mind after such remarks, but the words don’t get to leave your mouth. 

“She’ll get it right, we just need to reshoot the scene again.” You immediately glance at Jimin, who blurted out the words without giving much thought into what exactly he was asking. 

Re-shooting an entire scene like that again, with a huge ensemble cast and preparation having to be re-done.

Yoongi stares at him for a second, a huge frown on his lips before he sighs, “Alright.” 

He looks back you again, gritting out the words, “Get it right this time.” 

The scene gets set-up as before, the King discussing your role in the kingdom with the Queen and the council and then choosing a specific guard. It’s exactly the same however it’s also incredibly daunting at the same time. 

The only sole thought on your mind is how ridiculous this all is - the princess being rendered silent as her fate is being discussed before her eyes, having her own mother speak on her behalf and then not even being able to choose who her mentor is. She has to follow the King’s annoying words and act like some sort of puppet. 

Her character is unbelievably stupid. 

Which is why everytime Yoongi looks to you, for anything really - gentle eyes listening into the conversation, doubts surfacing on your face at the mention of becoming Queen and surprise washing over you when the General takes on the task, he’s infuriated at the blank disinterested expression that keeps emerging from your own incompetence. 

Yoongi has a vision, a very solid one being a well known director, and he can’t stand it when his actors refuse the effort of making that vision a reality. 

“Y/N!” He yells, the entire cast jolting from his loud tone, “It’s be great if you throw out your stuck up attitude of creating ‘masterpieces’ and give me a decent expression!” 

“Being an experienced actor doesn’t mean anything here if a newcomer is doing better than you!” 

Your cheeks instantly turn red when the scene goes silent, Yoongi boiling up to the point where saying ‘cut’ wasn’t even necessary to stop the scene. However, if Yoongi is boiling on the inside, then you are raging. 

“You know what Mr. Min?” Your words cut through the silence like a knife, “If a newcomer is doing better than me, then I guess I’m not even needed here then!” You take out the pins and pearls holding up your hair, “I QUIT!” 

Shock flashes on Yoongi for a split second until his expression turns stone cold.

“Then leave already.” 

Gritting your teeth, you stomp down the stairs leading up to the scene and walk away. 

Not even noticing the light footsteps trailing after you. 

“Y/N!” 

You direct a glare at him when he grabs onto your wrist, “Y/N, don’t leave...we can try again!” 

“Let go of me!” You snap his hand away infuriated, seeing the crease in his brows and his hands dropping to his side when he falters.

The longer you stare at him, the more it dawns in that he’s more than his doll-like features. He was able to transform into the role of the General flawlessly, executing every single expression with perfection despite being a newcomer with zero experience compared to you. 

He knows how to act. 

And you can’t. 

Clenching your fists, you turn away from him, continuing to walk even as he calls after you again.

“Why did you leave?” His words come out almost exhausted, like he was so over with trying to be understanding and considerate when you simply refuse to listen to him, “Y/N! I’m trying to talk to you!” 

You sit before him, still adorned in the princess’s dress with the skirt pooling in between your feet and the ribbons starting to become loose. The carefully placed hairstyle on your hair has come undone, pearls occasionally dropping down as you cross your arms; not even moving to pick them up. 

“I’m not going back.” 

Your plain answer just continues to spur more questions from him. “But why? I know the role of the princess is challenging however you just need to work on it. It’ll take time an-” 

A chord snaps, the weight on your delicate shoulders increasing its fury, “I am not going back. I can’t play the role of the princess, she’s too much of an idiot and doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing.” You grit your teeth, “I am a capable actor but I can’t play the role of someone sostupid!” 

“Y/N!”

Your eyes falter at Namjoon’s raised tone, “You can’t play a character you haven’t understood yet. You keep saying you’re so capable, but that actor in you hasn’t even come out…”

You were expecting a lot of things from Namjoon - anger, resentment, frustration. 

However, all you see is disappointment in his eyes. 

You look away, pulling your crossed arms closer to yourself as you bite down on your bottom lip. Namjoon slowly approaches you, very aware of the sheer amount of turmoil radiating off of you when he makes his proposal. 

“You need time Y/N.” He whispers and you glance at him, the smallest amount of tension sparking in your eyes. 

“I don’t have time.”

“I know, which is why I have an idea.” You raise an eyebrow at that, “Why don’t you talk to Jimin? He’s pretty much nailed down his character and could help you.” 

You scoff, “A newbie? Helping me?” 

“Try Y/N. Try.” Namjoon sighs, “If Yoongi was complimenting him, then there has to be something he’s doing right.” 

You frown, pursuing your lips when the idea is not settling down well with you, “I’ll give you his manager’s number.” Namjoon takes out a notepad and a pen, scratching down some numbers, “Try talking to him and see how things go. It’s better than not having anyone to turn to for help.” Namjoon extends his arm, the number clearly written on the piece of paper. 

You stare at it for a mere second, narrowing your eyes and pursuing your lips. 

You snatch the paper away with a sigh.

“Fine.” 

[not-just-any-fangirl]

I just watched my friend twerk aggressively during just dance and it reminded me of your deaf!Natsu au for some reason

Twerk and Grind

Word Count; 1795

A/N; I’m sorry this took so long to get to but!! It’s here!! And I’m done school! for now lmao

So this started out in one way and then… turned into… soft grinding?? sexy party time?? Lucy’s gonna be gross and fuck on a dudes bed like true college trash? Natsu doesn’t give a shit either way lmao

Also! I’ve been reading up more on how to write ASL so hopefully that will be coing across in future pieces! I’ll prob never stop learning how to better convey Natsu’s story and the experience of deaf people/those around them, and anything y��all can say is a huge help

All of my content about Deaf Natsu can be found under the deaf natsu au tag, and the main writing pieces under deaf!natsu

Lucy stood next to Natsu, her pink lemonade cooler in one hand and a red solo cup of whatever horrible beer mix was cheapest at the liquor store the men’s soccer team had raided for their ‘We Made It To The First Round Of Finals Which Frankly No One Expected’ house party in the other. Natsu dropped the arms he had crossed over his chest at Lucy’s approach, not looking at her even as he pulled her into his side. Not that Lucy could blame him, seeing as how she too was unable to tear away from the scene before her. 

It had that kind of car-wreck feeling, the one with no ambulances but pieces of blue metal four lanes across so that people didn’t feel as bad gawking at it. It also had the same number of cell phones out to record it and post it online to last until one world leader pissed off another equally crazy one on Twitter and sent them all into a nuclear winter, but that just might be Lucy’s Current Politics 400 and the three jello shots she had done with Cana in the kitchen a half hour ago talking. 

“What in God’s name is happening here,” Lucy said flatly. Natsu took his beer from Lucy and sipped it, head cocked in confusion as he continued to watch. 

Cobra looked at her from the corner of his eye from her other side, answering her kinda-serious question just as tonelessly. 

“Loke challenged Gray to a dance contest and then this happened.”

“Okay, but why is Juvia twerking?”

“You’re the one who brought her to a frat party,” Cobra shrugged, as unhelpful as ever. 

“As if I would come to Nick’s party without at least seven people to act as a buffer,” Lucy scoffed. Lucy had reluctantly allowed the lacrosse girls to drag her out tonight, despite the fact that Nick, the captain of the men’s soccer team, was the one hosting it. And had hit on Lucy everytime they crossed paths, sometimes in front of Natsu. 

So she brought a crowd, both to piss him off and keep him at arms length. Not that most of the people that had come with Lucy had been invited, but at this point it wasn’t a surprise to see Lucy amidst a swarm of loud and energetic college students. “Why are you here anyway, don’t you always say you’d rather put your head in a viper’s mouth than go to a jock frat?”

“Laxus begged me to, one of the dicks in his advanced electrical physics class is on the team.” Cobra said. Lucy nodded like she believed him, taking a sip of her drink. 

Cobra growled something under his breath before he slipped away, leaving Lucy to consider all the ways she could stop the slowly worsening dancing in front of her. Juvia was white-girl-wasted, and was dancing like one. Which, to be fair, she was as well as Lucy. Levy was supposed to be watching her, but seeing as how she was the permanent DD/babysitter Lucy could understand not dealing with a drunk Juvia trying to impress a drunk Gray. Who was no longer in the room.

She felt the weight of Natsu’s gaze on the side of her face, turning to him with a questioning look. “She is not even on the beat.” he signed, eyebrows pinched and more confused than anything. “I can dance on the beat and I have no hearing.”

Lucy choked on her sip, whining as the fizz and vodka of her drink burned her nose. Natsu cackled, head thrown back at Lucy’s pain. She dug her elbow into his side sharply, returning the glaring pout he shot her. Rolling her eyes, Lucy gave him a gentler elbow in a different spot, allowing Natsu to pull her closer to his chest. 

“We should stop this,” Lucy signed, gesturing in the general vicinity of where Juvia was dancing with her hands on her knees, hair half covering her flushed face, hips moving in what Lucy thought was supposed to be twerking. It wasn’t that Juvia was flat, it was just that she had all the coordination of a newborn deer when she wasn’t in the water. 

“We should,” Natsu agreed, making absolutely no movement to do any such thing. 

“Or…” Lucy let her hand waver in the air from side to side, leaning more towards the door. 

“Gray can handle it,” Natsu smiled at her, bright and cheery as he shook a tightly closed fist before making a releasing motion. Lucy ignored the direct translation of one of Natsu’s many names for Gray -cold jack off. They wandered away from the crowd just in time to see Erza step into the circle and through an entire blanket over Juvia, the music changing to a pop song rather than the ten minute EDM one that Lucy was pretty sure had been put on repeat. 

Lucy smiled and waved at people she knew as they walked through the house, giggling and tapping the neck of her bottle with one her goalie, who was sitting on the lap of the redheaded scorekeeper with the eyebrow piercing and bold lipstick choices. Lucy wondered how long the coffee brown make-up would take to wash off, or if the team would be teasing Kiki about it during tomorrow’s afternoon practice.

She let Natsu lead them, her head already a little spinny and her feet not working as well as they should be. Looked like those shots were hitting full force now. They passed through the patio/shack room off the kitchen, Natsu grunting a nod at Laxus who was sitting with Freed, Bixlow, Cobra, and several people she didn’t know the names off, a couple blunts and a pipe being passed around the group. She crinkled her nose at the smell of pot, strong in the smaller room. She stuck her tongue out at Cobra’s smirk and held her middle finger behind her back at her stoner cousin as she followed Natsu up the steps that led to the second floor. 

Lucy tripped over the last step, giggling as she fell into Natsu’s chest. She beamed under his fond look, wrapping her arm around his waist and falling into step beside him. Big crowds could get a bit much for Natsu, and Lucy loved that he always wanted to bring her with him when he needed to get away. 

Lucy raised an eyebrow when Natsu led them into Nick’s room, sitting on the bed a sober Lucy couldn’t be payed to touch. Her eyebrows rose higher when Natsu locked the door, leaning back and crossing one leg over the other as she waited for Natsu to turn to her. 

“Figured we could cock block that dick and get away from the party at the same time,” Natsu grinned at her, voice low and gravelly and pulling a shiver from Lucy. 

“Why’d you wanna get away?” 

The words left her before her brain caught them, but almost-drunk Lucy didn’t care. She swung her leg subtly, watching Natsu trace the line of her shin and thigh, his eyes hooded low and a different energy from before making Lucy shiver a second time. He walked the several steps to her, hand warm and rough on her knee. His fingers shifted as he gave her a gentle squeeze, leaving trails of goosebumps in his wake. 

“You laughed when I said I could dance,” Natsu murmured, hand leaving her knee to run down her bicep, Lucy allowing him to pull her arm to him, her fingers small in his palm where they settled. He pulled her up, Lucy entranced as Natsu guided her to her feet, and then to the middle of the room. “I wanna show ya how good I can dance.”

“Okay,” Lucy breathed, not really knowing what else to do. The lighting of the room made all of Natsu’s features sharper, piercings glinting in the light from the open window, dark look in his eyes hungry and intoxicating, pink hair wild and dangerous. His hand on her back was heavy, pulling her close to him so their chests touched. Lucy leaned in even closer when his hand dropped low, squeezing her ass as Lucy pushed into his fist. They started to move side to side, swaying with the beat Lucy could feel reverberate through the floorboards and up into her bones. She knew Natsu could feel it too, his lead confident as he moved their hips together. It was lewd and dirty and hot, grinding with Natsu in the dark. 

Natsu grinned at her, sharp teeth showing off his smugness as Lucy moved her hands from his chest. She held onto one of his arms, strong bicep and tricep flexing under her fingers and making her mouth water, other holding onto the back of his neck as she pulled herself even closer to him. 

“Told ya I could dance,” Natsu purred. 

“I like your voice,” Lucy said, lost as she stared into his emerald eyes and felt his body move against hers to the pounding bass and drums of the music. Natsu blinked at the random comment, grin soft as he leaned down and brushed his nose against hers. 

“I like your face,” he said, gripping her ass even tighter and leading her against his steady rolls, thick thigh slipping between her own. She kissed him, unable to hold back any longer. The hand on his neck moved higher and pushing against the grain of his spikes, hairs soft between her fingers. His tongue brushed on her lower lip, eagerly moving against her own after she let him in. Natsu pushed into her, holding Lucy tight despite leaning over her, making her hold her weight to stop from falling. Lucy trusted him though, and clung to him as she ground against the growing hardness she felt forming where their hips met. 

“You keep this up and I’m gonna have to fuck you in this gross frat house,” Lucy groaned, pulling back and holding Natsu’s wolfish gaze. She bit her lip, whine caught in her throat when Natsu lifted her leg to hook on his hip, crushing them together, all pretense of dancing gone. 

“You’re so hot when you dirty talk,” Natsu growled. He picked her up, Lucy squeaking at the sudden lift but quickly readjusting. She claimed Natsu’s mouth in a heated kiss, burying both hands in his hair as he carried her to Nick’s bed. His hand slipped under the short hem of her jean shorts, riding the denim high and tight against her core as he groped her ass. 

At least Nick’s bed was going to be getting a decent fuck tonight. Especially since Natsu was a giver in the sack.

[thomas-riggedup-lukashow]

NALCS Week 1 Predicitons

At the risk of another team announcing some sort of roster swap I decided to make some predictions. The North American LCS starts this weekend and if you have been paying attention to the meta internationally you know things are sort of crazy. With that in mind, rather than trying to theorycraft how well a professional ADC player can perform on Vladimir, I want to make things a little simpler. I’m going to focus on what we actually know about a team and the factors that will help them against their opponent. Speculation is fun and all but when Taliyah becomes a viable (and heavily banned) jungler it helps to stay a tad reserved when making predictions.  

Game 1: 100 Thieves v. Team Liquid

6/16, 5:00pm EST

As is tradition, we get a rematch of the Spring finalists right out of the gate. Neither organization has made a change in their main roster which I think translates to the same results. Questions might get raised around Team Liquid’s Support Kim "Olleh" Joo-sung and his poor performance during the early parts of MSI. That speculation shouldn’t hold much validity as Team Liquid nearly turned around their rough start at the tournament into a Knock-out stage appearance. If things get too dicey, Team Liquid may opt to funnel their resources into Yiliang "Peter" "Doublelift" Peng who outmatches all of 100 Thieves members. The current game state might contain an excess of unusual champions in the bottom lane, but I would still put my money on Doublelift to win any match-up.

Prediction: Team Liquid

Game 2: Team SoloMid v. CLG

6/16, 6:00pm EST

A classic match-up paraded around as a rivalry of equal titans. But if you have any sense, you know that TSM has had the better end of this match-up for a majority of the history of the NALCS. On top of that, TSM had been bootcamping with Weldon Green and the last time that happened TSM went on to tear through the league. The biggest question mark on TSM right now is around their announcement of bringing up Jonathan "Grig" Armao from their academy team to split time with Michael "MikeYeung" Yeung in the jungle position. Whoever ends up taking the jungle position on TSM for this match will probably not make a difference in the final result. Perhaps CLG’s coach Tony "Zikz" Gray has divined immaculate strategies to push CLG’s current line-up to thrive in this diverse meta, but it’s impossible to ignore the history of this match-up.

Prediction: Team SoloMid

Game 3: Clutch Gaming v. Cloud9

6/16, 7:00pm EST

I was having a good deal of trouble trying to decide on a winner for this match, but thankfully Cloud9 announced they were benching Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen, Andy "Smoothie" Ta, and Zachary "Sneaky" Scuderi. This immediately puts the ball in Clutch Gaming’s court, as Cloud9’s core members will be getting replaced by Greyson "Goldenglue" Gilmer, Tristan "Zeyzal" Stidam, and Yuri "Keith" Jew. As inviting as it is to theorize why players are getting benched, I am going to keep this to the point: Cloud9 are not going to be at the top of their game and this win should belong to Clutch.

Prediction: Clutch Gaming

Game 4: FlyQuest v. Echo Fox

6/16, 8:00pm EST

FlyQuest has made a few changes to their line-up. Lucas "Santorin" Tao Kilmer Larsen is coming back to North America to serve as jungler, Jang "Keane" Lae-young is moving into the midlane, and Kevin "KonKwon" Kwon is taking on the support role. Most importantly, Brandon "Saintvicious" DiMarc is joining the fold as a coach. Overall I think FlyQuest has had the best off-season so far and has created a recipe for success. Unfortunately for them, I don’t think those changes will be enough to take Echo Fox down. At the beginning of every split it seems to take a while for most teams to settle back into being on the stage and sort through strategies. Echo Fox on the other hand is known to go full throttle and ignore the passive nature of other teams. So while FlyQuest gets comfortable in the new split, Echo Fox is very likely to run them over.  

Prediction: Echo Fox

Game 5: Golden Guardians v. Optic Gaming

6/16, 9:00pm EST

Ending Day 1 with the bottom two teams of the 2018 Spring split standings is almost poetic. Both squads have made changes for the better, but Optic Gaming should have an easier time rolling into a new identity. Terry "Big" Chuong will be joining Optic Gaming in the support position and David "Cop" Roberson is coming on as a coach. Rather than completely change the direction of Optic gaming , these additions can work to refine Optic Gaming into a cleaner team. Golden Guardians on the other hand may need sometime to define themselves without Hai "Hai" Du Lam making the calls. I agree that Son "Mickey" Young-min is a better player, but removing Hai changes the entire structure of how the team functions. A shift that impactful in Golden Guardians makes Optic Gaming favorites this opening weekend.

Prediction:  Optic Gaming

Day 2

Game 6: Team SoloMid v. FlyQuest

6/17, 5:00pm EST

Saintvicious might help mastermind a way for FlyQuest to topple the mammoth that TSM is, but that seems unlikely. I truly believe FlyQuest can make a run in play-offs with their line-up but they need time. Maybe the combined efforts of former TSM players Jason "WildTurtle" Tran and Santorin striving for revenge will be enough for a FlyQuest victory, but speculation can go only so far though and FlyQuest has too much on their plate in week 1.

Prediction: Team SoloMid.

Game 7: Team Liquid v. Golden Guardians

6/17, 6:00pm EST

Should be a pretty easy task for Team Liquid to take Golden Guardians down. Even if Team Liquid were to fall to 100 Thieves and Golden Guardians ended up smashing Optic Gaming it wouldn’t be enough to convince me otherwise.  A simple glance tells you that Golden Guardians’ players as a whole are several pegs below Team Liquid’s.

Prediction: Team Liquid

Game 8: CLG v. 100 Thieves

6/17, 7:00pm EST

100 THIEVES WILL WIN!!!!.... Phew… that was a close one. CLG almost got me with their friendship.  That may have been a little mean, but I do actually think this match could be close. CLG are almost synonymous for their wide variety of strategies that don’t work in what I would consider strict metas. With the way things are going, there might be enough wiggle room for CLG’s more unique game style to work against a 100 Thieves team shown to be reliant on play-making in the past. Combating that though is 100 Thieves’ head coach Neil "pr0lly" Hammad, who has proven he can also tango when it comes to theorycrafting. If that isn’t enough to convince you, Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black has done a good job of outdoing his former team and will likely take them down once more.

Prediction: 100Thieves

Game 9: Clutch Gaming v. Echo Fox

6/17, 8:00pm EST

A rematch of the 3rd place Spring split series that should have the same outsome. As mentioned earlier Echo Fox is relentlessly vicious and are not likely to wait around for their enemy. In the Spring split, Clutch Gaming always did a fantastic job of mitigating their loses to eventually turn the tables into a victory. This passive play style was easily mapped out and routed by Echo Fox in their last match up though and I find it hard to believe that Clutch Gaming can increase their defenses enough to take the match this time around.

Prediction: Echo Fox

Game 10: Cloud9 v. Optic Gaming

6/17, 9:00pm EST

Cloud9 will take this…. Is what I had written as a placeholder until benchgate happened.  I can’t make the same clean call against Cloud9 like I did with their match against Clutch, but I think Cloud9 will take another loss. Optic Gaming has a wonderful chance to secure a victory unless Cloud9 backtracks hard on their roster decision.

Prediction: Optic Gaming

[ryukoishida]

Quan Zhi Gao Shou | King’s Avatar Fic: In which Shaotian makes observations about Wenzhou’s hands.

Title: These Broken Hands of Mine Fandom: The King’s Avatar / Quan Zhi Gao Shou Character(s)/Pairing(s): Yu/Huang (Wenzhou/Shaotian) Summary: Five times Shaotian makes observations about Wenzhou’s hands + one time Wenzhou keeps Shaotian’s hands warm. Rating: Part v. is NSFW; otherwise it’s PG A/N: Based on @andthenabanana‘s precious Yu/Huang HCs! I’m still reading the novels so I’m writing this based on the knowledge I have of the anime only. If there are inaccuracies in the fic, please forgive me!

Writing Commission | Editing & Translation Services

---

i.

Huang Shaotian hates it when people teases his captain about his hands — “crippled”, they call him, often accompanying the comment with sympathetic gazes. Even if it isn’t meant to be derogatory, just a harmless joke, even if the captain himself laughs it off because he’s so used to it already, Shaotian still hates it.

“Let me go teach those bastards a lesson, captain, come on, come on, come on! I won’t let them get away with dissing Blue Rain’s brilliant leader like that! I’ll kick their ass so hard they won’t even know what’s coming for them—”

“Shaotian,” he calls his name with his usual tone — frustratingly calm, like the mirror surface of a summer lake, undisturbed by the wind. The two syllables are enough to shut the other man up, and from his seat at the computer, Wenzhou looks over at his vice-captain and gives him a reassuring smile, an expression Shaotian has seen so many times, before shifting his attention back to the game.

The captain doesn’t need his protection, Shaotian knows that — knows Wenzhou well enough that even without a terrifying hand speed, the man can carry himself and his team using clever tactics and deliberate strategies. He doesn’t doubt Wenzhou’s strength and prowess in Glory.

Shaotian finishes off his opponents within about fifteen seconds, but he does so in a surprisingly quiet manner. As he stands up and stretches, his gaze falls onto Wenzhou’s figure: he has his headphones on, and he’s completely immersed in the game before him, his fingers tapping out a gradual but melodic rhythm that has Shaotian mesmerized.

They may not be fast, but the movements of his fingers are precise and calculated, similar to well-practiced choreography that brings out the beauty and grace of his avatar’s attack and defense. It’s something that both baffles and intrigues Shaotian even after all these years of watching Wenzhou play.

The logo of Glory flashes across Wenzhou’s screen, signifying his victory, and Shaotian snaps out of his reverie when Wenzhou turns around and looks at him with an expectant smile.

Always unfathomable. Always warm.

-

ii.

“Yo, vice-captain, I think Captain Yu left this.”

One of the members of Blue Rain throws a notebook at him without another warning, and Shaotian catches the corner of it with quick reflex, all the while swearing nonstop at his teammate.

The other man just flashes him a grin and waves goodbye as he steps out of the training room, closing the door behind him as fast as he can before Shaotian decides to throw something at him.

The notebook is the one that Wenzhou always carries around with him wherever he goes. He has a habit of jotting down notes — he’s the Master Tactician and an immaculate analyst after all — so whenever the members are at a meeting and discussing about various tactics before an important match, or when he’s hastily noting down new ideas while being engrossed in the world of Glory, the notebook, its cover slightly battered and the corners dog-eared, is always in Wenzhou’s hands.

Curiosity is singing temptation in Shaotian’s mind, and he casually start to flip through the spiraled notebook. He sees the captain’s neat handwriting, the flow of blue ink across paper elegant yet powerful like sweeping rivers that carve and create valleys. It’s all data and numbers and tables — nothing Shaotian is genuinely interested in — but then he spots the little doodles on the margins that makes him sputter out a chuckle: there are messy sketches of cartoon birds and kittens, as well as more realistic drawings of plants and flowers that dotted Blue Rain Club’s hallways.

Probably products of boredom.

And here Shaotian thinks their team captain is always preoccupied with nothing but Glory gameplay.

As he continues flipping through the notepad, he stops towards the end.  Shaotian frowns in confusion: there is no writing on these pages, but the space is filled with sketches of the same person from different angles and with various expressions.

A short moment later, his eyes widen in realization, and he mutters with disbelief, “Wait, wait, wait, what the fuck, that’s me, isn’t it, what the fuck?!”

Splattered all over the lined pages are rough drawings of Shaotian sketched in pencil. A few are of him in different poses and in mere outlines and crisp shadings, though the body shape is familiar enough that Shaotian can recognize it as his own; however, most of the sketches are embarrassing close-ups of his face: his expressive eyes, the side and back of his head, the hard, impelling lines of his mouth when he talks a mile a minute and the sensual curves of his lips when he’s silent and smiling.

‘What the hell is this?’ Shaotian wonders in confusion, his cheeks burning warmer and warmer the longer he stares at the detailed portraits of himself drawn by the careful hand of his captain.

“Ah, so I did leave my notebook here,” Wenzhou starts from the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest and an amused smile grazing along his lips.

Shaotiao snaps the notebook shut, the sound like the firing of a bullet in the stillness of the room.

“Uh, yeah, you did! You shouldn’t leave your shit just lying around, you know? Who knows what would have happened if I haven’t picked it up, huh? What if—” he babbles on and on, unable to shut up as he feels Wenzhou’s gaze penetrating through his frail wall of words.

“Did you read what’s inside?” Wenzhou interrupts, his eyes glimmering with a knowing look.

“I-inside? Why would I — does it look like I would do such a thing? I do know to respect privacy, okay?”

“You did, didn’t you?” Wenzhou isn’t fooled, and Shaotian should have known better.

He sighs, and hands over the notebook in defeat when Wenzhou finally walks over to stand before him.

“I didn’t know you draw,” Shaotian mutters, head turned to the side with a pout. He has thought that he knows everything about him, but this is clearly not the case. For some reason, this fact irritates him, and it’s starting a lick of flame in the pit of his stomach that’s impossible to put out, and so the statement comes out like an accusation more than anything else.

“It’s just a hobby,” Wenzhou replies, “something to occupy my hands with.”

Shaotian considers asking about the drawings on the back of the notebook, but he doesn’t, and Wenzhou doesn’t talk about it, either.  

-

iii.

Wenzhou’s hands can be terribly distracting, Shaotian notes — not for the first time — as he leans back against his chair during one particularly boring meeting in Blue Rain Club’s conference room.

It’s three days before the big match against Excellent Era, and the core members of the Blue Rain team have gathered here to discuss tactics and strategies.

As Wenzhou talks, his serene voice washing over the room like waves lapping gently against the shore, Shaotian finds his mind wandering, and his eyes, which have been previously focusing on the stormy weather beyond the windows smeared with raindrops, have now turned their attention back to the speaker at the front of the room, or more specifically, the speaker’s hands.

For Wenzhou’s hands are constantly moving in interesting little gestures even when he talks about dry topics like laying sieges and attacking opponents — whether it’s rhythmic tapping against his notebook, or twirling his mechanical pencil ‘round and ‘round, just as he’s currently doing.

The writing utensil is twirled back and forth with so much speed that it has become nothing but a blur of yellow and black, and Shaotian is transfixed. How much control Wenzhou must have, and how nimble his fingers must be in order to balance and spin the thin pencil between his digits while he walks and speaks.

Well, the captain isn’t speaking anymore, Shaotian thinks a little belatedly.

And the pencil has stopped spinning, too.

The room has become quiet except for the humming of the air condition, and when he finally realizes that everyone has their eyes on him, including Wenzhou, who is staring at him with those chilling blue eyes, Shaotian gives them all a bright, harmless grin.

Wenzhou sighs softly, and asks, his fingers instinctively starting to twirl the pencil again, “Shaotian, what do you think of the tactic we’ve just been going over?”

“Uhhh…” Shaotian hasn’t heard or retained a word for the last ten minutes, and Wenzhou probably knows that, “it’s… it’s good?”

Wenzhou cocks up one of his eyebrows, clearly unamused.

-

iv.

Shaotian likes vegetables; he will argue his tongue off about this topic if he has to.

It’s just that people tend to put certain vegetables in the weirdest, grossest dishes. Like, who the fuck in their right mind would put okra in a stir fry? Not him, and he definitely won’t allow Wenzhou to ruin a good dish if it’s the last thing he does.

On the other hand, stewed okra with tomatoes, onions, and spicy sausages — he can consume that delicacy over two bowls of rice. So, that’s what they’ve decided to make for tonight’s dinner, along with steamed carp fresh from the market, and broth with watercress and pork.

He should probably be paying attention to the pot over the open flames, but Wenzhou has picked up a knife and started expertly chopping the scallions for the steamed fish into fine, soft ribbons. Water droplets slither down between knuckles and disappear into the gaps between his fingers, his manicured nails a contrast against the spring green of the herb he’s chopping, and the way he gently eases the blade over the stems as he cuts them, as if he’s taking the greatest care to doing it right, is somehow even more enthralling than watching his fingers flying over the keyboard while playing Glory.

Shaotian thinks he may have a huge problem: namely, Wenzhou’s hands.

“Shaotian, your stew is boiling over,” Wenzhou looks over, brows puckered in concern.

“Oh shit, shit, shit!” he tries to pick up the lid after turning down the heat but the steam gets him first, and he yelps in pain as the torrent of hot steam scalds his skin into an angry shade of red, his swearing going off like rounds from a machine gun.

The blond immediately turns the tap and lets cool water run over his injured hand, and the angry cussing quickly transforms to pained hissing as the water splashes over the burned area.

“Here, let me take a look.”

Standing close behind him with his chest touching Shaotian’s back, Wenzhou winds his arms around the vice-captain’s smaller frame and pulls his hand lightly towards them, his head lowered to inspect the wound more closely so that Shaotian can feel the other man’s every warm exhale against his cheek.

“You should be more careful,” Wenzhou murmurs, soft like his caresses against Shaotian’s sensitive skin along the inner wrist, meticulous like the way he handles a knife, calculating like he’s about to launch a final attack with a few presses of keys. “These hands are your livelihood. Last time it was the knife; this time it was a pot; what shall I do with you, hmm?”

“U-umm, I’m fine, this is fine, I’m absolutely fine. This is nothing serious at all. I’ll just go and get the ointment for it, okay? Okay.”

He’s trying to squirm out of Wenzhou’s embrace, but it’s useless because the moment Wenzhou drops a soft kiss on his forehead and finally releases him with a “I’ll go get it,” Shaotian knows he’s been utterly defeated.

-

v.

Ever since they’ve started sleeping with each other, Shaotian discovers another talent that Wenzhou’s hands are capable of.

“Ah fuck, fuck, fuck, stop fucking teasing me and get on with the actual fucking, will you? Goddamnit…” Shaotian whines into the crook of his elbow as Wenzhou’s fingers — two fingers drenched with lube — skim that spot again that scatters stars along his spine, making him shudder and curve up from the mattress with an embarrassingly loud mewl.

Wenzhou chuckles and continues the sweet torture by adding a third finger, the speed painstakingly slow — slow enough that Shaotian can feel every inch of his skin, every knuckle of his finger, entering and pulling out, leaving pinpricks of flames that spread and grow along the surface of his skin, sinking into his flesh, swimming in his blood.

“Captain…” Shaotian gasps, and the title makes him pause despite his desire for more; it sounds too stifling, too formal for what they’re doing — for what they’ve been doing for months now — but he doesn’t know how else to address him, so he tries the name he hasn’t called him with since their training camp days. “Wenzhou, Wenzhou… please, let me— I’ve gotta—”

Wenzhou doesn’t think too much of it when he sticks his index finger into Shaotian’s mouth in an attempt to muffle his mindless babbling, and it works a little until the little demon starts licking him with some sort of deliberation. Golden eyes watch him hungrily as he licks the length of Wenzhou’s finger, taking care to fondle every crease and nook, and humming appreciatively when he swallows his digit whole. He sucks on it with such enthusiasm that Wenzhou is starting to feel the effect, making him imagining that talented tongue and mouth licking and sucking on something else.  

The image is too much, too real, and like the opportunist that he is, Shaotian takes advantage of the moment Wenzhou breaks his momentum and focus, and strikes back with a vengeance.  

-

+ i.

When Wenzhou passes the folder filled with research data of their next opponents to his vice-captain, he exclaims, “Shaotian, your hand is freezing! Are you sick?”

“Hmm?” Shaotian looks down at his hands and flexes his fingers experimentally, “No. My hands are always like that during this kind of weather — shitty circulation, y’know. I left my gloves at home, so that’s probably why they feel especially cold right now. Don’t worry though!” he quickly says, “I’ll warm up properly before we start.”

“Ah,” Wenzhou nods once.

It’s true that Shaotian always seems so much more sensitive to the cold than everybody else. His hands are especially bad — the chill seeps deep past his flesh and stiffens his bones, so before every match or training session, he needs to spend at least half an hour warming up his fingers.

As the weather becomes bleaker in the winter, Shaotian’s wardrobe goes from a scarf around his neck, a long coat, and a pair of gloves to a thicker scarf long enough to wind around his neck and cover his head, earmuffs, a puffier coat, and two pairs of gloves with hand warmer packs stuffed inside.

Even wearing all those layers, Shaotian can still be seen shivering and burying his face into the warmth of his scarf during snowy days or when the temperature drops below zero. His cheeks flush with cold then, and the tips of his nose, too, and Wenzhou always finds that part of the chatterbox vice-captain sort of endearing, though of course he’ll never admit so.

The captain of Blue Rain checks the time; there are still twenty minutes until they start, so he decides to make the best of it.

“Hold on,” Wenzhou calls for him, and Shaotian turns around, topaz eyes round with confusion. He takes the few steps to close their distance, reaches out for Shaotian’s hand, and before the other man can protest, Wenzhou pulls them into one of the deserted hallways that they both know most people won’t normally trespass at this time of the day.

“Captain? What’s up?” Shaotian looks up at him through his blond fringes, the folder tucked securely under his arm when Wenzhou takes hold of both of his hands.  

“We still have some time, right?” Wenzhou only says, cupping the other man’s hands into his slightly bigger, warmer ones. He starts to rub them back and forth gently, allowing the soft friction to generate heat and encourage blood circulation in Shaotian’s limbs.

“Right,” Shaotian ducks his head low, cheeks heating up.

After a few minutes of silence, Wenzhou laughs, the sound soft like dawn mist, “It’s kind of strange when you’re not chattering away about one thing or another when you’re around me.”

“That’s so incredibly rude, captain!” Shaotian jumps in to defend himself, eyes flashing with mock irritation, “if you’ve missed my voice that much, you only need to tell me. No need to go about it in such a convoluted way and no need to be shy either, Captain Yu. Also, reverse psychology won’t work on me at all.”

“No?” Wenzhou’s tone drops a degree lower, one corner of his lips curling upwards, “I think it’s working rather well.” He nudges the turfs of blond locks by Shaotian’s temple and places a kiss there with another knowing smile.

“Hmph, whatever, whatever. Just warm me up properly,” he tilts his head up, his ardent eyes beckoning him, his message never clearer.

“Of course,” Wenzhou leans forward without a second thought.

[laboratorium2d]

Ideologues and Grifters, Douchebags and Snowflakes: A Theory of the Trump Administration

I've read a lot of confused takes trying trying to make sense of the Trump administration through a traditional left-right lens. I'm sure you have, too. They use words like "pivot" and "establishment" and they struggle to explain when and why Trump does things other Republicans complain about. I find this particular style of Kremlinology unhelpful. Whether "conservatives" or "moderates" are winning is less than half the story.

The biggest division in the Trump White House is between ideologues and grifters. Ideologues care about policy; grifters don't. Ideologues sometimes fight viciously among themselves over their policy commitments, but they're united by having commitments at all. Grifters are driven only by the enrichment of the Trump family and the appeasement of Trump's ego.

Within the ideologue camp, the starkest contrast is between ethno-nationalists (economically populist, isolationist, and sometimes overtly racist) and globalists (economically libertarian, cosmopolitan, and not necessarily racist). There are also disagreements about military policy, but the overall distance between hawks and doves is much narrower.1 There are no analogous divisions within the grifter camp; any side cons they have going are small and personal. The grifters, as I said, are unconcerned with policy for its own sake, but are happy to go along with whatever position is more expedient at the moment.

The other deep division is a matter of style rather than substance: there are douchebags and there are snowflakes, with drones somewhere in between. The key here is shame: the douchebags are psychologically incapable of feeling it, the snowflakes struggle with it constantly, and the drones keep it at bay by crossing their arms and scowling at the floor. Douchebags call up reporters for lengthy profanity-laden tirades; snowflakes call up reporters to say how embarrassed they are; drones call up reporters but ask not to be quoted by name. Douchebags don't quit because they can't take a hint; snowflakes constantly wring their hands about quitting but never go through with it; drones quit when asked but never on their own. Douchebags make Trump angry by stealing his headlines; snowflakes by public signs of disloyalty; drones by telling him 'no'.

Within the Republican party over the last two decades, there has been a rough correlation between ethno-nationalist ideologues and douchebags on the one hand ("conservatives") and globalist ideologues and drones on the other ("moderates"). But this alignment of substance and style has always only been rough and partial, and one of the things that Trump did during the campaign was to expose, in literally spectacular fashion, how hard it is to pin down a grifter on the conventional political spectrum.

Trump himself is a douchebag grifter, and at the extreme on both axes. But consider some of the other players, past and present, in his administration:

Steve Bannon: douchebag ideologue, subtype ethno-nationalist

Sebastian Gorka: douchebag ideologue, subtype ethno-nationalist

Reince Priebus: snowflake ideologue, subtype globalist

Jared Kushner: snowflake grifter

Gary Cohn: snowflake ideologue, subtype globalist

Anthony Scaramucci: douchebag grifter

John Kelly: drone ideologue, subtype hawk

Jeff Sessions: drone ideologue, subtype ethno-nationalist

Mike Pence: drone ideologue, subtype globalist

Michael Flynn: drone grifter

With this multi-dimensional taxonomy in mind, some of administration's personnel gyrations make more sense. Consider the linked fates of Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus. In January and February they were at each other's throats, fighting over policy. But by July, as ideologues working for a grifter increasingly hostile to ideologues, they found common cause in fighting for policy at all. Priebus, of course, went out on his ear -- but that was primarily for being a snowflake in a position where Trump wanted a douchebag. He got one par excellence in the person of Anthony Scaramucci. Then Scarmucci flew too close to the douchebag sun, so he was one of the first go when Kelly started firing douchebags of all stripes.

In conventional political terms, it looks as though the White House lurched away from Priebus's pro-business Republican establishment towards Bannon's insurgent right-wing populism, and then quickly back. Those shifts are to some extent real -- a collateral consequence of Kelly's housecleaning is that the globalist ideologues have (or perhaps had) an open shot on goal in getting Trump to push their tax agenda. But it would be a mistake to see the back-and-forth primarily in those terms, not when so often the motivations are personal rather than political, driven entirely by personalities and rhetoric.

At least when it comes to setting policy, the palace politics of the Trump court are less important than they seem. Trump may swagger and rage like a medieval monarch, but unlike them he lives in a modern media environment. His ministers can keep the courtiers out of the throne room, but they can't keep the king from seeking the counsel of Vulpes et amici or from listening to the tweeting of a million birds in his ear. The flow of information -- both the raw "facts" and the all-important framing -- to the current president depends less on White House staff filters than at any time in living memory. James Murdoch's personnel decisions matter in a way that John Kelly's don't: more turns on whether Hannity keeps his job than on whether Bannon does.

The place in which it matters more who survives each successive purge is not in who has Trump's ear at the moment but in who is there to take orders from him. The Office of Legal Counsel is of the view that the President could scrawl a legally binding executive order on a napkin, but Trump's tweets are deeply underspecified. Someone has to translate them into directives specific enough to implement on the ground and defend before a judge. When that someone is a Steve Bannon, you get the first Muslim ban: malevolence tempered by incompetence. When that someone is a James Mattis, you get the transgender ban: malevolence subjected to a slow rollout. When that someone is a Leonard Leo, you get Neil Gorsuch.

This is why the current apparent depopulation of the White House staff is significant: Trump's capacity to execute is dependent on having the cadres to embrace his vision, such as it is, and carry it into effect. One reason the "Reagan revolution" deserves the name is that it swept into Washington a large and ideologically coherent cohort of conservative officials and bureaucratic professionals capable of leaving their stamp on every significant government program. To the extent that anything like this is happening under Trump, it's a bumper crop of grifters and douchebags with an ethno-nationalist streak -- and there are only enough of them to destroy existing programs, rather than to create enduring alternatives. This is the future of your Republican Party, ladies and gentlemen.

Except for this: shift your attention from the White House to the agencies and things look rather different (with the notable exception of the State Department under the singularly ineffective Tillerson). The left may mock and disparage, but the reaction from every conservative I've talked to has been consistent: Trump's cabinet is a conservative dream team, and they're moving quickly and confidently across a wide range of issues. Perhaps simply because Trump has neither a personal financial stake in nor any actual knowledge about most of what the agencies do, he's been content to leave things up to a crop of appointees who are mostly ideologues and mostly drones.

The current status of the Trump administration, then, might be described as an administrative inversion. The White House, ordinarily the center of policy direction, is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and dignity wraiths die like dogs. The real action is in the agencies. Trump, in this view of things, functions primarily as an electoral rocket car: destructive and uncontrollable, but at least capable of getting things moving. Some Republicans are sticking with Trump because of his style rather than in spite of it -- better a right-wing douchebag than a left-wing snowflake -- but even those driven by ideology still have something to like. Trump himself may be less than worthless in pushing the policies they care about, and his White House may be a badly-written daytime drama, but as long as he can sign bills and judicial commissions, he's better than any available alternative. 2

There are ways this alliance of convenience could fall apart, but they are less direct than, "Trump says something else utterly indefensible," or "The White House staff keep on murdering each other with pickaxes." These are daily occurrences now, and they are not really news when they happen. Anyone who is ever going to have an experience of total moral clarity about Donald Trump has already had theirs by now. One possibility is that high-profile failures of the conservative agenda in Congress undercut the hope that legislative (as opposed to merely administrative) success is possible under Trump. Another is that Trump's own appetite for drama and domination -- something that is both innate in his personality and strongly encouraged by his preferred media diet -- causes him to act out in ways that sabotage the political prospects of his supposed allies and the policies they care about. This is what it takes to get Congressional Republicans upset. Better to have the douchebag grifter inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in, they reasoned during the election, but now here he is in office, inside the tent and still pissing inside it. It's enough to make a drone ideologue go full snowflake.

The reason is that Trump's path to power as a Republican outsider effectively fenced out both Give Peace a Chance leftists and Carthago Delenda Est neoconservatives of the second Bush administration -- that is, anyone committed to significant and sustained departures from the status quo. Trump himself defines both ends of his administration's military Overton window: tough-talking swagger and fear of getting blamed if something big goes wrong. ↩︎

Mike Pence is technically unavailable, even though he's next in the line of succession. The only plausible way to remove Trump without party-destroying revenge would be a massive stroke -- or something else disabling his ability to yell and tweet. ↩︎

[arirashkae]

Okay, prompt for literal fluff. Felix-is-a-cat AU, only now BOTH of them are cats. Maybe something where they are totally just cuddling up for warmth... Bonus points for Locus cleaning Felix (G-rated) who reluctantly sits and positively does not enjoy it of course. Lol.

I almost didn’t get to this because I kept getting called away. But! I am here! Have an AU scene to FQPRCC for Fluff Week! (Also, Google Translate is the best when doing Red vs Blue XD. “Look what the cat dragged in”, which interestingly is different than “look what the cat dragged in”)

Quod Cattus Respice In Trahebatur

Characters: Felix, Locus (not written to be shippy, but I’m not gonna say you can’t read it that way)

Rating: T/M for Felix’s usual command of the English language

Warnings: involuntary shapeshifting, accidental intoxication, forcible cuddling

Word count: 1698

AO3

@rvbficwars​ (just in case XD)

‘Oh,that is not fucking fair.’Felix’stail lashed angrily as he pulled back on Locus’ undersuit, helpingthe enormous and fluffycatthat was his partner to extricate himself from the jumble of armor.

Locustwisted to look himself over. ‘Thisdoes seem to be a problem.’Somehow,Locus managed to come out of this twice Felix’s size.

Theyhad almost made it to the door with the crate holding Felix’s armor.Unfortunately, ‘almost’ only counted with horseshoes, hand grenades,and tactical nukes, and Locus had been caught in the same beam oflight that had enveloped Felix when he’d tried to circle the room. 

‘No,I mean even as a goddamned cat you’re still a beast,’Felixgroused. Locus just shot him an unimpressed look and concentrated onstanding up properly.

Thetwo of them picked their way out of the room, trying to hurry whilenavigating the unfamiliar mechanics of having four legs.'Technically,that is the definition of a cat.’Theystopped just outside the door and turned back. Their armor lay a fewyards inside. They had come so close, and yet nowhere near closeenough.

'Oh,go fuck yourself. You know what I mean.’Felixyawned, showing off every single one of his nice sharp teeth. Locusremained unimpressed. He turned away and sat down just outside thedoorway, studying what he could see. As if that would give them anyclues as to what the fuck had just happened or more importantly howto fucking fix it.Felixconcentrated instead on coordination and processing the flood ofinformation his new senses were bringing in.

'Ithink we can safely assume that the researchers also ran afoul ofthis device.’Neitherof them even bothered questioning how they were still able tocommunicate so effortlessly. After so long having each other’s backs,sometimes Felix was amazed they even neededtospeak to each other any more. Not that Felix was taking a vow ofsilence any time soon, mind. Irritating Locus was one of the thingsthat got him out of bed in the morning.

'Gee,you think?’Felixtook another few careful steps. Embolden by the lack of wobbling, hetried a few small hops. The more he moved, the more natural this newbody felt. Twitch an ear thiswayto catch noises over there,curl the tail justsotohelp counterbalance a jump …

Hestopped and cocked his head. Locus was still peering into ThatFucking Room, the tip of his ridiculously fluffy tail curled aroundhis feet and his whiskers twitching slightly. Felix tilted his headthe other way, gauging the distance.

Hecrouched and crept forward, stepping carefully to be as quiet aspossible. When he was fairly confident he could make the leap, hepounced–

 –andended up slammed to the floor as Locus whirled and smacked him,pinning him down with his own body weight. 'Iwas wondering how long before you tried something like that.’

Felixtried to twist free, but Locus was easily double his size, evenbefore accounting for that coat. He huffed. 'Oh,come on. Like you aren’t tempted to try.’

Locusdidn’t answer, but he did let Felix up, cuffing him lightly in thehead. 'Weshould at least attempt to access the records. Hopefully the team wasable to find somethingthatwill help us before they disappeared.’

'Withour luck, they’ll be locked by fingerprints or retinal scans or someridiculous key one of them made up.’

'Whichis why we were given the decryption overrides. 

Theythreaded their way through the cleared rooms, eager to find the exitas quickly as possible. Neither one of them liked leaving their armorand weapons behind, but there was very little they could do about it.

Thesun was almost too bright, the jungle around them too loud, when theyfinally made it out of the temple complex. 'Idon’t know if you’ve looked at yourself in the last few minutes,Locs, but I don’t exactly think either of us is going to be flyingthe Pelican over there any time soon. And carrying any of those padsthrough this mess is going to be exactly easy.’

Aftera few moments of getting their new bearings, they struck out fortheir Pelican. 'Wewill figure something out. We are still alive, and more importantly,still awareofwho we are, regardless of what we look like.’

Neitherof them needed to say it, but they both heard the 'for now’ at theend of that statement.

'Fiiiine.Be the optimist.’Felixtrotted ahead, pausing every so often to sniff a plant or try topounce on a bug. He had just stopped, staring at a particularly luridflower and trying to remember if he’d noticed it on the way down,when Locus barreled into him. They tumbled down the path, Felixyowling in indignation as he clawed for purchase to stop them.

’Bequiet,’Locussnarled. He whirled to face the flower and backed up slightly, stillsnarling, ears pinned back and poofed out to look even larger. Itwould have been hysterical, if not for the fact that the flower wasnow turned towards them – and there was a splotch of pollen onLocus’ face.

Felixcaught himself flattening to the ground in fear and shook himself'Whatthe fuck was that?’

'Idon’t know, but it looked like it had been leaning towards you andthat can’t have been good.’Locuskept backing up until he was even with Felix. 'Didany of it hit you?’

Felixtwisted, managing to roll completely over as he checked. 'I’mclean. You get hit any worse than that?’

'Idon’t think so.’Locusshook his head and took a few swipes at it with one paw. 'ButI did inhale some of … some of it…’Hetrailed off, shaking his head again.

'Locus?’Felixcrouched again, unsure if his partner was going to go berserk, dropdead, or–

–orstart … laughing?

'I’mmmgood.’Locusswayed on his feet, before flopping down on one side, blinking up atFelix.

Felix’sears flattened almost immediately. ’…Locus?’

Hispartner twisted around, ending up almost flat on his back and curvedin a semi circle. 'Yyeesss?’

Felixgaped at him. Then he realized that rumbling noise was Locus purring.'Holyfuck, are youhigh?’

'AmI?’Locusblinked up at him, tail swishing lazily. He took a swipe at the emptyair above him.

'Ohfuck me,’Felixbreathed. As if this day couldn’t get any worse – or any moreridiculous. Now not only were the two of them currently fucking cats,but his stoic and taciturn partner was currently rolling in the grassand batting at imaginary butterflies or some bullshit like that.

Hehad to smack Locus a few times to get his attention, but eventuallyhe focused on him. 'Getup, asshole. You can’t stay here. With our luck, you’ll get steppedon before we change back.’ 

’…Felix?’

'Oh,Jesus Christ, get on your fucking feet and let’s go.’Felix practically had to shove Locus into sitting up, but once he wasthere, momentum or what-fucking-ever took over and he stumbled to hisfeet. And stopped there.

Itprobably looked ridiculous, but Felix face-palmed – face-pawed? –anyway. He bumped his shoulder against Locus’. 'Thisway, asshole.’Hestarted back down the path to the ship; Locus trotted after him,purring happily and his tail straight up like a banner.

'Fuckyou, fuck this place, fuck this job,’Felixgrumbled. At least he could still manage the keypad for the Pelican.That meant he could herd Locus into the fucking ship – 'goddamnit,thisway’– andlock the ramp behind them. He silently apologized – something hewould never do out loud – for every time Locus had hauled his drunkass back to wherever they were holed up. If he had been half as badas this, then Locus had the patience of a goddamned saint.

Ofcourse, now they had to figure out what the fuck to do next.Hopefully this shit would wear off soon; Locus stoned and happy wassomehow even creepier than he was sober. Probably because it was justso wrong.

'We’reprobably going to have to eat the MREs cold until we get our bodiesback. I don’t trust something won’t fuck up if we try to heat themand–’

Forthe second time in less than as many house, Felix found himselfsquashed beneath his partner. Thistime,however, Locus was purring like a goddamned chainsaw and nuzzlingthe back of his neckwhatthe fuck?'Youworry too much.’

'Yeah,because that’s usually yourjob,asshole. Now let me up.’

InsteadLocus, fucker that he was, just sprawled even more. 'No.’M comfortable.’

'Locus,I swear to fucking God–’

Felix’sthreat was cut short by the swipe of a rough tongue across his head.He froze in complete shock. Locus repeated the motion, somehowmanaging to purr even louderinthe process.

'Locus,’Felixhissed. 'Whatthe fuck do you think you’re doing?’

Locusjust shifted until he was less sprawled and more curled up acrossFelix’s back. 'Quiet.You’re too tense. Need t’ relax.’Hecontinued fucking groominghim,and started kneading his shoulders for good measure.

Almostagainst his will, Felix didfeelhimself start to relax, between the purring and the kneading. 'So,what? Are you suggesting a catnap?’Nowaywashe going near the groomingwitha ten-foot pole. If he was lucky, Locus wouldn’t remember any of thiswhen he sobered up.

'Yes.Sleep. Tha’ would be good.’Locusgave a jaw-cracking yawn, and Felix couldn’t help mirroring him. Hehuffed a sigh as Locus dropped his head on top of Felix’s own. Thatactually did sound pretty good right now.

’…you know you’re an asshole, right?’

Locusput one paw over Felix’s mouth. 'Shhh.Sleep now. Argue later.’Henuzzled the back of Felix’s head and dropped off almost immediately. 

Ofcoursethefucker would snore rightinhis ear. Asshole.

(Have some cat!mercs 😁💕)

[theparaminds]

Inevitably, the human experience is a lonely and often harsh timeline that never seems to let up with its difficulties. Yet, we as individuals always find the light, whatever it may be for us. For one, a hobby. For another, a vice. For Been Stellar? Honest friendship. The New York-based band isn’t afraid to wear their hearts upon their sleeves, to tell a story of comradery throughout an era of disconnection. In many ways, Been Stellar is the antithesis to not only the modern music industry but to our instant gratification society that is, at times, inescapable.

It’s music that’s a slow burn while also a gut punch. Slow in the sense that with every project and string of releases, a new piece of marble is chiseled off their eventual statue of connectivity. A gut punch in the sense that every one of those individual songs is a splash of cold water on a July morning, in the best possible way. It holds little back in its instrumental honesty, allowing edges to be rough when needed to better express the depth of the varied, and deeply emotional, stories shared within every piece.

Even more so than their recordings, their bond is evident in the one in a lifetime live performances they put on. Putting their entire soul into every second, Been Stellar hold the desired skill of turning any and all locations into their own canvass. Their paint is positivity. And in that, their importance and beauty rest. Within Been Stellar, the human experience is no longer lonely, it is no longer harsh. Instead, it is free and hopeful in ways that are desperately needed and always appreciated.

This Interview was recorded live in New York.

Our first question as always, how are all your days going and how have you all been?

Skyler: Pretty good so far.

Sam: Skyler and I had a nice easy morning.

Skyler: A nice easy day in the city.

Sam: Grabbed some food at a dining hall before this as well.

Laila: Yeah, I’m doing pretty swell, I crammed some homework before this.

Nando: Not much today, but I just went to my mixing class and learned my professor mixed ‘I Just Had Sex’ by the Lonely Island, I have so much more respect for him now.

That’s actually a really great place to start, living in New York and having that new chapter in your lives. Part of that is that you’re all from different places, some from Michigan and some Miami and LA. How has the experience been coming together as a band in New York and how have you worked to make it a cohesive project?

Skyler: It’s interesting, Sam and I have had this band since high school and we had a different group of people we worked with back then. We were so lucky to meet this current group early because now our creative process can really be us working together and coming up with ideas as a unit. Sam and I have been challenged by working with people who have really talented musical minds and tons of creativity.

Laila: I also think as we've gotten closer as friends, we've become obviously closer as a band. We’ve found ways to work together better than before. We understand each other a lot better now.

Did you all feel having a wide range of locations is part of what makes it a unique project? As in the fact it’s not all LA or Michigan? It’s a multi-state project in a sense.

Skyler: It’s cool because Nando is from Brazil and Nico and Laila are from LA, and we all bring different elements. But it doesn't feel like a band from different places because we got our footing in New York. It’s a new chapter in all our lives. The bonding factor is the city.

When you all were younger, what were some of the larger influences you found yourself to be resonating with? Both musically and environmentally?

Nando: I lived in Australia as well and I feel it was there that my taste was truly developed. It shaped my taste of indie rock and there’s some local there that I enjoyed like Hockey Dad and Dune Rats. When I got here, that was a big influence on me going into this project.

Laila: I don't know if I was inspired by any of the LA indie stuff because I never went to that stuff until late high school, but I always loved Blink-182 and Avril Lavigne. At one point I got into the Strokes and that's when I got into more indie music, before it was just Avril.

Skyler: For me, my dad's a music journalist so he was hip to the Detroit scene during the White Stripes explosion. It’s a lot more garage style and it was cool having that foundation and you can really hear the industrial depression in our own work at times.

Sam: As far as where Skyler and I are from, not even talking about Detroit, but the suburbs that we lived in outside of Detroit. I felt like we were one of the few bands doing what we were doing and in high school, people didn't care for it and that shaped a little how I look at it because it wasn't growing up here or LA. There was no scene.

What do you think were the larger, original challenges you faced as a group and what are you learning to still work through as a team and collective musical mind?

Skyler: When we first met we weren't really friends. We had started because I was browsing Facebook one day and saw an ad for someone putting on a show and I said yes without even asking Sam.

Sam: Mind you that we didn't have a band, it was just us.

Skyler: We had a month to assemble a group so we for sure had to ask Nando because he was my roommate last year. Then we tried adding some other people, but it didn't really work out

Sam: And then we met Laila at a concert over the last year and we met Nico because he was my roommate. Once we all hung out more we just realized we enjoyed each other's companies. The truth is we’re all in different friend groups, but we had fun together and the obstacle was that we didn't know each other and we have had to build the bond.

Laila: It’s honestly pretty crazy to me because we just did it. We met so randomly and even though we have lots of friends in our own lives, we keep getting closer.

Sam: Ever since this summer, and especially this year, all of us are family now.

One of the aspects of your year was also your increase in playing live and taking that more into consideration. How do you personally compared the live setting to that of the recorded one and why do you find importance in the different scenery?

Nico: I always hated when you hear a band live and either the recording or their live performance was worse. They should always have the same energy and when we play live we always could tell it was a level higher than what was on the recording. Then with ‘JFK’, even though we were still learning, we were finally able to capture the energy of what a live show should be like, especially with the escalation at the end. People always tell us after that song how positive it came out and how much power is packed into it. Recording now, for this next album, it's super important to capture the within every aspect of ourselves. We don’t want to be good in one section of our career.

Skyler: It’s also very emblematic of the musical culture and times we live in. We really value our live performance and I do think it's our best aspect. We often use them to supplement the recording because they’re art in their own right. In today’s day and age, which is stream-oriented and production heavy, this may be seen as an old fashioned approach, and it may be. But it is undeniable that when it hits you better live it's a completely different experience than anything else.

Nico: I also feel that we're honing in on the 70’s vibe on New York which was just going out and having fun whenever possible.

Sam: It felt like last year when we started in New York, we got a taste of when the scene was more performance-based. We would play a show and then the next one would grow purely off word of mouth and I think that's been one of my favorite parts this whole thing. Sticking out and not having it be online. Just having it be organic. Instead of translating online presence to a real one, we are working to do the opposite.

When in the studio for this new project, how do you go about putting that live energy into everything you do and how have you found that that effort shift to be succeeding?

Laila: We started this new album ourselves at the school studios, but then we slowly realized the energy there and our production skills were not up to par to reflect what we wanted. So, we moved on to work with a producer, Lucas Carpenter whos really good at capturing our live energy and what we were doing in the studio.

Sam: You can really feel the music so much more within every recording ever since.

Skyler: And he’s very old fashioned, being someone who only uses reel to reel. I used to think it was pretty pointless, but once I heard it, I realized there was something people were doing at a certain point in time that people don't do anymore. It’s truly magical and when you hear the song all together it feels truly alive.

It really sounds like above all he’s pushing you to be more professional and methodical in your approach.

Skyler: He’s pushing that and for it to sound more raw. Working with modern producers, everything has to be clean and neat and tidy, but he doesn’t force it into that box.

Sam: It’s little things like when the mics and bleeding into each other.

Within this last year as well, what were some of your favorite moments that stand out to each of you above the rest? Ones which either meant a lot or were immensely positive.

Nando: It was really fun to travel across America honesty. Nico and Laila were in Los Angeles and we were gonna tour in that area, but I live in Miami. So, I flew to Detroit and we drove all the way to Los Angeles and it was one of the best times ever. That was probably one of my favorite moments, realizing this project was doing something outside of school and that it’s really serious.

Laila: For me, it was the first show we played. So many things went wrong that it was insane. We got to the venue and they didn't have a drum set, Skyler and I weren't friends at the time but we decided to steal a drum set from NYU. We got on the train and with an hour to spare went all the way back to Manhattan and just took all the cymbals and everything with us. I remember the train ride back was so awkward because it was a moment of just constantly staring at each other. But it was also my first time playing in New York and everybody was there, it was really special.

Nando: I think we broke tables at that show.

Laila: Yeah, we did and people were crowd surfing in that small bar, there wasn't even a stage.

Sam: In my eyes, it would be my time recording JFK with Harry Teardrop this year. It was actually unbelievable. Those last days of mixing were magical. Also, we had a meeting as a band about a month and a half ago, which sprung from Laila sending me a text about working with a producer and recording at a studio, which would force us to really sit and think about the songs a lot more. It felt like that step of going all in and the five of us sitting in our dorm was a feeling of love I’ve never had before for this band. There are moments in this group where I realize I’ve never been in love in this sense. It’s that butterflies in your stomach feeling.

Skyler: I have two, first, our show in December at this winery. We were the first and only concert ever there because they shut down pretty soon after, I think it was bought by Disney or something. And Lindsey, our manager, found it wasn't charging much, so we trusted her. There was a wedding going on downstairs and when we got there they were like: ‘yeah so we can get started with catering now’. And they brought us this Cod and Wine, we were dining like kings. The show actually had a ton of people too. Something about us just eating and sitting back felt like things were happening and that we were really doing something worthwhile. The second time is when we were working with Harry on JFK and we just walked outside in Harry’s little backyard area and we felt very accomplished. Of course, a full moon was out that night too.

With this new project, what are you trying to improve all together? I know you mentioned the live energy, but are there shifts and is there something you're honing in on as your goal?

Sam: I think with the songwriting, we’re starting to walk a  line of being very critical, but not overthinking it. With these songs, I’m trying to treat it like an essay where you just need to sit with it and make it so it’s not new. You go over it and over it until it’s truly done. And working through them live while finishing the songs we’re able to practice and see what really translates.

Skyler: Another part of it is when Sam and I did our first album, it felt very organic and intuitive. But we felt there was some substance missing with those songs and it wasn’t always appealing to ourselves. I think with this it's more something that matters and something that means and makes you feel a lot more. We want this to be the album.

Laila: The fact that with this one we’re working together is part of that too. Even though we have the same general direction we like to go in,  we each listen differently and you can hear that in the music. Its small things that fit together, but it’s more heads working as one.

Sam: My philosophy compared to the past is to make a product that satisfies ourselves artistically because you can't control how people react to it. So, if we try to make something people will like but we don’t and it flops, then we won't be fulfilled. If we can make a product that we love and people don't react to, at least we are fulfilled. That's the only tangible feeling that matters. That's the important part of making music.

Would you say as a whole it is just working to fulfill yourselves in an artistic sense? Meaning that It’s not for anyone one but you’re happy when it is something people enjoy?

Nando: People will always resonate with someone that’s authentic. The brain can be tricked by gimmicks, but authenticity is what makes a good band a good band.

Skyler: I’d be lying if I said we’re not caring about the reaction, because we do. But we realized the best way to have people care is to care ourselves.

Sam: There's a niche for everything.

And do you feel with this new project that there’s a message that you're trying to put forth and get out or, is it just working to have fun and be a team?

Skyler: The album has gone through a bunch of changes lyrically and sonically, but I realized that it comes from the fact we’re in such an odd social and political climate that it’s our effort to always stay authentic. It’s us trying to create something honest through a world that’s backward. It’s just our attempt to make sense of it.

Laila: Yeah and personally my mindset is that we’re trying to put something out that shows people that streams aren't the only the thing that matters. We’re in this time where everybody's so caught up and so much just sounds the same. There are entire genres where I can’t differentiate which band is which because everything is the same. It’s not like we don’t have influences, everybody does. But I feel like people need to take a step back and look within themselves because they aren't putting themselves out in the world. I think you need to go within yourself and pull that out and show them who you truly are.

That’s so beautiful. Do you have anyone to shout out or promote? The floor is all yours.

Skyler: Obviously Harry Teardrop, taking over the world. Check out the Detroit band Moonwalks and here in New York the Britanys, The Muckers and check out the whole Bushwick scene.

Laila: All of our classmates, honestly.

Follow Been Stellar on Instagram and Twitter

Listen on Soundcloud and Spotify

Words and Interview by Guy Mizrahi

Cover photo by Sophie Hur

Inline images by Sophie Hur and Ella Sinskey

[dwmclean-blog]

Month 5

1)    What did you learn from the reading assignment about the field of instructional design that you were not previously aware of? Why is this important to your goal of achieving mastery and your future as an instructional designer? Your response should be 3–5 paragraphs in length Include at least three quotes from the reading assignments with in-text citations using APA-style formatting.

 After reading this chapter, I am very familiar with many of the ideas presented and can add volumes to what they say. The authors have taken an overarching theme, and barely show the first few steps of the twisted path an educational idea takes within the DoD system. Three challenges that are mentioned strike a nerve as;

“Using technology wisely when technology is evolving more rapidly than the ability to accommodate change; assuming the responsibilities dictated by one’s role and relationship to the military (federal worker or contractor); designing for individual projects, which may be repurposed into other training products or delivery environments” (Bratton-Jeffery & Jeffery, 2012, p. 187).

In each of these challenges, I have faced them first hand, and have had to change course in the direction of projects to better accommodate the needs of the program and the people on the ground using the training in the fight. Our current IEDES (Improvised Explosive Device Education System) has an electronic module that mimics GM20 and PRO45 signal jammers and that is mounted in up-armored vehicles to block radio signals to trigger blasts. They produced the training modules and equipment faster than the actual units to be mounted, and when the final version of the product hit the military vehicles, it was 4 generations forward of what was being trained. Colossal amounts of time and money were wasted, as Soldiers eventually came back and told the designers how they were being used in the field, and then they put together the revisions, which became an entirely new project under a new contract. The technology moves at a pace that is not predictive with the evolving scope of the battlefield, and many times it is the Soldier that with be the best sensor and trainer. And out of everything that was made in the forefront, only the illustrations of the unit remain.  

 I design much of the written literature that our training center oversees with diagrams and illustrations, which is then translated into 14 different languages to help our NATO allies use the same equipment. This brings to light another of the ideas from the authors, that there is a partnership for our military and many of the nations we train, fight alongside, and supply with our weaponry and tactics. Bratton-Jeffery and Jeffery (2012) state, “Designers must recognize the cultural diversity of the clients and select training or learning solutions that can accommodate dissimilar audiences” (p. 189). For our European, Central and South American counterparts, the writing only changes in language formats and labels. For some of our Southwest Asia partners, we have to go a step further and provide cartoons to go along with our training. It seems small, but they understand the material easier reading cartoons and seeing the action in the strips than having the information in manual format.

 The last issue I wish to weigh in on is one issue that will always affect the instructional designer: funding. Budgets today fluctuate, and every program can cease to exist in the military marketplace in as little as six months. What the book fails to mention is the understanding of programs of record, training directorates, and fund appropriation allocation. Without getting into the weeds of the government machine, there will always be money for training, but the government wants to get the most bang for the buck. Programs of record are the first funded projects that support main operations, and have the ability to be interconnected with other service branches, groups within a service, and international reach. This involves direct training like Apache repair or weapon systems, or a DoD wide program like the EST 2.0 (Engagement Skills Trainer) which uses a digital range to hone the skills of military members across all the branches. They fluctuate in dollars and this is important because, “Whatever funds are applied to one project may be taken from another, and the designer must be able to help the client weigh the costs or trade-offs” (Bratton-Jeffery & Jeffery, 2012, p. 189). Money is shifted from time to time, and there is a five-year cycle where the funding is revised, and long term goals and monitoring are implemented. Training directorates have pet projects that will usually be funded, but are on the yearly cycle for renewals. These projects are done usually through contact bidding, and awarded to the low bidder. Many of these projects are started, completed, and then revised by another company in another cycle. The Army’s NCO 2020 Vision and transgender training fall under these categories. Fund appropriation allocations are the shortest lived of the budget projects, and have a very short shelf life and are designed to tackle one issue very quickly. The Marine Corp is currently in a rapid development process with all of the news and focus on the Corp for the abuse of female Marines on social media. While these contracts can be lucrative, the turn-around times and deadlines are very tight, and the product has to be a flawless as possible.

 I did not learn anything new from this chapter reading, but I found many ideas that I face even without being the instructional designer on multiple projects. The military is not that different from other large corporations in some of the difficulties that will be faced, but the margin for error is very slender in light of what improper training can yield. Understanding the military system is the first key to being successful in this environment where rank and structure can sometimes be the only thing holding together a fragile peace. After that, knowing how government works and operates is the second most important in order to be successful and expedient. Many ideas can die quickly if they do not have the correct route to funding, approval, and contracts. Finally, the end user is the defender of freedom and the American way. That makes them far more important, and worth the time and effort to make them the best training possible.

  2)      If creativity in instructional design refers to the use of special     human talents and imagination in generating original ideas, how did you     use your creativity to expand your work beyond the limitations imposed in     this month’s design projects? Elaborate in 2–3 paragraphs. Use images     or screenshots from your projects to illustrate your points.

 I tried my hardest to create outside of the box, but within the limits of the assignments. My first foray was for our Instructional Design Models. I wanted to do something closer to a nature, top-down perspective with natural materials and new design illustrations. I made some that I am really proud of, and one that just missed the mark. I was unhappy with my last poster for the gradual release model. It lacked the appeal I was desiring to capture. The timeline was a success for me, as I decided to hand-code instead of use a prefab program. I took longer, but the quality was much better than I expected. I also tried a new js coding for horizontal scrolling, and I worked out the bugs in less time than it usually takes. I am really proud of my psychological theories interactive. I used some old materials and then made new composites to fit the theme. It really looked good, and on first glance it was a home run. There are some design issues upon review, but I am still proud to stand by this work.

The final project was something of a challenge for me. I do not like keynote, and I know my colleagues have heard enough about this. I really wanted a video, but I was not the project lead, but I was the art director. I had to use many different techniques to tell this story and make it seem closer to video, which is where I am really comfortable. I made a specific color palette, suggested a firm looking logo, and went to town in DVIDs to find pictures to use. I ended up using 75 percent of my own photos, as I shoot with design in mind, and they were easier to work with. When I started working in the transitions, I found the edge I was looking for to mimic film movements. I do like what I was able to create, knowing that I had to look out for the team above myself. I have the tendency to try new and more exciting things when working on schoolwork, but I stayed conventional to please everyone.

 3)      List at least 3 main takeaways from this course and how they may     apply to your monthly milestone and long-term goals. How will you use     what you have learned in this course to continue to learn and improve your     work as an instructional designer?

 Deadlines and circumstances are in place to push the envelope of developing work within a timeframe, and to hold us (students) accountable. I had a rough month with having to report for duty in week two, and it threw my entire schedule into an uproar. I battled back and was able to complete all of the work, even if outside the timeframe. Clients will not always be forgiving, so professors may not be as well. A good lesson learned.

 Theories and models are nice, but it is always about how they are applied. I learned a few new theories that are used in the instructional design world, or at least their names, as these models are in place at work. I like the ideas they present, and I even tried to use one as I was working on two projects. As an individual, they did not work as well, because I was lacking a client and a quality control process. I was not asking myself the right questions, and that gave me poor answers. Understanding where I am working from and what I need to do, I can use the models better as part of a team.

 I have rarely had the opportunity to be the client. In most of my situations, I am the one taking orders from the client, and then I work hard to make a product. If I have a need, I usually figure it out for myself before coming to someone else to solve a problem. The project gave me the opportunity to be the client, and I see how some of the problems happen from the beginning stages of a project. There were so many other questions I feel I should have been asked, and when I reviewed what they were proposing, I did not agree at first. I really tried to put myself in the mind of one of the G3 guys sitting across the table from a contractor describing my training problem and what we needed to fix it. I will take this experience when I sit across the table next month, as I will have to begin working on the next recruiting tool of the Army. I want to meet the goals, and I know how to ask better questions to get the communication straight from the beginning.

   Bratton-Jeffery, M.F. & Jeffery, A. B. (2012). Instructional design opportunities in military education and training environments. In R. A. Reiser, & J. V. Dempsey (Eds.), Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (3rd ed.) (pp. 187-196). Boston, MA: Pearson

[cover32-yahoopartner-blog]

Love it or hate it, Pace building Bears the right way

As the headline would imply, this off-season has been polarizing for a number of reasons. There is this narrative, this belief that, in the NFL, teams can go from the cellar to the penthouse at break-neck speed. While history has shown some examples of this, it simply is not the case for most organizations. There are many examples of average teams that have free agent hauls which turn around its fortune in the classic “rags-to-riches” style.

Because of these worst-to-first stories that seemed to be the norm for most of the 2000’s, many fans are under the assumption that quick-turnarounds is how rebuilding should work. The truth is that all teams are different, and they all build in different ways. Some teams are great at developing and teaching. Some teams know defense, others offense. Just as every player is unique, every team has its own DNA.

The Last Gasp

The Phil Emery iteration of the Bears attempted this feat. Although the team wasn’t really in NFC North cellar when Phil Emery was hired in 2012, the Bears were coming off of an 8-8 season, with much of their Super Bowl-caliber defense still intact. Jay Cutler and Mike Martz famously had their issues, but the offense moved forward (or maybe sideways?) with Mike Tice at the helm.

Much like when Jerry Angelo was hired, Phil Emery was charged with keeping the incumbent head coach. This was the first real misstep by the Bears ownership that set the team on its current course. Why hire a GM if you are going to saddle him with a “lame-duck” head coach? The belief around town was that Lovie Smith’s tenure had run its course. It was time for a change.

AROUND COVER32

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In 2012, Lovie Smith was still the head coach, but he was fighting for his career. Phil Emery was the new, first-time GM of the Bears. We all knew that something had to give. With Lovie Smith no longer the loudest voice in player acquisition, Phil Emery was the man making the tough choices.

This was where the train started to derail. Emery inherited a talented, but aging defense. The bright spots on offense were starting to show some wear and tear as well. This seemed like a prime situation where the team could just re-load and plug a few holes on its way to the playoffs. A trade for Brandon Marshall here, a signing of Martellus Bennett there and Voila! All the makings of a really good football team…or so we thought.

The Dam is About to Burst

Fast-forward to 2014. Marc Trestman was clearly not an NFL head coach. Mel Tucker had led the Bears to a franchise-worst season on defense. Fan favorites and franchise staples had been jettisoned. The once-promising offense completely hit a wall. Aaron Kromer was crying in the locker room as he apologized to the team for throwing his quarterback under the bus. Admittedly, this team was a mess.

There we were, once again wanting to fire anyone and everyone that had anything to do with that nightmare of a season. Ownership? “Sell the team!” Front office? “Fire ‘em!” Coaching staff? “Who needs ‘em?” Players? “Aren’t those the bums that gave up back-to-back 50 point games?!?!”

Then the Bears did something a little different. There was a small but significant shift during the Emery years. Ted Phillips’ role was quietly shifted to what he does best: make money. George McCaskey, who had previously worked in the season ticket office, was now taking a more prominent role in the football operations. This is often an overlooked change as you still hear fans complain about Phillips. George McCaskey, not being a football-whiz, decided to hire someone who was well-respected in NFL circles, Ernie Accorsi. Hiring an outside consultant was not new for the Bears. After all, that was how they found Angelo and Emery. But this was different. Ted Phillips wasn’t in charge of this search, George McCaskey was. And by all accounts, Virginia “Mama Bear” McCaskey was pissed! During this search, two names really started to surface as potential genteral managers for the Bears. First was Chris Ballard, who worked in the Bears scouting department under Angelo and was a bright, young man from Kansas City. The other was Ryan Pace. The Bears locker room culture had taken such a hit from Marc Trestman and his strange, new-age style of coaching, that this team needed a task-master. Enter John Fox and his army brat background.

I have always been lukewarm on this hire. It had that “meh” feeling about it. But when you take a step back and look at the long-term view, it made sense. John Fox didn’t need to be a great tactician and, by all accounts, he is anything but. Rather, Fox simply needed to instill a culture of hard work, toughness and character within the Bears organization. In that sense, he has done fairly well.

Brick by Brick

The first task that any new GM is faced with is evaluating the current roster. It could be argued that when Phil Emery took over in 2011, he should’ve taken the approach of getting younger players. Instead, he gambled on high-priced veterans to supplement his aging roster of former stars. Remember what Ryan Pace said when he was hired? “The recipe to winning Super Bowls is stringing successful drafts together again and again. We are not just collecting athletes. We are acquiring football players that fit the Chicago Bears. There will be a major emphasis on character, toughness, instincts and intelligence. Guys, it’s all about winning games and that’s what I’m here to do. Every decision we make goes back to what’s best for this organization. It’s as simple as that.” Translation: We need time to stack good draft classes on top of one another. When you look at historically successful franchises, or even ones that have recently begun to shine, there is one thing that they all have in common: A core of young, cost-controlled talent which was acquired through the NFL Draft. Take a look at the most successful franchises and you see a pattern. The Patriots, Packers, Seahawks, Steelers and Ravens are five of the top six teams in winning percentage since 2010. All of those teams are heavily draft-driven and tend to hang on to their young talent.

The standout of the top six is the Broncos. Clearly, they were the beneficiary of Peyton Manning, DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib and TJ Ward, among others. However, the bulk of the team was still drafted by Denver, which is the right way to do it. Strike when you have a talented roster, and use free agency as a supplement to your team. The moral of the story is this: The Bears need to be built through the draft to maintain sustained success. That has been proven time and time again. So how do you get to that point? The obvious answer is to draft well. But that is an overly simple way to look at it. You have to get your cap in order (Briggs, Tillman, Forte). You have to get your locker room in order (Marshall, Bennett). You have to scour other team’s Practice Squads and the Waiver Wire (LeBlanc, Shaw, Jones-Quartey). You need to find diamonds in the rough (Callahan, Leno Jr.). If you want a new building where an old one stands, you have to tear down the old building first. Unlike bricks, NFL players have contracts. Sometimes it does more harm than good to terminate a player’s contract in one season versus another season. This is why a guy like Lamarr Houston is still on the roster. It would’ve cost more to cut him than keep him in 2016, but 2017 is a different story. It would save slightly more than $5M to the salary cap. I think that we are all in agreement that that the old building has been demolished and the new building is under construction. If you are hell-bent on building a team through the draft, which I personally believe is the correct way to do it, then you don’t blow your money on high-priced free agents.

Not-So-Free Agency

There was a lot of hand-wringing over the recent free agency period. The Bears were linked to several big-name targets and landed, well, none of them. Heck, they even lost their own big-name free agent! As optimistic as I am, I will admit that I was bummed. When I got home on March 9, I poured a glass of bourbon, sat on the couch and reflected on this disaster. The next day, I felt a little better about what had transpired. We will probably never know exactly what the plan was, but I am pretty confident in saying that what happened was not necessarily Plan A. I am also confident in saying that it was not viewed as a failure at Halas Hall either. When I took a step back and looked at the big picture, I understood it. I thought about what Ryan Pace has said all along. He never lied to us. He never said this was a quick-fix. He said it in plain and simple English: The Bears will be re-built through the draft and we will supplement the roster with free agents. So, the Bears didn’t land Stephon Gilmore or A.J. Bouye or Ricky Wagner. The bigger question is, how would those contracts affect the future of the organization when they already have a young, talented core? Do they prevent you from extending your own players? Do they block you from playing a promising young player? Do they prevent you from drafting a certain position? The Bears roster isn’t a finished product yet. It is still very much under-construction. It takes time to build through the draft and we, as fans, have little patience. But patience is exactly that is required to get through this process with your mental health intact. I, for one, am going to sit back and enjoy the ride. It has worked out pretty well for a couple of other teams in town. Let’s enjoy watching these young players grow and know that things are moving in the right direction, even if you don’t see it in the win column yet. This free agency period is not an epic failure on the part of the GM. This is how you build a team the right way.

The post Love it or hate it, Pace building Bears the right way appeared first on Cover32.

[symbianosgames]

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

Hi! My name is Coray Seifert, I’m the Director of Production here at Experiment 7. I’ve been working on VR games in various capacities for the past 4 years, first with Impeller Studios, then with Autodesk’s AR/VR Interactive Group, but most meaningfully with the fine folks here at Experiment 7. Over that time, I’ve made a number of horrific mistakes that haunt my dreams to this day. I’d like to share some of them with you!

If the beer is virtual, are the calories real?

Below you’ll find 7 lessons I learned working on VR strategy games at Experiment 7. I wanted to put this list together so others who are just getting into VR development can avoid some of the same challenges.

Why spend the time to share key learnings with potential competition? The bottom line for our corner of the industry is that the more teams there are making great VR games, the more consumers we’ll see adopting VR platforms, and the better the market will be for all of us. Just like how Tesla shares their best practices with their competition to help drive their industry forward, we hope that creating a marketplace of shared ideas will help the VR game creation space move forward as well.

In traditional game development, we have experiences, best practices, and cautionary tales that effectively guide our efforts. Platform migrations have happened in the past and we’ve tweaked our best practices accordingly. What works on PC might not work on console due to input differences, processing power or consumer expectations, so we modify our approach slightly to adapt for the new medium. 

VR, on the other hand, is a complete paradigm shift. Not only do our best practices need to be refreshed, but some of the core tenants of what we believe about game development need to be unlearned. Moving the player’s first person camera may make them sick. 2D planes for VFX can be invalidated due to stereoscopic rendering. UI and UX design has to be completely rethought from the ground up. This is a complete phase shift from the old way of doing things. 

That's no UI object...

I find myself annoyed by long-form lists where you have to scroll forever to see if the pillars of the article are worth investing your time in, so here are the 7 lessons, in brief:

Double down on engineering – More tech needs, less asset budget. Trade artists for engineers.

Make sure someone on your team has shipped something in VR – Ideally your tech lead.

Don’t skimp on preproduction – Prototype aggressively, define hardware/QA/pipelines first.

Respect the minspec – Pick your platforms, identify your minspec, and stick to it.

Realism is important, but comfort is king – Use realistic proportions, but framerate/comfort is priority.

Start small – Maintain vision, but start with a fraction of what you’re eventually trying to build.

Expect the unexpected – Prepare for rapidly evolving hardware, dev tools and marketplace.

If you just came for the pillars, I hope they’re helpful in your adventures. If you’re here for context, let’s dive into the details!

Let’s start at the beginning.

When you’re building your team for your VR project, you’ll want to staff heavier on the engineering side than you would for a traditional game project. Further, it's optimal to populate your team with a greater percentage of experienced developers than normal. 

While more engineers doesn’t perfectly equate to increased velocity, the simple fact is that every problem you face will require new solutions, a risk that can be meaningfully mitigated with people power. Even if you’re using a proven commercial game engine, everything from feature development to optimization takes a long time on VR and involves a significant learning curve. These are new knots to untangle and for the most part, very few people across the industry have meaningful experience in VR.

Here’s how I would recommend adjusting your engineering team size: 

>10 total headcount: 3x

11-50 total headcount: 2x

50+ total headcount: 1.5x

If you’re working with a fixed budget on your game, this may mean scaling down your art headcount, which isn’t great in and of itself. One mitigating factor is that stereoscopic rendering means you're basically rendering everything twice. A game of comparable scope simply has fewer pixels it can push through the renderer.

Accordingly, the content requirements for VR are lower than other platforms. If you think back to past generations of console games and the scope of art created for those games – both in terms of the raw asset density and in terms of the amount of polish per asset – you can get a good sense of where VR is in its current (2017) iteration. 

In an ideal world, I recommend a small VR art team laden with senior artists who enjoy new technology challenges and plenty of technical artists who are passionate about the medium.

The good news on this front is that great engineers are frequently drawn to new technology problems, just as great artists can be drawn to new mediums of expression.  You can harness that excitement to bring fantastic people into your organization.

It’s one thing to read about the technical limitations of VR or talk to someone who has shipped a game in VR, but don’t talk yourself into thinking you can make it without significant input from someone who released a commercial product on the platform. You need someone who has directly worked on solving the unique problems of the medium. It can be a freelancer, consultant, or advisor, but ideally that person is someone who is a core member of your team. 

The best case is if this person works in the engineering vertical of your company, even more so if your VR expert is the head of your engineering team. This allows that person to translate those experiences working on the platform directly through their team, providing that intrinsic, internalized knowledge of VR-specific challenges to everyone working on the technology that drives your game.

Experiment 7 is lucky in that our Technical Director, Mario Grimani, has been working in VR since the days of duct tape and bailing wire. One of our engineers worked on open source VR solutions. I worked on some of the very early (and very rough around the eyeballs) VR prototypes internally at Autodesk. Those experiences – often in figuring out what doesn’t work on the platform – have been crucial to the success of our team, even more profoundly than in traditional game platform transitions, because of the transformative nature of VR.

Baby steps from the Autodesk days...

New tech is exciting and none more so than VR. Which is why it’s vitally important that you take the time during preproduction to plan, prototype and test. Don’t get too excited and run straight into the teeth of your project! 

Stick to your phase gate plan. Build and iterate through your concept, look & feel, and early prototype in preproduction (which will take longer than you expect, especially for your first project). Getting a new asset pipeline for VR set up is no small task - do it early. If you wait until the production phase to finalize your content and feature workflow, you’ll spend your production cycle firefighting and redoing key systems, rather than delivering great features and content.

Make sure that you’re aggressively prototyping at every phase, even with proven mechanics. We made the decision to go with a relatively low-scope chess game for our first title, so we could easily integrate a Chess engine and use Unity store assets to test the concept of table games in VR early. That process, as rudimentary as it was, revealed tons of issues and opportunities in our core design and in our technology expectations. Issues that would have been hugely problematic (or significant missed opportunities) if we had left them to the end of the project.

"Okay, so imagine you've got a table...and it's magic..." - Geoff, probably

Finally, during preproduction, budget more time than you think for infrastructure. You can’t just buy a few machines and desks and be off to the races. Depending on the platforms you’re targeting, the various combinations of hardware and software can take significant time to track down, given the wide range of headsets currently in use (with new ones coming online every quarter). QA infrastructure can be especially difficult to get going on new VR projects given the specific physical device requirements at the scale of a full QA team.

In VR, more than any platform, framerate is more important than fidelity. 

As you may or may not know, framerate in VR has an outsized impact on the overall experience. High framerates (90+ fps) lead to a smooth experience, while lower framerates can lead to a profound sense of discomfort and render your application unusable to a significant portion of your audience. 

No matter how aggressively you scope for memory and processing power, content has a tendency to come in over budget – make sure your asset budget has lots of buffer room; more than you think you need. Things will get broken by new platforms that are dynamic and constantly evolving – make sure you’re accounting for this so that when something does break, it doesn’t completely nuke your game. Users will do horrible, horrible things to their hardware – make sure to account for your end users installing tons of CPU and memory-hogging applications on the target platform. 

If you’re multi-platform, set goals based on your lowest possible performing platforms…and stick to them! This is a non-trivial task, as it requires business, technology, and creative buy-in. Push this to the top of the priority list. 

Realistic proportions, movement, and physical relationships are critical to creating a VR experience that makes use of presence. Content that is out of scale with the world around it risks appearing "spooky" and unsettling, leading to subtle but meaningful feelings of cognitive dissonance in your users. Unrealistic or unfamiliar gravity, viscosity, or friction can have the same effect.

Door frames, windows, tables, chairs and other common real-world physical objects in game space are especially susceptible to this phenomenon. For games grounded in reality, there is a pretty simple solution. Measure things and stick to those sizes. This constraint can certainly be a limiting factor, but can also be a creative challenge that leads to dynamic and innovative solutions to problems both complex and mundane.

Preproduction proportions testing

During preproduction, try starting with realistic proportions and aggressively test with white-rooms to avoid having to rework assets down the road. Working from a regimented, realistic base of assets goes a long way towards making the user comfortable in your environment.

All that said, the one guiding principle for VR – especially in these relatively early days of mass market consumer VR – is that comfort is king. It’s imperative to ensure your experience is palatable to your target audience. 

If you’re making a card game for a wide audience, make sure that your framerate is extremely high, your contrast is relatively low, and you’re never accelerating or moving the character outside of motion-tracked head and body movements. If you’re making a hardcore flight simulator with 6 degrees of freedom and non-stop flak explosions, you have a different bar to hit, but core tenants (always high framerates, try to never move the player’s camera unless they’re controlling it, use slower acceleration where appropriate, etc.) are always good to keep top of mind.

Be cognizant that with every increment you push your experience past your target comfort point, you’re losing and alienating another large cohort of users, potentially damaging your reputation and your brand.

Find a spark and build from that. There are so many unknowns in VR – especially right at this moment in time – that it requires an entirely new pipeline, process, and technology outlook to bring anything to market, let alone something of notable scope. 

This is VR. You should dream big. However, the best advice I could give at this moment in time is to create a small chunk of that dream with your first VR release. Get that product to the market – to any market – and get into preproduction on your second title with everything you’ve learned. Use that experience to help your team execute more efficiently and at a vastly higher level than the first go round.

This is one thing we nailed at E7. We started off with a relatively small game in Magic Table Chess, moved on to something marginally bigger for our second game, with exponentially larger projects on the horizon. Each step along the way has enabled us to work faster, focus more on experiences than infrastructure, and push our quality bar higher and higher.

Starting to come together...

This is the agile mantra, but especially so for new, rapidly evolving platforms like VR. It might sound cliché, but the pain is real. These are incredibly dynamic software and hardware products that are constantly evolving in meaningful ways. Platform updates right before VC meetings, cables getting imperceptibly loose and taking someone offline for hours, system background processes triggering and running the game at one frame every other second are all real possibilities that many of you will encounter. 

While there’s little you can do to truly mitigate for these challenges, knowing that something along the way will conspire to foul up your perfectly-planned software project can help you reduce the impact of these issues when they do happen.  

In addition to unexpected critical fails, if you’re working with a commercial game engine or platform back end suite, plan to be rolling over to new versions far more frequently than on traditional platforms. The dynamic nature of these platforms means that new updates address critical issues and can introduce new version mismatches more frequently than stable technology platforms.

In Conclusion Making games in VR is awesome. I frequently find myself losing myself in our games when I should be doing work, just because the experiences are still so profoundly magical. VR is a new and massively exciting frontier. A stereoscopic wild west.

It all comes together

However, like the American wild west of old, it’s full of danger and adventure. Being cognizant of the perils of the medium can’t help you to avoid these challenges altogether, but hopefully it can help mitigate the impact of them when you hit them.

I’d love to hear similar experiences folks have had working on early projects in VR. Horror stories are always great, or if you disagree with anything I’ve said here I’ll keep an oculus out for comments posted to this article.

Yes, I just ended this 2500-word VR article with an eyeball pun. 

This post originally appears on the Experiment 7 Blog.

Coray Seifert is the Director of Production for Experiment 7, a VR strategy game developer based in New York City and San Diego. For more than 15 years, Coray has developed games as a producer, game designer, and writer for organizations like Autodesk, THQ's Kaos Studios, and the US Department of Defense. A Lifetime Member of the International Game Developers Association, Coray was elected to the IGDA’s Board of directors in 2007 at the age of 27; the youngest board member in IGDA history.  

[symbianosgames]

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

Hi! My name is Coray Seifert, I’m the Director of Production here at Experiment 7. I’ve been working on VR games in various capacities for the past 4 years, first with Impeller Studios, then with Autodesk’s AR/VR Interactive Group, but most meaningfully with the fine folks here at Experiment 7. Over that time, I’ve made a number of horrific mistakes that haunt my dreams to this day. I’d like to share some of them with you!

If the beer is virtual, are the calories real?

Below you’ll find 7 lessons I learned working on VR strategy games at Experiment 7. I wanted to put this list together so others who are just getting into VR development can avoid some of the same challenges.

Why spend the time to share key learnings with potential competition? The bottom line for our corner of the industry is that the more teams there are making great VR games, the more consumers we’ll see adopting VR platforms, and the better the market will be for all of us. Just like how Tesla shares their best practices with their competition to help drive their industry forward, we hope that creating a marketplace of shared ideas will help the VR game creation space move forward as well.

In traditional game development, we have experiences, best practices, and cautionary tales that effectively guide our efforts. Platform migrations have happened in the past and we’ve tweaked our best practices accordingly. What works on PC might not work on console due to input differences, processing power or consumer expectations, so we modify our approach slightly to adapt for the new medium. 

VR, on the other hand, is a complete paradigm shift. Not only do our best practices need to be refreshed, but some of the core tenants of what we believe about game development need to be unlearned. Moving the player’s first person camera may make them sick. 2D planes for VFX can be invalidated due to stereoscopic rendering. UI and UX design has to be completely rethought from the ground up. This is a complete phase shift from the old way of doing things. 

That's no UI object...

I find myself annoyed by long-form lists where you have to scroll forever to see if the pillars of the article are worth investing your time in, so here are the 7 lessons, in brief:

Double down on engineering – More tech needs, less asset budget. Trade artists for engineers.

Make sure someone on your team has shipped something in VR – Ideally your tech lead.

Don’t skimp on preproduction – Prototype aggressively, define hardware/QA/pipelines first.

Respect the minspec – Pick your platforms, identify your minspec, and stick to it.

Realism is important, but comfort is king – Use realistic proportions, but framerate/comfort is priority.

Start small – Maintain vision, but start with a fraction of what you’re eventually trying to build.

Expect the unexpected – Prepare for rapidly evolving hardware, dev tools and marketplace.

If you just came for the pillars, I hope they’re helpful in your adventures. If you’re here for context, let’s dive into the details!

Let’s start at the beginning.

When you’re building your team for your VR project, you’ll want to staff heavier on the engineering side than you would for a traditional game project. Further, it's optimal to populate your team with a greater percentage of experienced developers than normal. 

While more engineers doesn’t perfectly equate to increased velocity, the simple fact is that every problem you face will require new solutions, a risk that can be meaningfully mitigated with people power. Even if you’re using a proven commercial game engine, everything from feature development to optimization takes a long time on VR and involves a significant learning curve. These are new knots to untangle and for the most part, very few people across the industry have meaningful experience in VR.

Here’s how I would recommend adjusting your engineering team size: 

>10 total headcount: 3x

11-50 total headcount: 2x

50+ total headcount: 1.5x

If you’re working with a fixed budget on your game, this may mean scaling down your art headcount, which isn’t great in and of itself. One mitigating factor is that stereoscopic rendering means you're basically rendering everything twice. A game of comparable scope simply has fewer pixels it can push through the renderer.

Accordingly, the content requirements for VR are lower than other platforms. If you think back to past generations of console games and the scope of art created for those games – both in terms of the raw asset density and in terms of the amount of polish per asset – you can get a good sense of where VR is in its current (2017) iteration. 

In an ideal world, I recommend a small VR art team laden with senior artists who enjoy new technology challenges and plenty of technical artists who are passionate about the medium.

The good news on this front is that great engineers are frequently drawn to new technology problems, just as great artists can be drawn to new mediums of expression.  You can harness that excitement to bring fantastic people into your organization.

It’s one thing to read about the technical limitations of VR or talk to someone who has shipped a game in VR, but don’t talk yourself into thinking you can make it without significant input from someone who released a commercial product on the platform. You need someone who has directly worked on solving the unique problems of the medium. It can be a freelancer, consultant, or advisor, but ideally that person is someone who is a core member of your team. 

The best case is if this person works in the engineering vertical of your company, even more so if your VR expert is the head of your engineering team. This allows that person to translate those experiences working on the platform directly through their team, providing that intrinsic, internalized knowledge of VR-specific challenges to everyone working on the technology that drives your game.

Experiment 7 is lucky in that our Technical Director, Mario Grimani, has been working in VR since the days of duct tape and bailing wire. One of our engineers worked on open source VR solutions. I worked on some of the very early (and very rough around the eyeballs) VR prototypes internally at Autodesk. Those experiences – often in figuring out what doesn’t work on the platform – have been crucial to the success of our team, even more profoundly than in traditional game platform transitions, because of the transformative nature of VR.

Baby steps from the Autodesk days...

New tech is exciting and none more so than VR. Which is why it’s vitally important that you take the time during preproduction to plan, prototype and test. Don’t get too excited and run straight into the teeth of your project! 

Stick to your phase gate plan. Build and iterate through your concept, look & feel, and early prototype in preproduction (which will take longer than you expect, especially for your first project). Getting a new asset pipeline for VR set up is no small task - do it early. If you wait until the production phase to finalize your content and feature workflow, you’ll spend your production cycle firefighting and redoing key systems, rather than delivering great features and content.

Make sure that you’re aggressively prototyping at every phase, even with proven mechanics. We made the decision to go with a relatively low-scope chess game for our first title, so we could easily integrate a Chess engine and use Unity store assets to test the concept of table games in VR early. That process, as rudimentary as it was, revealed tons of issues and opportunities in our core design and in our technology expectations. Issues that would have been hugely problematic (or significant missed opportunities) if we had left them to the end of the project.

"Okay, so imagine you've got a table...and it's magic..." - Geoff, probably

Finally, during preproduction, budget more time than you think for infrastructure. You can’t just buy a few machines and desks and be off to the races. Depending on the platforms you’re targeting, the various combinations of hardware and software can take significant time to track down, given the wide range of headsets currently in use (with new ones coming online every quarter). QA infrastructure can be especially difficult to get going on new VR projects given the specific physical device requirements at the scale of a full QA team.

In VR, more than any platform, framerate is more important than fidelity. 

As you may or may not know, framerate in VR has an outsized impact on the overall experience. High framerates (90+ fps) lead to a smooth experience, while lower framerates can lead to a profound sense of discomfort and render your application unusable to a significant portion of your audience. 

No matter how aggressively you scope for memory and processing power, content has a tendency to come in over budget – make sure your asset budget has lots of buffer room; more than you think you need. Things will get broken by new platforms that are dynamic and constantly evolving – make sure you’re accounting for this so that when something does break, it doesn’t completely nuke your game. Users will do horrible, horrible things to their hardware – make sure to account for your end users installing tons of CPU and memory-hogging applications on the target platform. 

If you’re multi-platform, set goals based on your lowest possible performing platforms…and stick to them! This is a non-trivial task, as it requires business, technology, and creative buy-in. Push this to the top of the priority list. 

Realistic proportions, movement, and physical relationships are critical to creating a VR experience that makes use of presence. Content that is out of scale with the world around it risks appearing "spooky" and unsettling, leading to subtle but meaningful feelings of cognitive dissonance in your users. Unrealistic or unfamiliar gravity, viscosity, or friction can have the same effect.

Door frames, windows, tables, chairs and other common real-world physical objects in game space are especially susceptible to this phenomenon. For games grounded in reality, there is a pretty simple solution. Measure things and stick to those sizes. This constraint can certainly be a limiting factor, but can also be a creative challenge that leads to dynamic and innovative solutions to problems both complex and mundane.

Preproduction proportions testing

During preproduction, try starting with realistic proportions and aggressively test with white-rooms to avoid having to rework assets down the road. Working from a regimented, realistic base of assets goes a long way towards making the user comfortable in your environment.

All that said, the one guiding principle for VR – especially in these relatively early days of mass market consumer VR – is that comfort is king. It’s imperative to ensure your experience is palatable to your target audience. 

If you’re making a card game for a wide audience, make sure that your framerate is extremely high, your contrast is relatively low, and you’re never accelerating or moving the character outside of motion-tracked head and body movements. If you’re making a hardcore flight simulator with 6 degrees of freedom and non-stop flak explosions, you have a different bar to hit, but core tenants (always high framerates, try to never move the player’s camera unless they’re controlling it, use slower acceleration where appropriate, etc.) are always good to keep top of mind.

Be cognizant that with every increment you push your experience past your target comfort point, you’re losing and alienating another large cohort of users, potentially damaging your reputation and your brand.

Find a spark and build from that. There are so many unknowns in VR – especially right at this moment in time – that it requires an entirely new pipeline, process, and technology outlook to bring anything to market, let alone something of notable scope. 

This is VR. You should dream big. However, the best advice I could give at this moment in time is to create a small chunk of that dream with your first VR release. Get that product to the market – to any market – and get into preproduction on your second title with everything you’ve learned. Use that experience to help your team execute more efficiently and at a vastly higher level than the first go round.

This is one thing we nailed at E7. We started off with a relatively small game in Magic Table Chess, moved on to something marginally bigger for our second game, with exponentially larger projects on the horizon. Each step along the way has enabled us to work faster, focus more on experiences than infrastructure, and push our quality bar higher and higher.

Starting to come together...

This is the agile mantra, but especially so for new, rapidly evolving platforms like VR. It might sound cliché, but the pain is real. These are incredibly dynamic software and hardware products that are constantly evolving in meaningful ways. Platform updates right before VC meetings, cables getting imperceptibly loose and taking someone offline for hours, system background processes triggering and running the game at one frame every other second are all real possibilities that many of you will encounter. 

While there’s little you can do to truly mitigate for these challenges, knowing that something along the way will conspire to foul up your perfectly-planned software project can help you reduce the impact of these issues when they do happen.  

In addition to unexpected critical fails, if you’re working with a commercial game engine or platform back end suite, plan to be rolling over to new versions far more frequently than on traditional platforms. The dynamic nature of these platforms means that new updates address critical issues and can introduce new version mismatches more frequently than stable technology platforms.

In Conclusion Making games in VR is awesome. I frequently find myself losing myself in our games when I should be doing work, just because the experiences are still so profoundly magical. VR is a new and massively exciting frontier. A stereoscopic wild west.

It all comes together

However, like the American wild west of old, it’s full of danger and adventure. Being cognizant of the perils of the medium can’t help you to avoid these challenges altogether, but hopefully it can help mitigate the impact of them when you hit them.

I’d love to hear similar experiences folks have had working on early projects in VR. Horror stories are always great, or if you disagree with anything I’ve said here I’ll keep an oculus out for comments posted to this article.

Yes, I just ended this 2500-word VR article with an eyeball pun. 

This post originally appears on the Experiment 7 Blog.

Coray Seifert is the Director of Production for Experiment 7, a VR strategy game developer based in New York City and San Diego. For more than 15 years, Coray has developed games as a producer, game designer, and writer for organizations like Autodesk, THQ's Kaos Studios, and the US Department of Defense. A Lifetime Member of the International Game Developers Association, Coray was elected to the IGDA’s Board of directors in 2007 at the age of 27; the youngest board member in IGDA history.